By: Rich Moseson, W2VU

What do the Dayton Hamvention® flea market and Xenia, Ohio, weather have in common? They each offer a little bit of everything! Friday’s hot and humid afternoon was followed by thunderstorms at night and cool, windy, weather on Saturday. The Hamvention itself, though, provided consistently positive experiences for just about everyone. ARRL activities were highlighted by the member forum in the morning and the Youth Rally in the afternoon.

WATCH: Video from Saturday at Hamvention [YouTube]

At the member forum, ARRL leadership was represented by Great Lakes Division Director Scott Yonally, N8SY; First Vice President Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, and CEO David Minster, NA2AA, as well as Director of Marketing and Innovation Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R.

Minster’s topics included the very successful ARRL Ham Radio Open House program, the growing interest among many amateurs in remote operating, and the current threat to our HF bands from stock trading businesses that are experimenting with using HF for high-speed data transmissions. He said ARRL might need to call on members down the road to contact their Congressional representatives to help protect amateur frequencies. On a more positive note, Minster also discussed the DXCC Trident, which he described as an extension of the DXCC program to offer a new award for working at least 100 DX entities on voice, CW and digital modes.

Inderbitzen’s comments focused on young hams, pointing out the free youth membership approved by the ARRL Board of Directors in 2024, and the need to increase the visibility of young people in amateur radio. “The next generation of amateur radio is already here and active,” he said, but is often unseen by the broader ham radio community.

A highlight of the ARRL member forum was the presentation by Director Yonally of the Great Lakes Division’s George S. Wilson, III, W4OYI, Lifetime Achievement Award to former Division Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK. According to Yonally, Williams worked his way up the ranks of the ARRL Field Organization from Assistant Emergency Coordinator in his hometown of Dundee, Michigan, to Section Manager before being elected Division Vice Director and then Director in 2014. As Director, he was one of the guiding lights behind the establishment of the Board’s third standing committee, the Emergency Communications and Field Services Committee. Yonally says Williams continues to be very active on the air, in local ham radio organizations and in his community. The award is named for former
ARRL President George Wilson, W4OYI (Silent Key), who came from the Great Lakes Division.

Back at the ARRL Expo area, ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, reported a steady flow of ARRL Volunteer Examiners and prospective VEs wanting to learn more about the transition to an all-digital exam system; members renewing their licenses, and getting information on the ARRL Youth Licensing Program, which covers the $35 FCC licensing fee for new licenses and license upgrades for young people under age 18.

ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, and “Marconi” program founder Ed Snyder, W1YSM, said the Hamvention was providing a “soft launch” of the Marconi program, which encourages very active clubs to mentor less-active clubs on ways to build up both activities and membership. In addition, said Walters, “there was considerable interest in club activity programs and in helping members become more radio-active.”

There was quite a bit of radio activity at the ARRL Youth Rally, with some two dozen young people learning about parachuting with a ham radio handheld, going on a foxhunt to find a hidden transmitter and trying to make contacts via amateur satellites.

ARRL author Glen Popiel, KW5GP, had a full house for his forum on the basics of using microcontrollers in amateur radio projects, and a steady line of readers later on, looking for his autograph on one of his two recent books, Best of Arduino Projects for Ham Radio and More Arduino for Ham Radio.

There was similar interest in different activities outside the ARRL Expo area. Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) President Bdale Garbee, KBØG, said “It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve been to Hamvention and I’m really pleased to see how much enthusiasm is still here.” He continued, “There are so many people wanting to talk to me about what they’ve done and what we’re doing and where they might intersect. I’m really enthusiastic.”

ARDC Executive Director Rosy Schechter, KJ7RYV, said she was pleased that more people seem to recognize ARDC and know what it is than at past Hamventions, and that she was “getting the community vibe” from attendees.

HamSCI Coordinator Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, said this year’s show was great and that people are quite interested in the group’s projects, such as the Personal Space Weather Station and HamSCI’s new Meteor Scatter QSO Party coming up later this year. “It’s very lively,” he said. “I’ve gotten to talk with people from all over... I want visitors to know they can use amateur radio to explore the world around us, and I want them to know that what we’re doing as scientists can enhance the amateur radio hobby.”

Two University of Scranton students who were part of the HamSCI team reflected on their impressions as first-time visitors to Hamvention. “I am fairly new to amateur radio,” said senior and physics major Rebecca Potter, KE2EBI, “and this is a good opportunity to walk around and see everything,” noting that she was looking for her first handheld.” The people, she added, “are all very nice. They’re all interested in talking about their hobby and passing it along to younger people.”

Computer science sophomore Owen Ruzanski, KD3ALD, agreed. “Everybody is super nice,” he said, “always willing to share their knowledge and help you get into the journey of ham radio.”

The final day of Hamvention is Sunday, from 9 AM to 1 PM.