Just Back from Xenia...

[KD8TUT]

Well... against all odd my wife and I made it and spent a full day there.

What an improvement over HARA. That was a great place for an even. I'll assume it was difficult with rain in previous years. But for us it was hot and dry.

Didn't really get excited about anything other than "radio in general". Didn't buy anything. Just met and hung out with friends.

One highlight was meeting Doug Wheelock the Astronaut who has logged a lot of hours in space. Also, met Tamitha Skove the Space Weather Woman and had an extended conversation with her. She's pretty adamant about bringing science and ham radio together- which I think is very cool.

wheelock.jpgtamitha.jpg

[WZ7U]

Michael, it's good to see a positive review of Xenia compared to the crap you see on that other site. I'm glad you got to meet some interesting people in amateur radio too. I will seriously consider coming to Ahia now with the improved venue. While toilet geysers do have a certain juvenile appeal, I think I can pass on that bucket list check mark.

Glad you and your honey had a great time.

[kb2vxa]

Ditto the above. Come to Ahia ta ask ahia doon? That poor lady is in for a rude awakening when she discovers how progress took science out of Amateur Radio and turned the younger generation into plug n' play hams. If she wants to see the place where they are still together she'll have to visit an R&D lab in Japan, but first learn 若いユニットはドライバーモジュールです. (younger unit is driver module) Remember the early Icom manuals?

As an aside, I don't think any of the hair dye companies will ever get what a natural redhead looks like. (I know, I dated two of them.) The poor woman has a head covered with copper wire just like a girl my friends and I knew back in the '60s. We called her Electric Arkoff after Samuel Z. Arkoff the sci-fi movie producer.

[N2SR]

Agreed! The new venue is 100% better than hara. Sure there have been some initial problems, especially in the flea market, but overall, it's a winner.

However, IMO I think there are some things that dara should address.

- The shuttle buses are school buses. That's fine. But the seats of those buses are made for mainly thin school students, not large adults. So counting people standing in line based on the amount of "seats" in a school bus is ridiculous.

- There is still only one entrance gate for attendees. So everyone piles up at the one gate, and it takes 15-20 minutes to get through the cattle shoot if you are in the rear of the pile. Since there seems to be plenty of room between the fence and the road, why not create a separate entrance on the far side of the race track, so that people who want to walk the flea market can do so. Just put a barrier between the flea market area and the indoor exhibits. Then dara could have staggered openings like they had a hara (flea market at 8 am, inside at 9 am).

- There is a map of the booths and what vendors are where for each building. Great idea! However, the map is the same for each entrance. So how about putting a "You are here" sticker/tag on the map at each entrance? That way, you don't have to wander through the inside of the building to cross to the other side to find a vendor.

- They need more shelter and places to sit down.

- The food trucks are great. A bit pricey, but the quality of the food is 1000% better than hara.

Just my $0.02

[N8YX]

Was the new DZ-Kit Sienna HF+6 in attendance? How about the K4?

I'm leaning heavily towards 2x of the latter at some point...possibly an FTDX-101D.

[KD8TUT]

Was the new DZ-Kit Sienna HF+6 in attendance? How about the K4?

I'm leaning heavily towards 2x of the latter at some point...possibly an FTDX-101D.

Really only spent time looking at the K4... I'm confused by the radio.

[NQ6U]

Really only spent time looking at the K4... I'm confused by the radio.

Me too. That doesn't mean I don't want one, though.

[n6hcm]

I was happy with the venue, too. There could have been more shady spots to sit under, but it was very good...

More later.

[KD8TUT]

Me too. That doesn't mean I don't want one, though.

You so easy :P

[NQ6U]

You so easy :P

I am a radio slut. I freely admit this.