Dayton Hamvention 2016

DAYTON 2016 REVIEW

If you have any interesting stories or fun moments about Dayton in 2016, any reviews of any forum, please send them to K8CX and I will add them to this page.

This years attendance was 25,364. Last years (2015) attendance was 25,621.

The 65th DARA sponsored Hamvention was on May 20, 21, 22, 2016 and the weather was:
Friday May 20: High of 69 degrees and overcast.
Saturday May 21: The low 60's with periods of rain throughout the day. A microburst occurred in the fleemarket north of the Mendelson tents and caused some damage.
Sunday May 22: Sunday was high 70's and sunny.

This years theme was "The Radio Frontier", Looking to new methods and devices in communication.

ARRL's theme seemed to be NPOTA; National Parks On The Air!

Dayton Hamvention® has named its 2016 award winners. Three radio amateurs and a club will be honored during the annual ham radio gathering, which takes place May 20 - 22.

Frank Beafore, WS8B, chairman for the 2016 ® awards program, announced recipients of the Amateur of the Year, Technical Achievement, Special Achievement, and Club of the Year awards on March 18.

Nobel Laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT, of Princeton, New Jersey, has been named as the 2016 Dayton Hamvention® Amateur of the Year.

Taylor won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 for the discovery of the first orbiting pulsar, leading to observations that established the existence of gravitational waves. Licensed in 1954 as KN2ITP, Taylor served as a professor of astronomy at the University of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1981, and later as a professor of physics at Princeton University, serving as Dean of the Faculty for 6 years. Since his retirement, Taylor has been developing and enhancing digital protocols for weak-signal communication by Amateur Radio, including JT65 and WSPR. He chases DX from 160 meters through the microwave bands.

Hamvention will present the Technical Achievement Award to John S. Burningham, W2XAB, of Morrow, Georgia.

A radio amateur since 1970, he has been involved with amateur repeaters for more than 40 years. Following positions in the aerospace industry and for Motorola, he has been in higher education for more than 20 years, and now serves as a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at Clayton State University, teaching computer networking. He plans to retire in May. Burningham is a Life Member of the ARRL and QCWA and a member of AMSAT and TAPR. He currently is active in the digital mobile radio community and is the author of the Amateur Radio Guide to Digital Mobile Radio. He also wrote “Introduction to Digital Mobile Radio,” which appeared in the October 2015 issue of QST, and he is a contributing author in the 2016 ARRL Handbook. He also has presented numerous DMR forums, including one at Hamvention.

The 2016 Hamvention Special Achievement Award will go to Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, of Wolcott, Connecticut.

Stan advocated cutting edge technologies now commonly used in Amateur Radio. Horzepa has authored five books and written more than 1200 pieces for ARRL and TAPR, evangelizing the use of home computers, packet radio, APRS, digital signal processing (DSP) and software defined radio (SDR) in Amateur Radio. Licensed in 1969 as WN1LOU, Horzepa has sampled almost every entrée on the ham radio menu and has served in a slew of roles, including ARRL Connecticut Section Manager. Presently, Horzepa is a director and secretary for TAPR and serves as editor of TAPR’s newsletter, PSR. “LOU” has driven the 735 miles to Hamvention most years since 1978, and looks forward to doing so forever. “My fondest memories of ham radio are rubbing elbows and making friends with the makers and shakers of our hobby who show up at Hamvention every year,” Horzepa said.

Rocky Mountain Ham Radio has been named as Hamvention Club of the Year.

The organization, based in the Denver, Colorado, suburbs, offers its services to other ham radio clubs and ARES groups to help them be successful. Technical assistance, classroom training on myriad subjects, mentoring, equipment/system design, and public service are among the services it provides. The group owns and maintains fixed analog and digital/DMR repeater assets, including one of the premier private DMR networks in the nation, which is linked with an amateur microwave network that spans the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Cañon City, Colorado.

The group also owns and operates a deployable communications command post in a 26 foot trailer, with capabilities that include satellite Internet, terrestrial 4G Internet, D-Star, IP telephone, DMR, HF, VHF, UHF, and packet/PACTOR. Working hand-in-hand with partner clubs and ARES groups, Rocky Mountain Ham Radio also maintains a volunteer examiner team and works with its associated youth organization, the Cherry Creek Young Amateur Radio Club, to ensure a steady stream of new radio amateurs ready to become the next generation of members. There are no dues; membership is granted through participation in the club’s events throughout the year.

The 27th Annual TopBand Dinner was on Friday, May 20, 2016 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Keynote speaker is TopBand reflector moderator and noted 160 meter DXer Tree, N6TR.

The CQ Amateur Radio, DX and Contest Halls of Fame honor those amateurs who not only excel in personal performance in these major areas of amateur radio but who also "give back" to the hobby in outstanding ways.

The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honors those individuals, whether
licensed hams or not, who have made significant contributions to amateur
radio; and those amateurs who have made significant contributions either
to amateur radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect
of life on our planet. The 2016 inductees (listed alphabetically) are:

Bob Arnold, N2JEU (SK) - Co-developer (with Keith Lamonica, W7DXX,
see below) of the first internet-controlled remote base.

Grant Bingeman, KM5RG (SK) - Developed "method of moments" antenna
modeling software for AM broadcast stations and 160-meter
amateur antennas.

Bob Carpenter, W3OTC (SK) - Pioneer of meteor scatter and FM stereo
broadcast technology; longtime AMSAT volunteer.

David Dary, W5ZAX - Journalist, author, journalism educator - former
correspondent for CBS and NBC News, journalism professor
at University of Kansas and University of Oklahoma, author
of over 20 books on the American West.

Matt Ettus, N2MJI - Software defined radio pioneer; developed first
Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) with GNU radio
software support.

Terry Fox, WB4FJI - Packet radio pioneer; primary developer of AX.25
amateur packet protocol.

Elmer "Bud" Frohardt, Jr., W9DY (SK) - The original "Elmer" for whom
ham radio mentors are named (courtesy of a 1971 QST "How's
DX?" column by Rod Newkirk, W9BRD/VA3ZBB).

Fred Gissoni, K4JLX (SK) - Adaptive technology pioneer; co-developer
of the Porta-Braille and Pocket-Braille note-taking devices
for the visually impaired, as well as many other devices.

Ken Kellerman, K2AOE - Radioastronomer; pioneer of radio interferometry;
co-developer of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI),
which permits multiple telescopes to function as a single instrument.

Keith Lamonica, W7DXX - Co-developer (with the late Bob Arnold, N2JEU)
of the first internet-controlled remote base.

George Mitchell, K6ZE (SK) - Member of the Tuskegee Airmen in World
War II and 2007 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal
for his wartime service.

Les Mitchell, G3BHK (SK) - Founder of Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), annual
event to introduce amateur radio to scouts and guides around
the world.

William Moerner, WN6I - Co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry
for his work in high-resolution microscopy.

Leigh Orf, KG4ULP - Co-developer of tornado simulator using computer
modeling to simulate conditions under which tornadoes form.

Joe Rudi, NK7U - Former Major League baseball player; 3-time All-Star.

Wes Schum, W9DYV (SK) - Co-founder of Central Electronics, developed
first commercially-manufactured amateur radio SSB transmitter.

Garry Shandling, ex-KQ6KA/KD6OY (SK) - Well-known comedian, actor, writer
and television personality.

Mason Southwirth, ex-W1VLH (SK) - Head of ARRL International Geophysical
Year (IGY) Propagation Research Project in 1958-59; conducted
additional propagation research at Stanford University.

Boris Stepanov, RU3AX (ex-UW3AX) - Leading Russian amateur, deputy editor
of Russian Radio magazine; pioneer of computerized contest
logging and log-checking; developed prototype for World
Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC); first to propose "glass
cockpit" for ham transceiver, combining frequency readout
and spectrum scope on front panel display.

Rufus Turner, W3LF (SK) - Believed to be the first African-American radio
amateur in the U.S.; helped develop 1N34A diode; wrote 1949
article in Radio-Electronics magazine on how to "Build a Transistor".

Perry Williams, W1UED (SK) - Longtime ARRL Washington Coordinator and
League archivist; convinced Congress to approve vanity call-
sign program and not to impose a license application fee on
amateurs; persuaded FCC to retain large amateur microwave al-
locations and to create primary amateur allocation at 2.4 GHz.

CQ DX Halls of Fame:

The CQ DX and Contest Halls of Fame honor those amateurs who not only
excel in personal performance in these major areas of amateur radio but
who also "give back" to the hobby in outstanding ways.

For only the second time in its history, this year, we induct a non-amateur
- in fact, a group of non-amateurs - to the CQ DX Hall of Fame (The first
was Islands on the Air founder Geoff Watts in 1977). The 2016 inductees are:

Nigel Jolly and the Crew of the RV Braveheart - Jolly and his crew (and
ship) have provided transportation for - and assured the
safety of - many of the major DXpeditions to southern islands
in the past 15 years, DXpeditions that likely would not
otherwise have taken place.

Roger Balister, G3KMA - As manager of the Islands on the Air program
since 1985, Roger has seen IOTA grow from a few hundred early
participants to more than 10,000 today, making it one of the
most popular award programs in amateur radio.

The 2016 inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame are:

Richard Strand KL7RA (sk). A radio astronomer taking advantage of the quiet of the northern latitudes for his research, Rich Strand built and maintained highly competitive contest stations in a very difficult environment and was, for many hams, their first (or only) CQ Zone 1 contact.

Tod Olson K0TO. Tod is the founding editor of the National Contest Journal and has served the general amateur radio community as an ARRL Section Manager, Vice Director, Division Director and International Affairs Vice President.

DXpedition of the Year was awarded to the team of South Sandwich Is. VP8STI / South Georgia Is. VP8SGI at the DX Dinner at the Marriot on Friday night.

Contest University by K3LR, 10th anniversary was sold out and was held on Thursday May 19, 2016, from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dayton, Ohio. This is the day before the Dayton Hamvention officially opens. Participants gained much contest knowledge. Tim also won The YASME Award this year for CTU.

Contest Dinner was sold out on Saturday for the 1st time with 485 attending.

This years DX Forum:
South Sandwich VP8STI and South Georgia VP8SGI by K3LP
Palmyra Atoll K5P by N2TU & K9CT
Chesterfield Islands TX3X 2015 by K5GS
Heard Is. VK0EK by KK6EK

The Intrepid-DX Group is pleased to announce the recipient of the 34th annual “Intrepid Spirit Award”.

The Intrepid DX Group has announced that noted DXer and DXpeditioner Yasuo “Zorro” Miyazawa, JH1AJT, is the recipient of its 4th annual

Intrepid Spirit Award. The award recognizes his efforts in activating Eritrea, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

“Zorro is largely responsible for fulfilling the need for Eritrea, Myanmar, and Bangladesh contacts,” Intrepid-DX Group President Paul Ewing, N6PSE, said. “We recognize Zorro’s unselfish acts to activate these challenging and much needed entities. We acknowledge Zorro’s pursuit of operating excellence and his quest to activate the rare and often difficult entities.”

The Intrepid Spirit Award was presented on April 16 at the International DX Convention in Visalia, California. Miyazawa was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in 2015.

The award recognizes and honors individuals or teams that “boldly activate rare entities, where their own personal safety is secondary to their pursuit of providing contacts to the DX community,” the Intrepid-DX Group says.

This “Intrepid-Spirit Award” is made in memory of our fallen friend and member, James McLaughlin, T6AF who was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan in April, 2011. The award is intended to recognize and honor those individuals or teams that boldly activate rare entities where their own personal safety is secondary to their pursuit of providing contacts to the DX Community. While we do not encourage Dxers to go into harm’s way, we recognize that circumstances sometimes require that and we recognize those Intrepid Dxers with the Intrepid Spirit Award.

Thank you, Paul S. Ewing, N6PSE - President, The Intrepid-DX Group

Also of special interest was The Rich Strand KL7RA (sk) Family of 10 members showed up to witness KL7RA being honored into the Contest Hall of Fame at the Contest Dinner. Rich's son Jeff gave an interesting talk at the dinner.
Nigel Jolly KC3HAE, captain, owner of The Braveheart ship that is used by most major DXpeditions, made his maiden trip to Dayton. Nigel and his crew were inducted into the CQ Hall of Fame.

The Contest Super Suite on the 1st floor of Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton was open 4 nights with free pizza all 4 nights. There were also hospitality suites on other floors of the Crowne Plaza. There was Northern Ohio DX Assn. on the 10th floor and Kansas City DX Club on the 5th floor. Crowne Plaza downtown Dayton is definately the place to be in the evening when visiting Hamvention. Please make it a point to join us there next year.

The Spurious Emissions Band played Friday night in the Crowne Plaza Banquet Room with standing room only. They definately out grown the Super Suite room.

Crowne Plaza gives a form (fourth year) to fill out before leaving. This reserves you a room (3 nights only) for the following year. This is a much better arrangement than setting a date for you to call in.

The Dayton 2016 Photo Gallery is now up and contains 442 photos by Tom Roscoe K8CX plus a few extras that will be submitted. Others are encouraged to submit their 2016 photos to be included on the Gallery. There must be at least one ham in the photo that isn't already listed on this page. There is a search engine on this page to make checking easy. All hams in the photos must be identified by callsign. Past year photos can also be submitted.

There is a list of Silent Keys that were paid tribute at the Contest Dinner. A moment of silence with much respect was given to them. They were: KL7RA, W6RJ, WA6ITF, ZL2AL, HS0ZDZ/G3NOM, W6XX, N7MQ, KI6Y, KO7X, W7OO, K0TV, KJ0G, NE5S, N7OU, PC5M, W3TDF, VE4YU, K8TME, N5DC, W0UCE, WA3HUP, AL9A, HC5EA/CE3EEA, N9NS, W0UN, WD4AHZ.

Additional information for this page on Dayton 2016 can be submitted to K8CX.

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this page.
Thanks to ARRL, DARA for permission on select item