Dayton Hamvention 2019

DAYTON HAMVENTION 2019 REVIEW

If you have any interesting stories or fun moments about Dayton Hamvention in 2019, any reviews of any forum, please send them to K8CX and I will add them to this page.

"Mentoring the Next Generation" is Hamvention and ARRL 2019 National Convention Theme

Hamvention General Chairman was Jack Gerbs WB8SCT, Assistant General Chairman was Rick Allnutt WS8G.

This years attendance was 32,472, last years attendance (2018) was 28,417.
Free admission on Sunday, for the 1st time, accounted for 800 on the total.

This was the 3rd year at the Zenia County Fairgrounds. The Hamvention committee is doing a great job. The traffic going to the fairgrounds was smooth. The flee market had some crushed asphalt on the walkways and was in good shape. There were golf carts transporting people to and from their cars in the large parking lot. I think I heard someone say that there were 88 golf carts. This is a GREAT service that I appreciated very much! The parking field was slightly muddy in spots but not too bad. DARA also had several satellite parking areas set up in all directions from the fair grounds that you could park and get bussed to and from the fair grounds. The large crowd seemed well spread out through out the several buildings at the fairgrounds even though some of the isles were jammed and slow to navigate. There were food venders outside but long lines at some. All in all it was a good experience and very enjoyable event. The weather couldn't have been better.

Hamvention had several services available. Here are a few: emergency medical care with on site doctor, lost and found, message center, license exams, shipping service, special event station, talk-in frequencies, truck and trailer parking, camper parking, electric scooters, and more!

The weather (May 16, 17, 18, 19, 2019):
Thursday was 80 degrees F and sunny, some rain on Thursday night.
Friday was 84 degrees F, humid, overcast.
Saturday was 86 degrees F and sunny.
Sunday was 87 degrees F and sunny. It was a very nice weekend for all of Hamvention.

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association has announced the winners of the 2019 Hamvention® Awards, considered among the most prestigious recognitions in amateur radio.

This year's Amateur of the Year is HamSCI founder and coordinator Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF.

HamSCI – Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation – is a program designed to build long-term relationships between amateur radio operators, acting as citizen scientists, and professional researchers in the fields of propagation and space science. The hams can provide hundreds or thousands of data collection points while the scientists can use that data to learn more about phenomena related to radio wave propagation. Frissell also organized the 2017 Solar Eclipse QSO Party.

Technical Achievement Award, Piero Begali, I2RTF

Dayton's Technical Achievement award this year goes to telegraph key designer and manufacturer Piero Begali, I2RTF.

Special Achievement Award, Chris Janssen DL1MGB / KO2WW

The Special Achievement award will recognize the efforts of Chris Janssen, DL1MGB/KO2WW, for his work as president of the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC2018) in Germany.

Club of the Year, Nashua Area Radio Society

The 2019 Club of the Year is New Hampshire's Nashua Area Radio Society, a club of more than 200 members with a prime focus on mentoring and youth outreach to bring more people into amateur radio and help them get on the air.

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

Kenneth Opskar LA7GIA

This year’s award goes to a notable Dxer and Dxpeditioner that we have come to respect and admire greatly, Mr. Kenneth Opskar-LA7GIA. This award is to recognize Ken’s outstanding efforts to activate Malawi-7Q7GIA, Comoros-D67GIA, Equatorial Guinea-3C7A, Central African Republic-TL8AO, Congo-TN5E, Somalia-6O6O and Chad as TT8KO. We recognize Ken’s unselfish acts to activate these challenging and much needed entities on behalf of a grateful Global DX Community. We acknowledge Ken’s pursuit of operating excellence in making these difficult activations. It is for these reasons that we honored him with our Intrepid Spirit Award, presented at the International DX Convention, Visalia, California on April 12th, 2019.

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.

CQ NEWS RELEASE (Announcing: 2019 Inductees, CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame). Rich Moseson, W2VU, Editor or CQ Amateur Radio, sent out the following:

Five Amateurs to be Inducted into CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame -- (Xenia, Ohio - May 17, 2019) - The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame has five new members for 2019, CQ magazine announced today. This brings to 326 the total number of members inducted since the hall's establishment in 2001. 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 2019 inductees (listed alphabetically) are:

* John Attaway, Sr., K4IIF (SK), served for more than 20 years as CQ's DX Editor, proposing the establishment of the CQ DX Hall of Fame in 1967. Professionally, John was a chemist who spent 26 years as Director of Scientific Research for the Florida Department of Citrus, where he worked to improve the quality of Florida orange juice. He served on several industry committees and was named to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 2001.

* Dave Bernstein, AA6YQ, author of the DXLab software suite, which he has placed in the public domain, and provided behind-the-scenes help in integrating the ARRL's Logbook of the World software with outside programs.

* Doreen Bogdan-Martin, KD2JTX, Director of the International Tele- communication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau and the first woman ever to hold a senior elected position in the ITU.

* Predescu Florin Cristian, YO0CNU, founder of Europe's Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) program to encourage young people to become hams and be active on the air.

* Ellen White, W1YL, the grand dame of DXing, served as the ARRL's Deputy Communications Manager, was QST magazine's DX editor, recorded QST on tape for the Library of Congress's talking book program for the visually-impaired, and was instrumental in the founding of Murphy's Marauders (the predecessor of today's Yankee Clipper Contest Club) and the Florida Contest Group. She was also recently awarded Russia's E.T. Krenkel Medal for outstanding global contributions to amateur radio.

(Xenia, OH - May 17, 2019) - CQ magazine today announced the induction of one individual and one group to the CQ DX Hall of Fame, which honors those DXers who not only excel in personal performance but who also "give back" to the hobby in outstanding ways. CQ DX Editor Bob Schenck, N2OO, presented Hall of Fame plaques at an induction ceremony held at the annual Dayton DX dinner on May 17. The 2019 inductees to the CQ DX Hall of Fame are:

Joe Taylor, K1JT - Nobel Prize winning-astrophysicist who has revolutionized the face of DXing with his suite of WSJT weak-signal digital modes, including FT8, which is capable of decoding signals well below the noise level. The modes pioneered by Joe have kept the HF bands busy and the DXers active even during the current solar minimum. Other WSJT modes have also revolutionized VHF/UHF DXing via moonbounce and meteor scatter. Taylor shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of binary pulsars.

Silvano Borsa, I2YSB, and the Italian DXpedition Team - The Italian DXpedition Team has made more than 20 major DXpeditions in the past 20 years, mostly to Africa, where its members have activated more than a dozen rare countries, making nearly 1.4 million QSOs along the way. In addition, the team has arranged for the donation and delivery of two ambulances from Italy to Somalia, one of the many countries it has activated. In addition to team leader Silvano Borsa, I2YSB, the Italian DXpedition Team members include: Alfeo Caputo, I1HJT; Vincio Ravizza, IK2CIO; Angelo Selva, IK2CKR; Marcello Cassinelli, IK2DIA; Stefano Casari, IK2HKT; Angelo Gino Zambaiti, IK2RZP, and Mac Shimamoto, JA3USA.

The CQ DX Hall of Fame was established in 1967 to recognize those amateurs who have made major contributions to DXing and DXpeditioning. This is the 53rd annual induction.

(Xenia, OH - May 18, 2019) - CQ magazine today announced the induction of three new members to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, which honors those contesters who not only excel in personal performance but who also "give back" to the hobby in outstanding ways. CQ Contesting Editor David Siddall, K3ZJ, presented Hall of Fame plaques at an induction ceremony held at the annual Dayton contest dinner on May 18. The 2019 inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame are:

Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, provides a great service to the contesting community via web-based resources for many popular contests. He maintains the most comprehensive contest calendar on the web, and he developed the popular <3830Scores.com> website where contesters go to post raw scores after an event ends, to compare notes and search past contest logs. He is also manager of the North American QSO Party and developed the current National Contest Journal website.

Dean Straw, N6BV, is an outstanding contester, a talented writer, editor, presenter and educator, and has advanced the state of the art in antennas, computer modeling, propagation and contest planning and preparation. As an ARRL staff member for 15 years, he edited multiple editions of The ARRL Antenna Book and several other publications. He also developed the High Frequency Terrain Analysis (HFTA) software ,which revolutionized antenna system planning by linking antenna design, installation height, tower location, surrounding terrain, and the expected angles of propagation to target regions. His work with the propagation prediction program VOACAP revolutionized the way we plan for contests, allowing specific band opening predictions dependent on solar conditions to indicate when band changes and operations should be planned.

Kresimir "Chris" Kovarik, 9A5K (SK), developed the DXLog and KLog programs, competed in the World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) and served the broader amateur radio community in Europe as past president of the Croatian Amateur Radio Association and as vice-chairman of the IARU Region 1 HF Committee. He became a Silent Key earlier this year.

The CQ Contest Hall of Fame was established in 1986 to recognize those amateurs who have made major contributions to the art of radio contesting. This is the 36th annual induction.

Yasme Foundation
The Yasme Foundation has announced 2019 grants, $5,000 to the FAR, Foundation for Amateur Radio and $5,000 to the ARRL scholarship program and $5,000 to WRTC 2022, planned for Italy, for general support, and a grant to sponsor the Widow's Ball during WRTC 2022.

Angel Vazquez WP3R

The Yasme Excellence Award, a cash grant and engraved crystal globe this year goes to WP3R, Angel Vazquez, for his help in hurricane recovery efforts and as an outstanding ambassador for Amateur Radio.

Nikola Percin 9A5W

Second, to 9A5W, Nikola Percin, for advancing Amateur Radio in the Croatia region. He is a co-founder of the 9A1A group.

SWODXA's DXpedition of the Year Award

DXPEDITION OF THE YEAR (By Southwest Ohio DX Association - SWODXA). This year's "2019 SWODXA DXpedition" at the Day-Xenia's HamVention went to the KH1/KH7Z Baker Island DXpedition. The KH1/KH7Z DXpedition Team consisted of James/9V1YC, Ned/AA7A, George/AA7JV, Tomi/HA7RY, Ken/JN1THL, Mike/KN4EEI, John/K6MM, Kevin/K6TD, Doug/N1DG, Rick/N4HU, Sam/N4XP, Arnold/N6HC, Mike/N6MZ, David/WJ2O, Bud/N7CW, Bob/VA7DX."

Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, 2019 Hamvention General Chairman, said, "We have decided to open the doors to Hamvention to the public on Sunday, May 19, without buying a ticket. This will make it a little easier and cheaper for someone with just a little interest in Hamvention to see what all the excitement is about".

The chairman said that Sunday is Hamvention's lightest traffic day, making it convenient for anyone who just wants check out what's there. Many vendors have final day specials on a variety of items. The many food trucks offer a wide selection of menus, providing residents with a chance to make Hamvention 2019 a family outing.

Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio was the site of Hamvention from 1964 to 2017. On May 27, 2019, tornados and severe storms tore thru Trotwood and severely damaged the vacant Hara Arena.

Contest University by K3LR, 13th CTU was held on Thursday May 16, 2019, 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.

Contest Dinner celebrated their 27th anniversary. It was held at Crowne Plaza downtown Dayton. Keynote speaker was Ted Rappaport N9NB.

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 including NODXA Northern Ohio DX Assn. on the 10th floor, KCDXC 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.

There was a female singer on Friday evening in the Super Suite. She was JI1BTL.

Crowne Plaza gives a form (seventh 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 2019 Photo Gallery is now up and contains 356 photos by Tom Roscoe K8CX plus a few extras that will be submitted. Others are encouraged to submit their 2019 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 this years Contest Dinner. A moment of silence with much respect was given to them. They were: W0AIH, 9A5K, W6KY, G3VZT, WA7LT, W6VNR/ZF2AH, W6SZN, K7OX, K3ND, AA6EE, TA3D, W3XO, VE5SDH, W4MYA, K8OQL, K3KO, K1AM, S58A, VE1ZZ, K0KL, K5MA, AB5K, KG6IRW, N2NS, W7GG, K7GEX, ZP5MAL, DJ4PT, K2TTT, K3CP, N8XX, JH7DNO, JA2BNN, N1AU, PV8ADI, AA5VU, HI3K, VE2AWR, WA8REI, W5ASP.

Additional information for this page on Dayton 2019 can be submitted to K8CX.

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

Intrepid Spirit Award courtesy of N6PSE
CQ News Releases courtesy of W2VU
Info courtesy of YASME Foundation