Dayton Hamvention 2020 recap

COMMITTEE CANCELS HAMVENTION 2020

Posted March 15, 2020
The Hamvention Executive Committee has been monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. We have worked very closely with our local and state health Departments. It is with a very heavy heart the Hamvention Executive Committee has decided to cancel Hamvention for this year. This decision is extremely difficult for us but with around two months until the Great Gathering we felt this action necessary.More specific details regarding the closure will soon be posted here.Thank you for your understanding in this time of International Crisis.
Jack Gerbs WB8SCT, General Chairman HV2020

Visalia, HamSCI, and most other amateur radio gatherings and events were also canceled in 2020. Here is an ARRL list of other canceled events.

The weather on Friday May 15, 2020 is a high of 73 degrees F., overcast with the possibility of thunderstorms.
Saturday May 16, 2020 is a high of 77 degrees F., overcast with the possiblity of thunderstorms.
Sunday May 17, 2020 is a high of 75 degrees F and rain.

Contest University CTU was held on-line with a license from ZOOM. Close to 3000 people were in attendance. The webinar started around 8:45 AM and ended around 6:30 PM. The Youtube video is located here.

8:45 am EDT/12:45 UTC Welcome to CTU 2020 from W8CI, K3LR and N9JA

9:00 am EDT/13:00 UTC W3LPL – “Effective Low Band Receiving Antennas”

10:00 am EDT/14:00 UTC W2NAF – “2020 Solar Cycle Update and the HF Response to Ionospheric Storms and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances”

11:00 am EDT/15:00 UTC N6TV – “Everything You Need to Know About USB and Serial Interfaces”

12:00 pm EDT/16:00 UTC K1AR – Memorial reading of the Silent Keys for 2020

12:05 pm EDT/16:05 UTC Lunch on your own

12:30 pm EDT/16:30 UTC NN1C – “Exuberance and Youth Contesting – Update on What is Going On”

1:00 pm EDT/17:00 UTC W0YK – “Digital Contesting Hints & Kinks”

2:00 pm EDT/18:00 UTC K1DG – “Optimizing your Station for Contest Operations”

3:00 pm EDT/19:00 UTC N0AX – “Grounding & Bonding for Contest Stations”

4:00 pm EDT/20:00 UTC NC0B – “Contest & DX Performance A Complex Subject Today: Great RX Performance – TX Limitations”

5:00 pm EDT/21:00 UTC W3LPL – “60 Years of Competitive Contesting — the W3LPL Story”

6:00 pm EDT/22:00 UTC K3ZJ – Presentation of CQ Contest Hall Of Fame 2020

CQ Contest Hall of Fame

(Hicksville, NY - May 14, 2020) - 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, conducted a virtual induction ceremony at the conclusion of the daylong 2020 Contest University webinar.

The 2020 inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame are:

Geoffrey Howard, W0CG/PJ2DX, who purchased and restored the PJ9JT contest station in 2000 that had been owned by CQ Contest Hall of Famer John Thompson, W1BIH/PJ9JT. The location was named "Signal Point" and the PJ2T callsign pays homage to PJ9JT. Geoff established the Caribbean Contest Consortium to help manage and maintain the station, and has consistently made the station available to guest operators over the years, including serving as host station several times for young operators participating in the Dave Kalter Youth DX Adventure program. He has also worked closely with VERONA, Curacao's national ham radio society. Geoff served for more than 25 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a colonel; worked for RCA and the Federal Aviation Administration, and taught in the Graduate School of Management at Kent State University in Ohio.

Willard "Bill" Myers, K1GQ, a pioneer of computer-based systems for designing and switching antennas at contest stations, designed the Cushcraft "Skywalker" series of monoband Yagis, helped build the early PacketCluster network and served as mentor to several of today's most prominent contesters, including K1AR, K1DG, K1JX, and others. Bill was also a major behind-the-scenes force at the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) competition in Massachusetts, and is currently providing support and refinement of the SkookumLogger contest logging program for Apple computers.

Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ (SK), was a major force in VHF contesting as well as an accomplished HF contester. He was a member of both ARRL's and CQ's contest committees at various times between 1972 and 2012, was QST magazine's VHF Editor for nearly a decade, and was CQ Contest magazine's VHF columnist as well. Gene took over the struggling CQ World Wide VHF Contest in 1999, reinvented it as a 6- and 2-meter only event and sparked its growth into a truly worldwide competition. He was also instrumental in organizing the mid-Atlantic VHF contesting group that became known as the K8GP Grid Pirates.

Registered participants in the virtual Contest University webinar were able to view the induction ceremony live. It was also "simulcast" on DX Engineering's YouTube link, where it is also stored for later viewing. The recording of the ceremony may be accessed at <http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4V4B_mr1mYF5ycGQe_4Ytw>.

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 37th annual induction and the first to be conducted online.

CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

Announcing: 2020 Inductees, CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame (Hicksville, NY - May 15, 2020) - The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame has seven new members for 2020, CQ magazine announced today. This brings to 333 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 2020 inductees (listed alphabetically) are:

Chet Atkins, W4CGP (SK), legendary musician known as "Mister Guitar," and music producer; ushered in "the Nashville sound" on RCA Records (Note: Chet's call has subsequently been re-issued).

Les Barclay, G3HTF (SK), propagation expert, leader of International Telecommunication Union propagation study groups and Chairman of the ITU's first Radiocommunication Assembly in 1993; top official in the UK's telecommunication regulatory agency.

George Laurer, K4HZE (SK), developer of the UPC (universal product code) or "bar code" on merchandise, permitting items purchased at stores to be scanned on checkout rather than manually rung up.

Yasuo "Zorro" Miyazawa, JH1AJT, whose Foundation for Global Children helps fund educational and medical programs for children around the world; FGC also works with several countries to help them organize and train teams for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Champ Muangamphun, E21EIC, is a DXer and DXpeditioner who has been a sparkplug for growing interest in ham radio in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia; Champ also accompanies JH1AJT on many of his humanitarian missions and operates DXpedition-style ham stations while Zorro works with government officials and non-governmental organizations on behalf of the Foundation for Global Children.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said, A41AA (SK), Sultan of Oman from 1970-2020; transformed impoverished country into a modern and prosperous state with influence throughout the Middle East.

Tom Roscoe, K8CX, a champion of amateur radio history who collects and makes available online his "Ham Gallery" of old QSL cards and other historic photos.

(Hicksville, NY - May 20, 2020) - CQ magazine today announced the induction of the two newest members of 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, made a virtual presentation on the Ham Nation podcast on May 20.

The 2020 inductees to the CQ DX Hall of Fame are:

Tony Gonzalez, EA5RM - has been an active DXpeditioner for 20 years, often organizing and leading teams to operate from difficult and challenging locations. Tony and his teams have also helped establish or re-establish amateur radio activities in several countries, including Rwanda (where it had been banned for a decade due to civil war) and the newly-independent country of South Sudan. In addition, Tony has made 10 trips to Bolivia to establish and maintain HF communication links between medical facilities and remote villages in the Amazon rain forest, and has operated as CP1XRM during his free time. Tony's work in South America earned him the ARRL International Humanitarian Award in 2015.

Edward "Ned" Stearns, AA7A - is an accomplished DXer, DXpeditioner (he's been on 32 of them and led 8) and technical innovator. He introduced the use of switchable vertical dipole array antennas on island DXpeditions and designed "dual-band discone" antennas for use with the Northern California DX Foundation's worldwide beacon network. Ned also worked with 2019 DX Hall of Fame inductee Joe Taylor, K1JT, on developing the "Fox/Hound" mode for FT8 used by DXpeditions. Ned also maintains two remote stations in Arizona, has made presentations at many technical conferences and has served in a variety of leadership roles in the hobby. On the air, he is at the Top of the Honor Roll for DXCC Phone and Mixed, was the first recipient of 11-band DXCC and has worked over 160 countries via EME (Earth-Moon-Earth).

This year's induction ceremony was scheduled to be conducted online on Wednesday, May 20, on the Ham Nation podcast (<https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation>). 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 54th annual induction, and the first to be conducted online.

Below are notes that were collected before Hamvention was closed!

Three years after moving from the now-closed Hara Arena, Dayton Hamvention is committing to a long-term relationship to keep the annual event at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center.

Officials on Monday (September 9, 2019) announced a five-year contract was signed late last week for the amateur-radio convention to continue being held at the fairgrounds in Xenia.

“The community has been great to work with and five years shows our commitment to them and their commitment to us to continue to make improvements to the facility,” said Jack Gerbs, Hamvention general chairman. “With the investments we’re making, with the investments the community is making to keep us here, there should not be a reason for us to leave.”

K3LR UPDATE 9/12/2019 : After the 2019 Crowne Plaza experience I conducted a thorough review of all available facilities in the Dayton/Xenia area including several site visits. I also met with key stake holders and they assure me that the security issues with the Crowne have been dealt with. Local authorities have given assurances that there will be improvements during our stay for 2020. The adjoining parking garage work will be completed in time for our arrival. Therefore contester activities will stay at the Crowne for 2020.

*** Contest University USA 2020 *** will be held in Dayton - all day - at the Crowne Plaza on Thursday, May 14, 2020.

2020 RESERVATIONS at the Crowne Plaza Dayton open on Monday, September 16, 2019 at 9 AM EDT. This is the Contest University room block. The 2020 rate is $149.00 per night (same for single or double) plus tax. If you stayed at the Crowne Plaza this past May (Dayton 2019) and you filled out a 2020 Crowne Plaza hotel reservation form (left under your door on check-out day) and then dropped it off at the Crowne Plaza registration desk, then you should have or will get an email confirmation (with a confirmation number) from the Crowne Plaza for your 2020 Dayton reservation. If you would like to make a reservation for Dayton 2020 - the remaining Crowne Plaza rooms will be available for reservations starting Monday, September 16, 2019 at 9:00 AM EDT (eastern USA time). The GROUP CODE must be used to get in this room block. GROUP CODE is CON

The 2020 Dayton Hamvention week dates are: Wednesday May 13, 2020 CTU registration Thursday May 14, 2020 Contest University 2020 Friday May 15, 2020 Hamvention and 31st Annual Top Band Dinner Saturday May 16, 2020 Hamvention and 28th Annual Contest Dinner Sunday May 17, 2020 Hamvention The quickest way to get in the 2020 Crowne Plaza contest room block is via the website below. Starting Monday, September 16, 2019 at 9:00 AM eastern daylight time (1300 GMT) go to: http://contesthotel.com You must use the Contest Group Code CON when you make your reservation. This special Group Code will not work if you try to use it before 9:00 AM EDT on September 16, 2019. Your reservation can only be made starting after 9:00 AM EDT on Monday, September 16, 2019 and only with the CON Group Code. You may also call the reservation line - use the special CON Group Code - after 9:00 AM EDT on September 16, 2019. 1-800-689-5586 or 937-229-9853. As the phones get jammed - your BEST bet is to use the website. I expect the Crowne Plaza hotel will sell out very very quickly - so please plan your reservation submission accordingly.

Hamvention is increasing the cost of admission and its booth fees for 2020. The cost of general admission would rise by 4 USD per ticket to 26 USD in advance or 31 USD at the gate for all 3 days. The cost of flea market spots will go up by 5 USD per space, and inside exhibitors will pay 30 USD more.

Yasme Foundation
The Yasme Foundation has announced 2020 grants:

Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society (ET3AA) for VHF equipment.
Support to the SU8WRC/SU8X demonstration station at the World Radio Conference in Egypt.
YOTA (Youth On The Air) and HamSCI displays at Dayton Hamvention 2020.
Contest University at Dayton Hamvention 2020 - support of audio/visual equipment, student materials (handouts and books), and live internet streaming connections.
Hrvatski Radioamaterski Savez, HRS (Croatian Amateur Radio Association) to support YOTA (Youth On The Air) 2020 Region 1 conference.

The Yasme excellence awards:

James Sarté, K2QI and Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA for their efforts in combining the latest state of the art technology, diplomatic skills, persistence, and leadership. Additional help with gathering equipment and logistical support was provided by RA9USU, NT2Y, NT2X, K2LE, and N2UN (SK) culminating in reactivation of the United Nations Club Station 4U1UN.

INDEXA member Zorro Miyazawa, JH1AJT, has been named the 2020 Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year.

This honor was bestowed upon Zorro for his tireless efforts in education and humanitarianism. The Officers of INDEXA want all INDEXA members to be aware of and pleased with the recognition given to Zorro.INDEXA is especially proud to have one of its members and principal donors named as the 2020 Amateur of the Year by the Dayton Hamvention® This honor was bestowed upon Yasu “Zorro” Miyazawa, JH1AJT, for his charitable work in education and his humanitarianism. Zorro began his mission in 1984 and has since quietly established and led multiple educational and humanitarian programs, especially focusing on disadvantaged children. Through his work he has built educational bridges of hope stretching from kindergarten to post graduate programs and touched the lives of children in multiple countries and cultures. Many of his missions brought a taste of amateur radio and DXing to the lands he visited. Through his generous endowment, Zorro brought the INDEXA Humanitarian Aid Fund, “Hams With Hearts”, into existence, and linked DXing and DXpeditions with service to humanity. Now DXpeditions visiting disadvantaged areas can use funds provided by INDEXA and carry with them Zorro’s high-reaching optimism and faith and his ability to feel the needs of others and seek out solutions rather than fixate on problems. Through INDEXA’s Humanitarian Aid Fund “Hams With Hearts”, DXpeditions have helped schools, hospitals, villages and individuals by focusing on high impact low cost projects. People are empowered to overcome their adversities while respect and appreciation of amateur radio grows. Zorro, JH1AJT, was the catalyst who made this possible. Congratulations, Zorro. Your generosity, humanity and humility are an example for all of us.
Bob Schenck, N2OO, President of INDEXA
Ralph Fedor, KØIR, Chairman, BOD
March 20, 2020

The Hamvention Awards committee is pleased to announce the 2020 winners of the four annual Hamvention awards.

Co-chairs Michael Kalter, W8CI, and Frank Beafore, WS8B, thanked all those who submitted nominations. They also thanked the selection committee for its efforts, “The awards team gave the applications much deliberation and thought to make sure the best were selected.”The Club of the Year is honored for clearly demonstrating members involvement in varied aspects of Amateur Radio for the greater good of their community and/or their nation.

Club of the Year: South Canadian Amateur Radio Society: (SCARS) is an ARRL Special Services Club based in the Cleveland County, Oklahoma area:

No, it is not a Canadian club; the name references the South end of the Canadian River that runs west of town. Formed in 1977, the club works hard to grow and support the amateur radio operators in the area. Through their https://w5nor.org website, Facebook presence, YouTube channel, and weekly newsletter, their reach has expanded to reach thousands of hams monthly, from around the globe. For more about the club’s activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/ .The Amateur of the Year Award. The amateur of the Year Award is given to a ham that has made a long-term commitment to the advancement to amateur radio. This individual will have a history of ham radio contributions and has had a dedication to service, professionalism and the advancement of the avocation of amateur radio.

Amateur of The Year: JH1AJT Yasuo Zorro MIYAZAWA:

It was in 1964 when JH1AJT Yasuo MIYAZAWA —also well know as “Zorro”— obtained his first JA license for ham radio operation when he was 15 years old. As a high school student, he didn’t own good equipment, but he enjoyed operation with radios and antennas handmade by himself. At that time, there were not many operators on 10m band and many foreign DXpeditioners called Zorro every day. This experience led him to the DX world, and his international humanitarian activities as well.
He is currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SEISA Group, Chairperson of FGC, and Chairperson of SEISA Group’s Kokusai Gakuen Education Institute. He is also a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy. For more about JH1AJT’s activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/ .The Technical Achievement Award is given to a selected amateur radio operator who has achieved technical excellence in the world of amateur radio. Examples are inventions, processes, discoveries, experiments and other technical accomplishments or any other outstanding technical achievement that contributed to amateur radio.

Technical Achievement Award: The 2020 Technical Achievement Award goes to Steve Franke, K9AN, Bill Somerville, G4WJS, and Joe Taylor, K1JT:

Steve Franke, Bill Somerville, and Joe Taylor have been licensed radio amateurs for a combined total of 154 years. Over the past seven years they’ve worked closely together on all aspects of the ham-radio software package WSJT-X — and in particular the digital protocol FT8 and its younger brother, FT4. FT8 was introduced in July 2017, soon accounting for a large fraction of all ham radio activity on the HF bands. FT4 is a closely related mode designed especially for digital contesting. For more about the winners’ activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/ The Special Achievement Award is given to a deserving amateur who made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the radio art and or science. This award is usually given to a respected amateur who spearheaded a single significant project.

Special Achievement Award: Jordan Sherer KN4CRD:

Jordan is an experienced software engineer by day and digital amateur radio operator by night. After becoming licensed in 2017, Jordan started his journey into ham radio exploring PSK31, JT65, and soon after FT8. Fascinated by the ability to connect with others using low power, Jordan set out to experiment with developing a protocol for weak signal mesh networking and communication. After many hours of programming while holding his newborn daughter, what resulted was JS8Call. For more about the winners’ activities see https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/ .

Annual Intrepid Spirit Award goes to the VP8PJ Team:

The Intrepid-DX Group is pleased to announce the recipients of the annual “Intrepid Spirit Award”.
This year’s award goes to the Perseverance DX Group’s VP8PJ South Orkney Island team for their superb activation from Signy Island. This DXpedition was extremely well planned and executed from this very remote, cold and harsh Island.
This award is to recognize the entire team’s collective effort to activate these challenging and much needed entities on behalf of a grateful Global DX Community. The team was comprised of Dave-K3EL, Les-W2LK, Gene-K5GS, Arliss-W7XU, Heye-DJ9RR, Laci-HA0NAR, Vadym-UT6UD, Walt-N6XG, Rob-N7QT, Steve-W1SRD, Mike-WA6O, Ken-NG2H, Hans-Peter-HB9BXE and Alan-VK6CQ.
We acknowledge the team’s pursuit of operating excellence in making these difficult activations. It is for these reasons that we are honoring them with our Intrepid Spirit Award. This award would normally be presented in front of their peers at the International DX Convention in Visalia, CA.
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,
The Intrepid-DX Group

DXpedition of the Year:

The Southwest Ohio DX Association is pleased to present this year’s DXpedition of the Year Award to the TI9A Cocos Island DXpedition.

The DXpedition team included: Dmitry, RA9USU; Andy, UA3AB; Mats, RM2D and Jorge, TI2JV.

Some of the 2019 / 2020 Silent Keys, these are usually read at the Contest Dinner by K1AR:

K5AQ, W4MPY, W6BSY, VU2PAI, E73W, N2AA, W2OO, K1JGA, W9IU, AA8U, K0IO, JA1AA, KE7V, W7SE, DJ2YE, K1GW, NK3Y, K3ANS, W2OB, YO8SS, JA2BAY, N2CQ, N7RT, N4PN, HS0ZLM/OZ1HET, K6HNZ, DK9SG, VE3XT, K5AAD, VE7NKI, K5DJ, PY5ZBU, K5YAA, W7QN, WV2ZOW, K8LEE, W4OC, W4QM/VQ9QM, W7NI, K9HMB, W6MVW, WT8C, N8MUN, W8ILC, K1LPS, W8RC, KH6DX, W3YOZ, K2MFY, NA3D, K2RIW, K4LTA, KV4FZ, KM8Q.

CQ Hall of Fame, DX Hall of Fame, Contest Hall of Fame info courtesy of CQ Communications, Inc

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