Dayton Hamvention Report

Hamvention 1995 Observations

The largest ham radio convention in the U.S.A. is held each year at the end of April in Dayton, Ohio. Attendance is generally in the range of 30,000 - 35,000 people.

Drought in Dayton

Traditionally the weather has always included at least one cold and rainy day. This year Friday and Saturday were warm and sunny. As a result, people spent more time outdoors and the exhibit hall was quite empty compared to other years. All the indoor vendors I spoke to said sales were way down compared to earlier years. A couple grumbled they didn't even make enough sales to cover booth and travel expenses.

(Of course, there are probably other factors besides the weather. For instance, hams are spending more of their time and money reading about SSTV on the World Wide Web.)

New Date

Next year, the Hamvention will be held 3 weeks later than its traditional date to avoid the rainy season. Mark May 17-19 on your 1996 calendar so you won't show up 3 weeks early.

SSTV News

1995 was the best year yet for SSTV. More exhibits, more products, more participants.

SSTV at W1AW

Guest operators at the ARRL Headquarters are often disappointed that W1AW has no SSTV facilities. The staff would love to add this capability but funding was not available. Norm W8MPM, with help from other IVCA members, assembled a top notch SSTV system including: This will be donated to the ARRL, for use by staff and visitors to W1AW, some time in the next few weeks.

Friday Night IVCA Meeting

The International Visual Communications Association holds a meeting during the Hamvention Friday night at the Holiday Inn North. Last year there were so many speakers, strict time limits were imposed and the meeting still lasted about 4 hours. This year a new format was tried.

We had several announcements and brief discussions limited to a couple minutes each. Everyone took a turn at introducing himself/herself. The formal part was kept short so there was plenty of time to visit the various exhibits around the room. Products on display included:

The developers of most of these systems were available to answer questions and gather suggestions for future versions.

Saturday Forum

Despite the beautiful weather outside, the Saturday afternoon SSTV forum was packed again. Late arrivals had to stand or sit on the floor around the edges. This year's presentations were: Video tapes will be available from the IVCA.

IVCA Booth

Booth 212 was the place to view a variety of systems. Equipment on display this year: This booth was right next to Wyman Research so the area was a magnet to video communication enthusiasts. Many eyeball QSOs and lively discussions were held here.

Manufacturers donated about $1500 of products and the lucky raffle winners went home with:

From IVCA newsletter: "The above firms have donated these prizes for IVCA's benefit. Please ultilize their products whenever possible."

Radioware Booth

A Pasokon TV demo attracted a lot of attention to Radioware's first booth at Dayton. Their growing line of video communication products also included SSTV Explorer, video frame grabbers, a new SSTV filter, and fast scan ATV kits.
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