Here’s something to help alleviate your post-partum ham radio convention funk.
The YouTuber’s Hamfest features a whole bunch of the biggest YouTubers in Ham Radio with some of your favorite names in amateur radio, LIVE!
And you don’t even have to drive halfway across the country to see it – it’s all hosted on YouTube for you, for free.
The YouTuber’s HamFest starts May 23 at 8am Eastern time. It starts off with an introduction and instructions on following the action with Jason from Ham Radio 2.0, right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiylTCUA33c
He will finish his stream with Flexradio, AREDN, and Ham Radio Deluxe and pass it off to K5ATA’s YouTube channel to talk with Becky Schoenfeld W1BXY and Kris Bickell K1BIC from the ARRL. Then he’ll hand it off to me, and so on and so forth.
If you start late, or you get lost (it’s kinda like the real thing, isn’t it?) no big deal. Just catch the YTHF schedule here: http://youtubershamfest.com/
The playlist and links in the schedule will work even after the YouTuber’s HamFest is over. All presentations are recorded and will stay up indefinitely for your later viewing pleasure.
You don’t need a YouTube account (which is the same as a Google account) to view, but you will need one if you want to participate in the real-time chat to interact and ask questions with vendors and representatives from Icom, FlexRadio, Packtenna, Bioenno, ARRL, MFJ, and much, much more.
And to, of course, Like, Comment, Subscribe, and hit the bell on everyone’s YouTube channel!
I’ll be bringing you news from Youth on the Air with Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, talk about a new Youth initiative from Remote Ham Radio, and chat with Dustin N8RMA who runs the State of the Hobby ham radio survey.
See you Saturday, bright and early at the YouTuber’s HamFest!
The year is 2020. Just about
everybody owns a computer, a smartphone, and a broadband internet connection. A
massive pandemic has shut down all social gatherings for the foreseeable
future. All concerts, church congregations, marathons, festivals, St. Patricks
Day, and ham radio conventions, shuttered.
What are we hams going to do?!
Hamvention
Online
As much as I really do believe
COVID-19 has presented radio amateurs with a glowing opportunity to do more
stuff with ham radio (like learn CW, build some antennas, make more QSOs,
monitor 146.52, etc), I do not think we have to suffer in total convention
isolation now that most people have the ability to participate in an online
symposium.
I ask the organizers of Hamvention,
vendors, forum speakers, and all of it’s prospective attendees to work together
to bring Hamvention online.
I know this idea won’t bring back
the flea market, camaraderie, or the cheesecake on a stick, but I do think this
is the best opportunity to bring the ham radio convention to the world wide
web.
How
to Run Hamvention Online
Hamvention
Organizers
Set up a new website to capture visitors and relay them to their desired destinations.
Propose to forum hosts to bring their talk online via YouTube or Twitch. I suggest these two in lieu of Skype, WebEx, or Zoom because they’re free, and can support many tens of thousands of concurrent viewers, and can be interacted in real-time using chat.
Certain forums, primarily Q&A forums, might want to use Zoom over YT or Twitch, but this will require Hamvention to have a paid Business-level Zoom account so many hundreds of people are able to attend.
Brainstorm a method to attract interest and Q&A from hams who don’t/can’t/refuse to use YouTube/Twitch/etc.
Create and publish a schedule for presenter streams and premieres to go live.
Create a swap meet webpage to capture prospective flea-marketers
Communication and coordination with presenters and vendors
Forum
Presenters
Purchase a decent webcam and microphone if you don’t already have one, or pre-record your talk on YouTube and use it’s “Premiere” feature to post it live at your scheduled time.
Have a volunteer monitor the chat to collect questions so the presenter doesn’t have to field them at the same time as his or her presentation.
Vendors
Create coupon codes and discounts for virtual attendees
Schedule gear announcements and coordinate with organizers
Create an all-day drop-in skype/zoom, or other chat system for attendees to come in to ask questions.
Convention
Attendees
Get accounts on Youtube, Twitch, and/or Zoom, or whatever other medium being used by the online convention.
Submit questions prior and during the premier or stream of the presenter.
Create a schedule of presentations of which you want to view and interact live.
Just because we’re need to distance ourselves to flatten the load curve to our healthcare system doesn’t mean we can’t get our fix of listening and interacting with the movers and shakers in ham radio, which is one of Hamvention’s greatest contributions to the radio service. I think we can make it happen in just two months.
We can also bring this to the amateur radio airwaves. Those who cannot/will not attend a stream on the internet might be able to tune in to their local repeater for a simulcast of the stream, hosted by, say, the local radio club. Or perhaps tune into it via HF, hosted by any number of MASSIVE contest-grade stations that exist across the world. There’s a great opportunity here to make the best of a bad situation.
I was planning on writing a bit more of a proposal but since the news dropped sooner than I expected, I thought I ought to finish this sooner to ride the wave.
My next proposal – Online VE Testing
– is coming soon.
You don’t even want to try the talk in…trust me. Every year it gets overran by lids streaming audio of a particularly indecent nature. Discord integrates voice chat within the app, so who needs repeaters anyway?
This server was created by the same hams behind Young Amateurs Radio Club discord server, so expect a younger audience. It’s not affiliated with DARA or Hamvention so don’t expect parking directions and stuff, but do watch out for good deals, funny photos (people of Hamvention style), memes, information, and meetups.
Text Hamvention18 to 888777 to subscribe to official Hamvention communications and alerts. That might come in handy for those us heretics without radios.
Make a Forum Plan
Download the Official Hamvention Forum Schedule on Google Calendar (by clicking here, then click the + Google Calendar Link that looks like:
and figure out what you want to go see before you arrive.
Here are my recommendations. Hopefully this helps you decide what you might want to see. It’s a hearty mix of the Ham Radio 2.0 spirit, incorporating youth, HamSCI, the Collegiate Initiative, networking, DMR, SDR, and the like, as well as ARRL members forum and stories from the 2017 Hurricane season.
You can also subscribe to or download my forum recommendations here:
Definitely check out the APRS forum (10:45am – 11:45am, Room 1) to learn – from yours truly – about what the best APRS app really is. Hint.
Make a Vendor Plan (and get some maps)
All of the Vendors as well as maps can be seen here. I don’t have a clue what the next greatest HF, VHF, UHF, HT Mobile Base whatever rig is this year (nor do I really care) but if you’re into that sort of thing, hit up the big 3 (and don’t forget to grab a Yaesu Hat).
Must See and Do at Hamvention
Ham Radio 2.0 Row
This area – located in Building 4 (Volta) opposite of the Prize Booth – will be a hotbed of next-generation activities, vendors, speakers, and guests.
More information and speaker list at http://www.arrl.org/news/look-for-ham-radio-2-0-innovation-and-discovery-at-hamvention
Get a free Ham Radio 2.0 button here!
Youth Forum, Lounges and Activities
The Youth Forum (Saturday 09:15 – 12:00, Room 2) moderated by Carole Perry WB2MGP, has been going on for over two decades, and showcases the activities of the brightest youth in the hobby (and showers them with prizes!) There is always a HUGE drawing for the whole audience too (I won my Kenwood TH-F6a there!) so make it a point to attend this. Otherwise check out HamSci (Saturday 09:15 – 10:30 Room 4)
Across from HamRadio2.0 Row is the Youth Tech lounge featuring FIRST robotics, and the ARRL EXPO area (Building 2) will have a Youth Lounge area.
Get a Name Call Sign Badge
If you don’t have one, get one printed on site, same day, super cheap! Gold Medal Ideas (booth #3609, back of Building 3/Marconi) will hook you up.
(That was not an ad by the way, I just CTRL+F’d for “Badge” on the vendor page.)
At hamvention, your callsign is your name. And if you don’t have a call sign…well…
Get Licensed
Hamvention hosts exams, and will get your callsign into the ULS system by the very next day. It’s pretty legit. More info here.
Buy Cheap Junk in the Flea Market
Note I didn’t tell you to plan out what you should buy at Hamvention. It’s like walking around in Home Depot to discover you should hang a new door or fix your toilet…you’ll know what to buy when you see it, trust me.
And if you do have something particular in mind, arrive early! All the good stuff goes FAST!
YACHT – the Youth Amateur Communications Ham Team (http://yacht.younghams.org/) – will be hosting a pizza party on Saturday 5:00pm (approx) at Marion’s Piazza, 1320 N. Fairfield Rd., Beavercreek, Ohio (map).
Contest Super Suite Pizza Party
Basically the same thing as the YACHT pizza party, except for adults. Oh and the pizza is FREE! Cash bar to boot. Friday AND Saturday Night, 11pm – ???? in the Harding Room at Crowne Plaza Downtown Dayton (map).
Other events are at http://hamvention.org/event-details/event-schedule/, but note most dinners will be sold out at this point – something you should definately look into next year if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
Tired of Hamvention? Check out Air Force Museum
Dayton’s Air Force Museum is pretty legit, and it’s a must see at some point on your Dayton adventure, especially if you’re bring family along. If you’re lucky, you might get to see some fighter jets take off for test flights!
You can also check this link out for more non-Hamvention things to do in Dayton.
Not Going to Hamvention? Watch the Streams!
Stay tuned to W5KUB, HamRadioNow to watch the forums and see the flea markets, and #hamvention on Twitter and Instagram. I’m taking a break from streaming stuff, but I do plan to record some video and post to my YouTube channel.
If you have any additions, suggestions, corrections or comments, leave a comment below or send me an email.
