Prior
to Dayton I built another 2 meter portapeater (147.585 in/144.930
out) & packed in in my suitcase (I flew this year).
Unfortunately I forgot to pack the crossband diplexer (for
the 440 remote link to the Miamisburg repeater) &, more
importantly, the correct interface cable between the MVP
repeater radio & MP100 controller! |
As
you can see here, the control cable issue was fixed (take
a close look at the connector on the back of the MVP). I
found a vendor selling female Molex pins Thursday afternoon,
which I used to build an interface "haywire" set
Thursday night. |
Thanks
to John KA3LAO who graciously provided a crossband duplexer,
the linkup to WB6VSU was complete. The Miamisburg repeater
heard much better than it did 2 years ago, as we later discovered
that we could access it all over Hara; the problem was hearing
it through all the IMD. The wood thingy on the dashboard
is my GPS holder. I used it along with MS Streets &
Trips to get around. Unfortunately the DC/DC converter for
the laptop died right after the hamvention, so I was "driving
blind" until I picked up an AC inverter in Indy a couple
of days later. Not fun. |
Dayton
Hamvention attendees pouring into the parking lot across
the street from Hara. I always opt for this lot even @ $10/day
because of the proximity needed for the portapeater to adequately
cover the grounds. |
My
car is at the far left. The next day I arrived earlier so
I could park closer to the fence & get even more coupling into
the swap area. I discovered a nearby noise source that hit
the 147.40 to 147.60 MHz range, severely desensing
the MVP receiver. I'd have been better off using 147.75
for the input like I did in '05 (147.585 is the standard
portable repeater input in Southern California, & Ohio
doesn't have any allocation for portable repeaters so I
just went with our bandplan assignment). Oh well, next time... |
New
housing development adjacent to the lot across the street
from Hara |
WA5KUB's
streaming video. If you can't make it to Dayton, you can
watch & listen in near-real-time at wa5kub.com. We tested
the webcam's delay; it was 10 seconds. Tom said that usually
it's 30 seconds. |
|
Aisles
of the swap area |
|
First
pics of the new SCom 7330 controller, seen by the public
for the first time ever Friday morning; I had these pics
posted to the Repeater-Builder Yahoogroup by noon. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Dayton Hamvention is a big deal in the area. With ~20,000
attendees, it gets serious news coverage. |
Jay
Maynard, K5ZC, President of the National Frequency Coordinator's
Council at the NFCC annual forum. |
Nels
Harvey, WA9JOB. Nearly all of the 1 hour forum was taken
up with discussion of the new DStar digital repeater system |
Bob
Shepard KA9FLX (2nd from left, Illinois Repeater Association
Technical Committee Chairman) & Dave Karr, KA9FUR (Wisconsin
Association of Repeaters Frequency Coordinator). Sorry
I didn't meet the other two folks, but they're coordinator
representatives too. |
The
swap area on Saturday morning, just before opening @ 8 AM |
Crowd
waiting to get in |
Check
out the "XYL filters" on the left |
Sadly,
the "Repeater Builder" crew couldn't make it this
year; their spaces went unoccupied. |
I
think I've seen this HT/antenna every year I've been to
Dayton. |
More
empty spaces |
The
broken asphalt's starting to become a real problem at Hara.
I stumbled on loose asphalt stones a couple of times. |
Doug
Sharp K2AD (left) displaying the SCom 7330. In QSO are (standing
from left) Jim WB8VSU (trustee of the 442.30 Miamisburg
IRLP repeater, linked to my portable repeater), Mark KX8O
& Dave KB8PZT |
|
Jay
Maynard, K5ZC, President of the National Frequency Coordinators
Council? |
Dave
Cameron VE7LTD (right), creator of the Internet Radio Linking
Project (IRLP). On left is Dave Gingrich K9DC, owner of
the "Crossroads" IRLP reflector 9200 (one
of the largest & busiest IRLP reflectors, cross-connecting
100's of repeaters around the world via the internet). |
John
KA3LAO contemplating the nice outdoor cabinet. I would have
picked it up myself, but it would be a problem checking
it in at the airport. |
Lots
of free stuff at Dayton on Sunday afternoon. |
Inside
Hara Arena, where the prize drawings are held. |
The
grand prize is sitting on the left end of the back table
(middle of picture): a complete ICOM DStar repeater system.
MSRP: $8000. No I didn't win it, or anyting else for that
matter :( |
|
OK,
off to the National Air Force Museum, just down the road.
I managed to walk through all the hangars in half a day,
but this is really an all-day activity. |
|
|
|
|
Mock
up of an airport control tower (LAX). Funny how I didn't
recognize the location. |
|
|
Bomb
bay |
|
|
Yup,
that's a B2 stealth bomber. The thing's so wide I had a
hard time getting it all in one picture. |
|
|
|
|
I
trust all fissile material has been removed. |
How
to make a nuclear bomb? |
|
|
|
|
|
Bomb
collection |
B2 |
|
|
B2's
cockpit. This picture sure makes it look like some alien
spacecraft. In fact, the whole plane looks alien in person. |
Not
sure what this is; looks like a "stealth missile". |
The
F-117 stealth fighter. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cincinnati,
as seen from Devou Park, across the Ohio River in Covington,
KY. |
Great
American Ballpark, where the Reds play. |
Paul
Brown Stadium, where the Bengals play. |
New
building (church?) in Covington. |
Cincinnati |
Covington,
KY |
My
visit to the Toyota assembly plant in Georgetown, KY. Unfortunately
this is all you get to see here because they don't allow
cameras on the tour. Guess they're really worried about
corporate espionage. Too bad - the welding robots would've
made for excellent pictures. |
On
the way back to the airport in Chicago, I had most of the
day to kill & I was passing through Indianapolis, so
I got off the interstate & drove down to the speedway.
The Indy 500 was only 4 days away, so all the vendors were
already setting up. What this one sold I'm not quite sure... |
|
I
think that's the track just behind the railing. |
Traffic
control around the speedway was already in place. |
Front
office |
Stands
along Georgetown Rd. |
|
Another
stop at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN; this is
where the "Boilermakers" play. My GPS wouldn't
work here; I concluded that there's TI (terrestrial interference)
being generated in the area. I had to find my way out without
GPS data to the computer. |