[CQ-Contest] Hamvention - new venue

[jpescatore at aol.com]

I didn't go to the site on Friday, but on Saturday WA3UOO and I bicycled in from his sister's house in Xenia, about 5 miles on a bike path. It worked great. Driving in to her house from Dayton on Saturday there appeared to be hardly any traffic - I think the Friday traffic jams helped them figure out what they needed to do.



Other than the flea market area, I thought the new setup was great. It has been rainy in that area and the flea market grassy area was muddy already - and then at about 1030am a serious thunderstorm hit. Just as at Dayton, most people headed into the buildings to escape the rain and the buildings got jammed up - just like they did at Hara. The food choices were way better and there was plenty of places to sit outdoors. But, nowhere to sit indoors - rain is the kryptonite to the Xenia site. Rain wasn't fun at Hara either, but that basketball stadium had a lot of indoor seating to escape the rain and the flea market surface didn't turn into a mud pit.


Other than the ARRL forum running over its time slot ahead of the Contest forum, I thought the forum set was as good, maybe better than at Hara. The layout of the buildings worked very well. The food wasn't cheap, but it was far superior to what there used to be in Hara.


The Contest suites and activities at the Crowne Plaza were the same as always, but apparently the International Hotel Group that owns the Crowne Plaza got hacked and I was one of many that got a fraud alert when IHG charged my card - many others had their room keys disabled!


The flea market on grass is a real Achilles heel, though - it always seems to rain more often than not during the Hamvention. That part of it is has never been a big attraction for me but is definitely one of the biggest reasons the Hamvention got so big.


73 John K3TN