How to go
What: Dayton Hamvention 2014
Where: Hara Arena, 1001 Shiloh Springs Road, Trotwood
When: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $20 advance, $25 at the door
More info: 937-278-4776 or www.hamvention.org
In the days before high speed Internet and Skype, one way tech savvy people communicated with friends in different parts of the world was through ham radio. And despite the many technological advances, there remains an entire subset of enthusiasts chatting away over designated radio frequencies.
If you need proof look no further than Hara Arena, which is hosting Dayton Hamvention 2014 Friday through Sunday. More 25,000 amateur radio operators from across the globe will attend the annual event presented by Dayton Amateur Radio Association.
“The number of ham radio operators is at an all-time high,” said Hamvention’s media committee chairman Henry Ruminski. “A lot of those are younger people but not enough. There seems to be a renewed interest in young people in actually building something or doing something hands-on. Most of them get into it by knowing someone who’s a Ham, but we’re making an effort to increase awareness.”
This year’s theme is Makers: The Future of Ham Radio.
“We have 12 new forum speakers who haven’t presented before to try to bring in some new ideas and topics that might be of interest to other people,” Ruminski said. “Bringing young people into it is the other part of the future of ham radio. The Lego League is going to have a booth and they’re going to be doing some demonstrations and possibly some competitions with their Lego robots.
“There’s also a forum where all the presenters are young people,” he said. “I believe this year the youngest one is 13 and the oldest is 16 and they’re presenting ham radio projects they’ve worked on.”
In addition to forums, Hamvention features exhibitors and a flea market. It takes about 600 volunteers to pull off the massive convention.
“We claim to be the largest all-volunteer-run trade show in the world and I haven’t had anybody challenge us,” Ruminski said. “We are the largest ham radio gathering in the world and we’re certainly the largest volunteer-run ham show. Most typical shows like this are commercially produced by someone and not put on as a club activity.”
Ruminski, 72, is a retired college professor. He became interested in ham radio after being discharged from the military in the 1970s. He has been involved with Hamvention for 15 years because he wanted to give back to a pastime that has given so much to him.
“I’ve met people who are good friends that I never would’ve met otherwise simply because they’re from different walks of life and different kinds of employment,” he said. “Yet we share the interest in ham radio. I met a lot of nice people I probably wouldn’t have normally wouldn’t have run into if I wasn’t a ham.”
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