WHERE: Hara Arena, 1001 Shiloh Springs Road, Trotwood
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Flea market opens at 8 a.m. each day.
COST: Admission $25, Hamvention bus tickets $8. Both are valid all three days.
MORE INFO: www.hamvention.org
Long before the first Internet chat rooms blossomed in cyberspace, millions of ham, or amateur, radio enthusiasts roamed the airwaves using science to connect with people around the world.
This weekend, 20,000 of them will descend on Dayton for the 60th annual Dayton Hamvention.
“[We’re] celebrating 60 years as the premier amateur radio gathering, and our theme, ‘Global Friendship,’ acknowledges the role that ham radio plays in establishing international goodwill, one of the fundamental principles of amateur radio,” says Henry Ruminski, Hamvention’s media committee chairman.
A number of international societies are slated to attend, including groups from Great Britain, Germany, Japan, China and Qatar.
“Amateur radio could not be more relevant or needed than at the present moment,” says Michael Kalter, general chairman of Hamvention’s sponsor, the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, on the event’s website.
“At the heart of these political uprisings and natural disasters are the amateur radio operators, who tirelessly hold open the communication lifeline to the outside world. I heard news accounts that during the crisis in the Middle East, the Internet was shut down for periods, and the only communication available was through amateur radio.”
Hamvention’s scope goes beyond international relations, however. At 3 p.m. Friday, weather permitting, a high altitude balloon will launch from the grounds of Hamvention to 100,000 feet in the air, with video camcorders providing aerial views of Dayton and the Earth on the ascent. Hams using amateur radio signals will track the balloon’s position for recovery when it parachutes back to Earth.
And on Saturday, one of the speakers is slated to be NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock, the former commander of the International Space Station.
What does space have to do with ham radios?
As it turns out, a big one. Space plays “an important part... in the advancement of the principles of amateur radio,” Ruminski says, “which include providing emergency communication, improving communication skills and technology and increasing the number of trained operators, technicians and electronics experts.”
He says hams have used amateur radio as part of a joint program with NASA to connect International Space Station crewmembers with school groups, science museums and other public forums, inspiring an interest in science, technology, engineering and math - not to mention space and amateur radio. The work also provides a backup communications network for NASA and the ISS crew, he says.
This weekend’s event will also include sessions on emergency communication, ham radio in education, Federal Communication rules and regulations, and the latest in communication technology, including hundreds of manufacturers exhibits, radio club booths and flea market spaces. For more information, visit www.hamvention.org.
Contact life and events contributing writer Ria Megnin at ria@riamegnin.com.
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