I went to my first hamfest this weekend, which was the Stone Mountain Hamfest, that advertises itself as being the largest hamfest in Georgia.
Carrying the moniker of “largest in Georgia” may have built the event up in my mind to be something bigger than it really was. Since it was my first, I didn’t really know what to expect, so I can’t say that I was disappointed, but it wasn’t quite as big as what I built it up in my head to be. There were basically 3 areas to be explored… the exhibitor hall, flea market and tailgating.
The first thing we checked was the tailgating area, which WAS exactly what I thought it would be… a gigantic assortment of this and that. This was outdoors in the common area outside the exhibit hall. There were lots of folks with old, used and surplus radio gear. I saw a lot of old hardware like adapters, couplers and LOTS of things I had not idea of, that had obviously been installed somewhere previously. If I were into building my own stuff, and experimenting with things, there were probably a lot of treasures to be had. There were a lot of really old radios, which were neat to look at, but not something that I will likely ever use. While I can appreciate the history of things, I really appreciate how small modern equipment has become! There was quite a bit more military equipment than I would have expected, and of course lots of non-ham related electronics like VCR’s, CD players and old computers.
Next, we checked the exhibit hall. This is what I looked forward to the most, because I thought there would be more chances to touch and see radios. HRO was there, but frankly, their booth wasn’t really inviting, or set up in a way that encouraged exploring things. Basically, they had a ton of stock behind the tables, and if you wanted something you could purchase it there (saving on some shipping I suppose) but they didn’t have anything out to look at.
Tower Electronics had LOTS of stuff out, but it was mostly small things. I saw a lot of things that I wanted, even though I didn’t really know what to do with yet, so I refrained. I got some serious “radio shack” vibes from their stuff, and it was obviously geared towards folks who were building things. Next time I’ll go with a plan, and will certainly be visiting their booth.
Besides those 2 booths, there was also a sign guy making hats and badges, a wire guy offering cables, a couple of clubs and a booth for the Raleigh Hamfest. I really wanted to visit the Ga Meshtastic booth, but it still hadn’t been occupied by the time we left, about 1:00 on Saturday. His neighbor, Muzi, who makes meshtastic items was very busy. There were several other booths for local clubs, POTA, and a couple of other random things.
Ham Radio Prep was there with a booth, and I got to meet James, the owner of HRP and tell him how much I appreciated his program, and what parts of the app I found most helpful. He’s a nice and engaging guy. He was handing out free prep books, which I thought was pretty cool since he’s still trying to sell his app. I also met Jim, the guy in the HRP videos. I wonder how he feels knowing the majority of the time he’s being watched is when folks are on the throne…..
Finally, we moved to the flea market area, which was a separate building. It was basically just like the tailgating area, but indoors. Again, lots of randomness. Lots of old radios, really old laptops and really really old vacuum tubes, tower computers and monitors.
What I expected, but did not see….
Batteries. I figured there would be someone there with some batteries. I’m hesitant to order a battery until I’ve seen and touched it.
Antennas. Don’t get me wrong, Tower Electronics did have some antennas there, but it was mostly basic dual band or tri-band antennas. Specifically, I was hoping to find a handheld 2M or dual band for working the space station, and I couldn’t find one anywhere. When we first arrived, I saw someone carrying one around, but I guess he got the only one available.
More technical help. I suppose thats better left for the local clubs, but I was hoping to see some radios up close and have a chance to ask questions. I’m still trying to make a decision about which HF radio I want, and was hoping to touch some radios, and ask some questions while I was there. They did have a full slate of speakers in 2 different rooms, however, none of them was anything that currently interests me.
More manufacturer presence. Again, being billed as the biggest hamfest in Ga, I expected to see some presence from the actual manufacturers, but maybe the biggest hamfest in Ga still isn’t big enough to get Yaesu, Kenwood or iCom to show up… Orlando maybe?
What I didn’t expect, but did see….
I got to meet some folks and put some faces with some names. I talked to a few folks in person who I had talked to on the local nets, which was pretty cool.
I realize that this post may seem a little negative, and for that I apologize. Again, maybe I built the show up to be bigger in my head than it really is, but I do think it’s important for new folks, like myself, to understand what you’re getting into. While everyone was VERY friendly (I didn’t meet a single sad ham), this particular show, at least this year, wasn’t the best place for a brand new ham to show up and find help. I do think there’s a bit of a gap… while I don’t think the entire show needs to cater to new hams, I do think some someone could fill a bit of a gap between brand new and very experienced hams. For me, specifically, getting into HF, especially understanding the antennas, is a place that I need some help. Or maybe I just need to find a local club…