Hamfests & Conventions

New England Division Director Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, has approved the applications for sanctioning for two New England hamfests and one convention:

• 29th Annual Southern Berkshire Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in Goshen, Connecticut, on May 22, 2021
• Windsor Hamfest (Maine) on Saturday, September 11, 2021
• Northeast HamXposition  a.k.a. New England Division Convention in Marlborough, Massachusetts on September 10, 11, 12, 2021

The events will be publicized on the ARRL website’s Hamfest and Convention Calendar as well as the appropriate upcoming issues of QST.

Paul N Gayet, AA1SU, writes on the ARRL Vermont Members list:

Same great forums, flea market and attendees as the live show, with the exception that you don’t have to drive in winter! And it costs ….. nothing!

If you are planning to attend, please go to the HAM-CON site and register to attend and to be in the running for door prizes. While there, you can check out the lineup of forums running all day.

You will need a free Zoom account on your computer to fully take part in all the activities. But if you are not set up for this, you can still see many of the forums on YouTube.

HAM-CON is different than other On-Line events in that we have selling rooms and chat rooms where you can do some shopping or else meet up with pals you haven’t see in a while. Oh, and if you have stuff to sell, please consider being a vendor. All you need is a table full of stuff and a camera.

So far, we have a couple hundred folks from all over the country registered. We’d like to see more of those rare Vermont hams too!

So go to http://www.ham-con.org and register. Also, if you check this site Tuesday night after 6PM you can join our HAM-CON discussion where you can test out your Zoom settings and ask questions. If you are already registered, that’s GREAT!

Please pass this information to other hams and potential hams you know.

Hope to see many of you at HAM-CON!

Mitch
W1SJ@arrl.net

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ARRL Vermont Section
Section Manager: Paul N Gayet, AA1SU
aa1su@arrl.org
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For full details, visit <https://sites.google.com/view/mainevirtualhamfest/home?authuser=0>.

It may be bitterly cold outside, but things are starting to heat up in Maine on the hamfest front! We are long overdue for one. Joe Grace (W1SK) and I [Cory, KU1U] have been feverishly working to put together a virtual hamfest since all of the in-person events are still being cancelled due to the CoronaVirus. 

We hope this will be a successful event that can capture the interest of hams in Maine. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Bob Heil (K9EID) will be presenting at this event! We will also have various stateside talent providing talks on SKYWARN, FT8, Antenna discussion and an ARRL Forum so folks are aware of what is going on around the State and at the New England/national level at ARRL. 

There will be an opportunity for clubs and groups to have their own meetings during talks as well. If your group is interested in reserving a virtual room to have a meeting please follow this link to fill out the form. Hamfest Meeting Room Request Form. 

This event is FREE. I know that price pleases many people and why wouldn’t it? Please understand that the conference talks will be limited to 1000 people. We are asking that people register so that we can have a headcount of how many people to expect to attend virtually. 

Beyond conference talks and meetings, there will be an “Eyeball QSO” room to visit. 99% of hams typically go to a hamfest to socialize and chat with others. Why should this virtual event be any different? One additional feature that we have included is an IRC chatroom for those who may be mic/camera shy. Joe has put his technical know-how to work and embedded the Freenode #mainehams IRC chat room into the hamfest website so it will be easy for people to access and say hello. 

We are excited to provide this opportunity for knowledge and camaraderie and look forward to seeing everyone soon! Please be sure to register for the FREE Maine Virtual Hamfest!

Maine Virtual Hamfest Registration Form

73 DE KU1U & W1SK

Maine Virtual Hamfest Co-Chairs

Michael Crestohl, W1RC/VE2XL writes on January 12th, 2021:

To the Amateur Radio Community:

Bad news again, I am afraid.

After giving the matter much careful research, thought, discussion and consideration my accomplices and I have come to the conclusion that holding our semi-annual hamfest on April 30th and May 1st 2021 as scheduled could very possibly endanger the health and safety of our staff members, our exhibitors, vendors, attendees and local area residents.   It is a risk that we do not in good conscience wish to assume.  Therefore we have decided that our next event will be held on October 15th and 16th, 2021 as scheduled.

Tickets being sold for the Spring event will be honored in October. However, anyone wanting a full refund can have their money back.

We have based our decision on the following observations.

1.  The average current number of new Covid-19 cases reported daily in Massachusetts is at an all-time high. On January 8th alone the number of new cases reported was 7,110. Since a very large number of attendees come from Mass. and beyond these figures are highly significant.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/archive-of-covid-19-cases-in-massachusetts#december-2020-

2.  The vaccines that are now being made available are being administered at a slower rate than was initially anticipated.  It was estimated by the CDC that 10,000,000 individuals would have been vaccinated by January 1st 2021 when in fact only 2,000,000 people were actually inoculated by that date.   Phase 2 (which includes people over 65 years of age) is estimated to take commence in February provided everything is on schedule.  Phase 3 (which is everyone else) is scheduled for April-June.  This is, of course, subject to change.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/when-can-i-get-the-covid-19-vaccine

The time delay between the first injection and fully effective immunization is five to six weeks.

3. Even if we WANTED to do it the state limits on attendees allowed at such events would probably prevent it. Additionally we have no actual contract with the Fair Association and, quite frankly, I don’t even want to ask.

Given all of the above it is abundantly clear that a relatively low number of people will have received both their injections with sufficient time elapsed for full protection of the vaccine to be in effect in time for the hamfest opening on April 30th.  It is our desire to resume the hamfest only at such time when it is safe to do so and my main criteria for that is when a large majority if not all attendees have been vaccinated.

Under these circumstances my team and I have come to the unanimous conclusion that April 30th is clearly too early to safely hold the hamfest and it should not be held until October.

On the other hand we feel that by Labor Day 2021 there will have been sufficient supplies of the vaccines produced and administered to everybody who wants it and, barring any unforeseen developments, it will be reasonably safe once again to hold large public gatherings like the Deerfield Fair, the HamXposition at Marlborough MA in September and NEAR-Fest XXX on October 15th and 16th at the Deerfield Fairgrounds.

Please tell all your buddies and plan to attend our grand “NEAR-Fest Homecoming.”  We are planning the biggest blowout bash to celebrate our return after missing three NEAR-Fests.  You can bet this one will be memorable and you won’t won’t want to miss it.

Advance tickets are still on sale.

73,

Michael Crestohl, W1RC/VE2XL
The New England Amateur Radio Festival, Inc.

Billed as “The Best Little Hamfest in the World,” the 2021 Vermont Ham Radio Convention (HAM-CON) will be held online on Saturday, February 27, 2021. 

It features areas for the flea market, vendors, and “Meet Your Pals.”  Also featured will be forums, meetings and demonstrations.  There is no admission fee.

According to the Convention’s website, there will be two accessible portals:

• FLEA MARKET and MEET & GREET PORTAL has several rooms with vendors showing off their wares via camera. Pick a room, look at the stuff, ask questions and make deals. If you reach a deal, negotiate payment and shipping with the vendor. And run into pals while you shop, move to a rag chew room and tell stories!
• FORUMS and DEMONSTRATIONS PORTAL has several rooms with a variety of forums on different topics. Some of the forums are pre-recorded, and some are live. In many cases, we will have the speakers available after the forum to answer your questions

For more information, visit http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/online-ham-con-arrl-vermont-state-convention or the HAM-CON site at http://www.ham-con.org