ARRL Midwest Division Newsletter July 2018

1 arrl Midwest Division Newsletter July 2018. Hamfesting in Europe by Rod Blocksome, K0 DAS. I have always wanted to visit Europe's largest amateur radio convention held annually in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Previous visits by ham friends came home with glowing reports and great photos. I have traveled in Europe and Germany many times during my career but never had an opportunity to attend a hamfest there. But recently the opportunity presented itself. My friend, Steve White, NU0P, (retired Rockwell Collins Marketing Manager) was also interested in going. So we cashed in some airline miles and secured tickets. The SEEhotel was recommended as a nice convenient place to stay and fortunately they had a recent cancellation and I was able to get a reservation. We purchased event tickets for the 3-day affair on-line.

2 We flew into Zurich, Switzerland via Atlanta, Georgia leaving mid-day on Wed. May 30th and landing in Zurich the morning of Thur. May 31st. There is a 7-hour time difference and the traditional problem on the first day is to stay awake until night to quickly get your body adjusted and alert for the convention the next day. This proved to be a non-problem as it took us a couple hours to retrieve our luggage, clear customs & immigration, change money, and purchase tickets for the train to Romanshorn and then the ferry across Lake Constance (Bodensee in German) into Friedrichshafen, Germany located on the opposite shore. Upon disembarking, we started hiking to the hotel while dragging large suitcases (large enough to hold anticipated purchases). Along the way we stopped at a beer garden for a (you guessed it) plus some lunch and a little rest.

3 The weather and scenery was most pleasant. The SEEhotel welcomed us a few hours later. It is ideally situated on a platz containing: A Tourist Information Office (which was almost never open). A Bus Stop with a free ride every 30 minutes to the Friedrichshafen Messe (Convention site). The Train Station arrl Midwest Div. Newsletter July 2018 p. 2. Down the hill from the hotel was the lake shore lined with restaurants, beer gardens, sail boats, parks, and flower gardens. It was Very Nice ! The next morning we took the 15-minute bus ride out to the Messe where we joined the DX pile-up to be among the first to enter the gates which promptly opened at 9:00 AM. Once inside, the size of the Messe quickly became apparent. It consists of 12 very large pavilions each large enough to contain a football field.

4 The flea market occupied two pavilions; the commercial venders and national organization booths were in a third and forums were held in various surrounding rooms. On Saturday a fourth pavilion contained a Maker Fair. Many food venues were available without much line-waiting. Returning your plastic bottle or glass beer mug back to its origin would bring back your deposit of . to 2 Euros. The food and beer were always excellent (this is Bavaria you know). It took Steve and me all day Friday just to get through one pavilion of flea market. Now this flea market is different than what you experience at the Dayton (now Xenia). Hamvention. Everything is very clean, organized, and neatly displayed. I saw only one table with dusty stuff. Prices in Euros were about what you would find in the US but it cost us $ for every Euro.

5 I thought by Sunday there would be some good price reductions, but that didn't seem to be the case. There were still lots of unsold merchandise on the tables at the end. The second day we finished visiting the second flea market pavilion (it wasn't completely full) and then spent time in the commercial pavilion. All the major manufacturers were there including Hilberling who were showing a very nice 1500 Watt solid state PA to go with their top-of-the-line Transceiver. We spent time playing with this impressive radio and visiting with their US representative. The transceiver and PA would set you back many Euros but you would be getting German quality and precision. Yaesu had all their latest radios out but their newest the FTDX-101 was encased in a glass dome. A beautiful radio but it won't go into production until December.

6 So what you see under glass probably doesn't even have knobs that turn. arrl Midwest Div. Newsletter July 2018 p. 3. We visited the arrl booth first of course and I took a group photo. Next door was the RSGB with a most impressive display of all their publications for sale. We both ended up joining the RSGB, buying several books, and having great eye-ball QSOs with the Brits. Next stop was JARL. We asked about the JARL national convention maybe our next international ham destination? More great conversation discussing my trips to Japan and the Akihabara Electronics district in Tokyo back in the late 60's early 70's. Soon two bottles of expensive Saki came out and we all compai'ed a few. The Japanese CQ. magazine is over an inch thick and chock full of interesting articles on ham radio but neither of us could read it, so we passed on joining JARL.

7 Steve found the Polish Amateur Radio Society booth staffed by about 6 officials. When Steve informed them of his Polish Grandmother, I thought surely another national beverage would appear - but no such luck. Sunday we returned to a few choice flea market venders and then attended several hours of SDR University . These were a series of technical talks on different aspects of work in the field of software defined radio. Afterwards, I told Steve I felt as though I had attended senior level University classes. No wonder the program booklet listed several of the speakers were Engineering Professors. After another pleasant lunch in the Messe beer garden, we returned to the commercial pavilion for final visits before closing up shop. Monday we spent the morning at the Zeppelin Museum near the ferry harbor and the afternoon at the Dornier Aircraft Museum at the Friedrichshafen Airport.

8 Both are extremely well done and well worth the time for a visit. Tuesday we checked out of the SEEhotel and took the train around the western side of Lake Bodensee to Zurich. This was the long way back but carried us through new scenic areas of Germany and Switzerland. We found that a healthy Swiss bank account was required to stay at the Airport Hotel. So we stayed out a ways in a nice, but reasonable, iBis Hotel. The next morning we took the electric tram to the airport and boarded the long flight for home in a day that lasted 31 hours! arrl Midwest Div. Newsletter July 2018 p. 4. Approach to Zurich, Switzerland Airport Part of the very large flea market in one pavilion of the Friedrichshafen Messe arrl Midwest Div. Newsletter July 2018 p. 5. Yours truly lusting after the German Hilberling Transceiver plus PA.

9 The Yaesu FTDX-101D coming soon, but under glass for now arrl Midwest Div. Newsletter July 2018 p. 6. The arrl Booth: Rick Roderick, K5UR; Jay Bellows, K0QB, Norm Fusaro, W3IZ;. Debbie Fusaro, N3 ZXF; & Sabrina Jackson, KC1 JMW (Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R not pictured). The JARL Booth: Ken Yamamoto, JA3 MVI; Steve White, NU0P; and Ichiro Tanemura, JG2 GFX. arrl Midwest Div. Newsletter July 2018 p. 7. Raytown, MO Field Day by Randy Schultz, KD0 HKD. The Raytown Amateur Radio Club hosted it's Field Day Event behind the Raytown City Hall /. Police Department. As many will know, Raytown is a suburb of Kansas City. While cloudy part of the time, we could not have asked for better weather from a heat and humidity point of view. As always, we invite many of our government officials to attend or visit by our Field Day Event.

10 Officials stopping by included: Raytown Mayor, Mike McDonough, Raytown Chief of Police, Jim Lynch, Raytown Police Captain / Emergency Management, Michelle Rogers, Missouri State Representative, Jerome Barnes (D28), Jackson County Sheriff, Darryl Forte, and Lieutenant Fletcher, and Sergent Smith representing the Missouri State Highway Patrol, to name a few. This was probably the "Best Fed" Field Event in Raytown Amateur Radio Club's recent history as three meals were served! Attendees enjoyed smoked pork loin prepared by KE0 MRS - Matt Simonsen, and all the fixens provided by Micki Schulze and KE0 JXL - Sandy Dunning. Early Sunday Morning Breakfast of Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, Eggs, and Sausage was served by Micki Schulze, followed by Noon Lunch prepared by Micki. I doubt anyone will report loosing any weight this Field Day!