Once, I went
Back in ’77 I was a very young aand new amateur radio operator. Still waiting to try my upgrade examination to Advanced Class (Canadian). And through an odd alignment of “stars” I ended up attending the National Convention. In Toronto. Overwhelming given my level of expertise and my budget.
I did win an antenna (still have it) and I had the opportunity to sit in on seminars that were well “over my head”. That’s how you learn. I’ve not had any opportunity to go to another convention of that scale. This afternoon, I’ve been watching some live feeds from the current Hamvention which is underway somewhere in Ohio. Still over my head, tecchnically, but when we toured the various commercial booths, I felt like I was on familiar ground.
Hams are proud of their abilities to build and operate equipment pertinent to the hobby, but we’re all drawn by the shiny gear on sale. I do read up on trends, and most of te vendors had name famiiarity, at least. It is an integral part of a ham’s identity, being famiiar with the brands.
A confession: I have some purchases that are still too new to call used. Although the stay-at=home clause of the pandemic should have provided hours of operating, things went differently. My intention to master satellite comms, as an example, remain purely theoretical. Ditto for any attempt to crack the lower ranks of the DXCC. There’s still time. I just have to figure out a new strategy for logging. And I will. Call me stubborn.
Happily, my GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) is at a low ebb. Although, if I continue to watch videos from hanfests, there might be a relapse. Not sure what I need. That’s probably a good thing.
