Dear Club Members, In this article Peter N5YJ provides a recap of the Duke City Hamfest in Albuquerque. The article covers current items of interest in ham radio, the importance of ham radio clubs, and additional information on the Technical Specialist program. DUKE CITY HAMFEST ALBUQUERQUE The weekend of September 21, I attended the Duke City Hamfest, along with about 400 other amateurs. While well organized, this size of an event, isn’t large enough to attract first-line vendors often seen at Dayton and Visalia. Nonetheless, the organizers did a great job with the various classes, including two excellent talks by Rob Sherwood, NCØB. With these thoughts in mind, here are my observations and comments. That whole world of vendors has dramatically changed. In days past, the vendors could come and with the help of the manufactures cover their expenses, maybe make a little money, and would continue to support their mutual customers. This was a win-win situation. With the advent of the $100 + per night per person room costs and high transportation costs, it has become too expensive for the manufacturers, much less vendors, to attend a hamfest. This is not an ideal scenario. Another big change is the resale market. Once upon a time, amateur radio gear tended to hold its value over time, as long as it was smoke-free, and well maintained. Good, bad or indifferent, Icom changed that with the introduction of the IC-7300! At a street price of $1,495, it literally blew away the used market place. However, there is a hidden issue, applicable to any, used, solid-state transceiver—replacement parts! Icom sold about 70,000 IC-706, of which about half were MarkIIGs. Parts, especially finals, are no longer available for these radios. Asking $700- $800 for this used, unrepairable, out-of-date transceiver, is pie-in-the-sky thinking! This scenario is applicable to any transceiver, regardless of make, made after 2013 or so. And just to emphasize the point, Yaesu’s FT-857 is one of the longest service-lived, mobile transceivers, ever made. But like the IC-706 in any guise, it has gone through numerous revisions, in an attempt to keep ahead of the ever-changing, solid-state, obsolescence-based, marketing strategy by all of the device makers, especially Toshiba. About the only transceiver which seemingly is holding its own, is the Elecraft K3. I suspect that is about to change, as Elecraft will be shipping the new K4 later this year. One good thing about Elecraft, their accessories are backwards compatible. Meaning, if you bought their Panadapter for your original K3, it will still work perfectly with your K4! Bill Mader K8TE, NM Section Manager, did a day long, HF University, at the hamfest. I have attended his sessions in the past. Bill really upped his game with this year’s HF University! For example, there was a lot of interesting discussion about FT8. While becoming popular for its ability to be deciphered in near impossible band condition, for those not into digital communications, it leaves a lot to be desired for all of us, old-school, amateur operators, who really like one-on-one, DX contacts! Bill also spent time explaining the importance of a resonant antennas, like a dipole, with the current, on-air propagation we’re seeing tases days. And the importance of a computer in the shack. The class was great for the beginner to the expert. The importance of amateur radio clubs and the impact they have on our world was brought up over and over during several of the class sessions. The consensus? A club is everything! If your club needs help, then why are you just sitting there? Jump in and help to improve and grow it! There was a two hour class on the NanoVNA. The bottom line is, the time and effort to use this unit may not be worth the perceived cost savings. There exists a good reflector and many who are supporting the unit. No discussion of any amateur radio get-together, would be complete without mentioning the increasing amount of misinformation presented within on-line forums. Perhaps the two prime example are www.qrz.com and www.eham

Dear Club Members, Please mark your calendars for this years Holiday Party. Date: December 3rd 2019 Time: 7pm-9pm Central Location: The Lion & Rose British Restaurant and Pub 17627 La Cantera Pkwy Suite 103 San Antonio, TX 78257 More info on the Lion & Rose can be found at their website https://thelionandrose.com/ Please reply to this message and let me know if you are planning to attend and if so, how many in your party. Thanks and 73, Marty W5MRM