posted 5/25/18
Back in January of 2018 Jim - W5JCS sent along this
photo! Yes, he was looking forward to the 2018 HamVention!
Here's this year's HamVention flyer.
ZWJ is making progress on his preparations for
HamVention...
(Photo taken 5/13/18)
Debbie - KA3VNF and Tom - W3TOM arrived in town rather early.
We were able to get together for dinner on Monday, 5/14/18
Keith - WA8ZWJ, Marian - WD8CJD, Debbie - KA3VNF and Tom -
W3TOM
On Tuesday, 5/15/18 Fast Eddie - W8ED arrived and dropped
off the beer fridge!
In the morning Fast Eddie came back and set up the beer keg.
Then we went and picked up the pickup truck we were borrowing from Ron - KA8PBB's son Brad again!
He said that the front left tire might be a bit low so we
checked all the tires just to be safe.
Then we had a bit of time to spend so Fast Eddie tapped the
keg for the first time!
Cheers and beers!
Once Bill - WZ1L had arrived from Amesbury, Mass. we headed
to lunch.
After lunch we headed to Fast Eddie's place in Medway to load the floors!
ZWJ didn't take very many pictures of the loading process
because he was helping!
Here's the loading crew!
Fast Eddie - W8ED, John - KA8ZSB, Bill - WZ1L, Randy
- AB8CO and Keith - WA8ZWJ
After the loading was complete, Bill and Keith drove past
the house where Marian WD8CJD grew up! This is where she lived when Keith
and her started dating.
It is located very close to Fast Eddie's and she used to baby sit for the family that lived where Ed does now!
N0BIX is approaching the Ohio state line...
On his way into town, Bob - N0BIX stopped at the campground where a number of the IOOK'ers were staying.
He had a special gift for them!
Here's the "Camp
IOOK" at WACO Field!
On the right are Chick - AC4CT and Lou - N8KXM
Bob - N0BIX arrived after we got back to the Farley
Flophouse from Medway. He had brought a special gift!
Pretty neat, eh? It ought to make it a bit easier for the gang to
know for sure where the Gathering Of The Faithful will be!
Dinner that evening was at Company 7 BBQ!
Fast Eddie - W8ED, Bob - N0BIX and Bill - WZ1L
Keith - WA8ZWJ, Marian - WD8CJD, Debbie - KA3VNF, Tom - W3TOM
Max - K1MAX
Sandi, Lou - N8KXM and Jan - KA9VQS
John - N5AAA
Chick - AC4CT and Debby - KB4LOO
After dinner some of the guys came back to the Farley Flophouse to be active on the Wednesday night IOOK Net!
For a while it didn't look like conditions were going to permit us to play radio and then the band changed and things got much better!
WA8ZWJ, WZ1L, W8ED and N0BIX
We actually had a couple of beers during the net and the
after net visit!
Bob is playing with his camera after the net was over.
Breakfast was at the Big Boy in Xenia.
Fast Eddie - W8ED, Chick - AC4CT, Lou - N8KXM and Bob -
N0BIX
Joe - N8BYT, Randy - AB8CO, Loyd - K8EI, Charlie - NN3V and
John - N5AAA
N0BIXie got a shot with ZWJ in it!
After breakfast we headed to the flea market to begin set up chores.
Joe - N8BYT's classic car that has enough room to carry his
flea market sales stuff...
Tom - KD8TJR and John - KD8AIZ
Adjusting the canopy to fit around the screwdriver antenna
on the back of the van.
Our Set Up Crew!
N0BIX, AB8CO, N8BYT, N8KXM, WZ1L, WA8ZWJ, NN3V, K8EI,
N5AAA, AC4CT and W8ED
Once the flea market is all set up our lunch chef, NN3V,
has N0BIX, K8EI and WA8ZWJ head to the grocery to purchase lunch vittles!
After the lunch vittles have been purchased Loyd - K8EI and
Charlie - NN3V visit Hara Arena!
It is truly sad that this has not been kept up. It
has recently been sold and what the new owner has in plan for the facility is
still unknown.
Kristen - K6WX stopped by later and looked through one of
the windows and took this shot.
UGH!
N0BIXie goes for a walk. Here's a shot he took during
his walk.
The new sign has been relocated to make it more visible
from the road for The Gathering Of The Faithful!
Dinner that evening was at the Toll House Tavern.
Cathy and Joe - WA5FLT...
Loyd - K8EI, Melissa (our waitress), Charlie - NN3V and Bob
- N0BIX
Max - K1MAX and Bill - WZ1L
Dave - K3CRF
John - KF8KK and Dave - W8TVC
Lou - N8KXM and Chas - AI0OK
Chick - AC4CT and John - N5AAA
Debby - KB4LOO and Jan - KA9VQS
Bob - N0BIX
Loyd - K8EI and Charlie - NN3V
Joe - N8BYT
Marian - WD8CJD and Keith - WA8ZWJ
Fast Eddie - W8ED
Jim - W5JCS, Ron - KC5QVC, Darell - WA3OPY
Jim assimilates Darell into the IOOK as a Vice
President! Congratulations Darell!
Lew - KC4US, Miriam and Dan - KK4OFR from The Villages in
Florida!
Bruce - W6RBM
Jim - W5JCS sent the two photos below with this info...
Jim
- W5JCS, Bud - W3FF creator of the Buddipole antenna system, and Darell - WA3OPY
at Four Days in May Vender night.
Jim
- W5JCS and Joe Eisenberg - K0NEB IOOK Vice Presidents.
After dinner John and Dave joined Keith for a couple of
beers at the Farley Flophouse!
It appears that John is beginning to fade...
Cheers and beers!
Before breakfast Chas showed off the new larger mugs that
he would be handing out at the Gathering Of The Faithful!
Max - K1MAX and Dave - K3CRF
Bill - WZ1L
Bruce - W6RBM and Bruce - K8CJM
Jim - WB8VSU
Chas - AI0OK
Joe - N8BYT
Charlie - NN3V and Loyd - K8EI
It would seem Keith did not get a photo of himself at breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to the flea market to begin setting up for the day!
Shortly after our arrival in the flea market the fire marshal asked Keith to move his maroon van because the neighbors were complaining about gasoline fumes.
Dave - K7DRM offered to trade spaces with Keith. His car was in the committee parking area. So, that is what we did.
Welcome to HamVention!
Lou - N8KXM
John - N5AAA and Tom - W3TOM
Skip - N2FOE
Loyd - K8EI and Debbie - KA3VNF
They are setting up the canopy for Tom - W3TOM and Debbie -
KA3VNF's spaces next the the IOOK's spaces.
Here's Bill - N8TQ!
They seem to be missing a pipe for the canopy so Lou -
N8KXM is attaching it to our canopy!
Miriam, Lew - KC4US and Dan - KK4OFR
Yes, we had quite a number of off and on showers during the
day Friday They were rather heavy at times.
Tom and Debbie's booth is nearly ready to open up!
Hmm, so, do you think it will continue to rain?
Bob - N0BIX is riding in from parking...
He has arrived!
Stephen - KC9EKU and John - KA8ZSB
John - N5AAA, Skip - N2FOE and Tom - W3TOM setting up Tom
and Debbie's space...
Bob - N0BIX - I'm singing in the rain!
The paths in the flea market are much improved over last
year!
Ah, finally the rain has let up...for a while...
Bob - N0BIX goes back up to the buildings...
Here he finds Chick - AC4CT, Debby - KB4LOO and Jan -
KA9VQS
Another look at the IOOK flea market space after the rain
has stopped...
The Michigan contingent has arrived! Mike - K8LMJ,
Dave - W8TVC and John - KF8KK!
Lou - N8KXM, Chick - AC4CT, Debby - KB4LOO, Jan - KA9VQS
and John - N5AAA
Then Lou takes a photo of the group so Bob - N0BIX can be
included!
Persimmons are being served on the veranda!
Charlie - NN3V, lunch chef and Stan - N5JFQ!
Stan - N5JFQ
Then Bob - N0BIX gets on the bus to go back to his car.
He goes to the Camp IOOK to get a photo of where the
campers had to be moved to for the day because of another activity that was
happening there.
Back at HamVention...
Jim - W5JCS says "Rainy
Friday by the food trucks.
Tom and Debbie's spaces are open for business!
Jim - W5JCS says "Fun
at the IOOK booth.
Surprise! Kristen - K6WX is here! Yee haw!
Fast Eddie - W8ED
Jim - W5JCS says "Rainy
Friday.
John - W9KD has arrived!
Vice President Glenn - W8AK
Tom and Debbie's booth...
I don't know how Tom did but our booth did not sell well on Friday.
N0BIXie is back at the Farley Flophouse!
Back in Xenia...
IOOK booth...
Jim - W5JCS and Jim - WB0BIK went to the Voice Of America Friday evening.
Jim says "Voice of American, Bethany transmitter station
run by WC8VOA Club."
Entry of VOA station
Plaque
for Radio Station WLW commemorating its operation of 500 KW transmitter in the
1930’s. WLW is located next to the VOA site south of Dayton.
Master Control room of the Voice of America
transmitting site
Control panel of transmitters for Voice of
America Bethany site
WB0BIK talks with member of WC9VOA in Master
Control room for VOA
WLW-AM 700 transmitting tower next to VOA
site. Notice only guyed at one level.
One of the final tubes used in WLW-AM's 500,000 KW
transmitter in the 1930s.
Switching panels for the transmitters to antennas at the
VOA transmitter site.
Information on the Amateur Radio station housed inside the
former Voice of America transmitter site. This site is now the site of the
Ohio Broadcast Museum and houses an impressive amateur radio collection
including Bob Drake's personal collection of Drake radios. All these Drake
radios in his collection are as new and never have been used.
West Chester Amateur Radio Association WC8VOA welcome sign.
Operating room for WC8VOA which includes seven operating
positions.
Close up of one of seven operating positions at WC8VOA.
This position features an Icom IC-7300 and Heil PR77D microphone donated by Bob
Heil.
Some of the early arrivals for The Gathering Of The Faithful!
Marian - WD8CJD and Chas - AI0OK
Dave - W8TVC and Lee - WA8MSD
Mike - K8LMJ and John - KF8KK
Randy - AB8CO and Lew - KC4US
Dave has begun fixing the brats!
Marilyn
Keith - N8LIS and Henry - WD8Q
The gang continues to wait for ZWJ and the other late
comers!
Ready and waiting!
When Keith got home that evening everyone commented that they could smell the gasoline fumes as well.
Needless to say, Keith did not drive that van the rest of the weekend.
The late comers have arrived and blessing has been said!
Let's eat!
Sandi
Bob - N0BIX, Debbie - KA3VNF, Jan, John - N5AAA and Jan -
KA9VQS
Folks getting their dinners...
Lee - WA8MSD, John - W9KD and Bill - WZ1L
Kristen - K6WX, Max - K1MAX and Charlie - NN3V
Liz, Stan - N5JFQ, Joe - WA5FLT and Cathy
Stan's dinner...
Dave - K3CRF, Tom - W3TOM, Skip - N2FOE
Eating dinner...
Mike - K8LMJ and Keith - N8LIS
Bruce - W6RBM and Joe - WA5FLT
Truly, we are blessed! As we were finishing up dinner outside it began to rain.
So, we moved the awards and recognition presentations inside. Then it really poured! You know, cats and dogs!
Da Bear's Candle Lighting Ceremony!
The lighting of the candle!
RIP and God bless them!
Time to begin handing out the awards!
Ready for the awards...
Ready for the awards...
Chas is being recognized for the new mugs we all received
this year! Thank you Chas!
Keith must be telling one heck of a whopper!
Dave - W8TVC is being awarded the 1st runner up for
Wednesday night net check ins!
Yeah, even though Dave is net control on Wednesday evenings, Keith had subbed
for him enough to be the number one check in.
Lew - KC4US is being awarded for having the most check ins
for the 20 Meter IOOK Nets.
Bill was the runner up.
Lew's award
Max was awarded for having the most check ins on the IOOK
Sunday morning 40 Meter Nets and John was awarded 1st runner up!
Max's award
Charlie was recognized for being the IOOK'er at the
Gathering who had traveled the furthest to be there!
Charlie's award...
Lew is being awarded for being the oldest IOOK'er in
attendance! He will be turning 90 soon!
As you can see, no fun was being had here! Har de har!
Lew's award...
Lou is making Fast Eddie the "official" floor
manager!
Keith is given a "Florida" badge for his lack of
attendance at HamCation!
Lew presents Mike with the IOOK Hall Of Fame Award!
Congratulations Mike!
Bob calls for an impromptu vote from those present to
induct Marian into the Hall Of Fame as well for hosting The Gathering Of The
Faithful for 30 years!
Congratulations and Thank You to Marian!
Marilyn also recognizes Marian for being our hostess!
Loyd explains the total expenses for our flea market
spaces, lunches and other expenses and then begins collecting from those in
attendance!
The good news is that due to the generous donations as well
as the profits from the sales in the flea market we broke even!
Many thanks to Loyd for all he does for the IOOK!
After the awards things begin winding down...Sandi, Marilyn
and Randy...
Dan, Miriam and Lew!
Joe thanks Chas for the great new mug!
By the way, if you haven't looked at the bottom of your new
mug here's what it says!
Kristen gets a tour of ZWJ's ham shack and then enjoys
quite a visit with some of the gang!
Saturday morning breakfast crew...
Dave - K7DRM and Chas - AI0OK
Randy - AB8CO, Bill - WZ1L and Jim - WB8VSU
Charlie - NN3V, Loyd - K8EI, Bruce - W6RBM, Joe - N8BYT and
Keith - WA8ZWJ
Dave - K3CRF
While we were in Xenia Bob - N0BIX was taking another walk
near the Farley Flophouse.
We are set up and ready to sell!
Lou - N8KXM
Chick - AC4CT and John - N5AAA
Bob?
Yep! It's raining!
Max - K1MAX and Randy - AB8CO
Joe and Stan pose in view of approaching dark rain clouds on Saturday.
John - KD8AIZ
Our lunch chef is making preparations!
Persimmons are being served on the veranda!
Stan says "For those that haven’t been to the new
HamVention location, numerous food trucks are available for lunch and snacks.
I thought it was interesting that the longest line was for the “Kentucky Style” pork chop sandwich.
Maybe it’s popular because it was being grilled right there on site."
While the guys in the flea market were enjoying Charlie's lunch Bob managed to find the gals at their lunch.
Jan - KA9VQS and Marian - WD8CJD
Sandi and Jan
Jan and Debby - KB4LOO
Bob's typical lunch!
Back in the flea market...
Funny T shirt!
This guy used to set up across from us when we were at Hara
Arena.
Stan - N5JFQ and Joe - WA5FLT went to the Air Force Museum. Here is what Stan had to say.
"There are so many great historical items at the Air
Force Museum. It was interesting to see the toasting goblets of the
Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. There is only one remaining goblet standing
upright, meaning there is only one man still alive that flew on that bombing
raid back in WW II. He is Lt. Col. Dick Cole and he should be 102 years
old this year."
"This year during HamVention one of my interests was seeing the newly dedicated exhibit at the Air Force Museum, the Memphis Belle.
Wow, she was beautifully restored and a great description of her history on display panels.
Afterwards Joe and I watched the restored Memphis Belle movie in the Museum’s big screen theater."
"And finally, one of my other favorites at the Air Force Museum, the SR71.
"
Back at HamVention...
Our buddy Sam - WA8VIW is a member of this group!
Our buddy Tom - W5KUB's booth!
Ed - KD5JUM
Joe - K0NEB
Randy - KA0AZS
Hmm, Loyd must be checking his eyelids for leaks!
Randy - AB8CO and his son and granddaughter
The HamVention officials came around and told everyone that we needed to seek shelter because a nasty storm was coming in.
So, we closed up our flea market space earlier than usual and headed back to the Farley Flophouse.
We were very fortunate in that what rain we got during the day came from behind us so we never had to cover things up with the plastic!
The good news is our sales were better than on Friday!
Fast Eddie's family has arrived!
Fast Eddie - W8ED, Bob - N0BIX, Charlie - NN3Vand Joe -
N8BYT.
Yes, we soaked up some suds during this visit!
Loyd - K8EI and Fast Eddie's daughter and wife
After a little while we were off to Rob's for dinner!
As you will see, we all managed to get all fed up!
Ed - KD5JUM and Wil - WB5YFX have arrived!
Wil's wife Gail
Bill - WZ1L has arrived after a long day of being a
Volunteer Examiner!
The group at Sunday breakfast!
Hmm, looks like ZWJ did not get in a photo again...
After breakfast Chas is heading out! Safe travels my
friend!
While the guys were at breakfast Bob went for another walk.
Back at the flea market...
Set up and ready to sell!
Bruce is working on some items to sell.
The sun is trying to peak out!
Lou makes a call to IOOK President, KBob - KG7SB! It only
seemed appropriate to have the flat version of KBob in the background!
Lou wished him a happy birthday when he will become 83 on Tuesday!
KBob actually told us that he is considering changing back to his old call of W8JUK!
Wil - WB5YFX
Jim - W5JCS
Then Fast Eddie went back inside to look around some more.
Stephen - KC9EKU and John - KA8ZSB
Persimmons are being served on the veranda by our chef of
the day, Joe - N8BYT!
Shortly after lunch was over things were slow enough in the flea market that we began to tear down.
While we were still tearing down Sam - WA8VIW was done and
headed towards home!
About the time we finished up it was time for the final HamVention drawings.
WZ1L, WB5YFX and WA5FLT watching and listening for our
numbers...de W5JCS
Once everything was loaded up we headed to Fast Eddie's in Medway to drop off the floors.
Once that task was completed the gang headed to the Farley Flophouse to unload the van and then the tables from the pickup truck.
Finishing up unloading the van...
Unloading the tables...
Yes, of course that was followed up by sipping some more
suds!
Before too long we managed to blow the keg so Fast Eddie started tearing down the beer fridge!
After a bit more visiting it was time to head to Marion's Piazza for dinner.
Here are Vicky and Ron - KA8PBB!
Ron is the one who makes all the badges for the IOOK as well as he arranged
for us to borrow the pickup truck.
Keith sits down to visit some with Ron and Vicky.
Joe - N8BYT, Lou - N8KXM and Dave - WB8WIQ
Carole - N8CVF, Sandi and Marian - WD8CJD
Skip - N2FOE, Philip - M1GWZ (London, England) and Joe
- N6DGY (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Jan and Brian - G2KQ (Oxford, England)
Kristen - K6WX joins Vicky and Ron - KA8PBB
Kristen's pizza has arrived!
She must have liked it because it is now all gone as well
as most of her beer!
Breakfast was at Rob's!
Bob walking back after taking photos of the motor coaches.
Fast Eddie has arrived as well!
Bob took a picture of Keith's breakfast!
The folks are loading up their motor coaches in preparation
for their departure.
And they are on the road!
Bob is getting ready to exit Ohio!
Later that morning ZWJ's van was picked up and taken to the
repair shop.
The good news is the problem has been fixed and it was picked up late
Thursday afternoon!
In summary, let me say that I had a great time!
I thank you for your patience in wading through the over 400 photos in this collection!
Other than getting back into my daily gym routine, I have spent a great deal of time each day since HamVention
working on the photos and this web page.
If any of you see any mistakes in the chronology or captions on any of the photos, please let me know.
Photo contributors: AB8CO, K6WX, N0BIX, N5AAA, N5JFQ, NN3V, W5JCS, W8ED, WA8ZWJ
Many thanks to Ron - KA8PBB for making the arrangements for us to borrow his son's pickup truck!
Respectfully submitted by Keith - WA8ZWJ
