National Hamfest 2018 - Post Hamfest

So as you know I spent Friday and Saturday at Newark attending the National Hamfest, all the usual attendees were there and of course there was the big prize raffle, which I sadly did not win, however a big congratulations to the people who did, enjoy those radios, I had a look at all three (despite being familiar to some extent with Yaesu's FT991A) so as to get familiar with them, I also had a look at Yaesu's new FTDX101, named after their FT101 series from the 1970s (which they also had with them on show (but no one was allowed to touch those), they were also giving out hats again this year so I got a new one.

The camping arrangements this year were different, instead of across from the hall you'd enter the showground, stop at a wooden hut, get your welcome pack and pass, and make a left turn, as this was my first year I wasn't aware there had been any changes.

I was hoping to run a station but didn't get to do this, however I still had a good time, eating tins of beans and sausages, drinking tea and being around fellow Amateur radio operators.

I arrived on site at 6pm Thursday and got the tent up with some help, after that set up the table, the chair, the stove and filled the kettle with water and made a cup of tea, I had some milk and butter with me so was able to have toast and coffee on Friday morning (on Saturday morning the keeper of GB3IR, Chris G4FZN offered me a bacon sandwich which was very nice of him).

The drive down was beset with traffic jams, rush hour and an accident on the A1 near to Blyth services delayed me some, however the run back was smooth and not once did I slow down below 50MPH, I left the site at 2:15pm (or thereabouts and arrived back into Catterick Garrison at 4pm, a run of 1 hour and 45 minutes, only stopping at the roundabouts near the showground and the lights at Colburn Broadway, White Shops and Gough Road in Catterick Garrison, and the car handled the journey very well.

I had run my APRS beacon the whole way there and back, so click the link on the right of the blog (on the main website) if you want to see it.

I also purchased a Network Radio, I will be doing a video on it for YouTube as I mentioned this in previous posts, which I hope to get up in a couple of days, I didn't get the chance to film at Hamfest 2018 but I will do some in 2019 as I hope to have someone with me next year.

So now I must unpack the car, hope to see you all at next year's National Hamfest, or if not the Spennymoor rally should I get there this year.

73 de 2E0EIJ