Amateur Radio Convention

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of people that showed up today for this two day event in Boxboro, I ran into a whole bunch of people I hadn't seen for at least a year.

All those folks in the picture were gathered around a prize drawing that was done at 5 o'clock today. They gave away a couple of two way radio stations worth at least two thousand bucks each, along with all sorts of other stuff. Naturally, everybody in the picture thought they might win.

I already have all the radios I could need or want, though. Mostly, I go to these events to socialize with people I've become acquainted with over the air. Like any other niche hobby, if you keep at it long enough you end up meeting a whole new crew (or two or three).

Steve Cloutier (callsign: WA1QIX), for example, lives up in Townsend and runs an IT business. He also designs all sorts of interesting stuff.

Steve gave a presentation about Class E amplifiers and Pulse Width Modulation. They're definitely not the kind of subjects that draw huge crowds, but he has been on the cutting edge of developing products using these technologies for quite a long time. It was a very informative hour.

Some people in Worcester may remember Steve as "Bob Summers" on radio station WORC during the 1970's.

I think he also spent a little time behind the mic and spinning records at WNEB as "the big beard" or something like that...

Broadcast, however, never paid big and these days it's even worse.

Just ask Tim Smith (callsign: WA1HLR), who had been a shortwave broadcaster out of Maine for many years. Recently, however, the two stations they were running had to shut down due to this economic downturn.

Tim is pictured here as he gave a presentation this afternoon on various ways of modifying transmitters, improving performance, and other tips and tricks. Tim is also known by his nickname, Timtron.

I spent most of the day over at this convention. There's another three day convention at the beginning of October, up in New Hampshire that I'll probably attend this year. All things considered, amateur radio is something that I've always been glad I got involved in. And it's never too late to get started, either...

If you have any interest in amateur radio, or questions about how to get licensed, just drop me an e-mail (click on my profile) and I'll be glad to steer you in the right direction. Or you could even head out to the Boxboro Holiday Inn tomorrow, and check out the licensing materials the ARRL has on hand at the last day of the convention, between 8 am and 2 pm.