A few photo's taken at Spring NEAR-Fest 2015

[W3GMS]

I probably should have taken some more pictures, but here are a few that I did take.  Great time for sure and it continues to be my favorite Hamfest of all time.   The team that runs NEAR-Fest has the magic formula.   Sorry I missed seeing a few folks that I have since learned were there.  Oh well, maybe next time.  

Joe - GMS  

2310 - Steve WA1QIX
2309 - Tim WA1HLR
2308 - Ticket Raffle in the Relaxation Lounge  

[W3GMS]

2307 - Al W1VTP
2306 - Left KA1KAC (?) Right - Wayne WA1SSJ
2305 - AM Dinner L to R Joe W3GMS, Bill KC2RLQ, Steve WA1QIX and John KC2FXE    

[W3GMS]

2304-Not sure of calls
2303-The Tron (WA1HLR) and others

   

[WBear2GCR]

Tron has got something of a Svengali look going there...

[W3GMS]

Tron has got something of a Svengali look going there...

Shortly after that he went into the zener over the knee region.  I wish I could sleep that well sitting up!

Joe-GMS

[KB2WIG]

" Tron has got something of a Svengali look going there... "

I dunno. He reminds me of someone else.... ..


klc

[Steve - K4HX]

He was meditating in a state of stasis. That is why he is called the Guru Troglodyte.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

KA1KAC is Bob, licensed just a few ahead of me in line last century.    Used to catch him in the mornings sometimes before work when I was still up north. He has a newer Jeep, either a CJ-7 or Liberty that's painted OD green w/military insignia.

Photo 2304 is Mark/KA2QFX and (I think) his son.

Photo 2303 "others" are Ross/W1EKG at end of table and his son whose name escapes me.

[W3GMS]

KA1KAC is Bob, licensed just a few ahead of me in line last century.    Used to catch him in the mornings sometimes before work when I was still up north. He has a newer Jeep, either a CJ-7 or Liberty that's painted OD green w/military insignia.

Photo 2304 is Mark/KA2QFX and (I think) his son.

Photo 2303 "others" are Ross/W1EKG at end of table and his son whose name escapes me.

Thanks for the fill-in's with the names.  Now that you mentioned them, that sounds right. 

Joe-GMS 

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

And thank you Joe, for taking the lead on the AM Dinner in the absence of the rest of us. I appreciate it as I'm sure others do.

Hopefully we'll get you and Martha to one of the fall events when more of the AM crew is there like 'JTD & Maggie, Bill/'WTK, maybe even Buddly, Brian/W1LYD down from Alaska, and the 4 Horsemen of the AM Apocalypse.    Gotta tell you - some of those dinners have been pretty raucous and left many an attendee with sore sides from laughing. I was even accused once of being humorous!

[W3GMS]

And thank you Joe, for taking the lead on the AM Dinner in the absence of the rest of us. I appreciate it as I'm sure others do.

Hopefully we'll get you and Martha to one of the fall events when more of the AM crew is there like 'JTD & Maggie, Bill/'WTK, maybe even Buddly, Brian/W1LYD down from Alaska, and the 4 Horsemen of the AM Apocalypse.    Gotta tell you - some of those dinners have been pretty raucous and left many an attendee with sore sides from laughing. I was even accused once of being humorous!

It was the least I could do.  Ultimately my goal is to make the Spring and Fall session and I think that will start happening in the near future.  MrMike is threatening to put me to work 

Oh, Martha was quite please that she still found a parking spot at the old AM Carroll when we pulled in on Friday morning.  Not so lucky Saturday morning, so we parked over near the bleachers.  So at least we tried to represent the AM gang at the old historic spot.  I should have brought a small table just to set up some AM gear.  Speaking of AM gear, has the fester every had an AM Special Event Station?  Had many great times in the past both at Gaithersburg, Timonium and Howard County with the AM Special Event Station setup.  For many years Frank would bring his HB 4-1000 rig and it was a blast operating it.  I think one year we had a T-3 as a special event station at Gaithersburg. 

Joe - GMS       

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I always tape & barrel off our area in the AM Corral area when I get there Thursday, right on the point where the concrete wall is. One less thing to worry about remembering or hurrying for early Friday. Breakfast at the diner is more enjoyable that way. 

There have been numerous small AM stations at Hopkinton and NEAR-Fest. At the last or one of the last Hosstraders Steve/QIX and some of the gang set up and operated W1E, a nice Class E set up with custom QSL cards and the rest. A slick set up that worked out great and did a lot of operating. Steve has also run a Class E station out of the back of his vehicle in the AM Corral at NEAR-Fest on numerous occasions.

We had plans to use my T-368 and Steve's Class E set up one year as a past/present display with the calls W1T (tube) and W1E (Class E) but it never quite made it to the launch pad. Steve was working on a relay system to switch the aerial so we could simplify things on the set up/break down end which wasn't quite ready and I was trying to find enough folks to staff it. The problem was leaving a T-368 etc sitting out unattended. At least with Steve's station, he could close the hatch back on his car and it was protected. Not so easy with a T-3 station.

Unlike the Mid-Atlantic area, it seems a bit harder up there to get folks to haul and set up a big iron station at a hamfest. Maybe someday before we're all too old.

BTW, if you want a fun task while you're there, work the gate Friday for an hour or two. You get to see everyone and the time flies by. One of the best moments of NEAR-Fest for me was getting there Friday morning after all the preparations Thursday and months before, heading down to the main gate with the crew and looking out over the vast lines of vehicles waiting to enter. Then getting to see old friends perhaps for the only time, as it seems folks would disappear once inside.

[W3GMS]

I always tape & barrel off our area in the AM Corral area when I get there Thursday, right on the point where the concrete wall is. One less thing to worry about remembering or hurrying for early Friday. Breakfast at the diner is more enjoyable that way. 

There have been numerous small AM stations at Hopkinton and NEAR-Fest. At the last or one of the last Hosstraders Steve/QIX and some of the gang set up and operated W1E, a nice Class E set up with custom QSL cards and the rest. A slick set up that worked out great and did a lot of operating. Steve has also run a Class E station out of the back of his vehicle in the AM Corral at NEAR-Fest on numerous occasions.

We had plans to use my T-368 and Steve's Class E set up one year as a past/present display with the calls W1T (tube) and W1E (Class E) but it never quite made it to the launch pad. Steve was working on a relay system to switch the aerial so we could simplify things on the set up/break down end which wasn't quite ready and I was trying to find enough folks to staff it. The problem was leaving a T-368 etc sitting out unattended. At least with Steve's station, he could close the hatch back on his car and it was protected. Not so easy with a T-3 station.

Unlike the Mid-Atlantic area, it seems a bit harder up there to get folks to haul and set up a big iron station at a hamfest. Maybe someday before we're all too old.

BTW, if you want a fun task while you're there, work the gate Friday for an hour or two. You get to see everyone and the time flies by. One of the best moments of NEAR-Fest for me was getting there Friday morning after all the preparations Thursday and months before, heading down to the main gate with the crew and looking out over the vast lines of vehicles waiting to enter. Then getting to see old friends perhaps for the only time, as it seems folks would disappear once inside.

Well Martha did have the honors this year of opening the gate to let people in.  She really enjoyed being a part of the opening ceremony. 

Ok on the rigs and such.  Well maybe I can make that happen by setting something up in the future. 

I remember you marking off with tape on Thursday night and looking for the tape in the trailer but we had no tape so it just did not get done.  We will buy some tape for the next time.  We also continued the tradition of the Breakfast early Friday morning although no one other than Martha and me we there.  Thursday night dinner at the Fairgrounds was nice for the "staff".   As usual, we bunch of tickets to help support the cause.   

Fun stuff for sure.

Joe-GMS