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Author Topic: Dayton Hamvention flea market - UPDATE  (Read 5376 times)
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KA3EKH
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« on: February 17, 2017, 11:25:41 AM »

With just ninety days until the Dayton Hamvention they still do not have anything up on line about the flea market in terms of layout, amount of spaces or cost of the new spaces. But wait, there web site proclaims that tomorrow the 18th they will have something up.
Remember the old day when if you did not buy your space by December you would be out of luck?, it’s been about ten years now that they have not sold out of spaces before the event but I have an old habit of always buying my space on line before the first of the year but not this year. Would assume that they are concentrating more on all the pavilions and building and the inside vendors first being that’s where the money is and maybe the flea market don’t matter?
When you look at the drone video you see how they are planning use of the parking sections, scooter rentals and the parking lot that will be tented over for new vendors and then the complex of buildings that will be the center of the event and have all the picnic tables and the like and finally off to the side you get the see the race track where they say the flea market will be at the far end of the event. Also have to wonder if the new track section is the same size as the old flea market?
Hara was a dump, prone to eruptions of sewage and a sea of potholes but for twenty years it was a temporary home and now it will be interesting to see what the future brings.


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KC4VWU
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« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2017, 12:48:07 PM »

I'm just curious of the parking situation. Maybe there is adequate parking space across the street from the venue?

Couldn't make Orlando this year due to poor preparation on my part, so it looks like I will make an attempt at "Dayton".
2013 was my first year back since the very first trek there in the early '90's and I've went every year since. It has become the highlight of the year for me in the past 4. Am I getting to be an "old buzzard"? Grin Grin

Phil
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2017, 01:31:11 PM »

Only four of the buildings will be used for inside vendors. I did a rough comparison between Hara and the new place and I counted roughly 135 less spaces for inside vendors at the new place. There's only one major highway to get to the place. Morning and evening rush hour traffic on this highway is rough on a normal day. I can just imagine some of those big trucks that some vendors bring pulling into the grassy flea market area if it rains. Plus, if there is rain, walking the entire day in wet grass probably will require boots. Personally, unless there is an urgent need to go, I would pass on this year and let them work out all the kinks. It took them 50 years to get the other place running smoothly.
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Pete, WA2CWA - "A Cluttered Desk is a Sign of Genius"
KA3EKH
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« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2017, 02:02:26 PM »

Link to the Dayton Drone Tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMLFWRyD4ZQ


Looks like Flea market is just a small part of the presentation. I can think of several years that I did not go into the buildings at all and only go for the flea market. The buildings are all just new expensive stuff, big equipment manufacturers, little equipment manufacturers and dealers and Ham related organizations.
I know there are lots of people who go and never see the flea market, but for me I have almost zero interest in Kenwood latest radio, contest logging software and embroidered hats.
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W1ITT
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« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2017, 03:20:24 PM »

On this forum, as well as on the Eham forum, I have seen a number of comments from people worried that the fairgrounds that hosts the new Hamvention will be a "sea of mud".  Coming from the experience of founding and operating Hosstraders in New Hampshire for 34 years at four different fairgrounds, I would not be worried.
Farmers are typically frugal people.  They do not put a fairgrounds on perfectly good farmland.  They prefer sandy, well drained flat but otherwise good-for-nothing fields that they can acquire relatively inexpensively.  They save the loamy fields for crops. I'm willing to bet that if the new fairground location had a mud problem, it would have become apparent with the myriad people, livestock and vehicles that occupy the space during agricultural events as well as car shows, horse shows etc.
As to the comments elsewhere that the building will be full of residual manure and other yucky stuff, we need to understand that the concept of "biosecurity" is big in the farm world.  Farmers worry that bringing their critters to unhygienic places will expose their expensive animals to disease.  So the barns at this sort of place are cleaned well.  Cows don't go in the exhibition buildings unless they are being naughty.
I have read that the Hamvention people plan to supplement the enclosed exhibit spaces with large air-conditioned tents.  If so, the "indoor" area will increase. 
When W1GWU and K1RQG and I ran the Hosstraders, there were usually a couple mega pessimists who assumed and hoped for the worst.  The good part was that the greatest majority came for a good time and the predicted disasters never happened.  (Except maybe the time those yoyos lit a fire in one of the cattle barns...)
Running a hamfest is more work and less fun than it looks.  I hope people will give the Hamvention crew a chance to prove what they've got.  It'll be just fine !
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2017, 04:36:40 PM »

The flea market map is now posted:
http://hamvention.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Flea-Market-02-17-Full.pdf


Inside Vendor map:
http://hamvention.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Booths-Exhibits-Overview.pdf
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Pete, WA2CWA - "A Cluttered Desk is a Sign of Genius"
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« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2017, 06:19:58 PM »

Based on the data I found here: https://info.pcboard.ca/hamvention/
As it stands right now:
Indoor spaces are 320; at HARA in 2016 - 504
Flea market spaces are 1293; at HARA in 2016 - 2211.
This is talk for indoor overflow to be housed in an erected tent.
Not sure what they will do with flea market overflow.
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Pete, WA2CWA - "A Cluttered Desk is a Sign of Genius"
KA3EKH
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« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2017, 09:17:29 AM »

Very cryptic email sent out from the flea market chairman about how the website will not allow you to purchase spaces until April 18th but you can request a space before that time by contacting them via email and request a location and they will hold it for you. Been trying to get in touch with several of the others that I know will be there to try to get us all together but that’s been like herding cats.  The big issue for me is looking at the map there are several sections and the last thing anyone wants is to be off in one of the sections and not get any traffic because everyone else is in the racetrack.
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