West Virginia Hamfests

Good morning...

I got an email today with the flyer for the 29th Fayetteville Hamfest on Sunday, February 24, 2008. I wanted to have it in time to hand out to the folks coming to my Tech License Class (STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT!)

I also forwarded the flyer to officers of two other clubs: Monongalia Wireless Association c/o N8PDQ and Stonewall Jackson Amatuer Radio Association c/o K8TPH.

Don't know if anyone will be able to make it, especially since the weather may be dicey.

I went to Fayetteville a couple of years ago and it was a fun day.

The drive down was ... interesting ... I'd go through one cut in the hills and it'd be snowing so hard I couldn' t see my hood ornryment and then through the next cut, and it was bright and sun-shiny! It would alternate between blizzard and perfectly clear most of the way down US19. Truly strange.

It didn't take long to walk through the fleas. I stopped and talked to our ARRL SM Ann, KA8ZGY and with the WV Chapter 30 QCWA guys, Art W8PBO and Dave W8UI.

I particularly enjoyed the "CW Shootout"! We all assembled... no, that wouldn't be accurate... we all sort of milled around in the back room for a while. Clark AA8SH came in with his laptop and handed out pads and pencils. He explained to the crowd that they'd start out at low speed, sending about one minute of plain text, and then increase the speed in 5 WPM jumps. Contestants would copy each text burst and as long as they were still copying correctly, they were still in the competition. The last one to get solid copy would win a cash prize based on the speed.

They started off at 15 WPM. They sent a text line and everyone pretty much said -- yeah, OK, bring it on! They kicked it up to 20 WPM and almost all were still in ... some dropped out. At 25 WPM I was clueless, but I stayed around to watch the fun. At 30 WPM the herd was thinning. On and on... 35... 40... 45 WPM. More and more were dropping by the wayside. Finally, it was down to just a couple of contenders. They announced that 50 WPM would be the last level ... 'cuz, actually, their laptop just wouldn't go any faster than that.

When the dust cleared, one guy -- I wrote down his name and call at the time, but don't recall it right now -- was still standing like the last gunman in an old western. This hardy ham copied that 50 WPM burst. Perfectly. He even did it TWICE.

Frankly I was amazed. I've heard about folks who copy at phenomenal speeds, and I've always been in awe of them. There should be, like, an MVP award or Hall of Fame.

I was glad to see him walk away with the cash prize -- $50 for 50 WPM.

I've missed the Fayetteville Hamfest the last couple of years. I hope to make it down there this year.

I would ALSO like to see the Fayetteville gang come to the 50th WV State ARRL Convention & Hamfest and Roanoke Division Convention and maybe run the CW Shootout there.

I like the idea of preserving and promoting CW. Now that it's no longer required, we're in "use it or lose it" mode. Not that I think we'll lose CW privileges, but we'll lose "the knack" unless we get younger hams interested. Some say "so what?" -- that it's an obsolete and arcane skill. Maybe. But I think it's a skill we might appreciate some day when all the computers are down. Ham radio is all about "When All Else Fails"... right?


But more importantly, we need to keep as many clubs involved in the State Convention as possible. It is, after all, a STATE convention. Not just a few groups. I can't help but remember how it was... (Oh no! Waxing nostalgic! Must... quit... before... I get all sentimental...)