The party is winding down fast. It is almost noon and many Hamvention exhibitors are tearing down. It is astonishing how quickly three days can pass.

I've been asked repeatedly if I thought Hamvention attendance overall was down. Frankly, I'm not sure. No doubt the skyrocketing gasoline prices have made an impact. Still, the crowds on Saturday seemed as intense as always. On the other hand, I can report that fleamarket participation has definitely declined. Several booth visitors mentioned a relative lack of fleamarket activity compared to past years. In all likelihood we're witnessing the "eBay effect."

So it is time to pack up the laptop and head back to Casa De Mi Madre. My assignment for this evening is to repair a flakey lamp and move the refrigerator so that she can sweep behind it. A mother's toil never ends, and neither does the son's!

I hope you've enjoyed the 2008 Hamvention blog. Thank you for all the kind comments. It was a pleasure!

73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY

It is a beautiful morning in Dayton, cool and utterly clear. Attendance is always down on Hamvention Sunday, but the lack of bodies is particularly noticeable this morning. The grassy parking lot across the street from Hara is virtually empty.

The doors opened moments ago and the hard-core three-day hamfesters are strolling the aisles. They know this is the best days for bargains and they are definitely on the prowl.

I made good use of the morning quiet by visiting the TenTec and Yaesu booths. At the Yaesu booth a very shy Michelle Tram talked about their new VX-8R dual-band handheld transceiver. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x_sZ-6Yo8o. At the TenTec booth, I bumped into Scott Robbins, W4PA, who described the new version of the Jupiter transceiver and the Omni VII remote control capability. Once again, You'll find video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mThHIjfZP8.

I also stopped by Kenwood to see what was new. The only new products to mention were some firmware upgrades to their VHF/UHF mobiles. I used the opportunity to ask about the Kenwood-JVC merger. According to the gentleman I spoke with, they don't anticipate an impact on Kenwood's Amateur Radio division.

ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, unveiled the "5th pillar" (Technology) of the ARRL this afternoon at the Technology Task Force forum. ARRL's other four pillars, the underpinnings of the organization, are Public Service, Advocacy, Education and Membership. See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y4N42XHV1s

The debut of the 5th pillar dovetails with the new ARRL push to promote Amateur Radio technology to the general public. Check out the new Web site at http://www.wedothatradio.org/wedothat/.

Timewave introduced two Bluetooth rig control/interface devices at Dayton. See video of one of them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC1P9HoM_AQ

ARRL Education and Technology Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, is showcasing a very cool seismometer kit at Hamvention. It is a PIC-based kit with a tiny accelerometer. It transmits its data back to your PC on 70 cm. In this video, Mark has it communicating with a robot. As he tilts the seismometer, the robot changes direction. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pglU3hqBg0