Reflections on Hamvention

In the wake of the 2017 Hamvention at Xenia, Ohio, last month, we look back on it with a smile and a measure of assurance that the word is indeed getting out about TALARC. While the phrase, "Gee, I didn't know the Legion had a radio club" was still heard here and there – even from Legion members – it wasn't quite so prevalent this year.

Forty-four members of TALARC stopped by our booth to say "hello" to the staff and the volunteers who helped man the booth. Twenty-eight Legion members signed on as new TALARC members there, and sixteen wartime veterans gathered information and membership applications to join both The American Legion and the radio club. It was a good couple of days!

As regulars to Hamvention know and others would suspect, opportunities abound for acquiring the latest and greatest in electronics-related equipment, tools, gadgets and gizmos for amateur radio. There is, however, another side to Hamvention that is appreciated by the many participants but doesn't always get the attention it deserves. And that is the wide variety of forums that run from early on the Friday of Hamvention until its close at noon on Sunday.

The forums this year included lectures, along with panels, on selected subjects that ranged from "Remote Operating" to "Dealing with Impossible Hams in Your Club or Team." One of the forums had, for the first time, representation from the Legion in the person of Bill Sloan, NZ9S, TALARC VP and K9TAL station trustee. Bill participated as a speaker for the "Kit Building Tips for Success" forum, which offered insight to how some popular kits were created, as well as hints and tips for kit builders to achieve success.

Our thanks to all those who made time to visit the TALARC booth to say "hello." It was a chance for the headquarters folks to learn, first-hand, about Legion-affiliated amateur radio doings at Legion posts and in communities around the nation.

If Hamvention is something you've not yet experienced, or if you haven't been to the event recently, then take a couple of minutes now to briefly see the new venue, how TALARC is promoted there, and pick up on some thoughts about establishing a TALARC club or station at your post. It's all on video. Visit https://www.legion.org/legiontv/PLHMR9MmnivfNNA_LE8e77F9Lz0H0LZrY4/nfYue... to view it. Kudos to Mike Anthony, K9MNA, professional videographer and TALARC "scribe," for his work in creating the piece.