Topic: NEAR-FEST XXII Schedule of Events, October 13 & 14, 2017

[GuinnessJohn]

NEAR-Fest XXII Schedule of Events   

Friday, October 13.

6:00 AM: Fairgrounds opens for Blue (Staff) and Yellow (Commercial) Vendors ONLY.  Commercial buildings open and set up commences. 

7:00 AM: Fairgrounds opens for Clubs & Associations passholders only to occupy their traditional spaces.  NO "FOR SALE" ITEMS DISPLAYED OR SELLING IS PERMITTED UNTIL 9:00AM!

9:00 AM: Pre-Paid Entry, opens for RED ticket and passholders only.    Once the Pre-Paid entry line has entered the General Admission line will enter.  Flea Market and Tailgating buying and selling commences.  Please note our flea market parking policy:

NEAR-Fest Flea Market Parking Policy

This is the ENTERTAINMENT BUILDING, see map for location.

Forums, Seminars and Lectures

10:30 AM: RESOLVING POWER LINE INTERFERENCE presented by Tom Murphy, W6TOM who worked for Pacific Gas and Electric?s Communications Department for 29 years and was involved in resolving interference issues to company radio systems and RTVI, Radio TV Interference complaints from customers. His talk will deal with determining if the interference is utility or other sources, what equipment is used by the utility to locate interference, what you can do to locate the source and assist  the utility and how to deal with the utility when making a complaint.
(Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

12:00 PM: SOLDERING SURFACE MOUNT COMPONENTS presented by Tony Brock-Fisher, K1KP "It's not as hard as it looks!"  says Tony who will be with us to help you learn to not live in fear of working with those little components!  (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

1:30 PM: ?INSIDE ENIGMA? presented by Dr. Tom Perera W1TP We are pleased and honored to have world renown Enigma expert Professor Tom Perera with us this again fall for a highly informative and interesting presentation on the Enigma cipher machine that gained fame in the German military service during WWII.  It has been argued that breaking the Enigma cipher, unknown to the Germans, was the key factor in winning the war.  Tom's presentations are usually very well attended to be sure to get there early to ensure a seat. (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

3:00 PM: NOW I HAVE MY LICENSE, WHAT DO I DO NEXT? presented by Mitch Stern W1SJ. Mitch will be taking over running our forums this fall and his popular symposium that he presents at many other hamfest's, including Dayton, is back at NEAR-Fest by popular demand.  This highly entertaining lecture is aimed primarily at the "newly-minted" ham and is a tutorial of how to get up and running in amateur radio.  Mitch has been there and done it all!  I hope that this will be a regular addition to the fest as we welcome new hams to our service! Fun for all and very useful information too.  (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

4:30 PM: MORE R-390A FUN with George Rancourt, K1ANX.     Better arrive early as this is always a packed house!  Back after his his "springtime break" George will once again share his experience with bringing back to life this remarkable series of radio that, introduced in the early 1950?s, still holds its own against most of the radios available today!  In this installment George shows us his tricks for capacitor replacement to keep these radios up and running!  (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

7:00 PM: NEAR-Fest's Legendary Ad-Hoc "Ham-Jam Session" (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

For full details see:http://forum.near-fest.com/index.php?topic=1363.0

Saturday, October 14.

9:00 AM: ?DMR NEW ENGLAND UPDATE? moderated by Bill Barber, NE1B (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map) New DMR repeaters continue to pop up all over New England.  Now with NEW DMR radios available for $100 or less, more and more people are getting active in this interesting mode.  Bill Barber, NE1B, the contact for New England Digital Emergency Communications Network (NEDECN) will be back again this fall, by popular demand, to give us updates? and there is lots of news? on whats going on in the DMR world and what you need to do to get involved.   (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

10:30 AM: ?D-STAR COMMUNICATIONS SYMPOSIUM? moderated by Terry Stader KA8SCP.Worldwide, the D-Star network continues to grow.  The "New England D-Star Go To Guy", Terry Stader KA8SCP, and possibly other invited speakers will give us the "State of the State address on DStar and help guide you to get started with this very flexible communications mode. (Located in the Entertainment Building, see map)

Licensing Examinations

10:30 AM:Volunteer Exam Session conducted by Bruce Anderson, W1LUS and the NEAR-Fest VE Team  The exam session is located in the Meeting Room (in the Arts & Crafts Building) right across from the flagpole.  The entrance is around the back of the building (see map)

The Volunteer Examination session begins at 10:30 sharp.  Be sure to have two forms of identification (one with photo), original and one copy of your Amateur license (if you have one), documentation and $15.00 exam fee ready.  For more information on the Volunteer exams or if you are a ARRL accredited VE wishing to help, please contact the VE Coordinator at w1lus@verizon.net.  Despite what it says on the ARRL Web site, pre-registration is not required.  Just show up and give it your best shot.  Try the higher level exams even if you don't feel you are ready - you never know..........at least you'll know what to expect the next time. 

A special prize will be given to the youngest person to pass the exam for their first license

Good luck!

Closing Ceremony

2:00 PM: Closing Ceremony, Awards and Door Prize Drawing.  The Grand Prize this time is an ELECRAFT KX2 pocket HF transceiver.  Runner up to the Grand Prize is a dual band Digital (DMR) and analog portable radio. (Located in the Relaxation Grove, see map)

More than simply a prize drawing, this is the time we honor individuals, present updates to the NEAR-Fest mission, and provide a little insight as to what lies ahead. See a list of past LIFETIME PASS recipients:

See you all at Deerfield bright and early Friday morning!

73,

Mitch Stern, W1SJ,
Forums Chairman