05/16/2026
Hamvention[1]¿ 2026 in Xenia, Ohio, is officially under way, with large crowds
filling the five exhibit halls, four forum rooms, and the giant flea market.
Here's a summary of Friday, May 15.
In the ARRL Expo area, attendees interacted with program representatives and
volunteer leadership officials, including ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, and
President Rick Roderick, K5UR. Emergency Communications and Field Services
Director Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, and several volunteers promoted ARRL's "Year of
the Club" program and the organization's participation in the America250
celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. In the ARRL Lab
booth, Senior Lab Engineer Rick Ciervo, W1CIE, tested handhelds for spurious
emissions while Digital RF Engineer John McAuliffe, W1DRF, demonstrated the new
QST Product Review Comparison Tool that - starting June 1 - will allow ARRL
members to access Lab measurements on various aspects of reviewed radios and
amplifiers online and compare them with each other. They will also be able to
bring up a copy of the published review of each radio of interest. The Lab staff
also highlighted CSI, the Clean Signal Initiative, which will create benchmarks
and standards for transmitted signals and indicate in reviews whether a radio
has met those benchmarks.
In ARRL's membership and sales area, this year's big themes are Field Day,
America250, and a handful of new ARRL book introductions including Salty Walt's
Next Level Portable Antenna Sketchbook[2], Satellite Operating for Amateur
Radio[3], and Digital Networking for Ham Radio[4]. At the radiosport booth, the
main focus is on helping people navigate the Trident, Triple Play, and 10-Band
DXCC awards. Next door, the ARRL-VEC's Stephanie Borden, W2MAU, was helping hams
with license renewals and answering questions regarding the question pools, as
well as helping Volunteer Examiner teams continue the transition to all-digital
exams and reporting of session results.
Young hams are being treated to supervised soldering practice and opportunities
to decipher Morse code messages and answer the question, "What advice would you
have for older-generation hams?" At the adjacent College Amateur Radio Program
(CARP) booth, student leader Tyler Schroder, NT1S, and volunteers Ally Brawner,
KR4GVZ - a Ph.D. student at Clemson University - and recent Clemson graduate
Cade Braxton, KO4VDX, greeted visiting college students and offered them the
opportunity to get on the air using one of two remote stations hooked up inside
the booth.
Representatives were also on hand from the International Amateur Radio Union
(IARU), the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL), the Radio Amateurs of Canada
(RAC), and the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB). JARL's Ken Yamamoto,
JA1CJP, said coming to Hamvention offers a good opportunity to communicate in
person with radio amateurs from America and other countries, to show off their
presence to hams here, and to promote the annual Ham Fair held each summer in
Tokyo. RAC President Allan Boyd, VE3AJB, talked about his organization's
"reciprocating working relationship" with ARRL, noting several shared concerns,
including membership retention, getting more youth involved in amateur radio,
recruiting more hams, and keeping current hams active. RSGB General Manager
Steve Thomas, M1ACB, said what makes Hamvention special is the fact that there
are so many people here from so many countries, and that his biggest reason for
being here is to meet people, whether or not they are RSGB members.
There were also book signings by ARRL authors Glen Popiel, KW5GP (Digital
Networking for Ham Radio), and "Salty" Walt Hudson, K4OGO (Salty Walt's Next
Level Portable Antenna Sketchbook). Walt's forum drew nearly 200 fans, packing
the Hamvention's largest forum room. Hudson said he was mostly an "HF
propagation geek" and that antennas "are just tools to explore propagation." He
also encouraged greater study of the effects of ground conductivity on
propagation, saying that "It's all about the surface below and near me, the
ionosphere above me, and most of all, the antenna!"
Outside, Chris Knox, KI1P, was showing off his shack-in-a-van, with radios and
antennas covering 1.8 - 902 MHz, along with an analog 2-meter repeater, a DMR
repeater, and a VHF public service band repeater for use during emergencies. He
says the station is set up mostly for contesting and that he can run up to 1,200
watts, operating either remotely or from the van. Knox notes that this is his
"one and only ham shack" and that he even has a sleeping area in the back of the
van.
ARRL Senior Director of Marketing and Innovation Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, gave the
keynote at the FlexRadio Banquet on Friday night. "...all of us in this room
have a role in ensuring that innovation continues by creating an environment
that welcomes and nurtures the next generation," he said. He highlighted the
efforts of ARRL and the wider amateur radio community to encourage pathways for
youth that lead to further education and careers in wireless technology. "You do
not need to create a new technology to make a lasting contribution. Sometimes
the most important innovation is simply creating an opportunity for someone
else," said Inderbitzen.
At the Southwest Ohio DX Association's (SWODXA's) 39th annual DX dinner, ARRL
CEO David Minster, NA2AA, was the keynote speaker. Minster spoke on "radio
sportsmanship," challenging the DXers in the room to pay serious attention to
questions about excessive power, remote operating that uses stations in multiple
locations, "pay to play" for getting confirmations from some DX stations,
whether certain stations really need to work DXpeditions on all possible bands
and modes while others are trying to make just one contact, the future of the
DXCC Honor Roll and deliberate QRM. "The most important aspect of radiosport,"
he concluded, "is to have a good time, but not at the expense of others."
Several awards were also given out at the DX dinner. Longtime QSL manager
Charles Wilmot, MOOXO, and DXpeditioner Elvira Simoncini, IV3FSG, were inducted
into the Heritage CQ DX Hall of Fame, now administered by the International DX
Association; Yuris Petersons, YL2GM, was named SWODXA DXpeditioner of the Year
for his operation from Marion Island as ZS8W, during which he made more than
30,000 QSOs; the Russian DXpedition Team, which included Hal Turley, W8HC,
earned the club's DXpedition of the Year award for the 9U1RU expedition to
Burundi, in which the operators made nearly 180,000 contacts. Finally, the
Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) bestowed its Excellence Awards to the
PJ6Y expedition to Sable Island for its emphasis on youth participation, and to
Otis Vicens, NP4G, and Ezequiel Prado, HI3R, for their 100% solar-powered, 100%
remotely operated KP5/NP3VI DXpedition to Desecheo. Vicens is also this year's
Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year.
Follow ARRL News[5] for our Facebook photo album[6] throughout Hamvention
weekend as we add new images from the ARRL exhibit area, and from throughout the
event. If you're attending Hamvention, be sure to stop by the ARRL booths in
Building 2 - Tesla.
2026 Hamvention runs through 1:00 PM on Sunday, May 17.
[1] https://hamvention.org/
[2] https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2094335552
[3] https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2089712339
[4] https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2080295689
[5] https://www.arrl.org/news/the-ham-radio-world-heads-to-ohio
[6] https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1416590120503298&type=3
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