Dayton Hamfest

Hi Barry, I was thinking about attending the computershow in Dayton in a couple of weeks. You say that there is no flea market. Does that mean that (classiccomp) systems aren't sold there??? And can I get a general set of directions to the Hara.. Maybe we can do a lunch between or drink after the festivities Regards - MIke -----Original Message----- From: Barry A. Watzman <Watzman(a)ibm.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classicmputers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Saturday, February 13, 1999 11:31 PM Subject: Dayton Hamfest convention [it's "official" purpose]. The Hara arena is a very good size facility, I'd guess in the over 100,000 sq. ft. range (perhaps WAY over), and it's all indoor, heated/air conditioned [not that it works with 35,000 people in the facility], and all commercial vendors, many, many of which are used computer and surplus dealers (there is lots of new stuff also). It's about 60%-70% computer, the rest general electronics and communications [radio] equipment. vendors. There are many commercial exhibits in the parking lot also, you will find a number of very large tents (10,000 square feet range each). Mendelson surplus always has a large tent, and almost every year Radio Shack [as in Tandy] collects their entire surplus and returned merchandise stuff Hamfest where it is sold for often ten cents on the retail dollar. However they didn't do this last year, for the first time I can remember, but they still had a huge indoor exhibit with many items, new, at 25% to 50% below normal store and catalog prices. it brings in so many people [over 25,000 plus a large local population] that poor Dayton, which is hardly a tourist mecca, is complete swamped. You can forget about finding a hotel at this point, the people who do this show get their reservations a year in advance. You may have to stay in Columbus or Cincinnati [both about 70 miles away], fortunately both are directly on an interstate highway and it's not a bad drive. The other problem is parking, since the entire lot is flea market there isn't any ! There are some LARGE fields around the complex that are used for parking, expect to pay $5 to $10 per day, and they are not paved, or very close, which become a real issue in bad weather. Then there are remote lots with busses, but that's a hassle also. year computer show at the same site. It's just about as large as the Hamfest, and it's ALL computer. There is no flea market, the parking lot is used for - surprise ! - PARKING ! It's almost like having 3 Dayton Hamfests a year, except that two of them don't have the flea market. This year's dates (it's only a two-day show):