Wyong Field Day 2016 - Impressions

[VK2TS]

I am not sure what others thought of the Wyong Field day but I was most disappointed. No Andrews, no Jaycar again, no manufacturers again. Numbers of amateurs who attended was dismal. The flea market was about half compared to last year? The parking was not planned. I am sorry to say but I, and everyone I spoke to wont be back again.

Cheers
Tony

[VK4ABW]

The last one i attended was back in 97' and it was going down-hill then.
Sorta lost interest back then too

Gary

[VK4GHZ]

I vowed in 2012 never to go back again.

It was ridiculous that the flea market gates opened at sunrise.
This might be ok for locals, but what about those traveling from further afield?
Narrow minded ye 'ol club officials not thinking outside their shrinking box.

We're all witnessing the inevitable outcome of not engaging younger generations and openly sharing ideas and information via online, something I have been passionate about since 2003.

This figure of ~15,000 licenses is misleading, as how many of those are actually still active and enthusiast?
This is the only figure that matters.

Obviously the numbers aren't there anymore to make Andrews/Jaycar etc presence at the biggest Australian hamfest remotely viable.

Plenty of tech savvy people across all age groups are out there, but playing with other things like drones, 3D printers, robotics, online gaming, VR, computers, etc instead.
Hams, sadly, decided to make the hobby invisible.


quod erat demonstrandum

[VK2XTC]

With reluctance I have to agree.

This hobby is dying, and it was really obvious at Wyong this year.

As I sat having breakfast and coffee (About 10:30am) in the food area, I realised I had covered the entire place and seen everything in less than an hour.
Most frightening was at 52 year of age I was probably the youngest in the room at that time !
The bulk of people in the Wyong crowd where old men in their late 50 or 60's.

This is now a serious issue of populate or perish. We have maybe 15 years left before it's all gone.
We need to work out how to market this hobby better, even people at work look at me surprised to hear that Ham radio still exists in the age of the Internet.

On a perverse positive note .. there's going to be a lot of second hand equipment hitting the market in the next few years




Brian

VK2XTC

[VK5TX]

The flea market is bigger at Adelaide buy n sell than the last couple of time I when to Wyong. Wyong cost to much to get in, to much to sell anything and not under cover. Sounds like Vic is taking over as the biggest field day in Australia

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk

[VK2AVR]

Plenty of amazing things happening *with* the use of the internet, WSPR, co-ordinating moonbounce contacts, DX clusters, APRS, etc. The internet is a great vessel for sharing ideas and spreading knowledge. But this hobby does have to get with the times and stay relevant. The image of ham radio needs to be more than just old valve radios covered in dust.

It was great to see the Rowetel guys there - their work on FreeDV is fascinating and they have achieved equal performance to SSB using the same bandwidth. It can only get better. Imagine having your future HF contacts with zero background noise?

The VHF-UHF group was also a good meetup, to talk to the guys involved in the 3.4GHz project.

Ham radio has plenty of smart, passionate people around you just have to do a little digging. Yeah, not many commercial vendors there and the flea market was pretty small (I didn't buy a single thing this year) but I still found value in going. But Wyong does need to reinvent itself and showcase some more of the NEW and smart things going on in this hobby or it will fizzle out.

[VK2CY]

G'day All,
Interesting comments!. I had an enjoyable time at the Field day. Thank you to the CCARC for putting it on again. A big thank you to those volunteers who worked hard all day to put something back into the hobby.
The thing that is going to kill amateur radio in the suburbs is "Electromagnetic Pollution". I don't use the term Electromagnetic Interference anymore. EMP caused by non approved devices are raising the noise level in the suburbs. I can't use 2 metre SSB before 9am in the morning because of neighbors LED down lights causing an S6 noise level. HF is still usable at the moment however it's only a matter of time before HF noise levels increase to an unacceptable level.
As Amateur Radio Operators we need to support the WIA so that our concerns are heard by the relevant authorities to stop the import of non approved devices now. Once these devices are here its to late!!!!
Chris

[VK2JDH]

The flea market was about half compared to last year? .

Cheers
Tony

err... the FM was much larger that last year.

[VK2TS]

The flea market was about half compared to last year? .

Cheers
Tony

err... the FM was much larger that last year.

I was there at 7.30am and there were more cars parked there without gear for sale than there were with gear than last year. And the junk was indeed junk and there was much less than last year.

The Wyong Field day for many has unfortunately seen its days.

[ZL3MH]

I was talking to VK2MAL on AO-07 and he went to Wyong and said it was good!

Any pic's or video

I went in 2004 and 2009

Any ZLs there ?

73 Murray ZL3MH

[VK4BZ]

Well, this was my first time attending Wyong. A work posting down in NSW made it possible to get here this year.

My reflections:

1. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be.

2. Folks - you've just got to have coffee available as soon as you open the gates! Waiting until 0900h was difficult with my caffeine levels dipping dangerously low. Fortunately, with that Macca's cup I got on the way, I was able to survive...just...

3. I was hoping for a lot more digital stuff - apart from the one stand (Rowetel?), that was it. I want to learn more about this side of the hobby and there was nothing there to see or learn.

4. Volunteers were very helpful - well done folks!

5. There was heaps of stuff in the flea market, so I don't know what others are complaining about. Problem was I deliberately limited the cash in my wallet to avoid some of those very attractive purchases.

6. There was a good age range with a number of younger people wandering around, but granted the average age was 50+ (self included).

7. The lectures really needed a microphone for the speaker - I was struggling to hear all that was being said...and if I was, so were some of the people older than me.

8. I had to drive down from Singleton, so, yes, the 0630h sparrow's fart starting time meant I left home around 0430h and it was a bit tiring by the end of the day. Couldn't get there any later than opening time...the bargains would have been snaffled up!

Honestly, I will come again next year and I appreciate the effort required to put on the event - so good on you CCARC. If it has declined, then I appreciate those who saw it in its hey day would be disappointed, but I went away reasonably happy - particularly after catching up with friends and doing what we hams do best....talk!

[VK2ZIW]

Thanks for a great day CCARC.
All the commercial people I care about were there.
Test gear
Historic radio
Antenna, satellite
WICEN and other club groups

The flee market was good (the weather helped).

And meeting fellow hams - most important.

Alan VK2ZIW

[VK2XTC]

I'd like to add something to my previous post as this thread seems to have a negative flavour towards the CCARC.
I'm sure it's not the intention of writers, but it could have been misinterpreted by some.

That was not my intention in my previous comment and so to correct the record I'd like to applaud the CCARC for another well run field day.
The issue is the hobby itself and not the group running the show.

So, to add some positive suggestions to the thread and be constructive.

The CCARC may like to expand the upstairs (and well air-conditioned) area for some static displays.
Provided you could get an antenna lead into the space you could show some digital modes in action.

Maybe demo some automated earth stations with software controlled rotators and satellite tracking.

How about a balloon launch from the infield with APRS running. That would be interesting. (Self interest aside !)

These things may sound fairly basic, but speaking for myself, I've spent so many hours searching Google and reading this forum to find articles to read up on new modes and activities.
Helping people cover the basics on a new mode would be wonderful. There nothing on the WIA web site that's for sure.

For those of you who are not "coming back to Amateur Radio" ,after a long break and have been here all along, it may sound a bit lame.
But for someone who's not stayed with it for reasons of work , children and generally life getting in the way , it's a hell of a learning curve to catch up.

For example, at the UHF / Microwave Session on the day, being able to record your pings coming back from the Moon when doing EME was a completely new concept.
Really obvious to some, but not something I've ever though of before.

My reaction was , cool, ......what do I have to do to make that happen... and a new project commences ...


Thanks

Brian

VK2XTC

[VK2TK]

There is a famous poem by TS Eliot that runs "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a wimper". I fear that is the way of Wyong.

We all seem to agree that this is not a well organised event. From the idiotic dawn opening of the open and exposed flea market (only OK if you live right next door and it doesn't rain), to catering that desperately needs a visit from Gordon Ramsay, the lack of any facilities for those wanting to bring single items of gear to buy/sell/swap, and a technical program that can only be charitably described as extremely patchy. No wonder the traders are opting out.

Wyong is fundamentally the wrong place for this event. It needs to be in a far more user-friendly venue, preferably in Sydney, on a transport route (preferably train), and at a time of the year which is cooler and more pleasant. The present event which involves a long car or train trip more most of us does very little to advance our hobby.

John
VK2TK

[VK3QI]

WOW! $17 entry fee or ($15 entry + $25) for a car boot flea market spot


Contrast with


EMDRC $6 entry fee and $20 for a 1.8metre table plus free entry and free hamburger and drink for all traders.

You can see why the EMDRC choice of venue is so important, as outlined in Andrew VK3BQ's previous response!

The Moorabin Hamfest in May, another great event, charges $7 entry and the same charges and conditions for traders.

Clearly VK3 is doing something right.

Cheers

Peter VK3QI (a trader at the EMDRC event)

[VK2ZRH]

Well, Peter. You're not comparing like-with-like. I'll refrain from commenting that that's an old trick. D'Oh !

Clearly, the rent charged for the Wyong venue is substantially different from the EMDRC venue; one reason for the differential in entry price.

Not to mention the EMDRC hamfest is a smaller event.

I am aware that the CCRAC is grappling with the issues of location, convenience and cost.

A variety of reasons for commercial traders not coming are apparent, from enquiries I made.

However, many commercial traders catering to the dedicated DIYer were there, including at least one new one: Rowetel, with principal David Rowe VK5DGR spruiking his digital voice technology. More power to his skinny elbow.

This year, I noticed one really good thing, in particular: the absence of dickheads !

I note that Australia's oldest ham, Bill Hall VK2XT, now 102 not out, turned up to eyeball the displays and catch up with friends and acquaintances.

I spent quite a few pleasant hours on the WIA stand, though hectic at times. We sold out of Callbooks (3 boxes supplied) and a number of other publications. Five boxes of books were emptied, leaving fewer to be returned to Melbourne. I took quite a few membership renewals, and other punters lined up to be signed-on by President Phil Wait VK2ASD and Peter Young VK3MV.

Some 57 souls turned up for the V-U-SHF weak signal get-together, well on a par with previous years. Thanks guys. If I mis-counted the odd attendee, my apologies in advance.

Wyong 2016: a bit like the curates egg - good in parts.

[VK3QI]

Fair enough Roger,

I guess the key point there is the relative cost of hiring the venues between city and country - supply versus demand?

Not sure about the numbers, but my estimate would have been 300 attendees at the EMDRC show and particularly noticeable, a significant number of teenagers and twenty somethings buying stuff.

Pretty much all the Hamfests in VK3 have an entry price around $6 to $7 and between $10 and $20 for a sellers table - that's what surprised me about the Wyong charges, especially after having driven for maybe 1.5 hours from Newcastle or Sydney to get there.

An interesting comparison: Ballarat Hamfest - about 1.5 hours drive from Melbourne $6 entry fee and $10 for a 1.8 metre sellers table. And a great location at the Ballarat Greyhound Track.

Cheers

Peter VK3QI

[VK2FLR]

The flea market seemed better than last year, helped by the absence of clapped out computers. My beef is that it opens too early and is cleaned out by locals and traders who re-sell stuff on E ham. The organisers need to consider that most people come some distance and they will not come if the stuff is all gone by the time they get there.

Apart from the flea market I go to catch up with people.

The sessions need to be beefed up. The VHF gathering was worthwhile although it needs a bit more content. BTW the K1FO 2m yagis I offered have all gone to good homes.

The food outlets were excecrable.

Murray, go to Gippstech. You can fly to Melbourne and catch a train or scrounge a lift.

[ZL3MH]

I did GippsTech last year. It was real good!

73 Murray ZL3MH

[VK3BQ]

emdrc hamfest had ~300 "door" entries, and ~100 traders and club volunteers. 400 people over the 5 hrs.

the venues are very different, and the emdrc event is NOT trying to be wyong, we looked at a much larger location, and a bigger entry cost, but doubt the event would see the increased attendance to match this. so stick with the space we have.

for the last ~10 years, the attendance has been within 5% consistently

the difference between vk3 and vk2, we have at least 8 hamfests spread through the year where wyong is essentially the only one vk2 has.

as i said in the other post, emdrc lost traders to wyong, and we expected that, but we didnt make a big deal about it., regardless, we had a good time and the feedback has been positive, and thats all that matters..