ARVN: Amateur Radio//Video news
video from the
Dayton Hamvention®
DAYTON  2011 (and 2010)
D-STAR Forum 2010
We're working on the footage we shot at the 2011 (and 2010) Hamventions now. Here's the first program out of the editor – it's the entire 2010 D-STAR Friday Afternoon Forum. This will be on a DVD, probably along with the 2011 Forum, and the DVD will have a chaper index that I can't do on YouTube. But this is the whole forum - almost 90 minutes worth.

It features:
  • Robin Cutshaw AA4RC on the DVDongle, DVAP and DPLUS
  • Dan Smith KK7DS on D-RATS
  • David Lake G4ULF on building non-ICOM D-STAR repeaters
Stay tuned for more from Dayton 2011

We shot the FCC Forum in 2011. From 2010, we have the FCC Forum, an ARRL RFI Seminar, and a ton of new stuff for another big TOUR.		  D-STAR Forum 2010 (83 minutes)
The DAYTON COLLECTION 2009
Preview #1 - The Seminars
Preview #2 - The TOUR EXTRA
A peek at the programs included on the DVDs
Bonus stories from the TOUR not on the DVD!

DVD 1
FCC, ARRL and the new TOUR
Four programs, four hours!

This DVD is for everyone, whether you've been to Dayton or not!
  • The 2009 "Unauthorized" Hamvention TOUR. 42 Minutes. Unauthorized? Well, they didn't say we could (and they didn't stop us). ARVN's intrepid reporters Jeff AC4ZO and Gary KN4AQ uncover the interesting, unusual and oddball at the Hamvention. And there's plenty of that. At 42 minutes, this episode makes a great club meeting program, whether you've been to Dayton or not. Includes a lot of footage from 2008 that wasn't edited last year.
  • 2008 FCC Forum. 1 hour 13 minutes. Bill Cross W4TN's 19th appearance at Dayton, and Riley Hollingsworth K4ZFH's final talk as Special Council for Amateur Radio. Too long for a club meeting, but it's extensively indexed, so you can pick a few gems to play.
  • 2009 FCC Forum. 1 hour 10 minutes. Meet Laura Smith, the new FCC Special Council. She'll tell you about herself, her family, and her approach to her new job. Bill Cross W3TN reviews recent and pending rulemaking.
  • 2009 ARRL Forum. 44 Minutes. ARRL President Joel Harrison W5ZN, CEO Dave Sumner K1ZZ and others update you on the ARRL. Featured is Dave Sumner's review of newly "unredacted" FCC Staff reports on BPL that contridict the Commissions conclusions in their Report and Order. That important segment is included here in full (to the right).
 BPL "UNREDACTED"

In the ARRL Forum (on DVD 1), League CEO Dave Sumner K1ZZ reviews FCC staff information that directly contradicts what the Commission stated in their Report and Order on BPL. Until early 2009, the FCC hid this information by issuing reports that blanked it out (redacted it).The ARRL finally received an unredacted version of the report just before the Dayton Hamvention in May 2009.

The Dayton Collection 2009

DVD 1:
Tour; FCC, ARRL Forums
$15 plus shipping
DVD 2:
TAPR and SDR Forums
$15 plus shipping
DVD 3:
D-STAR Forum and Friday Night Event
$15 plus shipping
ORDER
HERE
DVD 2
TAPR and
Software Defined Radio Forums

This DVD is for geeks! Or geek wannabees (and yes, there are some out there). Hey, has anyone said your club meeting programs aren't "technical enough"? Play one of these. I dare you... Well, these forums are too long for most club meetings, but they are extensively indexed, so you can cherry-pick some topics.
  • TAPR Forum. 1 hour 36 minutes.
    • Steve Bible N7HPR hosts.
    • John Ackermann N8UR reviews the Time Nuts projects and plans, and tells how to take a project from "Napkin to Hamshack."
    • Scotty Cowling WA2DFI details the progress of the HPSDR Software Defined Radio boards - build yourself a high-performance HF rig that's (almost) 100% SDR.
    • Larry Wolfgang WR1B encourages you to share your project with readers of QEX, QST and other publications.
  • Software Defined Radio Forum. 2 Hours 36 minutes. SDR comes in several flavors. You can roll your own from HPSDR kits, or buy offf-the-shelf as a PC based system or a (seemingly) more traditional radio.
    • Michelle Thompson W5NYV heads the Microwave Engineering Project, working on multi-mode SDR radios for 3 and 5 GHz. They're farther along than you might think.
    • Doug Grant K1DG introduces a new Extreme category for CQ contests. Get creative and put your SDR to work.
    • Gerald Youngblood K5SDR from Flex Radio Systems introduces the Flex 3000 and 1500, and discusses the design philosophy of their PC based processing and interface.
    • Lyle Johnson KK7P from Elecraft traces the origin of the K3, and SDR radio that looks and operates more like a conventional radio... with knobs!
    • Scotty Cowling WA2DHF reviews the HPSDR transmitter, receiver and accessory boards that take SDR as far as budget-minded design can go today.
    • Joel Harrison W5ZN (ARRL President and SDR advocate) extols the virtues of operating with an SDR radio (he uses the Flex 5000). And he don't need no stinking knobs..
 2 kW Backpack

Here's a second look: Bob Curry KC3VO is "packing" a 2 kW HF amplifier. And it caught the attention of the FCC's Bill Cross W3TN. This is from the "Unauthorized" Hamvention Tour video (on DVD 1). By the way, kids, don't try this one at home. It's not safe!
DVD 3
D-STAR Friday Forum and Friday Night Event

D-STAR is still growing fast, with lots of changes every year. Catch up on the latest news from the guys who are making it.

Greg Sarratt W4OZK explains how Alabama got an early jump on everyone else in building a statewide D-STAR network for EmComm.

John Davis WB4QDX shows how Georgia is catching up fast, and gets newcomers off the ground with some D-STAR basics.

Kermit Carlson W9XA details how the Illinois Repeater Assocation is managing to squeeze new D-STAR repeaters into the crowded spectrum in the Chicago area, and he updates the list of systems sprouting up in the surrounding states.

Dan Smith KK7DS reviews the progress of his D-RATS program for sending text, images and files over D-STAR's low-speed data system.

Robin Cutshaw AA4RC introduces a new prototype for a D-STAR "hot spot" based on his DV Dongle technology, and talks about some of the technical details of the D-STAR protocol.

In the Friday Night Event, Fred Varian WD5ERD discusses the "state of D-STAR."

Erik Westgard NY9D explains how the Minnesota emergency packet network is evolving into a D-STAR High-Speed Data Network on 1200 MHz, and that systems's use in the Twin Cities Marathon. Tom Azlin N4ZPT adds a coda about the same data use at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC.

Gerry Dalton W5MAY talks about a serious Trust Server problem that took the network down for a day.. just before the Hamvention.... and the steps being taken to correct that situation.

And Fred returns with comments on the G2 Gateway software, answers some audience questions, and wraps the event up with a big annoucement about the new D-STAR International Coordinating Council, a group that will help keep new D-STAR products and procedures all compatible.

2008 D-STAR Meetings
  • Friday Forum: 1 hr, 45 minutes
  • Friday Night Event: 1 hr, 45 minutes
  • 1st D-STAR contact between the US and Japan: 2 minutes
This DVD is strictly for rabid D-STAR fans. It contains every minute of both D-STAR events at the Hamvention, with the high video and audio quality you've come to expect from ARVN.*  Extensively indexed, of course.

The Forum features presentations by Greg Sarratt W4OZK and Ron Shaffer W4VM of Alabama D-STAR (Alabama leads the nation in D-STAR build-out for emergency communications); Jim McClellan N5MIJ from the Texas Interconnect Team; and Robin Cutshaw AA4RC, co-inventor of the DV Dongle, author of several software tools for D-STAR Gateway systems, and admitted D-STAR addict. This part of the program has technical and operational tips for both newcomers and seasoned repeater owners (as seasoned as anyone can be with technology this new).

The Friday Night Event is mostly just fun. Jim McClellan N5MIJ and Ray Novak N9JA from ICOM introduce many of the hams who have taken leadership positions in advancing the art of D-STAR technology and operation. You'll see the debut of what will surely become The Legendary CLUE BY FOUR. Tim Barrett K6BIV gets the monkey off his back, and passes it along to someone who will be responsible for another advancement. Satoshi Yasuda AD6GZ/7M3TJZ announces the opening of the Japan D-STAR network to contacts from the rest of the world. Lots more, of course.

And finally there's a two minute clip of the first D-STAR contact between the US and Japan. Though D-STAR originated in Japan, the Japan network has been closed to international contacts, until now. The first contact happened on Saturday morning, in the stands around the Hara Arena.

This DVD is not for club meetings! I'm not prohibiting that, but hey, it's four hours long, and all D-STAR. If you want to introduce your club to D-STAR, get my Digital Voice for Amateur Radio DVD. Watch this yourself, or maybe invite some of the local D-STAR ops over and re-create your own event.

*Well, I'll admit that to jam almost four hours on one DVD, I had to compress a little harder than usual, but it still looks good. And the PowerPoint screen played havoc with my camera now and then. Hey, I'm not NBC. Not even ESPN. More like C-SPAN.
Head's UP!
This is the 2008 Dayton D-STAR DVD
Several customers have ordered it by mistake.
That being said, if you don't already have the 2008 DVD, it's a great archive piece from a critical time for this emerging technology, and the Friday Night Event was a hoot. For example, the "Clue-by-Four." (I really should make a YouTube preview of that.) The 2009 meeting was a lot more "businesslike." But then again, Erik was pretty funny.
No "Part F," Erik...?

 D-STAR Meetings
at the
2008 Dayton Hamvention
DVD $15
plus shipping
Did I mention this is the 2008 DVD? OK then...
ORDER
HERE


Watch a 10-minute preview:
Robin Cutshaw AA4RC "D-Constructs" D-STAR

2007 FCC Forum
DVD: 90 minutes
— and don't miss the 2007 TOUR, below —

watch Riley's One Big Knob (22 minutes)
(the complete FCC FCC Forum is still available on DVD)
Riley Hollingsworth,  Stand-Up Comic?
2007
FCC Forum Video
$10
plus shipping
ORDER
HERE

yes, we'll still
sell you a DVD
to play at a
club meeting
or something

Watched on-line?
CONTRIBUTE
to keep ARVN.tv
"on the air"
(click the pig)
The FCC Forum at the Dayton Hamvention is always standing room only, and this year was no exception.

William Cross W3TN reviewed recent rulemaking and pending requests. In the Q&A section, he tried hard not to say whether or not D-STAR is a repeater.

Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH skipped the usual "enforcement update" (now available on the FCC web site). Instead, he talked about what's right and wrong with hams and our radio service. Warm, funny and encouraging, Riley began his talk by saying, "You could have gone to the Flea Market, but you decided to come to church instead. So I got you now...." He sure did! We've put that whole segment in the box above, and we call it One Big Knob... you'll see why when you watch.

Riley's talk is a classic. If your club hasn't seen this video, it's worth watching. 2007 may be history, but Riley's themes are timeless in Amateur Radio.

The entire DVD runs 90 minutes. That's too long for a club meeting program, so I've separated the DVD into three parts. Any one part will make a good program for a club meeting, and you can easily select which one to play. Or invite a few ham friends over and play the whole thing in the living room. For the real feel of the forum, make a couple of people stand up against the wall for the whole thing.
  • Part 1: William Cross W3TN - 37 minutes
  • Part 2: Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH - 22 minutes
  • Part 3: Q&A (including the D-STAR question) - 32 minutes
I've also indexed every topic so you can easily get back to any specific topic for a review.
2007 Hamvention TOUR DVD
33 minutes

watch a four and a half minute preview
no more preview... here's the whole thing (don't tell anybody)

2007
TOUR
$10
plus shipping
ORDER
HERE

yes, we'll still
sell you a DVD
to play at a
club meeting
or something

Watched on-line?
CONTRIBUTE
to keep ARVN.tv
"on the air"
(click the pig)
My friend Jeff AC4ZO was a "Dayton Virgin" at the 2007 Hamvention. He couldn't believe it!  See the hamfest through his eyes, and see what Dayton is all about, from the Flea Market to the Exhibit Halls to the Forums.

We looked especially for some of the more unusual activities and talked to many of the people. We think you'll be amused!

This program runs 33 minutes – perfect for a club meeting. The DVD version is carefully indexed so you can go back and look at something again without hunting the whole DVD.
 2007 Dayton Hamvention TOUR
Jim N2GHD shows Jeff a working
spark-gap transmitter from around 1916

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