7thAnnual ARRL Southern New Jersey Section Convention
and 47th Annual GCARC HamFest
Sunday, September 7, 2025
Click this link for the New & Improved GCARC HamFest Website
Video from "Hamfest (CT, DE, MD,NJ, NY, PA)"
https://youtu.be/YV-10FB2Oi4?si=aUIgYM2CnHd_sD-V
https://youtu.be/YV-10FB2Oi4?si=aUIgYM2CnHd_sD-V
7th Annual ARRL SNJ Section Convention and 47th Annual HamFest
Sunday, September 7, 2025 : https://hamfest.w2mmd.org
By Ron Block NR2B
Sunday, September 7, 2025 : https://hamfest.w2mmd.org
By Ron Block NR2B
As summer temperatures dip, our Club kicks off its annual HamFest fundraiser, the primary source of revenue supporting Club activities throughout the year. This year’s event, set to open at 8:00 AM on Sunday, September 7, 2025 introduces a series of operational improvements designed to enhance visitor experience, and boost our professionalism.
The HamFest team has expanded the on-site signage, placing signs and markers from the entrance roadway through the tailgate area to guide our guests to vendor booths, forums, and special demonstrations. For the first time, covered-space vendors may now reserve and prepay for their spots, expediting entry for both sellers and attendees. For covered-space and tailgate sellers, paper placards - slipped under windshield wipers - will indicate each vehicle’s destination, thus eliminating repeated queries and fostering smoother traffic flow. All vehicles without placards will be directed to general parking.
Also, for the first time, HamFest will feature a staffed Help Desk on 2M Simplex (146.460 MHz), where attendees can pose questions, relay comments, or request assistance. HamFest management personnel will monitor the channel throughout the day, offering real-time support to visitors and vendors alike.
Education remains a focal point with three 55-minute Seminars. This year, Jim Wright N2GXJ, will delve into “Your Antenna Performance in 3D.” This will be followed by Robert Famiglio K3RF, ARRL Atlantic Division Director, who will deliver the annual ARRL Update. Angela Metzger KE2DRJ, rounds out the program with a presentation on “STEM, Kids, and Ham Radio.”
Education remains a focal point with three 55-minute Seminars. This year, Jim Wright N2GXJ, will delve into “Your Antenna Performance in 3D.” This will be followed by Robert Famiglio K3RF, ARRL Atlantic Division Director, who will deliver the annual ARRL Update. Angela Metzger KE2DRJ, rounds out the program with a presentation on “STEM, Kids, and Ham Radio.”
Beyond the classrooms, weather permitting, Club President Jonathan Pearce WB2MNF, will lead a high-altitude balloon launch demonstration, while Mark Gottlieb KK2L, operates the Special Event Station W2M. The American Red Cross Communications Trailer will also be on display, showcasing emergency-response radio equipment.
The Boy Scouts of Troop 9 from West Deptford return to serve breakfast from 6:00 AM onward, fueling early-bird shoppers and participants.
The Boy Scouts of Troop 9 from West Deptford return to serve breakfast from 6:00 AM onward, fueling early-bird shoppers and participants.
Meanwhile, walk-in license examinations will be available at the W2MMD Clubhouse between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. Details on volunteer examiners and testing procedures are online at :
https://veteam.w2mmd.org
No HamFest is complete without prizes. Organizer Jeff Welsh KD2AZI, has secured contributions from major Amateur Radio vendors, with dozens of door prizes available and a Grand Prize of $200 cash.
Winners must be present to win.
To be successful, we will need an estimated 45 volunteers for this event - more than four times the Club’s average volunteer turnout. Prospective volunteers should email [email protected] to let us know that you are interested. We will call you to discuss your role.
Gates open, rain or shine, at 8:00 AM - early arrivals around 7:30 AM can score the best bargains. Club members are encouraged to wear their Club badges to show support and foster camaraderie. Full event details, including maps and schedules, can be found at: https://hamfest.w2mmd.org.
As long as the weather cooperates, this will be a great day!
https://veteam.w2mmd.org
No HamFest is complete without prizes. Organizer Jeff Welsh KD2AZI, has secured contributions from major Amateur Radio vendors, with dozens of door prizes available and a Grand Prize of $200 cash.
Winners must be present to win.
To be successful, we will need an estimated 45 volunteers for this event - more than four times the Club’s average volunteer turnout. Prospective volunteers should email [email protected] to let us know that you are interested. We will call you to discuss your role.
Gates open, rain or shine, at 8:00 AM - early arrivals around 7:30 AM can score the best bargains. Club members are encouraged to wear their Club badges to show support and foster camaraderie. Full event details, including maps and schedules, can be found at: https://hamfest.w2mmd.org.
As long as the weather cooperates, this will be a great day!
HamFest Seminars
Programs will start at 9:00 am in the Classroom Building
9:00 am : Your Antenna Performance In 3D : Jim Wright N2GXJ
Ever wish you could see your antenna performance in 3D, to get a feel of what to expect for various choices specific to your situation? I know I did.
Like you, I’m bewildered sometimes by the variety and shapes and types of antenna choices available, and the sometimes conflicting claims made by those who suggest them. End-feds, dipoles, OCF’s, loops, verticals, beams, and more, just to name a few - ask a fellow ham for opinions on what’s best for your given situation and what you’ll get back is often inconsistent, and generic without comparisons, rather than specific to your situation. And that’s a problem.
What I was looking for was a tool that would allow me a way to independently compare how various antenna choices and configurations might be expected to perform specific to my situation, before investing time and money and effort in the best choices for me to try in real life. Perhaps having such a tool could help you too?
Do such tools exist? It turns out that yes, they do. And at least one of them includes a feature that lets you fly around to see your antenna’s radiation pattern in 3D, not just in Alt/Az, an ability which I have really come to appreciate. As a bonus, this tool comes with a built-in “optimizer”, useful for helping to evaluate how an existing antenna might be tweaked to make it even better. I hope to demonstrate both during the live presentation at this year’s Hamfest.
Still not appreciating how such a tool might help you? Try this. Ever wonder what would happen to your antenna performance if you were to raise or lower its height another quarter wavelength beyond where it is now above ground? You might be surprised. Ever wonder about the effects of bending the ends of your antenna to make it smaller. Take the case of trying to fit a 66 foot long 40 meter dipole in the attic of your house. How much of the ends can you bend, and does it matter in what directions you bend? If bending the ends, do you know offhand if it is better to bend the ends of such a dipole in opposite directions, so that when looking down on it from above, in opposite directions so that it looks more like the letter “Z”, or in the same direction, so that it looks like the bracket symbol “]”? Does it matter?
Questions like these can all be answered using these tools before ever having to head out into the yard, or crawl up into a hot attic again to give it a try. By attending this live presentation and demonstration at this year’s HamFest, attendees can expect to come away with a greater understanding and appreciation of what visualizing your antenna pattern in 3D can offer you towards gaining a better understanding of antenna options in your configuration, and what to expect from them.
Hope to see you there!
10:00 am : ARRL Update
|
Ron Fish, KX1W
[email protected] |
Annual Summary of the ARRL Activities and a Discussion of the Current Issues :
- Robert Famiglio K3RF : ARRL Atlantic Division Director
- Marty Newingham AG3I : ARRL Atlantic Division Vice Director
- Ron Fish KX1W : ARRL Southern New Jersey Section Manager
11:00 am : STEM, Kids, & Ham Radio
By Angela Metzger KE2DRJ : SNJ Section Youth Coordinator
By Angela Metzger KE2DRJ : SNJ Section Youth Coordinator
Additional Activities Include :
- Special Event Station : W2M (Propagation Permitting)
- Balloon Launch (Weather Permitting)
- American Red Cross Communications Trailer
The VE Exam Session at the September 7, 2025 HamFest will be held at the W2MMD Clubhouse from 8:00 am to 10:00 am.
|
|
HamFest Contact : Ron Block, NR2B
ron <at> wrblock <dot> com
ron <at> wrblock <dot> com
Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds
275 Bridgeton Pike (Route 77), Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
GPS Heading : 39.715572°, -75.211944°
Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds
W2MMD Clubhouse