Skip Youngberg, K1NKR
HamX is the largest annual gathering of Radio Amateurs east of Dayton and north of Huntsville. And it fields more talks and workshops than any other ham radio convention in the world. We’re not just a trade show, we convene to exchange ideas. Here’s your chance to participate.
Locally, 2025 will be celebrated as the 250th anniversary of “the shot heard ‘round the world.” But we all know that for over a century Amateur Radio’s signals have been heard ‘round the world.
Mid-March 2025 — Here We Go!
New England conventions dating back over one hundred years have always been information resources for the technical, on-the-air, and public service aspects of our hobby. And, importantly, the social exchange that goes on among attendees adds to the value of getting together. All this must be because we’re in New England, the intellectual capital of the country, right?
I try to emphasize the fact that HamX, the Northeast HamXposition and New England Division ARRL Convention, is really a “convening,” not just a trade show with a few talks. We’re successful because we’re “of, by, and for” the attendees. Here we are only a couple of months into the year and have over thirty-nine talks committed!
Thirty-nine isn’t bad. A lot of the other conventions barely have that many. But in the last few years we’ve expanded our offering to sixty over two days, then around eighty over three days, plus workshops and other activities. And, answering to attendee feedback (“I had difficulty choosing between two talks being given at the same time”), we’ve presented next-day encores of some talks—we’ll do more of that this year.
Now, a middle of the planning year request. We’re looking to balance our 2025 agenda. We could use more presentations on topics such as EMCOM/PS, contesting, and DX. Can you volunteer a talk on something you’re interested in (or “volunteer” a friend who’s a good speaker)?
January 2025 — HamX Call for Talks
Every year’s talks pretty much run the same gamut of subject areas–Antennas and Propagation, Contesting and DXing, EMCOM/PS, League, Operating Activities, Organization and Innovation, Technical, and Training. This year we’re emphasizing “signals heard ’round the world.”
So, consider volunteering to speak on signals.
- How we generate and transmit Amateur signals. (our bands, equipment, remote systems, antennas, propagation, )
- How we modulate our signals. (CW, phone, digital, image, )
- The uses we make of our signals. (on-the-air activities, EMCOM and public service, DXing, contesting, traffic, repeaters, etc.)
Even if you can’t speak, you must have some ideas regarding what you or others want to hear about—elementary topics for the newcomers among us, intermediate-level topics for the general attendees, even advanced topics to challenge and educate us all. Pass them on as a request.
Here are this year’s planning and preparation milestones:
- January through April – Individuals propose presentations. The Convention’s Programs Committee also solicits presentations. Speaker Login webpage active.
- By 30 April – Solicited presenters reply.
- By 1 June – Potential presenters commit to speaking if scheduled.
- By 30 June – Closeout: presentation curation complete. Presenters notified.
- By 30 June – Presenters finish populating database with personal information, talk title, and talk summary. (Minor grammatic and spelling edits are permitted until the database is locked.)
- 15 July – Database locked. No further editing by presenters.
- 31 July – Scheduling resolved, locked, and provided for brochure preparation.
- 10 August – Brochure submitted to printer.
- 21-23 August — HamXposition 2025!
It’s never too early to start planning! Contact HamXposition Program Chair Skip Youngberg at K1NKR@hamxposition.org.