2012 Quartzfest

So, What is this event called Quartzfest that I've gone to for the second time this year?

Each winter, folks from the north come in their RV's to the small town of Quartzsite Arizona. The draw is sunny, warm days, free or inexpensive camping in the desert, a large RV show and miles of flea market and rock shops. Additionally other groups meet in the desert like folks with the same RV or RV clubs.

One of the groups that meet are Amateur Radio Operators (Hams). This is a very informal gathering. There is no club or organization. Just a bunch of hams getting together. One ham has taken on the role of "organizer". Basically he sets the dates for the event and puts together a schedule of presentations and activities. It has grown to the point of being a 10 day event with two presentations running concurrently most days. Additionally there are other activities such as a 4x4 trip through the desert, antenna comparisons, and a special event amateur event station. And everything is free. It's a lot of fun.

This year there were over 600 hams in attendance. We just all camp in the same area around the "presentation" fire rings. It's amazing that the town of Quartzsite grows from just a few thousand people to hundreds of thousands in January.

Here I am. A pretty neat outfit if you ask me. The white box by the front tire is the new satellite antenna I bought. You just set it on the ground with a southern view, plug it into the directTV receiver and it does the rest. It's pretty neat that it finds the satellites all by itself.

One of the presentations. This one happens to be by a guy from the national Ham Radio organization.

I bet this guy isn't married. What's cool is he just pushes a button and the antenna extends up to about 25 feet.

This is the special event station. One of the ham radio manufacturers loaned us some of their newest equipment for the station.