It’s a tradition for Hamvention® … it must rain for at least part of at least one day … and this year didn’t disappoint! Showers and even the occasional downpour popped up on and off Saturday, prompting flea market shoppers to periodically flee inside to dry out. Then a thunderstorm in the early hours of Sunday morning left the flea market a bit muddy. But spirts ran high for the closing day of Hamvention 2026.

See video highlights from Hamvention on ARRL’s YouTube channel, ARRLHQ.

See ARRL’s Hamvention 2026 Facebook photo album.

A highlight on Saturday was the ARRL Youth Rally, at which some 30 young hams and future hams took part in a variety of activities, including a hidden transmitter hunt (foxhunt), an introduction to Morse code by the Long Island CW Club, and the Youth Rally Sprint, in which seven HT-equipped teams spread out to different parts of the Hamvention grounds to talk with each other, then move to a new location. Youth Rally participants also enjoyed a meetup with Carlos Felix Ortiz, K9OL -- well known for his parachute mobile ham radio adventures. Ortiz jumped on Sunday to the delight of those who made contact with him during his descent.

In addition to the Youth Rally, the Youth Lounge in the ARRL Expo area drew more than 80 young hams to build kits and just relax a talk with other kids. The ARRL Collgiate Amateur Radio Program booth was right next door, supported by student volunteers representing their colleges and universities from across the country.

A full schedule of forums included the ARRL Membership Forum, which started with scholarship announcements from ARRL Foundation President and Delta Division Director David Norris, K5UZ. The presentation began with recognition of previous ARRL scholarship winners who were present, including Nathaniel Harmon, KQ4FCT; Andrew Johnson, N4HFR; Lily Leslie, AD2FJ; Grace Papay, K8LG, and Tyler Schroder, NT1S. Some of them were then called back to the stage for a surprise announcements of this year’s scholarship winners. Schroder will receive $15,000 for the 2026 - 27 school year from ARDC (the Amateur Radio Digital Communications foundation), as well as $2,000 from the Maryland Military Auxiliary Radio Service, Inc. Leslie is also receiving a $15,000 ARDC scholarship; Johnson was awarded $10,000 toward his educational expenses from ARDC, and Papay is this year’s winner of the $5000 L.B. Cebik and Jean Cebik Scholarship. These are just five of the more than 150 scholarships presented each year by the ARRL Foundation.

Also at the member forum, ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, explained the structure and functions of the Board of Directors and all-volunteer Field Organization, and CEO David Minster, NA2AA, provided an update on ARRL’s “Pass the Bill” efforts to get Congress to prevent homeowners associations (HOAs) from banning virtually all amateur radio antennas in a given housing development. He said the ARRL letter-writing campaign had generated more than 150,000 letters, making this legislation the year’s second-largest letter-writing cause (the “Big Beautiful Bill” was #1). Minster said the organization is working hard to get the commitments necessary for the bill to be voted on sometime this year. He also spoke about the importance of ARRL’s spectrum defense efforts, especially in response to the threat by high-speed stock traders to access spectrum immediately adjacent to the 20-meter amateur band that they say will give them milliseconds of advantage over wire-bound competitors. Radio amateurs worry that their high-powered digital signals will raise the noise floor on the bands to the point of making weaker stations inaudible.

Saturday night featured the annual Dayton Contest Dinner, hosted by the North Coast Contesters, which drew some 500 radiosport enthusiasts to hear keynote speaker Mark Haynes, MØDXR, the chairman of this summer’s World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) competition in the United Kingdom. 2026 inductees to the Contest Hall of Fame were recognized, including Doug Zweibel, KR2Q; Tom Lee, K8AZ; Paul Young, K1XM, and Mark Pride, K1RX.

Separately, the Dayton Amateur Radio Association had a dinner for its award winners, including Amateur of the Year Jose “Otis” Vicens, NP4G; Special Achievement Award winners Martha, N3QBE, and Joe, W3GMS, Fell; Technical Achievement Award winner Robert Famiglio, K3RF, and Club of the Year Long Island CW Club.

Sunday’s early-morning thunderstorm ushered in much warmer temperatures, rising from the low 60s on Friday to the mid-80s by the time the show closed at 1 PM Sunday. The final day featured even more forums, including multiple sessions on Parks on the Air® (POTA) and public service communications. It was also a day for bigger-than-ever bargains at the (somewhat muddy) flea market, as vendors did what they could to avoid taking too much stuff back home with them. Hamvention 2026 closed with the major prize drawings.

Hamvention 2027 will be held next May 21 - 23.

Bonus! Those of us of a certain age had the opportunity to listen on our car radios to the formerly fictional, but now very real, “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Appropriately for its likely audience, the station has an oldies format, featuring what its website says are thousands of great but often-overlooked hits of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. Station management entered into a call sign sharing agreement with a low-power station in North Carolina and even got Gary Sandy, the actor who played Program Director Andy Travis on the WKRP TV show, to record some promos for them.

Thanks to Rich Moseson, W2VU, for his field reporting for ARRL News throughout 2026 Hamvention.