[IRCA] Summary: 19th Annual Get-together for DXers and Radio Enthusiasts

[dxerak@xxxxxxx]

The 19th annual Madison-Milwaukee Get-together for DXers and Radio Enthusiasts took place last Saturday August 18 at the home of Bill and Nina Dvorak in Madison WI. The day was blessed with perfect weather, with clear skies, calm winds and a very comfortable high of 76 degrees.
 
Attendees started to arrive and festivities began even before the official 1:00 PM start. Several attendees brought radios and took advantage of a number of options provided by a temporary antenna farm constructed for the occasion. Others settled in for the great DX conversation and fellowship that has always been the mainstay of this event.
 
Demonstrations during the afternoon included a Perseus software driven radio presented by Mark Durenberger. Mark brought along his own 30-foot collapsable flagpole on which he erected a vertical antenna. During the entire get-together he gave individual demonstrations to anyone requesting one. Craig Menning also brought along a Perseus and generously offered use of it to anyone who wanted to experience it hands-on. So it was a great day to learn a lot more about this great ultra-modern radio.
 
A second demonstration, this one given by Bill Dvorak and Mark Taylor, was of Bill's new Double Kaz medium-wave antenna. DXer extraordinaire and antenna designer Neil Kazaross spent part of the previous weekend helping construct and tune this Kaz-designed antenna. This particular one is built at a bearing of 280 degrees and the design favors enhancement to the west while nulling stations to the east.
 
Another hit of the get-together was Jim Green's Collins-designed Korean War era R390 receiver. Yes, this is a pre-R390A receiver featuring crystal, not mechanical, filters. It sounds and works great, and won over many admirers during the day.
 
Following the annual group photo (conducted once again by get-together photographer/DXer Dave Legler), the festivities moved to the Esquire Club restaurant, site of now seven get-together dinners. The food and service were great and so were the company and conversation. The program there included presentation of certificates to those who have attended ten annual get-togethers (a tradition dating back to 2007). This year's certificates went to Mike Henke, Fred Kelcz and Kevin McGill. This was followed by door prizes, another popular get-together feature.
 
After dinner we returned to Bill and Nina's for the night session. Coffee, cake, conversation and more monitoring were the activities, with the get-together winding up at 11 PM.
 
All in all,Saturday August 18, 2012 was a very nice day for the DXers who converged on Madison, Wisconsin. Memories linger among the 34 DXers and six of their family members who joined us. We the organizers have been at this for quite a while now. We believe we have something special going on here, and attendee response has only fortified that belief.
 
Next year the Madison-Milwaukee DX Get-together returns to the Milwaukee area. Tim and Jill Noonan are your hosts, their home in Oak Creek WI is the location, and the date is Saturday August 17, 2013. It will be the milestone 20th annual Madison-Milwaukee Get-together for DXers and Radio Enthusiasts, a reason in and of itself to make this event. Won't you please join us? Contact Tim at dxing2@xxxxxxx to get advanced info or have your questions answered. Hope to see you then!
73     Bill Dvorak
 
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