Weekend in Orlando: HamCation and a Quest for Motorcycle Gear
What I enjoy about hamfests is the opportunity to catch up with the great folks I’ve met in the hobby through the years. Before I knew it, February was upon us, which meant Orlando HamCation was around the corner. It’s not too far of a drive from Augusta, and after getting about 5” of snow in January, I couldn’t say no to a nice little break to enjoy some warm temps and sunshine!
When I got up the morning of the drive, I received a phone call from Enterprise, as they had to delay my rental pickup by 2h. During my 2h delay, I worked on getting the HamCation firmware flashed onto my Meshtastic node (Seeed Card Tracker T1000E)…and I ended up bricking said node (I later found out that I wasn’t the only one that did this, which made me feel less annoyed with myself). This was disappointing, as living in a rural area with little to no activity, I was looking forward to being at the hamfest and seeing lots of nodes to communicate with. I attempted to troubleshoot it to no avail, so I decided to let it go and then revisit once I got to Orlando.
KO4KVG on the way to Orlando.
I picked up my rental car, loaded it up, and finally hit the road. Leaving on a 2h delay unfortunately put me in Jacksonville during rush hour, but other than that, the drive was uneventful. After unloading my bags, it was after 8pm and time for dinner. I found DaDa Indian Cuisine not too far from my hotel, and it was fantastic: it definitely fulfilled my Indian food craving!
KO4KVG’s dinner of Paneer Makhni with Garlic Naan.
Once I got back to the hotel after dinner, I pulled out my Meshtastic node for more troubleshooting. I reached out in the CSRA Mesh Discord, where Josh KA0SJC was giving me some steps to try: after no luck, he said to come by the MakerNova booth at HamCation, and he’d take a look at it. I would certainly make a point of heading that way!
The next morning, I headed over to the fairgrounds for a day of HamCation. I arrived at ~9:40a, found a parking spot within ~5m, picked up my ticket at will call, and off I went!
KO4KVG has arrived!
With my Meshtastic node in tow, I decided to make my first stop at the MakerNova table before the day got away from me. I introduced myself to Josh, and he went to work troubleshooting my node. During my short wait, I saw Robert W5ITR (Digital Rancher) come up to the table: we didn’t cross paths at Hamvention last year, so it was nice to be able to chat for a few moments. After a little bit, Josh revived my node, helped me get the app going again on my phone, and unsurprisingly, there was a TON of activity on LongFast, more than I’d ever seen since purchasing my node earlier in the year.
KO4KVG’s Meshtastic node.
With my functioning node in hand, I walked around outside while it was still cool out. I heard someone call my name, and it was Dan WD4DAN (Front End Overload) at the POTA tent, so I headed that way and chatted with him for a little bit. From there, I went back to the indoor exhibits and continued my trek around. My stops included Ham Radio Prep, ICOM, Huntsville Hamfest, Youth On The Air (YOTA), and Halibut Electronics. I haven’t seen these folks since either Dayton Hamvention 2025 or Huntsville Hamfest 2024, so I definitely wanted to make a point to catch up!
Taking a break from chatting, I made my way to the vendors, as Ben KO4KVH had requested a LiFePO4 battery for our Yaesu FT-818 to take along on our SOTA activations. We were using 18650s, and upgrading to a lightweight, deep cycle battery would be a nice addition to our SOTA gear. I went with the Bioenno 12V 4.5Ah LiFePO4 battery: we’ve got a 12V 20Ah battery that has been great so far, and I look forward to taking the 4.5Ah battery into the field for SOTA.
Not long after purchasing the battery, I saw a group from my local amateur radio club (Amateur Radio Club of Columbia County K4KNS), who also made the trip from Augusta to check out the hamfest. We chatted for a little bit, and we parted ways with the intent to sync up for a meal while in Orlando (unfortunately, our schedules didn’t align that weekend, so we caught up at the next club meeting).
When it was finally time for lunch, I decided on the woodfired pizza because a) I like pizza and b) I kept hearing great things about it from others at the venue: it did not disappoint. I’ll have to be on the lookout for this at future hamfests: in my opinion, it should be a hamfest staple!
Before I knew it, the end of the day was approaching. I headed back to the POTA tent to mingle before leaving the venue. I saw a few folks that weren’t there when I dropped by earlier: Kyle AA0Z and Tim NW9F (GraymanPOTA), both whom I haven’t seen since Huntsville Hamfest 2024, and Claude AC4SH, who is the POTA mapping representative for GA and also leads Georgia State Parks on the Air. Once 5pm rolled around, I headed out to the RV parking lot toward the YouTubers, as Kyle invited me to hang out with them for the evening. I had a fantastic steak dinner, and it was great catching up with folks and meeting some YouTubers that I hadn’t had the chance to talk to until then.
I’ve learned that the more time I spend in the hobby and the more folks I meet, the harder it is to catch up with everyone. When I attended HamCation last (in 2024), I didn’t leave feeling like I missed seeing people that I knew. This year, granted I was only there for a day, it felt a little like my Dayton Hamvention ‘speed rounds’, where I go talk to as many people as I can, all while knowing how easy it is to miss people at such a large event. Luckily for me, I didn’t miss anyone at HamCation, but I had to hustle!
In addition to HamCation, another thing I wanted to do in Orlando was shop for motorcycle gear. Where we do have a few shops in the Augusta area, Orlando is a much bigger city (and also a major tourist destination), and I was interested in seeing their local offerings. I made my way to Dainese, where I found a lightweight summer jacket and gloves. I also got to sit on the Ducati Multistrada v4 that they had displayed in the store, which was pretty cool. I’ve since been on several rides with my new gear, and I’m really liking how lightweight and flexible the jacket is.
After I left Dianese, I went window shopping for motorcycles that I don’t see in shops back home, such as Ducatis and BMWs. Though very nice bikes, the bike I saw that intrigued me the most was a 2022 Triumph Tiger Sport 660. Where it’s not the bike for me right now, I can certainly see myself enjoying a sport touring bike that’s comfortable on longer rides, with options to pack gear, such as radios.
2022 Triumph Tiger Sport 660.
The next thing I knew, it was dinner time. I went to Talkin’ Tacos, which wasn’t terribly crowded considering it was Valentine’s Day. I’d considered trying their Birria Mac ‘n’ Cheese, but I then saw their Birria Grilled Cheese on the menu, and I was sold. Not a bad solo Valentine’s Day dinner, that’s for sure!
Birria Grilled Cheese.
The next morning, it was time to head back to Augusta. Fortunately, going through Daytona on the day of the Daytona 500 wasn’t too bad, as I traveled through early enough to miss the race traffic. However, once I crossed into GA and approached Waycross, I was met with a torrential downpour that eventually subsided the closer I got to I-16. Needless to say, I was ready to be home. When I finally got there, I settled down for dinner with Ben and started to unpack. Other than the ride home, it was a great trip catching up with fellow hams and getting some riding gear that I don’t see here in my local area. I’ll soon be ready to kit up, grab the radios, and take our bikes to the parks!
73,
KO4KVG
