Friedrichshafen, Germany – Around 16,300 attendees from across the globe came to HAM RADIO 2011 to meet other amateur radio enthusiasts, exchange information, stock up on the latest products, and gain new impressions. The three-day exhibition featured new products from 184 exhibitors, a flea market with a variety of treasures to discover, and informative presentations. Numerous exhibitors indicated that they were pleased with the number of sales made during the exhibition. “The German Amateur Radio Club focuses on a given topic in detail every year, and is an important partner for the exhibition,” says Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann. This year, the 36th international amateur radio exhibition highlighted Morse code technologies through various attractions.
“With a constant turnout of exhibitors and 16,300 attendees from around the world, including countries such as Italy, England, Malaysia, Japan, Qatar and the United States, HAM RADIO has once again demonstrated its leading position in Europe,” says project manager Petra Rathgeber. “The amateur radio exhibition has an outstanding reputation throughout the international industry, which inspired us to work together with the German Amateur Radio Club (DARC) to develop an exciting supporting program featuring a high degree of technical expertise.” One of the top attractions for attendees was the balloon mission on Saturday. The 184 exhibitors on hand at the exhibition offered an overview of the market and attracted attention from amateur radio enthusiasts, and the flea market featuring 300 vendors was also a popular attraction.
“The top highlight for me this year was the Morse code competition,” says DARC spokeswoman Stephanie Heine. “The entire range of products was represented, from small Morse keys to large ones for knees. The fascination shown by the participants and observers demonstrated what this hobby is all about: having fun with building things and taking on the challenge of mastering Morse code.” Efforts to educate the next generation of amateur radio enthusiasts were also successful at HAM RADIO: 146 teachers who participated in the training session (last year there were 105 participants) were interested in including technical topics in their curriculum. The HAM RALLY attracted 124 children and young people (last year there were 101 attendees) who immersed themselves in the topic of amateur radio, gained insight into radioing and soldering, and learned how to transmit their own names in Morse code.
The next HAM RADIO will take place from June 22 to 24, 2012 in Friedrichshafen.