I want to put the bug into Sparkfun’s ear about the Dayton Hamvention held every year in May. it’s a three-day ham radio, electronics, and computer fair that draws on average 20,000 people a year. I’m surprised that they have yet to set up a booth there, I realize it’s a long drive from Boulder but I think that Sparkfun could make an absolute killing there, considering the growing interest in the Arduino among ham radio operators and electronics enthusiasts…
It’s probably too soon to arrange for this year, but Sparkfun should send a few employee “scouts” this year, to see if they should include it in their 2012 plans…
Thanks for the heads up! While we’re not heavy on the ham stuff right now, but are interested in in scouting this event out as a potential future interest. You should see at least one or two of us up there.
Hopefully this isn’t a duplicate post… My last reply came back with an error…
I’ll give you a little secret… if you want to go after the hams, market the Arduino, and your GPS boards. One of the big sections of our hobby is APRS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_ … ing_System), a protocol that involves sending telemetry bursts, mostly weather and GPS position (This is the data from my transmitter: http://aprs.fi/?call=ad8bc-9 ). I use a Kenwood radio with a built-in GPS interface but have been toying with the idea of making one from an Arduino, one of your GPS boards, and this APRS shield (https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/prod … 7805899998). The APRS shield interfaces to the receive and transmit audio of a VHF radio (and it doesn’t need to be an expensive one).
If you send some scouts this year, make sure they check out the APRS forum.
The Arduino is making inroads into the ham community, but nobody is marketing Arduinos and other related stuff directly to them. It’s an open opportunity for Sparkfun.
Sorry, confusion on my part. We are definitely sending folks to a local ham-fest, and will use info gathered there to determine future plans. Again, thanks very much for your information! I’ve passed your suggestions on to the engineers and marketing folks.
