Update for RVers 2

We have filled 22 RV slots, a new cap. We now are working with the resort to add more. Please use the form found here to be placed on the waiting list for any additional spaces at Isleta's RV Park. We will continue to take sign-ups for our waiting list until we get final word on our slot count. Once our final allotment is full, we will announce it and post a link to alternate RV parks in the Albuquerque area. We will inform you of your status as soon as possible after we get word from Isleta. Please be sure to register for the convention as well as sign up for an RV slot.

Update for RVers 1

The initial 15 RV sites the resort allotted us at its RV Park have been spoken for. We are working with Isleta to increase the number of site available. If you are interested in a site, please add yourself to the waiting list by using the form found here. Any additional sites will be assigned in the order in which requests appear on the waiting list. We will contact you by July 15 regarding the status of your request.

Join us in September!

We here at New Mexico Hamvention Inc. warmly invite you, your family, and your ham-radio friends to join us for the 48th annual Albuquerque Duke City Hamfest and Convention, which runs from Sept. 20-22, 2019, at the Isleta Resort and Casino, located on the historic Isleta Pueblo, just south of Albuquerque’s International Sunport.

It's a two-and-a-half day regional convention that also includes participants from Maine to California, in addition to hams who live in the Southwest. The event brims with presentations on topics ranging from AMSAT® to Zepps. The gathering includes indoor and outdoor flea markets. Commercial vendors offer gear that appeals to home-brewers as well as operators of off-the-shelf gear. And did we mention food? During the Saturday evening banquet at last year's event, which served as the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention, more than 125 diners rose as one to give Isleta's chefs and wait staff a standing ovation. Breakfasts and lunches are no slouch either.

The resort’s modern hotel, restaurants, and convention space are designated no-smoking facilities. The layout centers virtually all convention activities around a central Grand Foyer (see our map page at www.dukecityhamfest.org/vendor-maps). Presentations, raffles, banquets, and indoor commercial vendor and flea-market areas are literally just down or across the hall from one another. The resort also has its own RV Park. We have 15 RV sites reserved for our event, with more to come in time for our convention as the resort finishes expanding the park this year.

The resort and its RV Park also serve as comfortable bases from which to explore before or after the convention one of the nation’s oldest geographic and cultural crossroads. Ride a tram to the 10,378-foot summit of Sandia Peak and take in some of the most breathtaking vistas the Southwest offers – mountains, mesas, and extinct and dormant volcanoes to the west; the Sangre de Cristo mountains to the north, where the Rocky Mountains begin their march into Canada; and the vast expanse of the southern Great Plains to the east.

Albuquerque’s historic Old Town and the Petroglyphs National Monument are within a short drive from the resort. For a taste of the region’s Hispanic heritage, experience Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque for a evening of high-energy dance and guitar performances – an art form for which Albuquerque is a world-renowned center. Farther afield, Santa Fe and Taos beckon, with their museums, shops, and, in Taos’ case, one of the New Mexico’s three World Heritage sites – Taos Pueblo.

The curtain rises on the Albuquerque Duke City Hamfest and Convention Friday morning, Sept. 20, with a breakfast and three all-day classes, in addition to shorter presentations. Each class -- HF University, EmComm College, and AMSAT® Academy -- runs through late afternoon. Then comes a popular free mixer early Friday evening, with a raffle and a guest speaker to complement the finger food.

Saturday opens with a breakfast banquet and includes a guest speaker who focuses on DXing or contesting. The day is filled with individual 45-minute presentations in five break-out rooms. The talks will cover topics that appeal to the newcomer and old-timer alike. Thanks to input from last year’s attendees, we're planning a comprehensive set of talks to help you sort through the bewildering array of digital modes available for HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies. Other presentations will focus on a variety of topics aimed at improving your skills and enjoyment of amateur radio. Saturday evening, we host a banquet with a featured speaker, annual ARRL New Mexico Section awards, and a raffle.

On Sunday, the convention continues with a farewell breakfast banquet and raffle, a SKYWARN® training session, additional forums, and ends at noon with a Grand Raffle.

We'll also hold a VE testing session on Saturday morning. Test-takers earning their first ham-radio ticket at the testing session can attend the convention for free. Those upgrading can attend at a discounted registration fee. In the deepest, darkest hours of Saturday night (OK, 10 p.m.), we will host an initiation ceremony for the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong. Licensed amateurs who are members of the American Radio Relay League are invited to join.

In addition to the raffles, we’ll draw for door prizes each day -- every hour between the first and last forum sessions.

Registration for the convention and reservations for hotel rooms are now open, so book your room to get in on the fun. You’ll find us and the room-reservation portal at www.dukecityhamfest.org/reserveandregister. To reserve an RV slot, visit www.dukecityhamfest.org/rv-park-sign-ups.

If you’d like to help spread the word about September’s convention, we have fliers available in PDF formthat you can print and hand out at club meetings or local hamfests. Come hobnob with other hams, bring yourself up to speed on the latest technologies amateurs are bending to their uses, and experience the Southwest on the cusp of Fall. You won’t regret it!

In the meantime, keep your guy wires taut and your operating skills sharp!

73,

The Board of Directors

New Mexico Hamvention Inc.