The Yasme Foundation will sponsor “Ham Radio 2.0 — Innovation and Discovery,” which Foundation President Ward Silver, N0AX, describes as “a deliberately low-structure affair, affectionately dubbed ‘2.0 Row’” that’s intended to be a gathering spot for innovative groups and organizations.

The IARU Region 1 group Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) will set up in this area, staffed by Florian Zwingl, OE3FTA, of Austria, and Koos Fick, ZR6KF, of South Africa. “We are hoping to spark an interest in YOTA here in Region 2,” suggested Silver. The annual Region 1 YOTA conference for 2018 will be held in South Africa this coming August.

Representatives of the HamSCI (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation) group will be adjacent to the Yasme Foundation’s booth. Along with the HamSCI Forum, researchers and participants in HamSCI will be making short presentations in the 2.0 Row area. A schedule will be posted on the HamSCI website. Results of the recent Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP) and some of the papers it generated will be on display as well.

Other organizations located in the Volta Building (Building 4) near the entrance to the Flea Market will include FIRST Robotics and Hamvention’s Youth Tech area, just across the walkway. NSIradio will be exhibiting software-defined radio equipment by Expert Electronics. The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) will be co-located with the NASA Radio JOVE exhibit. Stop by to learn about how a radio amateur and amateur astronomer, Scott Tilley, VA7TIL, of British Columbia, discovered that a long-dead satellite had returned to life.

Here is the planned schedule of topics and speakers:

The schedule and session times will be posted on the HamSCI website.

 “I encourage Hamvention visitors to stop by and leave a QSL card,” Silver said. “We invite college clubs to hang their colors, makers and builders to demonstrate their latest projects, vendors and individuals to put on short demonstrations, and for everyone to make connections and friends. There will also be some short presentations interleaved with presentations by HamSCI researchers. We hope to see a lot of new faces at 2.0 Row!”