PACIFICON visitors attend one of the many great forums

The ARRL Pacific Division Convention

Pacificon 2010 - the West Coast Ham Radio Convention is Coming Back!

After a one year hiatus, PACIFICON 2010, the great west coast ham radio convention, returns to the San Francisco Bay Area and will again be sponsored by the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club. Pacificon 2010 will take place Friday, October 15th through Sunday, October 17th, at the San Ramon Marriott Hotel at 2600 Bishop Drive in San Ramon, California. Events and schedules listed here are in the planning stages. Links will become active as planning progresses. Please check back for updates.

Make your hotel reservations by October 1st, 2010, and ask for the special PACIFICON 2010 room rate of $90 per night. Call 1-800-228-9290 for resevations. To insure availability reserve early.

A General Admission ticket entitles you to the following, with no additional cost: A full slate of outstanding forum presentations about a wide range of amateur radio related topics, a large Exhibit Hall filled with exciting product exhibits, a series of Amateur Television demonstrations, great QRP and HF Pack activities, an outdoor Swap Meet, a One Day Technician Class to prepare you to pass the license examination at Pacificon and get your first ham radio license, fun and informative T-Hunts, a chance to hear about and discuss important national amateur radio issues with top ARRL leaders, the Boy Scout Jamboree-On-The-Air (scouts in uniform admitted free), a chance for winning great radios and other prizes throughout the convention, and perhaps the best part - a chance to interact and share information with lots of other amateur radio enthousiasts to further (or begin) your own knowledge and to advance the hobby.

Come hear "The Sounds of Amateur Radio": At Pacificon 2010 you will have a chance to hear the sounds of amateur radio in action. Ham radio operators will be using state-of-the-art HF base station radios to transmit live on different frequency bands, making contact with other hams in the nation and around the world. Children and adults who are not yet licensed hams will have an opportunity to use the radios under the direction of licensed hams. The Pacificon Talk-In radio operator will be located in the hotel using a 2-meter radio on a speaker system to communicate with local visitors who are on their way to the convention. Also, on display will be video and slideshows of some of the sights and sounds of ham radio in public service.

PACIFICON is an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) - Pacific Division convention. It is produced by the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club.

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PACIFICON 2010 Events Include (check back for updates):

• Antenna Seminar - Friday

• Open MDARC Meeting - Friday evening

• QRP Activities - Friday Evening & Saturday

• HFpack Activities - Friday Eve, Saturday, Sunday

• Breakfast/Keynote & Evening Banquet - Saturday

• Great Swap Meet - Sunday Morning

• Outstanding Technical Forums - Saturday & Sunday

• Amateur Television (ATV) - Saturday and Sunday

• Ham Radio Gear on Exhibit - Saturday & Sunday

• One-Day Technician License Class - Saturday

• Ham License Exams - Saturday & Sunday

• Transmitter Hunt - Sunday Morning

• Prize Drawings - throughout

• ARRL Forum - Sunday

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Tentative Schedule of Events (check back for updates):

Notes:

1. Check back for updates, corrections & additions
2. Events and scheduling are subject to change.
3. Some events have an additional charge beyond the $15 advance admission cost. See pages on "Buy Tickets", "Breakfast/Keynote" , "Banquet", "Antenna Seminar" and "Ham License Exams".
4. The Hotel will provide breakfast facilities on Saturday in the outside courtyard from 7 to 9 am, as well as Saturday lunch facilities around noon. Coffee and sweet rolls will be available in the bar starting at 6:00 am on Saturday and Sunday. A full Sunday buffet brunch is available in the Hotel restaurant.