This year, we will have a table at OzarkCon, at
which hams gather for two days of QRP (low power) related activities. Activities include a kit-building session, at which we will construct a 30 meter (10 MHz) transceiver, various seminars, a QRP flea market, music sessions, and more. Ozarkcon is sponsored by the Four State QRP Group (4SQRP). Even though this is my first Ozarkcon, it will be a bit of a homecoming, since I was present at the very first 4SQRP meeting in Seneca, MO, in 2002.
Ozarkcon is held the first weekend of April (this year, April 6-7, 2018) at The Stone Castle Hotel & Conference Center
in Branson, Missouri.
One of the trademark events at Ozarkcon is the Wacky Key Contest, an event designed to encourage non-traditional Morse code keys made out of things such as toasters. For inspiration, we offer this design from Joe Binko, who sent it in to Radio Craft magazine in February 1943.
We’re not sure if it’s wacky enough for first place, but we’re sure Binko’s design would have been in the running had OzarkCon been in existence in 1943. He converted a phone jack (presumably, a quarter-inch model) into a key by carefully cutting it apart, mounting it to a base, and extending one of the contacts. You should get the general idea from the diagram.
Among the big names attending is legendary sound engineer Bob Heil, K9EID, of Heil Sound, the only manufacturer to have an exhibit at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
For more information about OzarkCon, visit their website or Facebook group.
Update (Feb. 18): When we checked today, all single rooms at the Stone Castle were fully booked. (After I posted this, someone else posted that some rooms were still available. So it’s probably worth a phone call. See the OzarkCon hotel page for information.) We will be staying at the nearby
Branson Surrey Inn. When we booked, rooms were only $42 per night, and it is located within walking distance of Ozarkcon.