Amateur Radio Operator's Reception - an NAB Tradition

The annual Amateur Radio Operator's Reception, more affectionately known as the HAM Reception, is a free-of-charge event at the 2008 NAB Show which is open to all attendees. This year's event will be held in Ballroom B of the Las Vegas Hilton on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m.

NAB's HAM reception is a big draw for both amateur radio operators as well as those who have never "pushed-to-talk" nor learned Morse code. Typically over 600 people pack the ballroom, each hoping that they will be the lucky winner of one of the fabulous (and sometimes very expensive) door prizes (over $13,000 worth of prizes in all this year!). Shown in the top photo (at right) are some eager participants lined up at the prize ticket mixing bowl; in the bottom photo reception sponsor Bob Heil of Heil Sound, Ltd., talks to last year's special guests, Kimberley and Tamara Pinegar, also known as "The Piano Twins," who perform nightly at Harrah's Las Vegas and who were there to help hand out the prizes.

Everyone attending the HAM Reception is eligible to win a door prize, and is handed a raffle ticket upon entering the ballroom. This year there are over 150 prizes to be handed out which have been generously donated by broadcast equipment manufacturers, engineering consulting firms, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and others-many of these prizes are listed below along with who they were donated by (in parentheses, including a link to the donor's Web page). If you are interested in becoming part of this tradition and donating a prize, please contact David Layer at dlayer@nab.org.

Amateur radio-related prizes:

HF Digital Handbook 4th edition (ARRL - 10 of these)

Dorrough loudness meter (Dorrough Electronics - 4 of these)

Great Plains RC Flight Simulator (Nucomm)
Samsung DTBH260F HDTV tuner (The Durst Organization)