Rumours about the death of #amateurradio in #Taiwan have been greatly exaggerating. Last Saturday was another proof.

There are a few famous amateur radio gatherings around the world, the Hamvention in Dayton, the hamradio in Friedrichshafen and the Tokyo Ham Fair in - yes, you guessed it correctly, Tokyo. There are also smaller ones, but while there have been numerous gatherings in Taiwan, none of them had the flair of those abroad.

That changed on Saturday, when the CTARL invited all radio enthusiasts (not just radio amateurs) to a parking lot in Donggang, south of Kaohsiung. Originally the plan was to hold it under a large viewing platform, to be protected from rain and sun, but that one was closed off. Luckily the sky was very cloudy, but I still got a nice sunburn.

The flea market did indeed represent all kinds of radio, including old CB or maritime radios. There was even a group of soft air gunners who brought old French and Thai military radios (for exhibition) with them.

And of course a number of people were actively operating on HF, right from the parking lot.

People from all over Taiwan participated, with those from the north either arriving the previous night or starting at 0300 in the morning. For a first time this was not bad at all, we're looking forward to next year.

#myphoto