A Visit to Quartzfest 2006
| Huh? | This is a set of descriptions and images from Quartzfest 2006 by Glenn Thomas WB6W - that's me. I'd normally relegate this stuff to the same area where I might hold various slide shows of family vacations - who wants to be bored with that kind of thing? Well, apparently either I was wrong about that or there are people who enjoy being bored. When I mentioned on the Northern Nevada ARES net that I had just returned from Quartzite, there was an amazing amount of interest in it. I was astounded. That being the case, I've stitched together some descriptions and pictures of my week in Quartzite. So, by popular request (no accounting for taste!), here are my descriptions (and a few pictures). |
| Who is at Quartzfest? | The folks who show up at Quartzfest tend to be either full time RVers or retirees who enjoy RVing. The fact that it is literally in the middle of nowhere, which is of course a very long ways from places where anybody lives, tends to discourage working folks from attending. This is exacerbated by the fact that it occurs during the week. Still, so working stiffs do manage to attend anyway. For example, I encountered my dentist from when I was a working still. He's is still working but is also an avid Ham and RVer. |
| What IS Quartzfest? | Quartzfest is a gathering of Hams who are also RV'ers near the town of Quartzite AZ. It has occurred for the last several years, growing larger every year. There is a web page describing Quartzfest, so I won't go into much detail here. The proximate excuse to gather at this particular place (the middle of nowhere) and time (the deepest depth of winter) is the Quartzite Sports, Vacation and RV Show. |
| When is Quartzfest? | Quartzfest was in the last half of January, this year (2006) from January 22 to January 28. |
| Where is Quartzite? | Quartzite AZ is located in southwestern Arizona on I10, approximately 15 miles east of the California border. My own impression of the town of Quartzite is that it is half RV parks and half fleamarket. The fleamarket aspect is very big - it coveres many acres. The RV park aspect is even bigger. There are many RV/trailer parks in town. There is also an area (again, many acres) of desert just outside of town where for a good deal less money than an RV park, one may camp with minimal services provided. Finally, several miles outside of town there is an area of where one may camp for free for up to 14 days. By "free" I mean free as in beer - there is no charge to stay. It's also free as in freedom because BLM land is owned by all of us, so there won't be an irate farmer complaining that you're camping in his field. The downside of the BLM campground is that there are no services at all. There is a water truck and also a "honeypot" truck that makes the rounds. Their services are anything but free! |
| Why is Quartzfest? |
Quartzfest is a gathering of Hams who are also RVers, mainly to socialize. There was a fair amount
of EMCOMM training this year as well. Gordon West WB6NOA was on hand and gave several seminars every
day on basic EMCOMM techniques. There is also the
Quartzite Sports, Vacation and RV Show
in town where there are things for sale that any RVer might want, ranging from RVs themselves to
parts and pieces whith which to improve ones RV to hucksters from places that an RVer might want
to visit. Quartzite appears to live on these shows and the RV show isn't the only game in town.
From February 1st - February 5th (this year anyway) is the
Annual Quartzsite Hobby, Craft & Gem Show
and also on February 4th - February 5th, the
Quartzsite Rock & Roll Classic Car Show.
As you might imagine, there are many more folks camped there than just the hams. While I associated myself with the Quartzfest crowd, mainly because my friend Alan Biocca WB6ZQZ was giving a talk on his pnuematic antenna launcher, there was also a group from "Sam's RV Hams". They circled their wagons right next to where we Quartzfest folks had circled ours. There was a lot of interchange and comraderie between the two groups. |