Overview

_It has been announced that the Hosstraders event itself has been discontinued._

Hosstraders was a big hamfest (amateur radio festival) and "flea market for geeks". It was held twice a year at the Hopkinton Fair grounds. See HosstradersAnnouncement for more info. Linux and ham radio go together very well. See HamRadio for why.

GNHLUG tried to have a booth at Hosstraders and do the Linux evangelism thing. We spead the word about Linux in general and GNHLUG in particular. We also had CDs/DVDs with recent Linux software (generally burned to order), which we sold for a buck per CD ($3 per DVD).

BenScott and MadDog were the last major coordinators for this, but quite a few others help out, and the help was needed and appreciated. Just manning the booth and answering questions helped a lot. In the past, EdLawson had sometimes managed to bring a Linux-based ham demo, which really rocked.

People

Present and past volunteers include:

• BenScott - Event coordinator
• MadDog - Event coordinator
• EdLawson - Live Ham radio demo
• RobLembree
• PaulLussier
• MikeLedoux
• RobertAnderson
• BayardCoolidge
• HeatherBrodeur
• MattBrodeur
• BillMcGonigle

Wishlist

Ideas for Future Improvements

• More Ham radio demos and knowledge
• A custom CD (bootable or otherwise) with radio-related software on it
  • Does this mean "custom with GNHLUG info" or what? Harv's Hamshack Hack is already a bootable, radio-centric Linux distro. -- BenScott - 20 Sep 2006
• Load up some of those junkers with an appropriate linux distro - have them live on the 'Net for webmail, and let people take them home for a modest donation.

Checklist

Pre-show

• Announcements
• Reserve booth
• Table rental for the booth
• Sign-up warm bodies to man the booth
• Make signs, banners, flyers, etc.
• Download Linux distro disc images
• Gather "Information" (see below)

Information

This information should be saved to hard drive for offline access while at the event, and/or printed out so we have hard copy. Preferrably both.

• GNHLUG
  • Regular meetings
  • Upcoming events
  • Recent events
• Other area LUGs
• http://radio.linux.org.au

Equipment

• Computers with CD recorders
• UPS
• Power cords and strips
• Ethernet cables and hub

Supplies

• Blank discs
• Disc sleves
• Markers
• Rubber bands
• Masking tape
• Index cards

Collateral

• GNHLUG signs/banners
• GNHLUG flyers (many copies, for distribution)
• GNHLUG "business cards"
• Signs with list of distros/archs and "burned to order" w/ price

Other

• Fans and/or space heaters (depending on weather)
• Umbrella (it always rains)
• Folding chairs
• Extra folding table(s)?
• Small spotlights?

Wireless link back to Ted's House

• Two WRT54G's in WDS mode
• Two directional 2.4GHz antennas, 12dB
• LMR-400 cable with N-to-RP-TNC pigtails
• One PoE injector
• 300' of Ethernet cable
• A couple mounting boards
• ratchet straps for attaching to a tree
• cable ties for stringing up wireless feed wire
• a ladder for getting up in the trees
• A stable DNS server (Ted's ISP can be shakey, c. spring 2006)
• a switch/WAP at the booth for distributing the connection