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Scuba Forum / General / March 2007"Beneath theSea - 2007"
This year's "Beneath the Sea" Convention/Expo 2007 is being held in my home state of NJ in 2 weeks. Looks like all the manufacturers, agencies, local (and even some remote) dive shops, tourist agencies and other related diving merchants will be there. Here's the URL if you are interested: http://www.beneaththesea.org/BTS.html Has anyone ever been to one of these and is it worth going? I've been to Expos like this before for other things (Computers, EMS stufff etc.) and all I ever seem to do is come home with a lot of literature and junk in a plastic bag, and maybe some freebies if I'm lucky. The prices for people selling stuff seem to be no better than retail so why bother. IYHO, worth going??? ____________________________________________ Regards, Arnold Visit my Travel Photo Website: http://www.mag3.biz/travel_photos/home_page.html Absolutely 100% SPAM free!!!! HONEST!!! :-) > This year's "Beneath the Sea" Convention/Expo 2007 is being held in my home state of NJ in 2 weeks. > Looks like all the manufacturers, agencies, local (and even some remote) dive shops, tourist agencies > and other related diving merchants will be there. Its mostly oriented at dive travel. > Has anyone ever been to one of these and is it worth going? I've been to Expos like this before > for other things (Computers, EMS stufff etc.) and all I ever seem to do is come home with a lot > of literature and junk in a plastic bag, and maybe some freebies if I'm lucky. The prices for people > selling stuff seem to be no better than retail so why bother. I used to faithfully go to BTS for years - - partly for getting that big plastic bag of travel brochures, but also to see their "Film Festival". The Film Festival *used* to be quite good. However, ever since BTS moved from CT to NJ, the facilities that they've used for showing the films have sucked. And sucked bad at times. BTS personality "Zig" didn't like it when I made a public complaint about how they royally f.cked it up a couple of years ago, and had the audacity to ask for a refund ... after they did provide refunds to other pissed-off customers. As such, BTS is on my "Never Pay to Go Again" list. My recommendation is to instead go to the Boston Sea Rovers Expo. They're not run by a.sholes. -hh > The Film Festival *used* to be quite good. However, ever since BTS > moved from CT to NJ, the facilities that they've used for showing the > films have sucked. > > And sucked bad at times. Gross understatement, Hugh! Remember when they tried to run it in the center atrium of the hotel? That didn't just suck. It was CRIMINAL. That was the last time we bothered with that part of the expo. They haven't screwed up the seminars or the show floor, yet.  SignatureArt Greenberg artg at eclipse dot net > > The Film Festival *used* to be quite good. However ... > > ... sucked bad at times. > > Gross understatement, Hugh! Remember when they tried to run it in the > center atrium of the hotel? That didn't just suck. It was CRIMINAL. I was being generous. My comments from that resulted in BYS organizer "Zig" promising me a pair of tickets to Boston Sea Rovers as my refund, which he then renig'ed on two days later. Bottom line was that BTS demonstrated that their customer satisfaction focus was poor. Its all in the Archives. Overall, I gotta feel sorry for the vendors, as this is their only real NYC marketplace exposure, unless you want to conside the much more expensive booths at the "Adventure Travel Expo" held @ Javitz each January, although that's currently a different targeted customer demographic. > That was the last time we bothered with that part of the expo. They > haven't screwed up the seminars or the show floor, yet. Half of the Seminar rooms are poor IMO, specifically those long, narrow rooms over in the hotel where if you're more than 1/3rd of the way back, you can't see sh.t. Considering how seemingly half the presentations are retreads from year to year, they're rarely worth the walk anymore. I had gotten a free admission a few years ago and I think we saw all that we wanted to see in 90 minutes. Overall, I think that the show's an okay thing for a new diver, or for an old timer who's going to socialize with vendors that they know, but the valley in between these extremes is pretty significant, particularly since it has become so easy to do vacation research online. Btw Albert - check with Charley at the shop, for they might have discount admissions. -hh >> This year's "Beneath the Sea" Convention/Expo 2007 is being held in my home state of NJ in 2 weeks. >> Looks like all the manufacturers, agencies, local (and even some remote) dive shops, tourist agencies >> and other related diving merchants will be there. > >Its mostly oriented at dive travel. Apparently so, since several of the participating exhibitors include: 1) Continental Airlines 2) Palau Pacific Resort (the place I stayed in my recent Palau trip) 3) Splash Dive Center (the LDS of the Palau Pacific Resort) 4) Various Carribean resorts etc. (Anthony's Key, Ramon's Village etc.) and there are even sections of the floor devoted to various regions (Micronesia/Pacific, Carribean, etc.) I love how the equipment manufacturers are inter-mixed with all the different resort booths etc. >The Film Festival *used* to be quite good. However, ever since BTS >moved from CT to NJ, the facilities that they've used for showing the >films have sucked. The Medowlands Expo Center???? >As such, BTS is on my "Never Pay to Go Again" list. > >My recommendation is to instead go to the Boston Sea Rovers Expo. >They're not run by a.sholes. Well, I'll go at least once since it's close just to check it out. ____________________________________________ Regards, Arnold > Has anyone ever been to one of these and is it worth going? I've been > to Expos like this before for other things (Computers, EMS stufff > etc.) and all I ever seem to do is come home with a lot of literature > and junk in a plastic bag, and maybe some freebies if I'm lucky. The > prices for people selling stuff seem to be no better than retail so > why bother. Tina & I go every year. We're about 90 minutes away. A couple of times we booked a room nearby and made a weekend of it. This year, though, we'll just go for one day. Well worth going to see some of what's up in dive gear, UW photo & video, and dive travel. The "seminars" are OK if you find any that interest you. The Saturday evening "film festival" is worth going to at least once. This year, Stan Waterman will be there. He's a wonderful speaker, and he's getting up there in years. You should see him while he's still doing that sort of thing. Once in a while, we will pick up a few small hardware items (bolt snaps, extra line for our reels, stuff like that). Once, we arranged to pick up canister lights there, but that deal was done before the show. Tina bought her video housing at the show a few years ago, after vising all of the booths where stuff like that was being shown. We bought our Wetwear wetsuits there - Wetwear usually has a booth, and they're taking measurements right there. And DUI is there, you can get fitted for a drysuit at their booth, but I think you'll have to go to one of their authorized dealers for the transaction. Other major stuff like regs/BCDs we most often will buy after the show, if we see something we feel we must have. The "cooling off" period is often helpful. 8-) For us, the _real_ temptation is the travel opportunities. For the first few years, we signed up for a tropical trip every time we went to the show. Go. Have fun. SignatureArt Greenberg artg at eclipse dot net > Has anyone ever been to one of these and is it worth going? I've been to Expos like this before > for other things (Computers, EMS stufff etc.) and all I ever seem to do is come home with a lot > of literature and junk in a plastic bag, and maybe some freebies if I'm lucky. The prices for people > selling stuff seem to be no better than retail so why bother. > > IYHO, worth going??? We've gone for the last few years. For me it's more of a social event, where I see old friends. The gear and travel booths are not so interesting to me, but might be to others. Last year I bought a 3mm Wetwear wetsuit that is 100% perfect, and will probably buy a heavier one this year if they are giving deals like they had last year. The real advantage is that you get measured by the people who make them. If you've never been, go and have fun. We'll be there on Saturday, so if anyone wants to meet and say hi we can exchange cell #'s or arrange a meeeting place/time. > We'll be there on Saturday, so if anyone wants to meet and say hi we > can exchange cell #'s or arrange a meeeting place/time. Tina & I may be there on Saturday, Al. Thing is, that's also the day of the Cherryville Hamfest. I haven't been to a hamfest in years, and I keep primising myself to make it to this one. It's at the high school 10 minutes away. I already have your number. We'll call you if we do make it. SignatureArt Greenberg artg at eclipse dot net > Tina & I may be there on Saturday, Al. Thing is, that's also the day of > the Cherryville Hamfest. I haven't been to a hamfest in years, and I > keep primising myself to make it to this one. It's at the high school 10 > minutes away. I think the last hamfest I went to was in Connecticut in 1967. We went there on the way home from an ARRL thing in Montreal. My license expired while I was in the service, and I never renewed it. I often think about getting another one - it looks pretty easy now. I tried some CW a few weeks ago, and I was rock solid at 5 WPM. I didn't try anything faster. > I already have your number. We'll call you if we do make it. I have yours also. I just looked at the schedule, and we're going to try to get there to hear Marv Gozum's bubble model talk at 11:00. >> Tina & I may be there on Saturday, Al. Thing is, that's also the day of >> the Cherryville Hamfest. I haven't been to a hamfest in years, and I [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >getting another one - it looks pretty easy now. I tried some CW a few >weeks ago, and I was rock solid at 5 WPM. I didn't try anything faster. I let mine lapse several years ago as well. I was a "Technician" class (N2KHS). Never went on to "General" because I was scared of 13wpm. >> I already have your number. We'll call you if we do make it. > >I have yours also. I just looked at the schedule, and we're going to try >to get there to hear Marv Gozum's bubble model talk at 11:00. Great. Perhaps we can do lunch or whatever after your lecture. ____________________________________________ Regards, Arnold Visit my Travel Photo Website: http://www.mag3.biz/travel_photos/home_page.html Absolutely 100% SPAM free!!!! HONEST!!! :-) > I let mine lapse several years ago as well. I was a "Technician" > class (N2KHS). Never went on to "General" because I was scared of > 13wpm. No code test any more. > Great. Perhaps we can do lunch or whatever after your lecture. Perhaps we'll see you'all there. SignatureArt Greenberg artg at eclipse dot net >> I let mine lapse several years ago as well. I was a "Technician" >> class (N2KHS). Never went on to "General" because I was scared of >> 13wpm. > >No code test any more. But is the license still the same thing then? As I recall, they were talking about "watered down" classes like "Communicator" instead of "Technician," communicator being the equivalent of technician but without a code requirement. Seems the FCC took their "PADI" pill then eh? ;-P >> Great. Perhaps we can do lunch or whatever after your lecture. > >Perhaps we'll see you'all there. Looking forward. ____________________________________________ Regards, Arnold > But is the license still the same thing then? As I recall, they were > talking about "watered down" classes like "Communicator" instead of > "Technician," communicator being the equivalent of technician but > without a code requirement. > > Seems the FCC took their "PADI" pill then eh? ;-P International law governs much of what the FCC regulations look like. The IARU dropped the code requirement for Amateur Radio world-wide, and the US FCC is among the last of the nations to go along. The license classes remain the same, for now. There are still band segments that are allocated to particular (higher) class license holders. So there is still -some- incentive to move up. You can read about this at http://www.arrl.org SignatureArt Greenberg artg at eclipse dot net > I let mine lapse several years ago as well. I was a "Technician" class > (N2KHS). Never went on to "General" because I was scared of 13wpm. I had the General license, and at one time I could do 20+ WPM (playing with Oscar 3 and 2m meteor scatter). My dad was a radio operator during WW2, and he was trained to take code with a typewriter, and could do ridiculous speeds that way. When I got my General, you had to go to the FCC place in downtown NYC for the test. I think the guy's name there was Prettyman, or something like that, and he was an icon. For the written test, you had to be able to identify different oscillator and amplifier circuits, among other things. > Great. Perhaps we can do lunch or whatever after your lecture. We will get in touch and get together. > I think the last hamfest I went to was in Connecticut in 1967. We went > there on the way home from an ARRL thing in Montreal. My license expired > while I was in the service, and I never renewed it. I often think about > getting another one - it looks pretty easy now. I tried some CW a few > weeks ago, and I was rock solid at 5 WPM. I didn't try anything faster. As of a couple of weeks ago, -no- Amateur Radio license in the US requires a code test. So all you need is the technical elements. > > I already have your number. We'll call you if we do make it. > > I have yours also. I just looked at the schedule, and we're going to > try to get there to hear Marv Gozum's bubble model talk at 11:00. That might be a good one to go to! SignatureArt Greenberg artg at eclipse dot net > As of a couple of weeks ago, -no- Amateur Radio license in the US > requires a code test. So all you need is the technical elements. It looks to me like the technical elements are nothing compared to what we had to do "back in the day". > That might be a good one to go to! He's also doing one on IWR on Friday night. I've been on multi-day wreck expeditions where we were doing multiple dives to 250 ft 100+ miles offshore, and while we carried a massive amount of O2, IWR was not part of our plan. >We've gone for the last few years. For me it's more of a social event, >where I see old friends. The gear and travel booths are not so [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >anyone wants to meet and say hi we can exchange cell #'s or arrange a >meeeting place/time. Appears to be worth a try at least once. I'll go on Saturday as well. Sadly, the U/W photography seminar that interested me is sold out but.... I'll e-mail you with cell contacts. ____________________________________________ Regards, Arnold Visit my Travel Photo Website: http://www.mag3.biz/travel_photos/home_page.html Absolutely 100% SPAM free!!!! HONEST!!! :-) |
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