The AM Forum

Orlando hamfest photos
Pretty good turnout of vintage gear and vintage friends.
Photos Thursday afternoon setup and on Friday. We didn't stay for Sat-Sun.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zWfTbkYwJQ63yeFH8

Fun stuff. Thanks -

Thanks for sharing the virtual tour of the Orange County fest.  I enjoyed the journey.  So many photographs!

I got a backache looking at some of the boat anchors, and that is why I dispensed with some of my older treasures.  Now the heavy stuff needs to be either in a rack with wheels, or in someone else's shack!

I have never seen so many R-388 and 51J4 receivers at one fest.  Seems like lots of prices were reasonable, but some folks were very proud of their National NC-300s!

I suppose there would have been many more tailgaters on Saturday, but I had my fill with what you shared from Thu and Fri.  Very nice of you to take the time to capture and post the photos!

That big "4KW Quad Avenger" amp caught my eye. SK-406 chimneys, so probably 3-500's or 4-400's. No band switch; almost certainly a CB amp, so the tubes were probably beat to snot, but it would be a good platform and parts to build something decent.
No metering, either - just tune for max neighbor complaints.

Lots of great stuff for picking up and reconditioning.    Offhand, what I would call a "buyer's market."  

Notice the Heathkit color TV kit starting at $500 and later at $300. I'll bet Joe / PJP would have considered that knowing how he loves Heathkits in their original kit form...  

T

Thanks Tom for bringing up bad memories I’ve been trying to suppress for a long time.  Back at URI in the early 70s two of my frat brothers at Phi Kappa Psi, both hams and also EE majors like me, and a couple
years ahead of me, convinced the rest of the brothers of the chapter that it would be a good idea to have them build one of those big Heathkit color TVs, and install it high on the wall of the Chapter Room, which was used as a TV lounge and bar.  The set was mounted on a shelf  on the opposite side of the wall in a one car garage area.  It originally worked OK, but after the builders graduated, I ended up being the guy responsible to keep it working.  It was constantly going out of convergence alignment.  To bring it back in , I would have to pull it back enough on its support shelf to be able to see a portion of the screen reflected in a mirror while
I made adjustments behind the wall in the garage.  I would need to have someone else in the room operate any controls on the front panel. A thankless and never ending task, pretty sure it was replaced shortly after I graduated.