The AM Forum

Any reports from the NearFest gang?  I am sure right about now the AM dinner is happening at Johnson's Seafood & Steak! 

Joe, GMS

Excellent wx, nice turn out and a lot of good stuff So far,so good
Carl
/kpd

Thanks for the report Carl.  Sure wish we were there! 

Joe, GMS

  Drove up from the South Shore, Kingston, MA. with a high school friend who is interested in amateur radio. It was a LOVELY England Fall day, 50's when I arrived at 8:40 and in the low 60's when we left at 1 PM. Would have liked to stay longer but had a family affair to attend that night. Didn't know about the AM Dinner until I got home today. Maybe when I make my annual visit next year which will likely be for a month instead of over two weekends.

No doubt you had a great time Tom.  I have been to many Ham Fest over my 50 years or so into this hobby and I have never found a Fest I liked more than NearFest.   

Joe,  GMS

A great WX day for sure, good to see everyone, as usual the stuff is secondary to the socializing.

Carl , thanks for that Carter Genemotor, it turns out the input voltage is 5.5 DC, so it will work great with the homebrew mobile for a '46 Ford I may build someday.  Or I could run it on 12VDC and crank out over a KV!

Did score some nice stuff, a nice WS19 MK II dyno PSU from Jeff, W1AEA.  Mine has been making rockcrusher noises for as long as I have owned it, so maybe this one will be a little quieter. A VERY buzzardly WW1 aircraft intercom carbon mic with a breastplate and straps, at first I thought it was very early Navy sound powered mic. Also a very nice German 2kHz to 18 MHz frequency selective voltmeter, similar to the RYCOM sets, always wanted to play with one of those in the VLF  part of the spectrum, now need to make up a good loop antenaa for it for that purpose. 

Next time my GE Progress Line 2M CB/Doorstop with GLB synthesizer goes up to Deerfield it's free for the taking...place your orders now.  But you have to take the GE box along with the GLB!

It's a funny thing: when you're at Near-Fest for a particular item, everything else just seems to fade into the background. I just picked up a KWM-2A for MARS, and I needed a power supply for it, and there was nothing resembling a 516F-2 to be found.

While I was traipsing around searching for a Collins-cane-metal box, perhaps a 312B-4, I passed by a very nice T4-X that had been rehabbed, and of course when I went back it was gone. I was surprised to see very few boat anchors from the days of my youth; there was an HQ-180A that I passed by several times, very slowly, and finally decided against buying, and a Drake 2-B with the Q-multiplier/speaker, but nothing else caught my eye.

A friend pointed me to a table where there was a PM-2 supply, which I got for a good price since the owner had bought it for parts. I'll have to dig into it and get some locking screws for the KWM-2A, but that was the only Collins power supply to be had.

There was, however, a high note: TimTron brought a Globe Champion which he gave me, and all I need to do is finish my Class E build, and I'll be an AM Gangsta! ;-) I spent an incredible amount of money on a Johnson 122 VFO that needs a new cord (Octal plug and cover, $4, thank Ghod for the vendors), since Tim had already set up the Globe for a 122.

W1AC

OMG, do they still make vibrators for those?  ;)

W1AC

I was perfectly prepared for the morning, but then it actually got warm in the afternoon, so I went to my car and put on the only short-sleeved shirt I had handy, which was the emergency-orange "Volunteer" shirt from WRTC2014. Being a subtle, reserved kind of guy, I elected to wear the medal that I had picked up from Tom at the WRTC2014 booth, so those of you who remember an orange guy with a medal, well, that was me, being subtle.

W1AC

OMG, do they still make vibrators for those?  ;)

W1AC

Well they worked last time I had that beast running about 20 years a ago.  Been a lot of traffic on the WS19 list about someone making up solid state replacements for the ones in the WS19 Mk III PSU.

I had a brief stint fixing "pre-prog" and Progress-line radios for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1972, and there were transistorized plug-in replacements for the vibrators even then.  I always like the Progress-line units: I thought they were easier to work on than the Twin-V units we had, and a lot roomier than the Mastr II transceivers which we were using to replace the tube-type gear.

This ties into the thread about Near-Fest, too: I saw a lot of tables with Motorola and other commercial FM gear, and I was thinking that someone could do well if they had a shop set up to offer such "retired" commercial gear to hams. After all, didn't every young ham want to be Brokerick Crawford at least once in their life? ;)

W1AC

I have been seeing all those commercial FM sets for years and always wondered if anyone actually buys that stuff and why.

Regarding all the commercial gear on the tables at NearFest, some of us adapted commercial gear to FM repeater service but the trend today is to buy ready mad repeaters or adapt rice boxes to repeater service.

I'm sure there are still folks out there that would still do that but what with the reduction of interest I wonder.  Back in the day, our radio club was basically born out of the rising popularity of repeaters. I came involved when our club was using the GE Progress line - tube stuff.  After a while I was given several RCA 500 and 700 series systems.  Two 500s  I converted over to 2  meter and 70 cm service.  A 700 series was converted over to 2 m service.  All that's left is a 500 series on 70 cm and a 700 series on 2 m. One in the care of a friend of mine on 70 cm and the 700 series in coordinated under my call.

My point is that I wonder if there is really an interest in the challenge of converting these commercial beasts over to amateur service - hence the tables loaded with this stuff from year to year.

Hi:

I could not attend Friday and heard the weather was FB then. I attended Saturday AM and got about 1/2 hour in before the rain started. I should have brought a heavy coat and gloves (it seemed to be in the 40s), but did have an umbrella. It was difficult to see what folks were selling as most of it was under tarps by that time. I did purchase a K7DYY Senior transmitter for $60. Hope to try it this evening.

Saw a few folks, but left around 11AM due to the rain and chilly temps. Happy the car has a heater!

73,
Dan

No doubt it would have been easier when the FM repeaters were first getting popular, but I think there would be a market if a club or radio shop would set them up and support them in a given area. We've all tried the Chinese rigs - I dropped my UV-5R at the fest, and now it's dead - and the ruggedness and reliability of the commercial designs would be a welcome change, if there was a place to take it for programming or crystals and tuning.

I got the idea when I read about a club in Chicago which had put together 160M mobile kits for its members, way back in the 30's. As long as there's someone to talk to, and someone to call if we can't figure out what went wrong, I'd bet it would work.

W1AC

 My employer is sitting on a bunch of surplus GE Master II base stations, most are set up as simplex bases on 150 but there are also a few on 450 There are a number of local clubs that would like to get their hands on them but they need the paper work to prove they are tax exempt.

Nearfest was a lot of fun.

Saw a bunch of people including some I have not seen in over 20 years.

Friday's wx was way too nice for that area, that date.

Saturday started OK but light rain blew in before 10AM.

There was a lot of old AM equipment at bargain prices. More than I've seen in a long time.

Drove the old Crown Vic a total of just under 17 hours. There were about a half dozen ex cop car P-71s and not one burst into flames the whole time.

That stuff must have been brought in on Saturday: on Friday, all I saw were a couple of Rangers, a Hallicrafters novice rig, and a DX-100.

W1AC

More stuff showed up on Sat but Friday was when I saw the majority.

Friday was glorious. Bought few goodies, variables, some knobs, enamel wire, crystals and such. Just a great day to walk around and see all my AM and Military collector buddies and all my old work friends.

Will there be a Bert video for this fester?

We hope to make it in 2015 MrMike.  Major withdraw symptoms for us this year since we were not able to attend  :( .

73,
Joe, GMS

They are an excellent value. The other black and white parked near the OD green area was mine.

That alternator is not really easy to find in a hurry.

MrMike,

Speaking for myself, I think it would be a far better idea to move the fest one or 2 weeks earlier, not later. The weather usually turns for the worse right at the weekend the hamfest has been held, later probably would not be as good as earlier.

Is there any reason you can't get the grounds a week or two earlier??
Think it would be a big boost to the attendance.

I'm curious.... do you notice the public slowing way down when you are behind them on town roads - and pull over to the right lane for you to pass when on the highways?


Add a fake smokey hat on the dashboard and it would be pure paranoia.   ;D



T

Gee, here I thought Nearfest was packed with undercover cops, to keep an eye out on those dangerous hams  ;D
(insert tinfoil hat here)

Yes, a lot of people apparently have driver's licenses hanging by threads.

Drove that car all the way home from Mid town Manhattan a few days after Hurricane Sandy at 90 to 100 MPH the entire time when the roads allowed. Made it 72 miles in 105 minutes from the parking garage on 33rD Street to Beachwood Mountain.

Mr. Mike,

I suggest that you let the powers-that-be know you are considering other venues: no matter what the outcome of your investigation, the Deerfield brass will be more inclined to work with you.

Of course, it's understood that such a move, if it were possible, would not happen overnight, but speaking as one of the rapidly aging population of visitors to Near-Fest, I'll opine that the fairgrounds is better suited to horses than to flea markets.

My 2 cents, YMMV.

Bill, W1AC, whose feet are still aching

As has been stated many, many times before, those who attend NEAR-Fest tend to do so for the event and friends and not the wx. Age doesn't seem to matter. We're not worried about improving our tans (though dry, sunny wx is always a plus). We like having the event at the Deerfield fairgrounds, and apparently so do many, many others. It's a special place to us, but not well-suited to those who prefer indoor venues like shopping malls, rest homes, or don't like walking. You'll definitely get a workout covering the grounds.

Got to attend with the family in tow this time as it was combined with a visit to my family members in the area. Didn't get to stay long as our late arrival and the AM Dinner left about 2 hours tops for browsing. Jen was impressed with the event and the folks she met. Caitlin had a blast, of course. Something new, outdoors instead of strapped in the car seat.

Was good seeing Carl/'KPD, Ross/'EKG, Joe/'PJP, Bill/'LLY, Steve/'QIX, Mr Mike, Dirk, and a few others. The AM Dinner was again well-attended, around 14 or so as I recall. The B&B replacement for the Northwood Motel was a mixed bag.

Delivered a 30L-1 amp, Racal RA-17 cover, and BC-348R which received personal escort to its new owner, K1ANX. See below.

Saw a few nice items but really didn't get to look around much. Didn't bring home any radio gear, but did find a cool old IH truck that will be perfect for hauling broadcast transmitters. Looks like it'll stay in VT until next spring.
 

Could not agree more as to what makes NEAR-Fest so special.  Its definitely a combination of the people and the physical place in where its held.  All of this would not happen if we did not have a group of volunteers who feel so passionately about doing this each year.  So a large thanks go out to all of those that picked up the ball and ran with this from when the Hoss Traders had the even and who also did a fantastic job year after year.   

Glad you and the family had a good time Todd.   The truck looks very cool but having just gone through a frame off restoration of Martha's old Chevy truck all I see is $$$$$$ signs! 

73,
Joe, GMS 

Speaking as one of the three people who founded and ran the Hosstraders for 34 years, I have to echo Mike's comments, although he got me laughing,  But I was mostly laughing at myself, and Joe and Bob, because we used to get annoyed with the people who thought they could tweak the hamfest to make it "better",  Mostly these people don't see the big picture, and look at things from a limited perspective, as well as their own limited experience.  How many people have actually run a hamfest of any size?  Talk about herding cats !!
The reason that Hosstraders stayed viable so long is that it was a three-man dictatorship.  Dictators have received a lot of bad press over the years because of a few bad apples.  But there is nothing that frigs up an event more than a committee.  Bob and Joe and I had another advantage because we were always on the same page, knew what the other guy was thinking and could pretty much communicate in monosyllabic grunts because we knew what the other fellow was going to say.  Friends like that are few and far between.

It comes down to one thing.  Everyone needs to stop kibbitzing from the sidelines.  Either get on the committee   (impossible for you back in Hosstraders days) and work your tail off to get some perspective, or go out and start your own event from scratch and raise it from a pup.  That's what the Hosstraders did back in 1973 and it turned out OK.  Other events in the same period bloomed briefly and faded.  When outside events, internet commerce in particular, made it hard for us to meet our own standards for what we wanted in a hamfest, we put it to bed while we could still be proud of what we had.  Times are different now, and Nearfest, while not my own idea of perfection, is what we have left to live with.  If anyone thinks they have a better mousetrap, pick a date and a format and a location and run with it.   Maybe people will beat that path to your door.  Or maybe not, but at least the attempt was made.
 
On the other hand, Mike actually got me laughing out loud with his reaction.  It's like a trip down  memory lane, when I had to listen to some of that.  Keep picking on him.  He can take it....

Norm W1ITT, the amateur formerly known as WA1IVB

I hold up the Rochester, NY 'fest as an example of what can happen when there are too many cooks in the kitchen.

Not too long ago, it was just about the biggest fest on the east coast. Because of politics and infighting, plus the loss of a venue, its struggling just to survive... it had to be cancelled for this year and even though it is "scheduled" to be back next year, who knows what form it will be?

Look around the country and see what is happening to hamfests...and then be glad we've got what we've got in NearFest.
I haven't been able to go either of the NearFest events the last few years because of commitments I couldn't get out of.
The move of the Fall event to weekend after the Holiday will allow me to go in 2015...Very much looking forward to it.

My hats off to the organizers of this, or any 'fest today...it isn't easy. I'll take the imperfections...and enjoy every minute of it.

It ain't broke,no need to fix it! This visit was my first since the move and I wuz surprised at how large the fairgrounds are. It seemed smaller 15 years ago. How could that have been ??? ??? ??? I guess my brain is shrinking?

You're just not as hungry as you were back then. Back in the day there was never enough stuff to see, no matter how full the place was. Now that we're older and have plenty of junk to play with, it looks a little different. Hard to believe that were don't even rent the entire grounds like Norm and the Hosstraders did.

As Mike and Norm both illustrated, you can't please everyone. It's more about going with a known quantity and letting those who don't want to participate stay home. From all I've seen and attendance numbers in the 2K range or more at each event, we must've done something right. Maybe it has something to do with the way it all began, in both cases: three hams who were too foolish to know they couldn't do it because it was impossible. I'm very thankful that Mike had the forethought to bring the event back to a venue so many of us cut our teeth on.

Was good seeing you at the AM Dinner, Terry. Hadn't seen you since the days at Hopkinton.