The AM Forum

   This Saturday, April 26th, is the SECARS hamfest in Gales Ferry, CT. The forecast is calling for rain pretty much all day, but it's an inside as well as outside event, with plenty of room inside. It's the first non-auction hamfest the SECARS club has put on, so I'm hoping the rain doesn't keep everyone away and that the event is successful enough that the club makes it a regular event. I'm not a member of the club, but I'm wishing them success. Hey, it's a fine warmup for Nearfest!

   For anyone planning to attend this hamfest, I suggest that you consider bringing your own table, and maybe a chair. The website says that vendors need to bring their own tables, but I wasn't sure if that applied only to outside vendors or inside as well, so I sent an email to the club president, who responded that he can't guarantee tables. I'm thinking that means that they have tables, but probably in limited quantity.

https://secars.org/secars-fleamarket-information/

   Well, the rain pretty much took its toll on the 'fest; people don't like getting out and driving around in heavy rain, and it sure did rain. There were maybe ten vendors set up inside, and maybe twenty or thirty potential buyers showed up. I hope the club doesn't get discouraged. I'm sure the turnout would have been a great deal better if it had been a nice sunny day.
   The only outstanding deal I came home with was an REA Modulation Monitor, complete with pickup, for $10. The current price is $234.95 (and worth every penny) new from REA. The seller had several boxes of assorted stuff, acquired through an estate sale, and certainly had no idea what the Mod Monitor was or what it was worth. I already have two of them, with an assortment of pickups, but there's always room for another.

The rain kept me away for sure. Otherwise I would have gone. Great deal on the REA, we have one on the Gates at VRCM.  I may go to Nearfest, looks like rain again though.

   It didn't just rain, it came down in sheets and ran off the roof of the building like Niagara Falls. They're not predicting rain that heavy for Nearfest, but I'm still making up my mind about going. I'm watching the forecasts closely, and I probably won't decide for sure until Thursday. Wayne's going, rain or shine, and I know that if I don't go, and the weather turns out okay, he'll be sending me texts all day telling me how great it is, and I'll be miserable.
   If I don't see you at Nearfest, I'll probably see you at W1VCM on May 11th, for the NEWS Group event. Goshen is coming up, too, on May 17th.