Dayton

[K5UJ]

Prices seem high $650for ART13, s25 $175 collins A line stuff at least $400 but more often $500 and up even if condx not very great.  Not as much vintage gear as last year.  Some prices really crazy $800 for Audimax and Volumax?  
Scored a few deals,got pair nice h.v. ceramic bandswitches for $15 ea, 4x1 chimney $50 nice 4x1 $115 and another one for $50.  Even more vacant spaces today (Friday) than last year in flea market.  Today looks like Saturday did last year.  Well, almost looks that way.  A nice thing for all us OT is the addition of benches scattered throughout the flea market so tired hams can sit and rest.
A few things are surprisingly hard to find. I managed to dig up only one silver N male to UHF female adapter.  Plenty of nickel plated garbage but that was one hard to find decent adapter.  Some guy is selling some kind of new plastic clip on UV resistant OWL spreader but it is designed for insulated no. 14; actually now that I think about it that may be okay.  I was thinking no. 16.   There are a few nice things--a guy from Chicago (don't remember his call sign) is selling big globar type resistors out of an old WGN dummy load; you get four for $50 and the clip bars to bond their ends together and you have a  3 KW DL with a fan blowing on it.
I got some nice pieces of test equipment, a sig generator, a cap checker, but it is getting hard to find those ceramic shaft decouplers now and anode heat sinks for 4-1000A and the plastic sockets are MIA.


Have not been indoors yet so don't know anything about that.

Rob

Addendum:  the guy with the dummy load resistors is Greg K9QI who has a listing on this in the FS section.

[Sam KS2AM]

The weather was great today.  The "60 percent chance" rain never materialized.

I spent some time outdoors as well as indoors. Indoors looked about the same as last year.  I sat in on the well-attended antenna forum and a rather interesting dicussion of the "8 Circle Vertical Array for Low Band Receiving" http://www.w5zn.org/files/Design%20Construction%20&%20Evaluation%20of%20the%208%20Circle%20Vertical%20Array%20for%20Low%20Band%20Receiving%20Rev%203%2011-16-09.pdf

The Friday flea market looked about the same as last year to me.  Those benches were there last year as well and yes they're a good idea.  Saw an Invader 2000 for $300 but it was missing a couple of parts.

The weather should be awesome on Saturday as well and my guess is that it will be well attended by the locals that don't take Friday off for the event.


 

[k4kyv]

Didn't see you guys.  Ran into quite a few of the AM gang and had a brief chat with Walt, W2DU. Picked some goodies. WX turned out great.  Plan to be at Marion's Pizza Sat evening.

Attendance was sparce compared to years past.  At least half the fleamarket spaces were empty.  No problem moving round through the crowd indoors or out.

[w4bfs]

I got some nice pieces of test equipment, a sig generator, a cap checker, but it is getting hard to find those ceramic shaft decouplers now and anode heat sinks for 4-1000A and the plastic sockets are MIA.



Rob

do you need some sk510 sockets and sk506 chimneys ?

[K5UJ]

I got some nice pieces of test equipment, a sig generator, a cap checker, but it is getting hard to find those ceramic shaft decouplers now and anode heat sinks for 4-1000A and the plastic sockets are MIA.



Rob

do you need some sk510 sockets and sk506 chimneys ?

I'm looking for two sk510 and one sk506 tnx

Rob

[K5UJ]

Ran into Walt W2DU and Don K4KYV from here today and had a great time; Sorry I missed everyone else; am back at home now so am not able to make the AM dinner unfortunately--I also forgot to enter the prize drawing--but did get to walk around briefly inside before going back out to the flea market where I managed to scrounge up a few more parts.  Got some nice looking vacuum relays for $25 each; a 115 v. coax relay new for $30, a set of four punches for $25.  A few more boat anchors surfaced today but I never saw any "big rigs" like I did last year.  There were a couple of nice DX100s yesterday; both gone today; a Valiant for $250 that was half-way decent looking so the price was about right and two B&W 5100Bs come to mind.
Also one or two 32V# for ~$750--A guy (I forget his callsign but I bet someone here knows him) had the Gates 5KW mod. trans. that was on eBay from Utah a month or two ago and I think he wanted around $200 for it;  Jeff W8CQ at Harbach had a Dahl 5 KW mod reactor new in box.

I was fighting through a head cold the whole time so I was mostly hot, tired, stuffed up and sunburned and dog tired by the time I got out of there this afternoon but when I get rid of this sore throat and sinus blockage I'll be glad I went.  Don I'd like to follow you around the flea market next year; I'm sure I'd learn some things.  How was the FCC forum?  Sam, sorry I missed you.

Rob

[WA1GFZ]

I wonder if any of you guys saw Hermes at the TAPR booth?
1/2 watt transceiver SDR 160 through 6 meters on a 4 by 6 inch card that will blow away most rice boxes for dynamic range and IMD

[W9GT]

Had a fine time at Dayton again this year. Saw quite a few AMers including K9KEU, W9FM, K4XK, K4KYV, W8TOW, W8KHZ, W9DWS, KA9TOC, W8KHK, W8ZAP, W9RAN, WA2CWA and probably many more that I am unintentionally forgetting.  I also got to meet Walt, W2DU at the CQ booth and had a brief conversation.  Gathered a few times at the DX-60 Net spaces...saw many fellow AMers there.  Looked like Jeff, KA9TOC really sold a bunch of stuff early in the game.

WX was great!  A little cloudy and threatening skies Fri morning, but sun came out and it was real nice the rest of the day.  Sat was perfect, at least up until about 1:30 P.M. when I headed back to Ft Wayne.

Picked-up two sets of broadcast xmtr iron and numerous other goodies for home brew projects.  ( No, I didn't buy the Gates 5KW mod xfmr) Also passed my DX-100 off to another new prospective AMer.  I even managed to find a filament transformer for my pair of 6C21s.  (operated at 450TH specs) Actually, its a 7.5 V @ 50 + amps job for a 3CX3000, but will work fine for what I need.  Good prices on parts...a lot of the boatanchor gear was a little high priced, as stated by others.  Great deals on capacitors, (electrolytics were really cheap in bulk) and lots of bargains on home brew supplies.

We gathered at the usual Italian restaurant in Troy, OH for a real enjoyable dinner Fri night.  Lots of great conversation and a real pleasant evening with fellow AM enthusiasts.  Attendance was down and the usual down-side of a decaying old Hara Arena facility was again noticed, but there were some improvements...including shuttle service in golf carts to help folks with heavy loads get back to the parking areas (at least part-way there).   All-in-all a fine weekend and another great Dayton experience.  

73,  Jack, W9GT

 

[w8khk]

Really enjoyed Dayton this year.  Great weather, cool most of Fri and Sat til early afternoon.  Met lots of old friends.  Rgistered to be a Hamvention Volunteer in 2011. 

Was looking for a National NC-100 or 101/X, no luck.  Will continue looking, I think that is a way cool receiver.  Picked up a complete unmodified DX-100 for $50, will need to clean it up and recap, should be an easy fix.  Also got two HP 8640B generators, $100 each.  One has low output, the other has a defective freq counter.  Should make one good one, and provide spare gears for my other one.  Picked up the complete run of Ham Radio mag on CD at the CQ booth, should be enjoyable reading.  Grabbed lots of other small odds and ends, and some boards and parts from Far Circuits.  A clean mobile CB radio for a buck, to strip and use the enclosure and speaker for the new Small Wonder Retro 75 rig.  Will use the DeMaw universal VFO from Far Circuits, and the Hendricks QRP Digital Dial freq readout with that rig.

I guess Huntsville in August will be the next fun fester.

[W9GT]

I neglected to mention that I got to meet Gerry, KC8ZUL at Dayton with his Ford pick-up containing...now get this.....A Collins 20V3...mounted on a special lifting fixture in the bed.  He was busy stringing-up an antenna to get his really big mobile/portable AM rig on 3885.  Now that is some dedication!

73,  Jack, W9GT

[Superhet66]

Re:  KC8ZUL & Collins in Ford P/U......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twuiZ2APS2Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjlLrZesquU&feature=related

[k4kyv]

Had a fine time at Dayton again this year. Saw quite a few AMers including K9KEU, W9FM, K4XK, K4KYV, W8TOW, W8KHZ, W9DWS, KA9TOC, W8KHK, W8ZAP, W9RAN, WA2CWA and probably many more that I am unintentionally forgetting.  I also got to meet Walt, W2DU at the CQ booth and had a brief conversation.

I also had a brief conversation with Walt at the CQ booth.  He told me he was planning to come to the Marion's Pizza get-together Sat. night, but he didn't make it.  I was disappointed, since I was hoping for a better opportunity for conversation with him, like we had last year.

Never saw Pete.  Usually he is at his flea market space, but if he had one this year, he must not have been there when I passed by.  I combed the flea market several times, so I had ample opportunity to catch him in his spot.

Maybe the Italian restaurant in Troy on Friday night would be a better AM get-together spot than Marion's, since many people leave for home right after, or even before, the flea market closes on Saturday.  It's a high end white-tablecloth sit-down meal that isn't offered at fast-food prices, but I have enjoyed it for the past two years.  Gary, K4XK was with me.  Unfortunately, Gary was sick later that night.  He thought maybe it was the restaurant food, but none of the  rest of us got sick, and the next day his wife ate some of the left-overs he brought back and she didn't get sick.

They could have consolidated the flea market spaces and used half the paved area for additional parking.  I would say nearly half the marked spaces were either unoccupied or used only to park a vehicle, and I never had any difficulty navigating down the rows through the crowd.  Attendance was definitely down compared to years past, but I still made a good haul of stuff.

[KA8WTK]

Just got back today. We decided to spend Sunday night in campground and drive home on Monday.

As others have said, the weather was fine all three days. The flea market looked about as big on Friday and Saturday as last year but not like the mid 80's when I first started attending. There were new items in the flea on Saturday that weren't there on Friday. Sunday was a ghost town out there.

One thing I noticed was the reduced number of computer junk and consumer electronics dealers in the flea as compared to other years. There were even fewer computer dealers inside. There was more radio this year.

Before the prize drawing on Sunday they qouted some statistics about this year. Pre-registration was up over last year. Flea market sales (spots) up over last year. All but 3 (IIRC) indoor booths sold (Better than last year). HARA food vendors ran out of food at one point and had to get more. Beer truck ran out of dark beer (My observation).

All in all, better than last year. I even found all the tubes on my list but one and scored some items that I have been looking for at the right price for a few years.

Bill KA8WTK

[K5UJ]

I'm sure sorry I missed you guys.   I forgot to mention running into K9KEU and also W9UD.   Between the sun, lugging stuff, and my head cold, I was in a fog both days by mid-morning.  I was also focused on the stuff for sale and not looking at callsigns so I probably walked right by a lot of you without realizing it.  I would have never met Don if he had not seen my callsign hat and walked over and introduced himself.  I bought a book by Terman for $15 and was so out of it that at some point Friday, I set it down somewhere and left it.  Did not even miss it until this morning.  I completely missed the ZUL truckrig.  I am planning on making a point of staying until Sunday next year so I can make the Saturday night dinner.   I hope I won't have a big shopping list so I will be able to focus on socializing more and not being sick will help a lot too.   

I forgot to mention this earlier but there were a couple of broadcast techs over at the far west end of the flea selling some rack gear and I spent some time with them.  They had an Andrew air dielectric pressurizer for sale that could pump up a line to 10 psi.  They told me a lot of hams came by and said they couldn't use it because their tools all need 90 psi at least.  They never figured out what it was for.  They also had 3 CRL processor boxes for sale, a PMC300, APP and SEP400 but they wanted way too much for them in my opinion, around $300+ each.  Well the next day they were gone.  They sold them to some guy who said he was going to use them on his KWM2.  What he is gg to do with an AM asymetric peak limiter with tilt control, and 4 band compressor on a sideband transceiver I have no idea.

Rob

[Sam KS2AM]

Another fine Hamvention with almost perfect weather to boot.   I came away with some good deals as well.

There were several hundred people that either tested for new licenses or upgrades.  At one session I counted forty people waiting in line to test. I also saw lots of young folks in attendance.  That’s all encouraging for amateur radio as a whole.

I've got to laugh at the "attendance was down" or "attendance was waaaay down" comments that start popping up every year even before the event is over.  It actually looks like attendance will be up for the second year in a row.

As for the flea market, there used to be fewer empty spots for sure but that was back before 24X7 auction sites had become so pervasive.  Who wants to hang onto their stuff all year long before hauling it all the way to a parking lot in the midwest where you're likely to get nickel and dimed by stingy hams when there might be a more attractive option for you ?
Another thing to keep in mind is that a few years ago the Dayton organizers cracked down on the people that were getting flea market spots not to sell radio gear but simply so that they and their buddies had their own personal area at the arena where they could sit around and get lubricated.  So part of that flea market full of vendors was simply an illusion.  I'm glad those particular people aren't there any longer - its cut down on the amount of needless walking I have to do.

They've posted the dates for the next three years.  http://hamvention.org/index.php   Hope to see y’all there.





 

[k4kyv]

I didn't see all that many HF riceboxes in the flea market, and there was a fair amount of AM stuff. Didn't see many modulation transformers but there was one from a Gates 5 KW rig and some other guy had a mod reactor from an RCA 5 kw rig. There were a lot less junked computers and stuff like that, and less artsy crafty stuff that doesn't belong in a radio flea market anyway.

I got a lot of antenna material, including some fibreglass poles for a possible K9AY loop.  Also, a roll of rotator cable, which I think will serve nicely for my remote antenna tuning once I get everything installed in the new dawg house.  Also picked up a roll of coax that I may be able to use with my beverage, to replace the stuff the animals have chewed up.  BTW, I ran into K9AY in the flea market and had a brief conversation with him.

I picked up a VLF/LF (25 kHz-600 kHz) TRF regenerative receiver made by National.  No model number, but it looks like something the Navy might have used.  No documentation whatever, but hopefully it will be easy to trace out the circuitry.  I am thinking of using it to monitor the European longwave broadcasters next winter, plus surfing the whole spectrum below the broadcast band.  The thing is a real rupture set, with carrying handles on top of the cabinet. I made the guy an offer Saturday morning, but he didn't seem too interested. By late Sat afternoon I stopped by again and asked if he had considered my offer any further, and he said he would be glad to let me have it at that price.

One positive aspect to the smaller number of flea market vendors is that there were more small individual sellers there, who looked as if they might have decided at the last minute to pull some stuff out of their cellar or junkbox to sell.  I recall in years past when the flea market was packed and there was a waiting list for spaces, most of the vendors who actually deployed were the professional hamfesters with their travel trailers who haul the same crap from hamfest to hamfest every year, and sometimes you would see the same item for sale several years in a row, for a premium asking price of course. You wouldn't have needed advanced registration to score a spot this year, and I am sure they were selling flea market spots on a drive-up basis.

Maybe the overall attendance was up over last year or at least held its own, but I judge the hamfest by the flea market.  
I made only a few brief excursions through the indoor areas, and attended only a couple of forums.

The only decent food I could find was the pizza slices at the outdoor booth at the corner of the building, and the best beer was the amber ale (forget the name) on draught at the beer booth. A slice of pizza, cup of beer and one of the ice cream bars they were selling did it for me for food for the whole day.  I don't go to a hamfest to eat anyway.

[ke7trp]

Rob, Can you remember the name of the company that makes the spreaders? 

C

[K5UJ]

Clark, I'm real sorry but I can't.  They were brown plastic and they clipped on and they held the wire around 4 inches apart.   It was this one guy, maybe two, who I think only made that one thing and they had a space and were doing demos.   I would have paid closer attention if I needed to make feedline, but since I have all I need I didn't notice much.  I may regret that if I ever need to make some heavier gauge line.  I would contact the hamvention people and ask if they could tell you who the vendor in the flea market was who was selling the OWL spreaders.  It looked like they had had an injection mold made and were getting someone to make these things for them.   I bet the hamvention gets questions like "who was that business selling...?" all the time.  They can probably tell you.  I didn't even bother to get a program.

you guys are so fast hi hi.  I can't even post and someone came through with the information.  good on you!

I've never eaten at the hamvention.  Some friends of mine always grill hotdogs and burgers in the former car dealer parking lot right across the street.  We have a tradition of hitting the Needmore Waffle House at 5 a.m. Fri. and Sat. and then getting a parking space right near the corner of Wolf there at the light.  so the grill is not too far away at lunch time.  They should open the lot there at the Arena for parking since it was mostly empty.

Yes, when I see a "professional flea marketeer" setup, I keep moving.  they usually don't have what I am looking for on the first pass.  I am looking for a regular ham selling his own stuff.   Another thing I do a flyby on is the microwave VHF UHF guys.  If I see loads of motorola HTs and other repeater gear, duplexers, dishes all that stuff I keep moving.
 
Don, you got that National low band rx ha ha that's too cool.  That's going to be a real interesting project.  

Some audio guy had a pair of big EV cabinet speakers--one of those would be great for a nice full audio AM sound but he only wanted to sell them as a pair.  I didn't want to deal with two huge cabinets so I decided to stick with my smaller Polk monitor 30s.  

Yes I also noted the younger people there and saw that as encouraging.  

From what I saw I got the impression that some people hold their really good stuff for ePay and bring their not so good items to Dayton.   Just a hunch.  Whatever -- I don't have to have a beautiful widget if it works.  I also like seeing something in person, not having UPS bash it, paying cash and taking possession immediately.  I think I'm not the only one who likes what I like so I think flea markets will be around for a while.

My strategy next year (if I remember it) will be to zoom to the rear as soon as they let us in, and work my way forward.  I don't want any of you all doing that so you have 12 months to forget this.  

[W2DU]

Hi All,

Had a great time at Dayton! Got to meet, K5UJ, K4KYV, WA6MHZ and W9GT. What a pleasure!

Son Rick, W8KHK, drove from GA to Mt. Pleasant, MI, to pick me up, drove me to Dayton and then back home after the Vention. Sons Bill, W2WM, and John, K4JRM, were also with us at the Vention

I apologize to you, Don, for not appearing at Marion's Sat nite. The CQ people invited us to their reception at the Marriott Hotel, which we decided we should not miss. Several old-timers came over to me after the program and congratulated me on the book, including Gordon West, Chip Margelli and Admiral Ed Gioambastiani, N4OC, the new Director of the MARS program. You'll probably recall that Chip was part of a two-man CW team that performed on the Jay Leno program, beating a texting team during a transmission test.

Again Don, sorry we missed you at Marion's, cuz we would have had a great time to converse, but glad we met at the CQ booth.

At the CQ booth we sold lot's of copies of Reflections 3, and I got writer's cramp while signing the books. The CQ personnel were very hospitable and friendly to me.

Walt

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Had a fine time at Dayton again this year. Saw quite a few AMers including K9KEU, W9FM, K4XK, K4KYV, W8TOW, W8KHZ, W9DWS, KA9TOC, W8KHK, W8ZAP, W9RAN, WA2CWA and probably many more that I am unintentionally forgetting.  I also got to meet Walt, W2DU at the CQ booth and had a brief conversation.

I also had a brief conversation with Walt at the CQ booth.  He told me he was planning to come to the Marion's Pizza get-together Sat. night, but he didn't make it.  I was disappointed, since I was hoping for a better opportunity for conversation with him, like we had last year.

Never saw Pete.  Usually he is at his flea market space, but if he had one this year, he must not have been there when I passed by.  I combed the flea market several times, so I had ample opportunity to catch him in his spot.

Walt was at the CQ Vendor Party at the downtown Marriott Saturday night. Talked with him several times and there were many who just wanted to shake his hand.

I was at my same spots as in previous years all three days, although on Sunday I only hung around the flea market area for about an hour, before I ran in the building to talk with several vendors. The only time I wasn't there was for an occasional potty break, one quick purchase several spaces down from me, and an emergency call from one of the inside vendors Saturday afternoon that they needed some additional stock of various Nifty manuals right away.

Lots of people stopped by to say hello and unfortunately to many to remember everyone's calls. The B&W 5100B and 51SB-B, with their original boxes, found a new home. A bunch of other equipment also found new homes. Even a bunch of old NOS 16 bit ISA cards, 286 and 386 motherboards, memory cards with 1 Meg SIMMs, 5.25 floppies, that I had stored away for some crazy rainy day, all found new homes. The only downside was that I drove back on Monday and had to deal with heavy rain, road water ponding, and crazy truckers who felt it was safe to drive 80 miles an hour through the heavy rain, and the way to about the Philly area (about 9.5 hours). 

[W8IXY]

I had a great time in Dayton this year, all 3 days.  Met K5UJ, and probably saw several other of you guys walk by, but were unrecognized.  My son and I had a spot in the flea market this year.

I have been driving down from Cleveland on Thursday for the last several years, so I could get to the flea market early Friday (including this year when we were setting up by 6:15AM).

This may come to an end.  At the Best Western Hotel @ Route 48 & I-70, on Sunday morning at checkout, there was a paper posted that showed an increase in overnight rates to take effect in 2011.  This year my cost was about $75.00 per night, and next  year they announced the rates were going up to $115.00 per night!  Egad!!!

I may go back to a single night next year, driving in Saturday morning and staying for the prize drawings Sunday....or I may just make it a single day affair next year...Saturday only, if all the hotels raise their rates comparable to the Best Western.

Of course, there are the ultra cheapies 30 miles out of town, but you can't get a good nights rest at any of those (or at least have acceptably clean sheets).  I am past the age where I can comfortably sleep in a car, or in a tent.

So, did anyone else find any notices of huge rate increases posted for next year at places you stayed?  At this point, I may have attended for all 3 days for the last time.

73
Ted W8IXY 

[k4kyv]

If you plan to do any flea market shopping, you need to show up first thing Friday morning as soon as the gate opens.  If you wait till Saturday, everything will be well picked over, and it won't really be worth the trip.  I wouldn't be that concerned over a lousy 40 bucks for one night.  Besides, you can probably find a cheaper place to stay somewhere else in the area, even if it means a half-hour drive to HARA. I don't go on any kind of out-of-town trip for the purpose of luxuriating in a hotel room.  As long as I can get a reasonably good nights sleep between clean sheets without bedbugs I don't care how cheesy or spartan the room is.

[N0WVA]

I was hoping to make it this year, but NO go. Last time was in 97 I think. Ive been twice, I remember meeting Don whilst we were rummaging around some boxes of radio parts of some sort.

The motel comments remind me of my stay in Kanab, Utah at the Sun and Sand motel. Was something like 45 bucks for two beds. The name brands were over 100. This place looked like it had never been remodeled since 1950. The wife complained a little, but I didnt mind, the beds were clean.

[K5UJ]

I have thought about getting one of those seller tickets but a friend who had one given to him this year told me if you get in there at 7 a.m. instead of 8 you don't find much because most people are still setting up for the day. 

I wish they would simply do what a local fest does and open the flea market at the crack of dawn.  The early bird gets the worm.  If you are willing to be there you should get the deals.  This one local hamfest opened on Saturday last September at 6 a.m. and we were there freezing in the dark with flashlights going over stuff for sale and got some great deals. 

This thing with holding everyone at a gate until 8 a.m. does what, make late sleepers happy?

[W9GT]

I have found that the early bird doesn't always get the worm!  The trouble with trying to bargain with sellers early-on is that many want to hold off and keep their prices high in hope that someone will be willing to pay what they are asking....they hate to really go lower on items until the event has gone on for awhile ,or before things play-out a little.  Many times...later in the day you can find some real deals and people are more willing to haggle with you or take lower offers.  What I really hate, however, are the eBay skimmers who go around the fest and grab-up all the bargains, then take them back to their own tables and try to sell them for a higher price, or...if unable to re-sell at the fest take the items home and put them on eBay at even more inflated prices.  I guess I don't have a problem with anyone who is just trying to make a buck....but it spoils things for everyone when it gets carried to the extent that you can no longer find needed items for reasonable prices because of all the profiteering.  Hamfests in general have suffered a lot in recent years from this phenomenon.

73,  Jack, W9GT