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Author Topic: 2017 Hamvention Photos  (Read 10807 times)
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« on: May 20, 2017, 02:42:41 PM »

Lots of stuff:
http://swling.com/blog/tag/2017-hamvention/
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« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2017, 03:01:03 PM »

Nice photos! Almost as good as being there. It will be interesting to hear commnts about the new venue.
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« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2017, 03:29:51 PM »

Here's one photo I snipped from W5KUB's flea market video. Don't know if it was Friday or Saturday. I heard traffic getting into the area was a nightmare.


* Screenshot (252).png (2666.76 KB, 1920x1200 - viewed 421 times.)
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« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2017, 08:28:13 PM »

Ugh! Muddy mess!

I was doing OK till I looked through the pictures and saw the HRO's, NC-46, and SX-115.

Now, I'll just go have a nice, quiet, cry to myself.

Really, I wanted to go irregardless of the cons I could forsee with the new location, but things needed to be addressed around the homestead, so I saved the money and time for that this year. 
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« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2017, 08:33:54 PM »

  Good photos, lots of nice stuff, always enjoy looking at swaps from around the country.

   Not so sure about the venue, a grass field back east, could have been a real MudFest if the weather was wet, looked at bit muddy in the pictures.
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« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2017, 11:39:19 PM »

Nice to see some of the professional stuff for a decent price W-J and the like for <500 aint bad. assuming it works or wants to.
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2017, 02:27:14 AM »

Not sure what other new stuff was announced at Hamvention but Flex introduced two new transceiver models (6400M and 6600M) with visual display, knobs, and push buttons. No computer required. I actually mentioned back in August 2015 in a thread in another forum that Flex should mate their newly introduced Maestro Control Console and one of Flex 6000 Series transceiver models and put it all in one cabinet. Low and behold, two years later, here it is:



Here's the product brochure on the Flex 6600M: http://www.flexradio.com/downloads/flex-6600-trifold-concept_1-0-pdf/

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« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2017, 11:55:38 AM »

Here are about 400 flea market photos I snapped Thursday and Friday-
http://www.virhistory.com/ham/dayton-17-1.htm

Lots of Collins, Drake, Heath SB series - fair amount of Hallicrafters and National - not much EFJ. Some homebrew, lots of interesting *stuff* to see.
In addition to the flea market, there were a bunch of people going in and out of some buildings - I think it was all new-fangled stuff in there, though.....
Nick K4NYW
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« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2017, 12:31:05 PM »

Thanks guys for posting all the great photos for us folks who didn't get to attend.  It gives us something to drool over.  I had to stay home to take care of the farm so the xyl could
fly off to see the grand kids.  Maybe next year.  Looks like it was a fun time.
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« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2017, 02:44:40 PM »

Got a chance to ride with a friend this year so I made it out there. As mentioned, the traffic on Friday was awful. We fetched up at the end of a line a couple of miles long and it took 2 hours to get to the gate and they were announcing the parking lots at the venue were full as we arrived, though they were still letting cars in, but not many visible spaces. We ended up parking in a paved lot across from the entrance for $5, boy scout fund raiser. Rode a hay wagon pulled by a tractor into the people gate. The traffic snarl was so long that I missed most of the talks I was hoping to hear which started at 9:15. We got inside by about 11:30.

There were 5 main buildings that I got in, 2 for 3 forum spaces, one divided in two I guess. The third forum space was in a second building and the only one that had air conditioning that I found the whole two days.

The other three buildings were connected by covered walkways and were labeled Maxim, Tesla, and another famous name. Flex was in the middle building, Tesla, and was the first display I took in inside. They were showing off the new 6400 and 6600 units with the maestro built in. I couldn't get near one, but they looked slick, although some of the literature I found doesn't agree with some of the stuff on the web. (does the 6400 have 2 or 4 slices, the 6600 4 or 8?) Much larger case with the maestro grafted onto the front, but I could see the appeal if you didn't want to field a separate computer.

The flea market was in the racetrack area, mostly, and we spent some time there Friday, till the monsoons came at about 4 pm, and everyone fled the fest pretty much. Lots of nice old gear, but nothing i was tempted to cart all the way out to the car with a bum knee. There were a fair number of vendors in 3 big circus type tents near the entrance that wasn't clear were the '6000' vendors (most of the other buildings had a designation of 1000, 5000) so it took a while before I could find CSI, and score one of the little Xeigu rigs that they've reworked a bit, the CS108G.

Saturday, the weather forecast called for another front mid day, and with previous days parking experience we got up at 5:45, did a crash and dash breakfast, and were in the traffic line by about 7:30 am. This went much more smoothly, and we were at the lot by about 7:45 and parked in a muddy ADA parking area closer to the gate The parking lots were quite muddy, but my buddy has a 4wd Xterra so we weren't worried. But I saw hams running 3 wheeled scooters through puddles deep enough to throw a bow wave. But, the people gate was closed till 9am, and we sat in the car for an hour. I didn't get that, they had a line of bodies out to the road - why not at least open the flea market? Maybe it's a fair ground rule. I don't know if they enforced the 5pm quit time as well, we got run out by rain on Friday at 4, and left about 2 on Saturday for other destinations.

Sunday the weather was cool and overcast, Friday was hot till the rain. About 11am, we could hear thunder. The flea market was already very wet - the center of the rows were pure mud and trampled grass, people were walking the edges to keep their shoes dry and I heard at least one agricultural type say they would have to reseed the field after the use. We walked about 3 rows, and scored various goodies till the thunder sounded close and then started heading for the buildings, along with about 5000 of our close friends! The rain hit as we were entering the building, those of us in the back admonishing the ones up front to keep moving in, not stop at the threshold when they were out of the rain and leave the rest of us out in the downpour! It was quite a crush for a few minutes, then people distributed out and we got some breathing room. The downpour lasted about 20 minutes, and then stopped but it was humid outside after.

We stayed and shopped for about another two hours and I tested my CS108G on the hfpack net on 17 meters, though I didn't manage to find the meetup - they were going to hold it by the flagpole near where I was, but then moved it to way out in the flea market and the knee wasn't up to it.

I thought the grounds were pretty good, the buildings not bad with good spacing on the displays. Could have used more airconditioned buildings on Friday, not needed on Saturday. The weather could have been better. The parking and access might need some work though I'm not sure what could be done about it. We considered parking in the outlying lots and riding the shuttle bus in, but heard from someone that did that that they were stuck on the bus for two hours also as they were in the same line of traffic, no alternate route in. Based on my experience with some music events, they might need to engage with the town to limit access on some roads and modify the traffic flow - for PFF, we used to turn some roads one way so we could flow traffic down both lanes. Helped a lot.

Got to talk to some people you only see in the magazines or ads, like Alex from Alexloop and a few others. Made a few features requests and suggestions. Didn't buy anything major, but a flex 6600 might be in the future.

A few bugs, but all in all for a new venue and all the problems that could have happened, it was pretty good. If a ride is available next year I'd probably do it again.

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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
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« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2017, 06:35:29 PM »

   Well my take on Dayton is a little less sunny than the others I have read. I have been at Dayton every year except for one since 1989. I have watched the swap slowly shrink. I recall when you were lucky to get a space. Those days are gone forevermore. The Greene Co.Fairground may be a great place for a county fair or a horse race, but it sucks for a hamfest. Mud and electronics equipment don't mix well. I am aware that the weather can't be controlled, but the location can. For the amount of time and money I spend to attend and set up I expect something better than a Hog wallow. I bring my own shelter for the rain so that isn't a problem, but setting up on grass with that many people is a problem. Come on this isn't Woodstock. The expense of paying 188.00 dollars for two spaces and two tickets is a little stiff. Not to mention 300.00 plus for hotel and three days off work. I kinda expected solid ground. I can't see myself setting up there again. Next year I will go to Hamcation http://www.hamcation.com/ or Hamcom https://www.hamcom.org/ as a attendee. RIP Dayton.

   On the bright side I did get to see a lot of familiar faces. I visited with Don K4KYV and a couple of other people that I only hear on the radio. That was the best part of the whole swap. The only thing I bought was food and five PL259's. I don't need no more stuff just ask my wife. 



John N8QPC
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« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2017, 03:00:50 PM »


Looking at both sets of photos, it seemed to me that maybe the asking prices were pretty high?
No idea if there was bargaining or dickering off those prices or not...
...nothing in the pix seemed terribly exciting to me personally. So, I don't feel too bad not being able to go.

Decades past, the sheer magnitude of the event was overwhelming, and I always felt that a pilgrimage out
to Dayton was something very special.  But for a time machine! Well, not much can be done, as the advent
of online buying and selling has certainly changed the landscape forever... still if it were easier and closer to me
I'd have wanted to attend.

Thanks for the fine pix!

                                    _-_-
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« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2017, 04:57:19 PM »

Nice to see some of the professional stuff for a decent price W-J and the like for <500 aint bad. assuming it works or wants to.
One guy had a W-J 8718 stickered at $350. I didn't need another but sometimes the price is right. He said it was from an estate and he had 3 of them, but none worked. He said everything looked OK inside, so who knows. I said I'd gamble $150, but he wasn't interested. Seemed like a pretty big gamble to me - could have just been he didn't know how to hook it up, or simply an open voltage regulator - or could have been a shorted voltage regulator or lightning hit that took out every single transistor in the thing! Don't know whether he sold any or not......

The guy with the 8618B said it worked, but I stick to HF. The guy with two 8711's wasn't around so I don't know the story on them. Ray Fantini had a bunch of working WJ/CEI gear that went at reasonable prices I think.

All in all, it was a pretty interesting flea market.
Nick K4NYW
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« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2017, 08:53:18 PM »

Nick K4NYW...thanks for the photos! Love those RCA audio boards Chuck WA4USA had on his table. I see both were marked sold. I wonder what each sold for...
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« Reply #14 on: May 23, 2017, 02:11:16 AM »

Umm, I dunno Bear, some of the prices were pretty on par from what I can see. Had to go back and scrutinize a bit. There were some outrageous prices, but mostly on the reasonable side. The NC-46 w/ a speaker for $200, if I could of lifted the hood on it and seen a nice chassis, I'd pull out the folding money without sweating the seller. Also saw the SX-28 for $350, may have dickered a little on that one and even though I'm on a National binge, I would have been tempted to bring it home because I've never had one... great rx! A host of other good small receivers for well under a bill, if you like slumming to fix one up which is what I enjoy doing. Think I saw a HRO 50 or 60 with the coils and a speaker for $350; that would have probably came home too! Looked like the Collins S line stuff was pricey, which is usually the case.

...Phil
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« Reply #15 on: May 23, 2017, 02:14:31 PM »


This is some stuff that I wrote up for Millist and MRCA reflectors and is more centered on Military surplus radios but may be of interest in my account of Dayton.

Ok, the trip is over. Got back around eleven last night after the ten hour drive and started unloading the truck. Wondered in to work this morning and being the kids are working on their finals have the opportunity to jot down a couple things.
I did an informal poll on Saturday and talked with at least a dozen or so people about the fest. People ranging from hard corps Military radio to just regular vendors that were there. I wanted to get a sample of their opinion to mix in with my own being that’s always a hard thing to do. So often before you write or try to say anything you suffer from already having formed an opinion and try to make what you’re writing conform to that thought. But I will try to give what I saw and heard some credence with regards to this year’s event.

Venue:
Harr was located in Trotwood, a suburb of Dayton that’s a depressed semi urban slum. It not in the city but it’s nothing like the clean country environment at the Green County Fairgrounds. My hotel is in Fairborn and in the past this involved a half hour drive thru the wastelands that are now the northern bergs of Dayton, closed stores, delict houses and hotels. At least they did tear down all the old Delphi plants and put a casino in that locations but the trip from the hotel to Trotwood was always something like driving thru the outskirts of our older northern cities and at the end of the road was the Hara Arena. An example of what was once fine venue that had fallen on hard times for several years. The Green County Fairground are a fifteen minute drive from Fairborn to the fairgrounds over open farm land and clean Ohio country side to the fairgrounds located just outside Xenia. A world of difference with the only disadvantage being you no longer travel by any fast food establishments and I do miss the morning stops at Tim Hortons for donuts and coffee.
Much has been said about the mud. It did rain Thursday and Friday night and again on Saturday. The infield of the racetrack did turn into a mud pit. People, carts and cars got stuck.  There was much bitching and complaining about how all the personal carts sank and suffered from short battery life in the mud. What do you think is going to happen on a grassy surface when you get lots of rain?  I have had to deal with mud before and sometimes that’s just a fact of life.
The flea market sales aria was smaller than the old site. Maybe as much as twenty percent. But anyone who had been in regular attendance for the last several years can tell you that there were plenty of spaces that never were sold at the old location along with lots of spaces people bought just to park in. I think it was an improvement forcing everyone closer together and eliminating all the empty spaces between vendors. But do think it’s a bit confusing having one flea market section in the track infield and another on the bottom side of the tent section by the main buildings.
And it is true that they just had one general entrance for everyone to come in and out of that resulted in long lines and wasted time although there were no significant delays in the mornings when I arrived or the afternoon when we departed.

Ergonomics:
Apart from the mud and signal entrance have to say that there was a huge improvement in the choices and amount of food vendors. But that was at a cost, $2 for a bottle of water or $10 for a burger is a bit much. I did not partake of any of the food vendors myself so cannot comment on the quality although have been told they were good.
Bathrooms in the sections I was in consisted of all port a pots. They clean them out around noon each day and perhaps it would have been better to do this first thing in the morning. Did hear complaints about people going first thing and being upset that they were not clean at that time.  There were plastic trash cans and recycling cans at the ends of most of the rows in the flea market and they were emptied often On Saturday before departing the event had a big box of trash and hauled it over to the nearest trash receptacle and it disappeared. Just a note on trash. I saw people just dump on the ground at their spaces thing like a stack of Motorola Micors and remotes along with lots of other stuff, it’s amazing the things people just dump and leave behind.

Economics:
I can only speculate on what I saw and know firsthand. I brought a bunch of Watkins Johnson and Collins stuff that I was selling for a friend. It was all priced to sell, not what many would consider its worth but with the idea of I want this stuff to go away. And with this in mind I sold just about all of it on Friday. This included things like KWM2A transceivers that needed to be restored for $450 each with parts KWM2A transceivers for $250 and Watkins Johnson working radios in the $500 range working and non-working Racal’s for around $100 each. Did not sell as much Friday, had a flock of 30L1 amplifiers and ended up selling them all as a package deal because they were not generating any interest at $350 each. Selling at those prices things were moving. I saw items like a working R-388 for just $250 and a 51J-4 for $350 and consider that good deals for those buying. Think both sold, know the R-388 did. There were items like the GRC-19 set for $1,500 that more than likely did not sell but that just proves that at that location and time a T-195/R-392 just won’t bring that amount. I saw a Harris RF-2368 receiver, the military version of the RF-590 for $850 and keeping in mind what they have been selling for I tried to buy it but they would not reduce the price to what I was able to afford so I did not get it. That’s the thing, if what you have is not selling maybe it’s just not worth what people are willing to pay at that time. Other times and places will have different results. Everybody always says about how they can get more on EBay- so let them go and sell it there. Think that my experience has been that everything at Dayton sells for about half to two thirds what it would sell for on EBay and there is no shipping.
As far as the quantity and quality of the sellers, think that just about the same as it’s always been. Just speaking for myself have to say that I don’t believe in this story on how at one time “Hams would not cheat people” or “everyone was friendlier” or all the other old saws we were feed growing up in the hobby. Been doing this for about forty years now and can’t say people are any better or worse on the average, but that’s just me. Your experience may differ. There were some complaints about Mendelson not being there this year, I did not notice until I saw some post about it. At one time Mendelson sold lots of useful parts and surplus electronics but I watched them change over the years from a hardware and parts dealer to a huge cluster of tents at Dayton that sold more and more junk like cookware and other unrelated items and did not miss them at all this year.

Conclusions:
Dayton or now Xenia? Is more than just a flea market it’s an opportunity to get together with fellow collectors and the mill radio community in general. It’s the opportunity to take part in the 3885 WW2 AM net, the Back Pack Net or my favorite the 51.0 Cold War Net and show off your radios in the field. Not just sit around in you basement or workshop and talk about operating but to get out in the field and operate it. What’s the point of restoring and working with this stuff if you don’t show it off or use it as originally intended? Over thirty Mill radio people took part in each of that days nets. We all had a good time doing it. Also in the process I picked up a frequency counter that I was given and have in the past given away items to other who were like minded. So at the end of the day it’s not just a flea market to me. It’s the chance to get together, exchange equipment, operate radios, tell stories and give and get advice and a thousand other things that make the event a success so that will be my prognoses of the event. It was a success and I will be glad to be going again next year.

Ray F/KA3EKH


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« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2017, 02:09:55 PM »

Here's some of my photos from Friday and Saturday. We left around 2 pm on Saturday and didn't make Sunday at all.


* R390A.jpg (1117.82 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 295 times.)

* SX28-2.jpg (563.27 KB, 1412x1059 - viewed 296 times.)

* sad heathkits.jpg (666.81 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 276 times.)
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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
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« Reply #17 on: May 24, 2017, 02:11:42 PM »

More photos, of the grounds.


* main entrance.jpg (1206.22 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 275 times.)

* crush fleeing rain.jpg (1093.92 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 309 times.)

* 51J7.jpg (1086.71 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 281 times.)
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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
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« Reply #18 on: May 24, 2017, 02:25:06 PM »

The mud.


* muddy flea.jpg (1375.32 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 275 times.)

* mud flea.jpg (1038.4 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 259 times.)

* more saturday mud.jpg (826.18 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 270 times.)
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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
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« Reply #19 on: May 24, 2017, 02:26:20 PM »

more gear and site photos


* flea and flea parking.jpg (812.94 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 334 times.)

* collins.jpg (824.05 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 272 times.)

* Console radios.jpg (973.8 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 259 times.)
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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
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« Reply #20 on: May 24, 2017, 02:32:06 PM »

misc


* Maxim Tesla and Marconi Halls.jpg (897.3 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 243 times.)

* flea and flea parking.jpg (812.94 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 241 times.)

* Flea.jpg (821.81 KB, 2016x1512 - viewed 229 times.)
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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
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« Reply #21 on: May 24, 2017, 03:24:38 PM »

Mpictures of Mud:


* IMG_3018.JPG (2110.88 KB, 2272x1704 - viewed 252 times.)

* IMG_3016.JPG (2286.2 KB, 2272x1704 - viewed 251 times.)

* IMG_3013.JPG (2273.31 KB, 2272x1704 - viewed 228 times.)
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« Reply #22 on: May 24, 2017, 03:30:09 PM »

3885 Military Radio AM Net, the idea was to try to use WW2 radios for this net. Look close at the group picture and you will see a early war "Pogo Stick" radio. Along with Joe and his ARC-5 system and me with a BC-611


* IMG_3026.JPG (1297.95 KB, 2272x1704 - viewed 308 times.)

* IMG_3024.JPG (2291.56 KB, 2272x1704 - viewed 320 times.)

* IMG_3031.JPG (1926.46 KB, 2272x1704 - viewed 274 times.)
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