Heh, it's only been about 3 weeks since the hamfest, finally getting a chance to post. Been traveling a bit since.
So the event was indeed a small-ish hamfest as I'd always heard. One day only, and a Sunday, at that. Like the Richmond FrostFest though, they let sellers come in the day before to set up which is always nice. In this case, moreso since they fairgrounds are less than 5 miles from my driveway.
Some of the AM crew came by for a cookout Saturday and to set up, then Sunday we went a-festin'.
I have to say - also as I had heard in the past, this little event was a target-rich environment. Still amazed at what showed up and the prices. Very little computer or other junk, mainly RF-related goodies and sellers who were motivated to move it.
'GMS was the Table-Meister for our group and got us two tables inside out of the sun. Joe and Martha moved a BUNCH of stuff fast, and I did see Joe snagging a few goodies to take home. W3JN aka Johnny Novice was on the prowl for receivers and found a couple very nice ones that were well above my paygrade technically. John is still working to sell the remaining items from KB3AHE/Slab's estate for is wife Carol, too. Frank clearly had a lot of stuff, and 'JN has a lot of patience and dedication to the task.
For my part, I managed to move a couple of old wooden radios from the collection that I'll never get to. One was a Stromberg-Carlson, the other was a farm radio whose manufacturer I've forgotten. I was dtermined to sell, sell, sell and not buy anything, which worked fine for....the first 20 minutes or so.
Walking the grounds with 'JN we came across a pile of mixed gear. John sez "There's a GR mod monitor back there". Sure enough, a black crackle model 1931A in great shape with original manual. Price was good but my scottish blood made me offer $20, which was accepted. This was followed shortly by an early brass-based, tipped WD-12 tube on a table for $5. 'JN also found a couple old tubes for a buck apiece from an outdoor tube vendor which he snagged for me, a UV-199 and 800. Then I bought some rubber feet and got a sample packet of other goodies from the seller who is a member of MAARC.
All this time I'd been walking past a Halli R-12T table speaker with light damage that the seller was asking $75. Tempting, but too much $. Cabinet and trim were nice, original speaker with cord and tag in place, but grill cloth was torn, small tear in speaker cone as well, and a piece of veneer missing from the R. All easy to address. 'Too much $, you say? How about $45?'. Sold. Not that I needed another project, but I've always wanted one of these speakers. It's a HUGE table speaker.
Saw Fran/W3SCC and a few other AMers there. Also got to meet a couple folks known previously either online or on air. We loaded up sometime after noon and called it a day. Jen had a school graduation to attend so she brought my co-pilot by and dropped her off for the last half hour or so. Caitlin made about 1/2 tour of the inside building before saying "I think we've seen enough, let's go back to the table" so she could hang out with Joe & Martha more.
This is a great little hamfest, a lot like Berryville in the 'good stuff to sellers' dept, a very high ratio. Best of all, it was another chance to get together with friends and socialize a bit. Just need to work more on the 'selling stuff' side.
Photos attached of my haul. One of the good things about still not being completely unpacked is the ability to make stuff blend in to its surroundings like it was always here....
