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All I wanted was to pick up an antenna 2M/440 for my base station. Comet, or Diamond.. Whatever. other then a homemade J-pole made by one of the clubs...No dice... I know I should have picked up that Icom 220 rig ( Icom 37 or 38A I dont remmember) for $100.00 when I saw it, but since I was one of the first in the doors, I decided to at least look around first... ( Im a vet of gun shows, and should have known better)..O-well lost out on that deal. :mrgreen:

I saw some neat older Icom HF rigs for what seemed like an honest deal, but I still have my 857D in the box just waiting to string up my wire dipole.... Still have only spent the $7 to get in the door.

HOLY ALL OLD MOTOROLA'S CHEAP... But I can have some of those same radios for free if I ask the shop guys at the fire station... Still only spent $7.00 to get in the door.

Icom had a pretty neat set up, but why show off your goods, but not sell any of it?.... Thats OK I used to have an Icom H16, and really liked it ( Got stolen out of my car about 5 years ago).... But Im pretty much a Yeasu guy now..... Still only $7.00 down.

HRO!... They should have antennas!...WRONG!... I can order one and have it shipped... But then what fun is the Hamfest, if I can do the same thing from home on my computer?.. O-well... At least Im only $7.00 down.

Well now Im starting to get bummed out, I spent more on gas, and getting in the door then anything at the show., I know maybe I will look for some ladder line, and some Twin lead... Every new guy needs to build his own antennas for HF, and a rollup J-pole or 10 right?....
10 am, and Im still out of luck.... I guess everyone got it all by now right?

Well, Maybe I will look around, and see if any of the people I have talked to are here... Everyone and his brother has a hat/shirt/ or lodge badge with their Call sign on it...( Note to self, get a 70's mesh ballcap with my callsign ironed onto it, and mug Don Ho for one of his shirts.) :mrgreen: I saw 3 guys that I talk with, but I did not say hello ( I should have) but They were chatting with other people...( I really wanted to see If I could spot Mike R. and Nelson, but no luck there). My friends from National Guard found a way to ditch drill, also the other guys from the shooting club have shown up. So off to do this all over again, and then grab lunch!... :D

On the last walk around, 5 of us, I found something I could buy. I picked up some insulators ( So I can build a couple more dipoles), and 3 SMA to BNC's. Total cost $13.00. My friends ( all also are Tech's, or Generals) grand total walked out spending $14.00 on a book, and we all grabbed info on ARMY MARS.

It was fun, but not what I expected. I know I sound kind of negative, but honestly it was OK. I look forward to the Stanwood fest. Next year should be better when I know what Im looking at.

I do have to say the best part of the day was lunch with my budd's, That is always good!...

And right now at home listening to all of the repeaters being active with people testing out their radio "deals" from the show! :bowrofl:

I really only have one question though...

How many times are some of those same radios sold at the same show year after year?... :twisted:

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Respond on Tac 3

Wish we'd have met there, Ken. All the gang from here was out and about.



Shortly after my fight in the parking lot, I asked Saran "So, does everyone attending here who is in ANY small way connected with ANY sort of 'official' organization just wear their uniform here?"

I mean, come on people. :roll:

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President-in-Exile, Seattle Area Radio Communications And Scanner Traffic Intercept Crew (SARCASTIC)
Don't feel bad if you can't use your STD100/200; there are still people using Digital Frequency Search!
Bunnery definition for the under-fives

I think it would have been fun to have a Meet-N-Greet, head over to famous daves for lunch or something. Would be fun to meet up with the people from here.


There always next year! :lol:

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Respond on Tac 3

Hamfests are wildly variable from one to the other. Even the same 'fest can vary sharply, in content and quality, from one year to the next. I know. I've been buying and selling at the things for -- Good Lord, has it really been 32 years?! (just thought about it... Yes, it has!)

There's no doubt whatsoever that Greed-bay and online buying have put a big dent in the variety and quality of stuff that shows up. There's also the problem that, with "modern" electronics going mostly surface-mount, tinkering has gotten a lot more difficult and (in many cases) requires specialized (and expensive) tools.

HOWEVER -- The spirit and drive are still Out There. Hamateurs are an adaptable and resourceful bunch, for the most part, and there will always be people who just want to know how things work and how to make them do things they were never designed for. There are also those who restore older test and radio gear, and (like me) make legacy equipment a specialty.

I don't think hamfests will ever vanish. In fact, I would not be surprised to see Ebay suffer a meltdown in times to come, given all the restrictions and triple-dipping that they're heaping on sellers. When that happens, hamfests will be one of the venues that stands ready to pick up the slack. :)

My best advice would be to not limit yourself to just one event. Rickreall (Swaptoberfest) is pretty impressive in its own right.

Happy travels.

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Bruce Lane, KC7GR
Owner, Blue Feather Technologies
Motorola programming and conversion service available. See http://www.bluefeathertech.com/rf.html
"Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..."