- 2025
- May
- 24
Photo(s) from the 2025 SVARC Hamfest
As expected, this was a tiny show and had maybe a dozen vendors show up. I didn’t see a whole bunch of stuff I was interested in, mostly some nice radio gear and some electronics flea market stuff. Nothing really photo worthy except this interesting meter:
If it had been cheaper I would have bought it for the probe. $50 was just too much for something I wasn’t going to use much.
I did pick up a bunch of parts, so I’m happy with the trip.
Nothing wrong with stocking your parts bin with things.
Next show is Butler, see you there!
- 2025
- May
- 21
The 2025 Breezeshooters Hamfest - June 8th 2025
This is a decent size local show that happens in Butler, PA at the Butler Farm Show event ground. I can usually spend 2-3 hours here, as they have several outdoor and indoor market spaces set up. It’s worth the trip if you’re in the surrounding area.
This is usually one of the first “Dayton Items without the Dayton Prices” shows that I’ll attend. See you there!
Breezeshooters Hamfest
Butler, PA
Butler Farm Show (Kind of a fairgrounds thing)
625 Evans City Rd
Butler, PA 16001
June 8
8A - 2PM
https://breezeshooters.org/ns/hamfest/
We usually end the trip with a lunch at the Monroe Hotel Restaurant in Butler.
- 2025
- May
- 19
Saturday’s photos from the 2025 Dayton Hamvention.
Saturday turned out to be a sunny, cool, and quite breezy day at the show. It looked like a few vendors left, and a few new ones showed up with stuff being unpacked throughout the day. We took a second tour of the flea market and looked inside one of the exhibit halls - things were just too packed in there to worry about.
I didn’t take home much this day - some parts and a couple of books.
Here’s what I saw on Saturday:
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I decided to skip out on Sunday, as I’d already seen everything twice and just didn’t feel like walking more.
Next up is SVARC in Piketon, and then Breezeshooters in Butler, PA. See you there!
Friday’s Pictures: https://wereboar.com … 5-dayton-hamvention/
Saturday’s Pictures: https://wereboar.com … 5-dayton-hamvention/
Sunday’s Pictures: Didn’t make it back on Sunday.
- 2025
- May
- 19
Friday’s photos from the 2025 Dayton Hamvention.
Friday started out to be a nice day, quickly turned angry looking, and remained there for the rest of the day. It was threatening rain, but that all went to the south of the show during the day, and we had a relatively cool, slightly breezy afternoon for browsing the aisles.
This year was more of a “ham radio” year than previous. Yes, this is a radio show, but a lot more rigs and things seemed to show up. One of the vendors stated “Yes, that’s because everyone is dying,” and the older crowd we observed (myself included) seemed to indicate that more of the same would be happening. That’s probably where my stuff will end up in 30 years…
There was still a lot of good stuff to see, although I didn’t find what I was looking for. I did manage to drag a few things home, and overall had a good time.
This is what I saw on Friday:
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I did go back on Saturday, so check the next post for those pictures.
Friday’s Pictures: https://wereboar.com … 5-dayton-hamvention/
Saturday’s Pictures: https://wereboar.com … 5-dayton-hamvention/
Sunday’s Pictures: Didn’t make it back on Sunday.
- 2025
- May
- 14
Crap from eBay #2 - “High cost, high value”
Here’s a Heathkit C-2 “Condenser Analyzer” for sale. It’s listed at $100 with almost $44 in shipping.
For some reason, capacitor analyzers of this nature have become the hot thing. It’s in part due to the glowing green magic eye tube that these used as their primary output display indicator, but also (I’ve been told) people use these and their high-voltage outputs to “reform” old capacitors for reuse. Why? I guess because the Internet told them that old=good, new=garbage.
You’ll notice this thing is in fairly poor condition. It has a pile of parts included with it. Some of them obviously came from the device. Some did not. All of them had to be cut out of circuit in order to be in this pile. It looks like someone just grabbed a handful of things nearby and added them to the image.
These devices were a very simplistic variant of the capacitor checker, and had a small chassis at the top that contained the power and eye tube circuitry. It appears to still be there by the screws in the panel, but that’s about it. The eye tube is missing. Two of the three controls are missing (are they in the pile?) The leakage lamp is gone, and the panel is, overall, in poor condition. We can’t see the chassis itself anywhere so there’s no guarantees that anything other than the metal is still there. Even that is suspect!
The front panel is in poor condition, but the case is in just as bad of condition. It’s intact, but rusty. The handle is still there, which is good, but that’s about it. No power cord is present, so it’s probably been cut off for some reason.
If I were to see this at a hamfest, it would probably be in the dollar box, or even the “free” box. I’d take it for a buck to get the aluminum handle and knob and dump the rest in the trash on the way out. This, in my opinion, is certainly not $144.00 worth of anything.
The good part is the description:
There’s our images again. You can plainly see they aren’t showing a chassis here, even though all of the screws are missing and it would be easy to do so. Why not? Why show the pile of parts close up but not the chassis?
But as stated, the description is pure gold.
“Acquired from a reliable source.” What’s that supposed to mean?
A “High end hobbyist private lab.” If this is the case, then this was in their junk bin.
“No means to test.” No kidding. Really? The exploded view is laying on the bench, exploded.
“High cost, high value equipment for a fraction of the new/replacement price.” Again, what is this supposed to mean? I can get a brand new device that does everything but leakage for $25, with the added bonus of testing every other common part as well.
(Leakage is not necessarily as useful as it seems. These devices were designed to test paper, mica, and electrolytics of the 1940s-1960s. Chances are, all of those old paper and electrolytics are bad and will get replaced regardless, so who cares if they leak? They need to be replaced.)
Much of this listing is boilerplate from the seller, and they use it in all listings. But some of it, in my opinion, is deliberately playing on a potential buyer’s desire to own one of these, even if they don’t fully understand the device. While I have no problem with selling this device itself (I used to sell used and parts-only things on eBay years ago) this device is (again, my opinion only!) being deliberately puffed up in order to make it appear it’s something it’s not. I don’t know if this is malicious or if it’s just the seller’s lack of knowledge - but with the other things seller has listed I think I’d be well within rights to assume they have some knowledge of this device.
Of course, it’s buyer beware on eBay, but still. Treat your customers with a little respect here. You got junk, sell it at a junk price!
If you do want one of these, there are several examples of the better C-3 device available, for substantially less than this one. Many of those are demonstrated working.
This one is here because the seller seems to be playing on the desire for this kind of device, even though the example they have will probably never be operational again.
Buyer beware!
- 2025
- May
- 14
The 2025 Scioto Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest - May 24th 2025
There’s a small hamfest in Piketon, OH on the weekend of the 24th - if you didn’t get enough junque at Dayton.
I attended this one last year (except it was in October,) and pulled a few good deals out - including my IG-72 Signal Generator. I’m pretty sure I was at this one a couple times in the 90s, but who knows - that’s too long ago for me to remember.
It was a small but decent local show, and if you’re in the area it’s worth stopping by.
Scioto Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest
Saturday May 24th
Pike County Fairgrounds
311 Mill Street
Piketon, OH 45661
8A - Noonish
https://www.arrl.org … radio-club-hamfest-3
Bonus, there’s one of the few remaining Rax Roast Beef joints just north on US23!
- 2025
- May
- 9
The Dayton Hamvention is happening in a week.
Break open mister piggy because it’s almost time for the Dayton Hamvention. You still have time to get tickets at a discount rate, but they’re being held will-call at the ticket booth on site.
Times are:
Friday, May 16th - 9A to 5P <--- Probably the best day to go.
Saturday, May 17th - 9A to 5P
Sunday, May 18th - 9A to 1P <--- Vendors leave, but some have free stuff!
Forecast, as of Wednesday the 14th:
Friday: Sunny and 86 with a chance of early afternoon showers.
Saturday: Sunny and 78 with a chance of early morning showers.
Sunday: Sunny and 75.
(Things have changed to be a bit more rainy. May want to pack some gear!)
I’ll have pictures posted as soon as I can get them processed - probably the following week. I’ve got a few items on my want list, and I’ll post anything I pick up that’s unusual or really interesting.
Tickets can be purchased online at: https://hamvention.org/purchase-tickets/
See you there!
It was a good show. Here’s my photos:
Friday’s Pictures: https://wereboar.com … 5-dayton-hamvention/
Saturday’s Pictures: https://wereboar.com … 5-dayton-hamvention/
Sunday’s Pictures: Didn’t make it back on Sunday.
- 2025
- May
- 6
Crap from eBay #1 - “Doubles as a tube tester!”
(This was called AI Crap…but I decided there’s so much normal crap on eBay that I should rename the series!)
eBay was both a bane and a boon to the electronics world. A boon because it allowed more people to sell off equipment and and materiel (that they may not have had a venue for) to a wider audience, but a bane because it took some of those things out of the hamfest market and put them up for a much higher price. While I don’t blame people for trying to get more money out of stuff, prices on eBay can be insane.
To add to the crazy, people who have zero knowledge of what they are selling now have AI available to write them a description instead of a “Says XXXX, no idea how to test.” AI, invariably, is wrong about this stuff because no one is using this antique stuff to do what it says it does. It gives sellers a false sense of what the device does and what it’s used for, and invariably feeds the “tubes = money” attitude that the layman has. Just because it has vacuum tubes in it doesn’t mean that it’s valuable, useful, or even interesting.
This is the first in a not-often series of wacky stuff I see on eBay. This one is a “Vintage Micronta Volt DC Multi tester Milliamperes Amp Tube Tester.”
It’s obviously someone’s homebrew power supply with Micronta (Radio Shack) meters on the front. Case would date it to the 70s, most likely.
AI has written a lovely line of BS for this device:
“This vintage Micronta multi tester is a must-have for any collector or enthusiast of vintage technology. With its analog display and benchtop form factor, it’s perfect for testing DC voltage and milliamperes. It also doubles as a tube tester, making it a versatile tool for any hobbyist or professional in the test and measurement industry.
This product features the brand’s signature quality and durability, and is sure to impress with its vintage charm. Whether you’re a collector or looking for a reliable multi tester, this Micronta model is the perfect addition to any workspace.”
I’m not sure how a power supply tests DC voltage, or even how you test a milliamp. Do you give it a quiz? If you have one joule per coulomb, how many volts is that?
It then goes on to say that it doubles as a tube tester. While I guess you could technically test the filaments of a tube with this, it’s nothing of the sort - any power source will do that for you, assuming it’s the correct voltage.
And then there’s the standard boilerplate that let’s you know AI wrote this, that of how it features the brand’s quality and reliability even though someone built this from their junk box - the only thing missing is how it’s widely used in the industry. It tried, though, with the “if you’re looking for a reliable multi tester…”
I got a giggle out of this one, not because of what it is, but of how it’s being described. It’s been for sale for some time, I don’t expect it to go anywhere soon.
- 2025
- Apr
- 30
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 7: Wrapup
Now that the PACO G-30 is working, and is probably in a bit better shape than it was than before I purchased it, it’s time to take a look back on what happened with it.
When I purchased the unit at Findlay 2018, it was sold working. And it was - mostly. I didn’t check the audio portion, but the RF worked fine. The previous owner had removed some of the old capacitors and replaced a few of the carbon composite resistors. He hadn’t replaced them all as they were well within tolerance - surprising for high-value CC resistors. He had replaced the filters with a strange array of electrolytics. But what hadn’t been replaced was the across-the-line capacitors, as well as the selenium rectifier.
The across-the-line cap was of the three-leg type, a device that has two units back to back with a common leg. They’re well known for blowing apart, and that this one hadn’t done so was surprising. The other device was the original selenium rectifier.
Selenium devices were a stop-gap measure between vacuum rectifiers and silicon rectifiers. They worked fine when new, but as they age the forward voltage drop of the device increases. This happens used or unused. Get enough resistance there, you get more voltage drop, more drop means more heat, more heat means that eventually you’re going to wind up with a device that burns open and releases a lot of toxic smoke into your space. You don’t want that, so replacing it is mandatory. Sure, it’s probably still going to work (for a while,) but it’s a case of when, not if it goes bad.
For the most part, this was just a replace the parts that are known to go bad (mostly done,) replace the carbon resistors because they will eventually go bad (mostly done,) and fix some of the issues left by the previous owner. The across-the-line capacitor was easy enough to replace with modern safety caps, and the old line cord was replaced with a new polarized cord.
As stated, the selenium rectifier is a part that was destined to fail from birth. It needs to be replaced, and for a small rectifier like the one in this device, it’s easy to replace with a 1N4007 silicon. I used this type because I have them on hand, but you could use any diode that exceeds the miniscule current rating, and at least 200V. (You should go higher than this for safety margins.)
There are some considerations to look at here. You’ll need to remember that the silicon rectifier drops much less voltage than a selenium, so some sort of dropping resistor will be needed. There was already a 2.2kΩ resistor in the power supply circuit between the two filter capacitors, so changing that was easy. You’ll need to make sure to measure the current to do some basic calculations and see what you need to raise that value to, but in this case I already knew ~3.3kΩ would work as others have taken the time to do the calcs.
Another consideration you’ll need to make is that full peak voltage of the line will appear on the capacitors until the set is warm and drawing current. Therefore, any capacitors you use will need to handle at least this voltage. The old ones may not have been rated for this, but those old paper capacitors could handle surges much better than modern stuff. Modern parts are easier to get with higher voltages, so don’t be afraid to use 300WVDC or 450WVDC capacitors here.
Resistors are the last consideration you need to look at. Remember that you’re working with higher voltages than a battery device - you need resistors rated for at least your maximum B+ voltage, be it the rectified voltage or the Peak voltage that you see on the filters. Most resistors are rated for at least 300WVDC these days, so you’re good for this device - but if you’re working with 400, 800, or higher - your resistors need to be rated for this higher voltage. In carbon resistors, you’ll see ones that are longer than normal and that gives you a clear indication that it’s a high voltage part. Modern parts give you no such indication, so buy your parts from a reputable house.
Resistors also have to be rated for your surge currents. Carbon resistors can handle surges, and that’s especially important here where you have full voltage on your circuit at the start. Rate it small, and your metal film resistor is a fuse. Don’t be afraid to step up the power rating on resistors in power supplies and other areas where you’re going to be supplying current and voltage to the rest of the system.
What did I specifically run into?
First - I forgot how selenium rectifiers work in a vacuum circuit. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen this type of device, so it took some remembering.
When I first turned on the set, I had a 150WVDC capacitor after the dropping resistor. As the entire of the peak line voltage appeared here (180VDC) I went crap and turned it off. It took a while to remember that the rest of the set isn’t hot and wanting current, so the voltage drops in the power supply aren’t there yet. A quick swap with a 450WVDC part and a bit of waiting, and B+ dropped right back to where it should be, which is ~110VDC.
Second - I didn’t have any audio on the audio side. This turned out to be a part the previous owner installed. The grid of the audio oscillator was supposed to have a 100kΩ resistor, The previous owner had a 15kΩ resistor here, which is what I replaced it with as I replaced each component individually with it’s modern equivalent. Once I put the proper value in the circuit and a new tube (the old one didn’t seem to work well) it came right up. It’s a bit off in frequency, but it’s not really of importance as it’s there for you to hear, not compare to the sounds of nature.
This unit is a good example of why you examine devices closely when you’re working with them - especially when someone else has been in there first. A schematic is essential for this, so make sure you have all your docs in order.
That’s about all - other than the wrong part leftover from the former owner, this was a simple “bring it into the modern age” device. Next up is probably an Eico 24x VTVM, but it’s also another “just needs resistors” device. It just needs a lot of resistors as the divider ladders in the measurement circuit are all out of tolerance. Stay tuned!
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator: https://wereboar.com … rf-signal-generator/
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 2: Revisiting https://wereboar.com … r-part-2-revisiting/
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 3: Parts https://wereboar.com … erator-part-3-parts/
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 4: The power supply: https://wereboar.com … -4-the-power-supply/
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 5: Resistors: https://wereboar.com … or-part-5-resistors/
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 6: Troubleshooting: https://wereboar.com … t-6-troubleshooting/
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator - Part 7: Wrapup: You’re reading it now!
Previous part of this series: https://wereboar.com … t-6-troubleshooting/
- 2025
- Apr
- 28
A Tricraft Products Corp SM-101 Filament Checker
I picked this little gadget up at the ACARA hamfest. Not because I plan on using it, but because it’s an unusual little thing and had a brand new book with it.
It’s a rather unassuming box with a number on the side.
What’s inside is this little gadget, a power cord, and a book. The gadget:
It claims to be a Tricraft Products Corp SM-101 Filament Checker. I’m not sure how it works because there’s no instructions for the device. It appears to be used, but only very little. I can see some wiping on the contacts. The power cord was unrolled and rolled back up with bread ties.
I can’t imagine this was terribly useful, your VOM would have been quicker than getting out a power cord and plugging all kinds of little pins together in an attempt see if the filament was good.
The real gem is the book. The RCA Tube Manual RC-19 from 1959. It appears to be unused, if a little dirty.
That’s worth the few dollars I paid for it right there. The other piece? A cool gimmick gadget for display.