- 2024
- Aug
- 31
Pictures from the 2024 Johnstown Swappers Day
Saturday threatened rain all morning, and that seemed to keep the crowds down this year - the roads were relatively clear on the way home. In contrast, last year was backed up for miles in every direction with people trying to get in.
We arrived fairly early, and some of the vendors hadn’t opened yet, but we wandered the aisles, had some Bourbon Chicken and Fried stuff, and managed to see it all. Most was just flea market stuff, but there was some cool things on site.
This Admiral console radio was in pretty good shape for it’s age.
For your 1812 Overture re-enactments.
An adorable miniature bulldozer. It’s low, maybe this was for use in a mine? (No, these were sold to the general consumer as a small piece of equipment. There were other attachments for it as well.)
A nice looking Edison Home unit with crane and witch hat horn. Did not pull the top off to look at it.
A clear Aladdin Beehive, and a pink and clear Aladdin Corinthian lamp. They were priced appropriately.
A Ford Model T. Price: 29k
A Sears Silvertone Trans-Oceanic clone. It was in ok shape, didn’t see the inside.
A nice Silvertone console radio. The eye tube was inside, but was laying on the chassis.
Standard of Ohio vanished in 1984 when purchased by BP.
A couple of old phones. The spotlight in the box beside them went home with me.
A real spinning wheel.
I suspect this was from a mine, but it was amusing regardless. (It’s from an oilfield, from what I’ve seen.)
It looked like it was going to rain about 11AM, so we finished up and headed home.
- 2024
- Aug
- 28
The 2024 Johnstown (Ohio) Swappers Day Flea Market
While not necessarily a hamfest, the Johnstown (Ohio) Swapper’s Day is a large flea market that usually has some electrical and electronics goods show up, with a healthy dose of everything else you’d expect from a flea market. Plenty of food on site, and you’re easily able to spend the whole day browsing the aisles. It’s worth a go if you’re looking for something to do on the Labor Day weekend, but be advised that you should get there early, as in when it opens - traffic backs up something fierce on those back roads.
Free parking is abundant, but is in a field.
Where:
Johnstown Community Sportsmen’s Club
7357 Sportsman Club Rd NW
Johnstown, OH 43031
When:
August 31 - September 2
7AM - 6PM
How much:
$10 admission per person
See you there!
- 2024
- Aug
- 7
The 2024 Coolspring Power Museum Show
The Coolspring Power Museum is a large display ground consisting of member-maintained static displays consisting of everything from small oilfield engines to a giant across-the-state natural gas compressor engine, with everything in-between. Much of it’s up and running for the show, with other stuff in various states of rebuild or runs during a demonstration time. It’s a fascinating place, and they have engines and displays that you’re literally not going to see anywhere else - at least not in this condition!
All of the images here are of those static displays. There are other items that pull in for display during the show, but that’s primarily through the week. Saturday is the last day of the show, so most of that was gone by the time we arrived. Still…there’s so much to look at, and we’ll probably head back for the fall show this year as well. This one is well worth the time to visit if you have interest in old engines.
As with the MVSTA show, I don’t have much to say about these pictures - so here they are, in all of their greasy glory.
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You can view the museum’s web page here.
- 2024
- Aug
- 7
The 2024 Miami Valley Steam Threshers Association Show
While this, and other engine shows I attend aren’t necessarily electrical in nature, they are certainly prime examples of old technology. I’ve always found the mechanics of such devices to be fascinating, and worth my attention.
The MVSTA show is one that happens on the Western edge of Columbus every year, and I try to make it out there at least every few years. This year’s show was bright and sunny with no threat of rain anywhere. Prime viewing time for all of the mechanical eye candy that showed up.
I don’t have much to say about these pictures, so no annotations.
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Visit this link for more information on their shows.
- 2024
- Aug
- 7
The Columbus 2024 Hamfest
This year’s show was maybe 2/3 the size of normal - I suspect the dangerous looking skies kept some people away, but fortunately the rain held off for the show. It was, however, sticky enough that you could probably have put a straw in the air and drank some.
There were still some interesting things to be found at this year’s show, and some good deals to be had. This is what I saw this year:
- 2024
- Aug
- 7
My haul from the 2024 Columbus Hamfest
I brought home some things that I didn’t need, but isn’t that the point of this kind of show?
A Vishay decade box and a frequency counter / generator. They both seem to work well enough for the age. There’s also some high-voltage mica capacitors sitting on top of the decade box. Those were a buck, and I said why not?
I can’t go to a show without bringing home at least one meter. Unfortunately, this one seems to have some issues, it will zero but not read. I need to open it up and make sure that any batteries left in it aren’t corrodeedoodled all over the place.
This PACO generator is the same as one I have in better condition. This one is a $5 parts unit.
This is a PACO power supply that came from the same vendor as the generator, also $5. It’s an interesting piece, being an early bench supply for audio work, but in reality it’s a glorified battery charger. Stay tuned for a teardown on this guy.
No idea what this is, my fellow show-goer suggested it was some sort of early electronic switch for process industry. He’s probably right, but I got it simply for the cheapness of a 250VAC transformer that could be reused.
That’s it for this year. I’ll be posting show pictures, and some other, recent engine shows as soon as I can get the images cleaned up.
- 2024
- Aug
- 4
It’s time to clean out some stuff - maybe to Dayton 2025?
One of my fellow show-goers was talking about taking some of the audio gear he collected to Dayton in 2025, and we’ll set up a table on the flea market. This sounds like a cool idea to me, I’ve attended shows but never had a sales table.
In the spirit of things, I took a look at what I’ve collected over the years that’s never going to go anywhere, and there’s a bunch. It’s time to start cleaning out, and I have a bunch of things that could go. Where does it all come from?
See you there, and maybe you can take something home! It’s cheap cheap cheap!
(If you see something you like, drop me a line on LinkedIn and we’ll see about a deal!)
- 2024
- Aug
- 4
Pictures from recent shows are on the way!
Pictures from the Columbus Hamfest, Cool Spring Power Museum, and Miami Valley Steam Thresher Association shows are all in the works. There’s simply a lot of them and I have been a lazy little pig. Check back in the next few weeks and I promise that you’ll have some cool stuff to browse!
They’ve all been posted! Sorry it took so long on some of those…
- 2024
- Jul
- 23
The Columbus Ohio hamfest - Saturday August 3rd 2024
I’ve been attending this show for several years, it’s always got a good deal or two to be had. It’s one of those “get there when they open” shows.
There’s usually a food vendor on site, but you’re right in the middle of a lot of other options should you want something off-site.
2024 COLUMBUS HAMFEST
Saturday, August 3, 2024
8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Located at:
ALADDIN SHRINE CENTER
1801 Gateway Circle
Grove City, Ohio 43123
https://aladdinshrine.org/hamfest/
This is right off I-71, south of Columbus proper.
- 2024
- Jun
- 23
Pictures from Coolspring Power Museum’s Spring Expo on the way.
I took a lot of pictures at the show this year. The individual exhibitors had mostly pulled out by the time I arrived, but the museum’s displays were all up and running in their greasy glory. I haven’t had time to fully process the images for display here, but they’re on the way.
Stay tuned!
