With 2025 coming to a close, I find myself thinking about each show I attended this past year, and which ones I want to go back to. While the first answer is “all of them!” - I think I’m going to cut back some this year. The smaller shows are cool, but I started seeing the same vendors and the same items over and over. This will give things a chance to cycle through.
So - instead of 15 hamfests, I think I’ll probably drop back to 8 or so. There may be a few others in there - Athens, OH and Clearfield, PA, but those will depend primarily on “if I feel like it,” and perhaps Fort Wayne if 2025’s show turns out better than 2024. I do think I’m going to skip Findlay this year, just because I have two others in September.
As before, not all shows have updated at the time of this posting, so check back or check the Ohio ARRL section page for current event times Links to pictures will be posted as soon as I can after a show, and there will be a year-end wrap-up.
Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Radio Club - CFARC - Hamfest
Emidio & Sons Party Center
48 E. Bath Road
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221 Saturday April 11
8A - 1PM
Admission $10
https://sites.google.com/cfarc.org/cfarc/hamfest
Event photos: https://wereboar.com … nnual-cfarc-hamfest/
Dayton Hamvention
Greene County Fair and Expo Center - The Whole Thing
210 Fairground Road
Xenia, OH 45385 Fri Sat Sun May 15 16 17
Hours vary by day, opens at 9AM
https://hamvention.org
Friday Photos: https://wereboar.com … 6-dayton-hamvention/
Saturday Photos: https://wereboar.com … 6-dayton-hamvention/
Sunday Photos: Didn’t make it Sunday.
Breezeshooters Hamfest
Butler Farm Show
625 Evans City Rd
Butler, PA 16001 Sunday June 14
8A - 2PM
https://breezeshooters.org/ns/
Event photos: https://wereboar.com … ezeshooters-hamfest/
Columbus Hamfest
Aladdin Shrine Center
1801 Gateway Cir
Grove City, OH 43123 Saturday August 1
8A - 1PMish
https://aladdinshrine.org/hamfest/
https://www.arrl.org/hamfests/2026-columbus-ham-fest
Event photos: https://wereboar.com … 26-columbus-hamfest/
Cincinnati Hamfest
Clermont County Fairgrounds
1000 Locust Street
Owensville, OH 45160
Saturday August 15
8A - 4P
https://cincinnatihamfest.org/
Event photos: https://wereboar.com … -cincinnati-hamfest/
Johnstown Swapper’s Day
Johnstown Community Sportsmen’s Club
7357 Sportsman Club Rd NW
Johnstown, OH 43031
Labor Day Weekend
9A - 6P
https://jcscohio.org/swappers-day/
Event photos: Coming soon.
Central Pennsylvania Hamfest
Clearfield County Fair Grounds, Agriculture Building and grounds
5615 Park St
Clearfield, PA 16830
Sunday September 13
8A - Noon
https://clearfieldcountyarc.net/hamfest/
Event photos: Coming soon.
The Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show
Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, Eastland Entrance
160 Eastland Rd
Berea, OH 44107
Sunday September 27
8A - 12P
https://www.hac.org/
Event photos: Coming soon.
Early Television Museum Fall Swap Meet
The Early Television Museum
5396 Franklin St
Hilliard, OH 43026
Date TBA, usually October
10A - 2P
https://www.earlytelevision.org/swapmeet.html
Event photos: Coming soon
Scott Antique Market November
Ohio Expo Center (State Fairgrounds)
717 E 17th Ave
Columbus, OH 43211
Usually Thanksgiving weekend
Hours vary by day, check before you go.
https://www.scottantiquemarket.com/
Event photos: Coming soon
There’s a couple of “Maybe” this year as well. I’ll get to these if time allows:
MARC Hamfest
Military Air Preservation Society Hanger (MAPS)
2620 International Parkway
Green, OH 44232
Sunday, November 1
http://w8np.net
Fort Wayne Hamfest
Allen Country War Memorial Coliseum
4000 Parnell Ave
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Date TBA, usually right before Thanksgiving weekend
https://www.acarts.com/hfmain.htm
Johnstown Swappers Day and the Scott Antique Market aren’t really hamfests, but enough electrical and other goodies show up that it’s worth going if you’re in to general flea market type items. The Early Television Museum is a swap meet that happens during one of the venue’s open work days, so who knows what will show up there.
Always check dates and times before you go, and I’ll see you there!
This show, held at the MAPS facility in North Canton, Ohio, seems to have “the stuff we want” - piles of radios, tables of things, and generally a good selection set up the way you remember shows being. This year was no different, and - while the show itself is of moderate size, they sold out every table. The museum exhibits that you can view while at the show are kind of cool, too.
I didn’t pick up much at this show, some parts and a book, but there were a lot of things I would have liked to have. They have to stay where they are, however - I have enough projects for now!
This is what I saw at the show:
A couple of clock radios. I bet they go “clunkclunkclunk.”
A massively overdesigned decade box.
A giant EICO generator.
Random equipment for sale.
An early Leader signal generator.
A selection of vintage meters. Got any 22.5V batteries?
A morse code sender/receiver setup.
It's good for a project. Only $5!
Some consumer table radios.
Odds and ends radios.
This is the stuff we come to look at.
More odds and ends.
A little travel radio-clock.
The show.
Parts from an old TRF radio.
Calling the (retro) future!
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This is the second-to-last show I’ll attend this year, not counting the local antique shows. Next and last is Fort Wayne, which happens the weekend of the 15th and 16th of November. See you there!
There’s a hamfest happening at the Military Air Preservation Museum hanger in North Canton, Ohio this weekend. This was good local show last year, and the included museum admission was quite the bonus. If you’re in the area, it’s well worth the time to visit.
MARC Hamfest
Military Air Preservation Society Hanger (MAPS)
2620 International Parkway
Green, OH 44232
November 2
8A - 1P
http://w8np.net
https://mapsairmuseum.org/events/hamfest-2025/
This was the first time I’d gone to this show, and - while small - it offered quite a bit of television focused vendors. The usual flea market tat that shows up at hamfests these days was absent, even though the show was free to set up and enter.
I did end up spending about $45 and taking home a few project items which may show up later, depending on what I have scheduled. Regardless, here are the photos I took. I don’t have much to say about them, so there’s no description, just enjoy the glory of old television.
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We did a museum tour as well, and that is well worth the admission price. I highly recommend that if you’re in the area. We didn’t stick around for the auction, while there were a few lunchboxes I’d like to take home I already have examples of them and do not need more.
I wasn’t really taking a lot of photos at this time, the camera on my phone was an absolute potato and could barely focus in full sun - let alone in overcast conditions like it was on the Friday of the event. However, I did get a few and found them again when searching my photo archives.
This was the third year at the Xenia Expo Center, and it was still pretty packed even though rain threatened all day. The day was very cloudy and vendors opened and closed their booths depending on the whims of Mother Nature.
There were a few vendors there that had nothing but (or mostly) console radios. These vendors have faded away as this old stuff sells and stocks dwindle. There’s simply no more out there like there was 25 years ago.
At the time, I was working for a rather toxic flow meter company. I liked the tech, but not the job. This was taken mostly because of my interest in different kinds of flow measurement equipment - and because it amused me that someone just bolted a calculator on to the face.
Last photo is of an interesting military switchboard. It was just an interesting looking piece.
That’s all…there were a few more but they were blurry to the point of uselessness due to the aforementioned poor quality camera.
This was the second year I attended this show, and it was just as good as last year. While the stuff I like is generally going away (there’s just no more of it,) and some of the same vendors show up everywhere - there was still plenty of good things to see. I managed to make it out of there with only $40 missing from my wallet, so I did good.
Here’s what I saw at the show:
One of many signal tracer/R-C analyzer devices. This went home with me.
The good, bad, and ugly of old test equipment makers.
Books are a staple of shows. I took the radio book on top.
One of many overbuilt GenRad products.
A bunch of 2 minute wax cylinders.
A bunch of multi-stage filters with fire bottles.
Portable house fires.
A stack of stuff.
A nice example of a Knight R-C analyzer.
Some nice Lafayette radio gear.
A Craig Language Translator. It has common phrases on the back.
Lots of orange drop capacitors.
You can't go to a show without seeing one of these.
Surprise, radios!
Some average condition Hallicrafters S53 units.
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This unique Stromberg-Carlson floor speaker (cone long gone.)
A stack of stereo stuff.
Test equipment, with “eBay sells it for this!” prices.
Some needlenose went home with me from this stash.
Some Commodore cartridges.
One of many Zenith radios of this type that showed up.
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Next up is the Early Television Museum fall swap meet in October (no idea on this one, I’ve never been there,) followed by MARC@MAPS and finishing the year with the (disappointing last year) Fort Wayne show.
I’ll probably use this year to make some determinations about which shows I want to attend next year. Some of this years’ shows have been smaller than usual, and seeing the same stuff over and over isn’t interesting. Who knows, but stay tuned for more photos from events and next year’s list. Perhaps it will give me a chance to explore some other, smaller shows that happen on the same dates.
There’s a hamfest happening in Cleveland this weekend. I went to this one for the first time last year, and came away impressed with the size and number of vendors. It’s certainly worth your time if you’re in the area, so check it out!
The Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show
Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, Eastland Entrance
160 Eastland Rd
Berea, OH 44107
September 28
8A - 12P
https://www.hac.org/
This was the first year for this show, and had maybe a dozen vendors on the fairgrounds. Turnout was pretty good, there were a number of people coming in during the time we were there.
Some of the vendors were ones you’ve seen from other shows, including some from the recent Findlay show. Because of that, I didn’t take very many pictures.
This nice dual range Weston voltmeter was at the club’s table. I usually pick these up when they’re cheap enough because they’re useful just about anywhere.
I wasn’t sure what this one radio (with the two dials and the center meter) was, but it looked really interesting. I didn’t need a shelf queen. however.
One vendor had a number of tubes for sale for $1 each. I took 20 of them. He also had this box of what we thought were Toyota manufactured tubes, but turned out to be pulls in Toyota spark plug boxes. Fooled us!
There was a handful more of vendors with the usual hamfest things. Overall, it was a nice little local and worth the time for us to go. If they hold it again next year, we’ll probably head over.
Next show is Cleveland at the end of the month. If this one is like last year’s show, it’s a good size show that offered a lot of stuff to see. See you there!
This probably should have been inserted before the Findlay show, as it happened over Labor Day weekend. But I’m a lazy piggy and didn’t get it posted in time, so here it is!
Swappers Day is a general flea market that happens over the Labor Day weekend. By general, I mean it’s all kinds of merchandise - but it started out as a sportsman’s club show, and you still get a lot of firearms and bows being sold. Kind of a strange mix of things.
A lot of general antiques also show up, and that includes electrical gear. However, this is an opportunity to take photos of all kinds of interesting things, and here’s what I saw that caught my eye:
This stuff is getting kind of rare, but cool to see.
As is this stuff…no prices of course. Price it!
I think Coyote was just a masochist, and the roadrunner was his enabler.
A cute mini motobike.
It's like a bike. But for water.
A relative that messed around with the wrong crowd.
Interesting, but relatively poor shape.
I took the Stewart unit home.
We had no idea what this was, just…trippy.
But they were everywhere this year.
Yeah we all had one of these.
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Not much else to say about this one, but more shows on the way!
The Findlay Radio Club Hamfest is usually a pretty decent show. It’s been shrinking somewhat over the years, which is unfortunate, but there seems to be a lot of ‘fests in Ohio these days. Perhaps that, and the general aging of the population / equipment getting older and not having more made is starting to affect who and what shows up. No idea, but this years show was probably about 2/3 of the size of the first one I attended years ago. I may put this one on every other year or so…
That’s not to say there wasn’t good stuff to see, I usually bring home way too many things from this show and this year was no exception. There was plenty of good stuff to see, and it was still well worth the trip.
I did notice that prices seem to have come back down again, after the exuberance of the first half of the year. They’ve come down a lot, to the point where I noticed a certain piece of equipment that would make a good economic indicator. More on that later!
Regardless, it was a lovely day for the show and I took a number of pictures of interesting things:
A (Sears) Silvertone Battery Checker.
Chinese bootleg Blu-Ray discs from years past.
The big rigs still show up in great numbers.
I almost took the AG-9 home, but it was damaged.
A big 'ol boat anchor Majestic.
A relatively rare clock model.
The hotdesk scanner! Hot!
Just off the boat from Japan.
This was only a buck. These were built like tanks.
It's so cute.
A couple of interesting radios.
Multiply your Qs here.
It's too bad this meter was smashed.
An early personal radio.
A bunch of interesting broadcast receivers.
The S-38s are cheap again.
I took this wattmeter home.
It's a mini phone!
A collection of old phones.
Tube testers.
If you say that wrong you get in trouble.
A 150VAC Weston meter. I took it home.
That's a cool Zenith radio.
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There are a couple more shows this year before the season wraps up, including a new one in Pennsylvania that I’m going to check out. Stay tuned, and I’ll see you there!
