This is a show that I’d never been to, but it was a double treat. The show itself had a decent array of vendors and stuff, and the show was being held at the Military Air Preservation Society hanger, so we were able to tour the grounds as part of our show admission.
I highly suggest you check out the air museum portion, there’s a lot to see. Pictures of that coming soon.
We browsed the aisles for a couple hours, wandering through a few times. I brought home a few books and a small scope, my friend brought home some older high-end audio gear. There were a few other things that caught my eye, but I’ve got enough anchors working right now that I’m good - and the few remaining ones I’d like didn’t show up here.
Regardless, we had a good time and will probably come back next year, time and circumstances permitting.
An old Rat Shack reverb device that uses a BBD chip.
A friend wanted to know how much they were asking for the bomber.
An older CountyComm radio amidst the parts.
These will be available forever, I think.
A video filter, I thought it was an 8-track with BNCs at first.
A bunch of monitorradios and a novelty device.
An old Jerrold cable television analyzer device.
These are slowly vanishing from the scene.
A Papst metal fan. This thing had some heft!
Looks like someone was copying VIZ.
There is one monitor scope for every person on Earth.
The requisite boxes of parts.
Radio Shack stuff was pretty decent, TBH.
Another “Not a sig gen, a big gen!” For FM work.
Just stuff. It's what we go to shows for.
Some unusual electronics trainer kits.
A stack of radios. Go figure…
The tuner and CD player went home with a friend.
An old WEN soldering gun.
Begone ye demon of the past!
I think we saw this one before.
Zenith made this chassis forever.
.
Next (and last hamfest of the year) show is Fort Wayne on the 16th of November. See you there!
This was a show I’d never been to. It’s certainly a local thing, with a few rows of vendors and a good, but light crowd. Regardless, there was some of that cool stuff you get at shows like this, and I picked up a few books and a boat anchor for my collection of things that hold the floor on the ground. It’s close enough that I’ll probably go next year as well.
Here’s what I saw at the show:
A Ramsey FM Transmitter built from a kit. Had one of these, never could get it to tune properly.
Seneca Fuses from Columbus
A Heathkit IG-72. This, and a parts unit went home with me.
I think this was the only big piece that showed up.
The requisite trays of parts.
Pumpkins! Oh, and some reference books too.
Some sort of military radio.
A relay for RF. The buyer was delighted to find it.
A chonky switch. It goes clunk!
You usually find some really good stuff at the small shows.
Miscellaneous tools and stuff.
An early frequency synthesized radio from Yaesu.
.
On the way home, we stopped at a place I didn’t know still existed - one of the few remaining Rax Restaurants.
Next show is the MARC show at the MAPS hanger near North Canton. See you there!
I grabbed a friend and headed down to this show earlier today. It was a pretty small event, but that’s the kind of thing I like to go to - you never know what you’re going to find. We even stopped at (the last?) Rax on the way home.
I didn’t pick up much - some books, some parts, and this Heathkit Audio generator with a parts donor unit.
I’m asking it for 60Hz, and getting 59.7. That’s pretty good for a piece of 50 year old equipment. It’s a simple capacitive oscillator, so there’s not much to go wrong - exactly what you need for your bench. It’s certainly in need of service, but what do you expect?
Pictures from the event are on the way, so stay tuned!
As stated earlier, this was my first time attending this show, and I didn’t leave unhappy. It consisted of about 4 rows of vendors in the parking lot, and a small building mostly full of vendors. There was certainly plenty to look at, and prices were generally very reasonable. Everyone was willing to deal, so I’ll blame that for my haul.
The fairgrounds are tucked behind some houses, so we had to make a go-round and get back to the entrance, having turned the wrong direction the first time. But no big deal, we arrived at 8:15 and spent about three hours browsing the warm, sunlit aisles of stuff.
The trip home warranted a stop in Coshocton for lunch and a brew at Wooly Pig, a place I highly suggest you check out if you are in to that sort of thing
Here’s what you’re waiting for, all of the things I saw at the show.
An Aerovox capacitor tester - missing the rest of it's oddball probe.
Random audio gear and an old SW radio.
I love those old Bearcat scanners and their 1970s colors.
Books. I took home his small collection of crystal radio stuff.
A butt set. Not a collection of behinds, but a telephone test handset.
A device to exercise a CDC disk system. There was a stack 'o disks on the ground.
The guy had boxes of chips. I took home some unusual dot matrix displays.
A nice example of a CT455. It needs a little work on the radio, but plays well.
A digital trainer doesn't always work with digimon.
You don't see a lot of those HP lunchboxes these days.
A nice National Radio in National grey-blue.
A test device marked Philco-Ford.
Power strips for 30 amps. A friend took this home.
Just some random things.
Random radios. The Zenith portable was kind of cool.
A reel-to-reel player. For reels. Of tape. On reels.
Those little rat shack speakers weren't bad for the day.
A baby Tek scope holding the ground down.
Not sure, but I heard the word “SONAR” mentioned.
Staple guns. I took the hand brad nailer in the middle home.
A lot of tube testers at this show.
150 watts to measure a voltage - if you dare!
The bakelite Zenith was in awesome shape, especially for $35.
I’ve attended a lot of shows this year, mostly because I’m unsure as to what’s going to happen later - if some sort of unrest begins, that may cancel shows for a while. So … git while the getting’s good, I guess!
I’m not sure if I’ve been to this one, I seem to remember a small show in Southern Ohio that I went to back in the 90s, my first small “Not Dayton” hamfest. It had some decent things, but was a really small show - I still have the big NIXIE counter purchased from that event.
Regardless, “If I Feel Like It,” I’m going to head down there and check it out.
The Scioto Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest
Saturday October 5th 2024
8A - 12P
Admission $5
The 50th Annual Cleveland Hamfest (And Computer Show) is happening this weekend.
I’ve never been to this one, so I’m not sure what to expect - but 50 years worth seems to indicate that it’s well attended enough to keep going.
I decided to check it out because prices this year have been incredibly cheap due to the bad economy, and it’s giving me a chance to pick up some things I’ve wanted but couldn’t afford in the past. I’m also looking towards things getting really strange later - who knows what’s going to happen and how it’s going to affect this stuff. Get it in now while it’s available!
The Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show
Berea Fairgrounds, Eastland Entrance
160 Eastland Rd
Berea, OH 44107
September 22 2024
8A - 12P https://www.hac.org/
There’s a couple of smaller shows I’ve been considering checking out - and with the prices on stuff being good this year, it may be worth the time.
The first is the Cleveland Hamfest. This is the 50th show, according to the promotional material. It also claims to be a computer show, but I expect the only things you’ll see now are vintage machines and used devices.
The 50th Annual Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show
Sunday, September 22nd, 2024
8AM - 12PM
Admission is $10
The other show is the MARC Hamfest in Green, Ohio (Near North Canton.) This one is held in the main hanger / event hall of a local air museum, so it may be worth the go just to see the museum grounds as well. Pictures suggest it’s pretty well attended, but we’ll see with the economy being crap:
MARC Hamfest
Sunday, October 27th, 2024
8AM - 1PM
Admission is $10 (I think!)
Military Air Preservation Hangar
2260 International Parkway
Green OH 44232 http://w8np.net
I’ve never been to either of these shows, so I have no idea what to expect. I’ll have pictures of both events to post (assuming I can go) and I’ll see you there!
The day couldn’t have been any more perfect for this show - it barely got above mid 70s.
However, the show was substantially smaller this year, which is something I’ve noticed about the regional shows as we get further into 2024. There’s just not as many vendors showing up. That could be because the economy is turning to crap - some of these guys just come to see friends and BS with people, the sales being a “hey I made some cash, nice!” side effect. The crashing economy also seems to have reduced prices - I picked up some things that would have been a lot more expensive just a few years ago (and still are being sold on eBay for outrageous sums!)
Regardless, there were still some things to be seen and had, and this show rarely disappoints. This is some of the good stuff I looked at this year.
A neat voltmeter with an IBM label.
A Sony multi-band radio sits among some other interesting devices.
An airband two-way handheld sits among some Heath equipment.
A battery tester. Odd stuff.
The seller said the markers were the best deal at the show.
An old old Buick car radio - full of tubes.
It's a Commodore Cornucopia!
A direction finder radio.
I didn't need it, but the little siggen was cool.
I swear there was at least 3 of these for every person on earth.
A common sight, a table full of random items.
Just parts. I took the RC tester in the upper right.
Many things. There was another tester in top the HP unit that I took.
This massive converter box went under your dash.
Old meters in lovely wooden cases.
An old National radio with it's band selectors.
A Wooden Weston with a hand marked scale.
Personal Portables. That sounds like a Jeopardy category.
I almost took the S38 for parts.
You'd never guess what I saw at the radio show. That's right, radios!
A speaker among the other equipment. I need to pick one of those up sometime.
It's all 10 dollars a unit. I took the Heath signal tracer.
Lots of old equipment always shows up.
More test equipment.
Some random radio gear and a tube tester.
A friend examines a rebadged Sony VTR.
.
Next show is either the Massillon show - if I can get to it, or the Fort Wayne show, which always rounds out the year for my fest-goings.
The Findlay Hamfest is probably the second largest one I attend throughout the year, and (if not raining) covers a decent portion of the Hancock County Fairgrounds. There’s always some good stuff to see at this one, and usually some really good prices.
Findlay Radio Club Hamfest
Where:
Hancock County Fairgrounds
1017 E. Sandusky St.
Findlay, Ohio 45839
When: Sunday, September 8 2024
8A - 1PM-ish
How Much:
Admission is $10, you can buy print-it-yourself tickets ahead of time.
