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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
A Cushman broadcast band analyzer and a counter among the parts.
A board from an early Atari arcade cabinet.
A “Bedframe” antenna. Well built.
One of those early programmable scanners at the bottom of a pile. Used punchcards.
I believe this is the club's table.
An HP 3300 Distortion Analyzer and some sort of teaching breadboard.
What you expect to see at these shows.
A silent key's artifacts.
You could bean someone with that switch.
Just stuff.
More of what you expect at these shows.
An Edmont sound level meter with Coshocton, OH markings.
Some equipment that went home with me, all lonesome.
The decade box I brought home, should have grabbed the vibrator tester too.
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. It had a lot of bad resistors in the divider chain.
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. It eventually got passed on to someone for scrap. That’s what it’s worth!
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. I tore it down for parts.
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.
