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!)
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…
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.
I tried to limit myself to things I could possibly use, and I (mostly) did so. We’ll see if all these things actually work, or if some of them need some work.
This HP AC Transistor Voltmeter Model 403A seems to be in good condition, and has a Westinghouse tag on the back. I can’t really test it because it has some odd battery requirements. It looks to need 5 mercury cell batteries - 2 4V batteries, and 3 1.35V batteries in a configuration that provides bias and + / - voltages. These are unobtainable, so a small supply may be in order if I actually want to use this thing.
This came from a vendor that had boxes of parts. One part was $2, if you took the whole box it was $1. So…I took a box of mica capacitors and some other parts. High voltage mica caps can always come in handy.
This DigiMax Instruments D-1200 counter claims to go to 1.2GHz, and has lamps for an ovenized reference on it. It’s awfully light, but it does light up. I need to get a signal in it to see if it’s actually counting, or if it’s just spitting out garbage.
The Harris-Dracon butt sett was picked up becaue it was cool looking. I don’t know what I’ll use it for, but whatever. The Waage All-Purpose Tester Model 066 test box was a dollar - it’s mostly just an ammeter you can switch out, with a fuse and a lamp for testing the AC line. It’s pretty rusty, but looks clean inside. Who knows where this will end up.
This VIZ Senior VoltOhmist WV-98C meter seems to be operational, and has a case you could kill a poodle with. It’s a two-tube unit, using a 6AL5 Dual Diode and a 12AU7 amplifier. It’s small enough to go on the bench instead of the giant EICO VTVM currently there.
This Weller solder gun has all of the tools with it, and is one of the units made in the USA. I have a couple of these, they come in handy soldering chassis items.
That’s this year’s haul. I tried to limit myself to smaller items I could use, and I mostly succeeded. There were a lot of larger items that I wanted, but left there since I don’t have room for them. In all, I didn’t spend a lot and brought home some neat things.
Next show is either the Van Wert, OH show - that’s a long drive and may not be in the cards - and/or the Columbus, OH show which is a lot closer to me and much easier to attend. Either way, stay tuned for pictures from those shows, and I’ll see you there!
The VIZ and HP meters had some serious issues and became parts. The Waage 066 is now a lamp.
It was raining where I was, and threatened rain all the way to the show - but when we arrived, the sky had cleared and it was a sunny, slightly breezey 71F. Essentially, perfect conditions for wandering the aisles. While I didn’t see some of the things I hoped would show up this year, there was still quite a bit to look at. I spent a couple hours wandering the show before heading out for some lunch.
The usual mix of equipment showed up here, and a few things managed to wander home with me. This is what I saw at this year’s show:
I wonder if they will take my battery club card?
A BC-221AA Signal Generator.
A buck a box or two bucks per part. I took a box.
Motorola Communications Analyzers.
An old school engine analyzer.
Some equipment and schematic manuals.
This guy never prices stuff.
Don't bump the equipment stack.
The lighted switchbox up front was neat.
The VIZ meter in the middle went home with me.
An estate sale from a silent key.
Frequency doodads.
A floppy drive, and lots of solder.
A Boonton AM/FM Signal Generator.
A couple of neat chromed radios.
A Heath Weather Station with all the stuff.
An interesting Lafayette tuner on the right.
Something to monitor 3-phase stuff?
We go to shows for tables like this.
The 70s appear to be calling.
I swear one of these scopes exists for every person on the planet.
Yet another sig gen, this one branded Olson.
Some interesting rack mount radios.
More radios, who would have guessed?
Some Heath stuff.
I bet you can't guess what this is.
The scopes on the ground were free.
A big piece of Singer test equipment.
A bunch of GE radios.
A weird tape deck and some EQs.
A Tek 455 scope on it's cart.
A Tek 547 missing a plugin.
A bunch of odd testers. I took the one with the bulb.
Trans-Oceanics for parts.
A Knight radio and a tube tester, and stuff.
I don't know what this one is.
.
Next show will probably be the Columbus, OH hamfest, although there are some happening before that. Regardless, I’ll (maybe) see you there!
This is a great local show, and has always offered a few hours of wandering aisles and some “Dayton items without the Dayton prices.” I really need to lay off buying more boatanchors this time, but I’m sure a couple will come home with me. The club had some things they were selling last year, one piece in particular should have gone home with be - if it’s still there, it will!
(The forecast is calling for possible showers. We’ll see.)
See you there!
Breezeshooter’s Hamfest
Butler, PA
Butler Farm Show (Kind of a fairgrounds thing)
625 Evans City Rd
Butler, PA 16001
June 9 2024
8A - 2PM
https://breezeshooters.org/ns/
Sunday was a slim day - many of the vendors pack up Saturday evening, but maybe 1/5 were still on the grounds, not counting the exhibit buildings. Lots of reduced price deals and some free stuff were around today, and I still managed to bring home too much. Today’s lunch was Bourbon Chicken and a milkshake - a bottle of sauce managed to make it home as well. In all, this was a good show even if Friday was a bit messy. It’s also the first year I didn’t go through the exhibit halls, but there’ s nothing in there I needed this year.
Saturday was perfect. It was about 80F, partly cloudy, and the grounds had started to dry out enough you could walk and reasonably expect to stay on the surface.
And the weird stuff came out as well…
All the vendors that toughed out the previous day were open displaying all kinds of electronic wonders. A steak tip dinner was had for lunch, and it was awesome as always - much better than the burnt burgers and nasty nachos offered by the other venue. We spent about half the day going through the flea market looking for things to take home.
Here’s what I saw this year on Saturday:
The small National almost went home with me.
A friend checks out a radio.
Some more radios.
Old HP scopes.
Consumer radios playing now that the rain had passed.
An old school transistor tester.
Some tombstones being displayed. All played.
This oddball frequency counter came home with me.
Some nicer examples of prosumer radios.
This DJ player almost went home with a friend.
Want to customize like it's 1999?
All it was missing was the mag wheels option (017).
Various equipment.
More equipment. The scope had no trace.
Even more stuff.
If you remember these, don't.
A couple of nice examples.
If I didn't have a scope I'd have bought this.
The little Heathkit radio was interesting.
The old Hickok logo was quite cool.
One of many Hammarlund radios.
IMG_8684.jpg
How we used to print commercial checks.
An interesting GE radio and some commercial gear.
IMG_8687.jpg
A radio and antenna rotator.
Surprise! More radios!
K E K - Ahead of their time?
A console that was in pretty decent cosmetic shape.
Just stuff in the back of a van.
I bet you'd never guess…it's radios!
Those old Kraft joysticks…
This guy always has some cool odds n ends.
A homebrew rig.
Old school SpecAn.
A lot of Motorola gear this year.
A cool programmer device.
I bought some strawberry waffles here.
Fabric belts for radios in the original case.
Some table radios.
Mechanical reverb!
A radio that's art and science.
A lot of military gear.
Attenuation.
An AC meter with multiple ranges.
A small shelf of random things.
You know what these are by now.
An assorted lot of things.
A bunch of different equipment.
Where did you put the network analyzer, comrade?
It was keeping the table down.
I don't know, it's just a neat piece.
An endless sea of test equipment.
PEW PEW PEW
I feel like someone robbed a fallout vault.
Giant filters.
A collection of old radios. Is tape really needed here?
Millie Amp strips to make ends meet…
These are cool looking but not terribly useful nowdays.
Another homebrew rig.
An archival tape deck.
Bandmasters.
Old tape decks.
More old tape decks.
There were a lot of Bandmaster radios this year.
Hey look, more radios!
Some big stuff.
I'm surprised they weren't sinking into the ground.
Old gear from the military, then a radio club.
The last of the WJ stuff is finally showing up
Radios and parts.
Audio gear was common this year, as always.
When you need to wake the dead.
When we had to adjust the points on cars.
Some sort of military VHF device.
Solar cells.
Some sort of Chinese HF gear.
This is interesting because of the Crosley tag.
Every WWII movie needs one of these.
More gear.
A cool barometer.
Do I need to explain?
A lot of these little Heath transceivers this year.
If you're getting 500 rads per hour, you're not reading this meter anymore.
Friday promised to be a rainy day, and it wasn’t a lie. The RADAR showed rain, and lots of it!
And it was wet…
The line ride was soaked.
But that didn’t stop me from playing in the mud like a happy little wereboar. There were still plenty of vendors open with tents over their wares, and I still brought home way too much. I spent about 4 hours wandering the wet ways, and of course it decided to stop the minute I was finished! I was soaked by then, and ready to go, but Saturday and Sunday awaited.
Here’s what I saw this year on Friday:
The requisite radios and a cool tape deck.
A stack of classic Apple and Tandy.
Lots of test equipment shows up at the show.
As does lots of random parts.
Clubs set up selling things.
Random items for sale.
Expensive equipment. Is there a rain discount?
Simpson made these meters for Heath.
Radios and amps everywhere…
All kind of gear for sale.
A lot of these showed up this year.
Trying to keep the water off.
The little Tek scope was cool.
It's a high power something.
A silent key sale. I took the generator.
Lots of Heath gear this year.
Conar was a nameplate from NRI.
It probably doesn't care that it's wet.
Some things are sold out of the back of a truck.
Test equipment…ONLY!
A lot of things were covered up.
The gods smiled, and the S38C went home with me.
Just stuff.
Just like Emergency!
Things for your fallout shelter.
These boatanchors kept the ground from flying away.
