Planning on heading out to the TARC swap meet this coming weekend to see what it’s all about and maybe pick up a few things so I can get CC1 on the air. It’s up near Moncks Corner, so it’s a bit of a drive. No idea how large it is or how many people to expect to show up, but it will be a good chance to meet some more hams.
Tag: hamfest
Hamcation wrap-up
Had a really fun time at Orlando Hamcation over the weekend. Had a random encounter with Alan/KK4CIS and got to chat a bit face-to-face. Also met up with Jim/N4BFR and Newt/N4EWT (who I met at the Atlanta Hamfest last year) and spent some time wandering around with them.
I’m pretty pleased with my acquisitions from the Hamfest although as one would expect, after we left I remembered a few other things that I needed/wanted to pick up.
Hamcation is the biggest hamfest I’ve been to so far. I was too busy looking at every thing to think about taking very many pictures. The variety of equipment, gear and junk is pretty amazing. There was lots of good stuff, most of which was out of my budget (this time). I don’t think I know enough yet to be able to spot the hidden treasures, but there were a few things that I would have liked to bring back with me. I especially liked looking at the old vintage radios.
Looking forward to going back to Hamcation again next year.
Hamcation acquisitions
Day 2 at Orlando Hamcation was spent looking for antenna things and CW keys. Lots more people at Hamcation today than there were yesterday, which was expected. After wandering around to the different tables in the swaps area and wandering around the bone yard, I had a better idea of what I wanted to get.
Picked up some stranded copper wire, coax and ladder line for antenna projects, and then it was out to the swaps building.
First acquisition was this J-38 straight key. It’s a little dusty, the flat knob is a bit chipped and the shorting switch is missing, but it had the best action of the other J-38 keys the guy was selling. It needs some cleaning, but I’m looking forward to learning more about this style of key and wiring up to play with.
A breadboard, some 7 segment LED modules and some kind of metering panel that I’ll use for parts.
The next acquisition was this Heathkit HD-10 keyer. The guy selling it had it in his shack gathering dust for years and wasn’t getting too many bites at the price he was initially looking for, so I managed to pick it up for a great price. Plugged it in and it works pretty well.
Toward the end of my bone yard wanderings I spotted these variable plate capacitors on the table and scored them for $2. Some of them are a bit oxidized and need a bit of TLC, but I think I’ll be able to put them to work doing something.
Orlando Hamcation Day 1
Today was the first day of Orlando Hamcation. We arrived a little before the gates opened, and wandered around looking at all the things until around 5 or so.
With three buildings full of exhibitors and vendors along with the “bone yard” (aka tailgating), there’s a lot to see here.
We started off in the Commercial I/II building where all the…well, commercial vendors were. All the big name companies in radio were there: Kenwood, Yaesu, MFJ, etc had tables, along with a bunch of other smaller but well known companies. Plenty of radios and accessories to look at.
The “Swaps” building was definitely the most interesting place. Basically one very large garage sale with just about everything radio related you could think of, and a lot of other non-radio things thrown in for good measure.
Had an eyeball QSO with Russ/N4RTD/@747Russ.
One of the highlights of today was visiting the ARRL table to see if anyone could tell Connie about the Wouff Hong. Robert (NQ1R) did one better and showed us the Wouff Hong (well, a Wouff Hong pin really).
We met up with Connie’s dad again and spent some time wandering around the tailgating area to see what people out there had to sell. Got some good antenna building tips from him while we were looking.
I saw a few things that I was tempted to lay down some cash for, and a lot of antenna components that I was interested in. Lots of old vintage radio gear that was pretty cool. Saw some pretty decent looking straight keys that I was tempted by. Vibroplex had some very nice keys at their table, but a bit out of my price range.
I thought this window gap jumper from Comet was pretty brilliant. Flat coax for running the antenna line into the house through a window.
Didn’t see any antenna analyzers around though. Tomorrow we’ll head back and I’ll have a closer look at everything again and probably pick up a few things.
Also looking forward to meeting up with a few people tomorrow.
Hamfest-ing
Went to the Charleston Hamfest today and spent a few hours wandering around checking out all the things. It’s a smaller event than the Atlanta Hamfest I went to in June, but I still enjoyed it. The variety of things to see wasn’t as big, but it was still fun seeing everything and meeting up with fellow hams.
I had big plans to acquire a bunch of antenna making supplies, like coax, wire, feedlines, connectors and other things, but after looking around a bit I decided I needed more of a shopping list to know what to get. Instead, I ended up with a cap with my call sign and name embroidered on it, and a table mounted magnifying lamp for the workshop. A couple of pretty good acquisitions, I think.
I’ll have to put a shopping list together for Hamcation next weekend.