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Hamfests, a hidden secret? — Parallax Forums

Hamfests, a hidden secret?

Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
edited 2011-10-05 10:46 in General Discussion
I went to a tiny hamfest this weekend in NYC, my first. I wish I knew about them a long time ago. Picked up an air compressor, 5 W solar panel, UHF handheld, a bunch of components I needed, and a like new 20 MHz Fluke Scopemeter ($220!). Everthing was less than $300. Anybody know of more hamfests in the NE region?

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Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2011-10-03 15:48
    Agreed, hamfests are wonderful. I got into ham radio in my teens many moons ago and caught the bug. I'm fortunate to live in Los Angeles now, very close to the infamous monthly TRW swap meet, which grew out of its longtime hamfest origins: http://w6trw.com/swapmeet/swapmeet.htm
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-10-03 16:03
    Jay,

    Here's a link you can use to find more hamfests in your area:

    -Phil
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    edited 2011-10-03 17:08
    Yes, they are! My dad has numerous "unbelievable find" stories from Pacificon in Santa Clara, CA. The swap meet starts at 6am Saturday morning and there will be lines waiting to get that must-have buy..
  • $WMc%$WMc% Posts: 1,884
    edited 2011-10-03 17:26
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    Jay,

    Here's a link you can use to find more hamfests in your area: -Phil
    '
    Thanks for the link Phil
    '
    All kinds of events here in Florida
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-10-03 20:24
    Hamfest on 10/14 in Santa Clara, California.

    That is near enough to Silicon Valley to have some seriously interesting stuff. I used to go to the Foothill College Ham Swap meets during the summer months and they were sublime. But alas, I now have to import my toys to Taiwan.
  • potatoheadpotatohead Posts: 10,261
    edited 2011-10-03 20:28
    I don't know where the one is in Portland. Haven't been for a while, but they are totally awesome! I've always gotten interesting stuff, and had great conversation. What I like the most is the range of tech is huge. Everything from Ancient to modern will be there somewhere.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-10-03 20:38
    http://www.bluefeathertech.com/technoid/calswapindex.html

    The above link has Swap Meets, not Hamfests. These are also very excellent. I see that the Foothill College Swap Meet has one more Saturday in October and then is finished for the year. Great stuff of every kind - audio, test equipment, radio, antique radio, computers....
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
    edited 2011-10-03 23:48
    Jay Kickliter wrote: »
    I went to a tiny hamfest this weekend in NYC, my first. I wish I knew about them a long time ago. Picked up an air compressor, 5 W solar panel, UHF handheld, a bunch of components I needed, and a like new 20 MHz Fluke Scopemeter ($220!). Everthing was less than $300. Anybody know of more hamfests in the NE region?

    6209283952_3baffcb7d7_b.jpg

    Hello!
    Jay was this the one, that has the Hall of Science in the background? It turns out that's one that travels in pairs, next one is in March of next year. At one of those I picked up a pile of terminals that TI stuffed into calculator containers for their 16bit processor that we now know as the thing behind the TI99/4a. And a Z80 system that runs 8K BASIC. it was a gizmo that then HP made for running certain types of lab gear. But, ah, some brave soul stuffed those chips into it.

    And a pile of boards that someone claimed belonged to a tape drive. I now believe they were used for a PDP-11. Had I known that I wouldn't have pulled them apart.

    I did see plenty of HAM gear around, but at the time I didn't have the room or the inclination to do something of a sort. I still have the interest, but no room worse luck.
  • jim N8RHQjim N8RHQ Posts: 85
    edited 2011-10-04 07:16
    Dont forget the the mother of all hamfests, at least in the midwest, the Dayton Hamvention, next year it's May 18-20.

    http://www.hamvention.org/
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-10-04 07:36
    erco wrote: »
    Agreed, hamfests are wonderful. I got into ham radio in my teens many moons ago and caught the bug. I'm fortunate to live in Los Angeles now, very close to the infamous monthly TRW swap meet, which grew out of its longtime hamfest origins: http://w6trw.com/swapmeet/swapmeet.htm

    I did my ham test there. Man those were FUN times .
    It wasI a religouis exodos we get up at 5 AM to haul on the road to the beach . Often I would spend the whole day there ..
    After the SPM its was time ti Hit up Frys . And see what deals they had ....
    I never left TRW with out a load of something . I did the swapmeets for 8 years ,, I knew lots of the vendors . it was as much as buying as it was chatting with people .


    * crys* I miss the TRW swap meet ... Iowa has bubkis for things like that ..


    Peter
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-10-04 09:08
    NIMG is a wonderful concept. It is why the Ham Swap Meets because so successful.

    So what is it? Please buy, my wife says "Not In My Garage" to all my HAM junk.
  • zappmanzappman Posts: 418
    edited 2011-10-04 10:00
    Hi Jay,

    Yes, hamfests are great. I went to a local one this past weekend. I am always looking for micro-controller / robot parts at them. I got lots of electrical / electronics piece parts, 12 V batteries, 3 LCD monitors and a non-functioning Roomba Discovery robot vacuum. I will try to get the Roomba working, if that's not possible I will use it for parts.

    Regards,

    zappman
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2011-10-04 10:25
    Hamfests can be a great source for odd parts and you just never know will show up at them. Unfortunately most of the Ham swap meets in my area have been on the decline for years. There are still a few but they just don't seem to be like they used to be. I wish I could get out to the ones in CA since I hear those are still good.

    Robert
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2011-10-04 13:14
    I bought some cool looking glass digital displays 30 years ago at a hamfest. $3 each, Honeywell I believe. Threw them in a box and forgot about them until last year when I found them. Turns out they are now rare and in high demand, as they are the digital displays in the Heathkit SB-104. That's a rig I've always wanted, and I keep putting lowball bids on Ebay. I haven't got one yet, but I will. I have to rationalize buying those "spare" parts 30 years ago.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-10-05 10:46
    At the Foothill Swap Meet, I bought a tube Textronix 20Mhz scope (about $20USD) and about 2 dozen 12ax7 tubes-unused that were matched by Textronix for the scope preamps (25cents per pair). I also picked up a complete Unimat machine lathe with extra tools for $100USD. Then there were several broken Hewlett-Packard computer terminals for $5 to $10 that I repaired (They used Z80 microprocessors, though it took a bit of reverse engineering to figure out) and sold 2nd hand for $150 each. I also picked up a Leica binocular microscope top end with eye pieces for $5 off a pile of junk and sold the next day in San Francisco to a Leica repair shop for $200USD. The guy apologized for offering me so little.

    There were a lot of other things, but I thing the best deal of all was that I bought a lifetime subscription to Nuts n Volts for $60USD when it was starting out in tabloid form.

    It seemed that every time I went, I made money.
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