I went to the Massillon Ohio hamfest yesterday--a beautiful day for a drive across Western PA and into Eastern Ohio. Massillon is a solid 2 hours and 15 minutes drive for me so it's further than I want to go for a hamfest. But I was itching for a good hamfest and the timing was right so I went. And I'm glad I did.
The fest is in the 2 gynmasiums of the Massillon Boys and Girls Club. It's simple to find and a perfect facility for a hamfest. They had probably 125 tables set up and I heard that they were all sold, though 10% or so were no-shows. The Massillon club did a good job staffing the fest and the whole thing was very well organized. Estimating attendance is hazardous business, but I'd guess it was in the 3-400 range--doggone good, I think. Boatanchors were out in force. Here's what I remember, though I know I'm missing a bunch: Collins 75S3B with 32S1 and the AC supply $1275 sold Collins 75A3 in great shape $650 unsold Collins 75A2 in ok shape with no cabinet. $350 sold 2 Drake L4B amps in nice shape. One sold for $550 Drake TR-4s of various stripes unsold Drake B-lines, C-lines and accessories, all unsold, I think Many Heathkit monobanders $40-$60 One may have sold. Gonset Tri-Band HF RX with wrong knob $75 unsold Various Gonset converters--$20 each one sold NC-109 with speaker (forget the price) unsold NC-300 in mediocre shape $250 unsold Hallicrafters SX-71 in beautiful shape $265 unsold SB-301, SB-101, SB-102, HP-23 supplies $175--$200 each, all unsold I think Various Hickok test gear, unsold Heathkit Mohawk RX near mint $300 (see below) HT-32 TX in good shape, untested (mine) $100 sold Military Navy WWII RBB RX in ok shape (mine) $100 sold VHF ARC-5 command RX $25 unsold--missing one side ARC-5 Q-5er $25 unsold CE 458 VFO for the 10B/20A--no cabinet, otherwise nice. $35 sold CE 10B in nice shape $75 unsold, I think HP 8640B signal gen in mil cabinet $225 sold Tek 24xx digital storage 'scope $300 unsold. Various tek 'scope plug-ins unsold HP 275mhz 'scope didn't get price unsold Old time hamfests used to always have an auction running simultaneously with the hamfest and the Massillon club has the only hamfest I know of that has maintained that tradition. Perry Ballinger is the auctioneer. Anyone wanting to auction anything could just go into the other gymnasium and set it on the tables arrayed for that purpose along one wall. By the time the auction started at 9AM, 3/4 of the tables along one long wall were full to overflowing with all manner of stuff--but mostly small parts and strange oddiments. There was one thing in the auction that I wanted--a homebrew rack transmitter in a 5 foot tall cabinet with PP 813's in the final. It was (and is) beautifully built but the power supply and cabling between the chasses was unfinished. I and others suspected that it had never been on the air. I also found an original SCR-274N cable with the right connectors on both ends in one of the junk boxes. So I hung around and picked up both items from the auction--the cable for $5 and the rack TX for an incredibly reasonable $50. Other stuff seen in the auction Atlas 210X with console $75 Atlas 215x with mobile mount and AC PS $85 Swan 500cx with PS and bad S-meter $70 Hallicrafters S-38B Various wooden antique broadcast radios Caps, knobs, AC power distribution stuff, much more While I was in the auction, waiting for the stuff I wanted to come up for bid, my son Mishe was manning my table. Every time something would sell, he'd come running over and give me the money. First $20, then $100, then $40,, etc. By his third or fourth trip, the audience was in stitches and calling out for him to give them the money. It was pretty funny. I ended up spending more than I wanted to--but it couldn't be helped (yea, right...). A friend of mine who is retired from the merchant marine showed up with a very nice RCA Radiomarine 8506-B receiver with cabinet and shockmount. I like RCA stuff and couldn't resist for $100. Another guy had 2 SCR-274N transmitters that looked like new and were unmodified for $25 each. Neither one is a ham band TX, but I am assembling parts for an SCR-274N station and had to buy them "just in case". I also found this neat Gonset accessory that is a combination code practice oscillator and station monitor for $5. Finally, we had packed the minivan and I went in to go to the bathroom. The guy with the Mohawk had marked it down to $250. I stopped to look and he said "look inside", opening the lid. It was clean enough to eat off of inside--sparkling, like new. For the first time, I gave it a good going over on the outside and realized, with the the exception of two very light scratches on top of the cabinet, I was looking at a near-mint original Mohwak. The seller gave me a sob story about how his friend gave it to him to sell and he couldn't take "less than $200 for it". So I offered $150. And we settled on $190. It has the original manual and the original tuner assembly manual--also both near-mint. Looking it over at home, the radio is positively glowing--front panel and cabinet are almost pristine. It's an impressive receiver and has found a home in the shack of N3RHT. We didn't have any food so I can't comment on food quality. People started packing about 11AM. We did likewise at 11:45 and were pulling out at 12:15. Since I am severely space-constrained here, I am selling my SX-25 and EFJ Thunderbolt to make room for the RCA RX and Mohawk RX respectively. If anyone has any interest in the SX-25 or Thunderbolt, please send me an e-mail and I'll get pictures for you. The last hamfest of the year in this area is WACOM at the Washington, PA County Fairgrounds this Sunday. I'll be there. Please stop by and see if Mishe has any money for you. 73, Don Merz, N3RHT ______________________________________________________________ AMRadio mailing list List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Partner Website: http://www.amfone.net Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:[email protected]
