[Johnson] Orlando HamCation

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 2/11/07, David C. Hallam <dhallam at rapidsys.com> wrote:
> I attended the Orlando, FL HamCation yesterday with one of my objectives to
> find what was available in the way of Johnson gear.  I was rather
> disappointed in that there was very little available and the prices were out
> of sight.  There seems to be a feeling that eBay has driven up the prices
> for fifties and sixties ham gear. I guess it has but the prices asked by
> vendors at Orlando for Johnson gear was approximately double what it is
> selling for on eBay.  Granted, there is some value to be able to examine
> what you are buying before purchasing and not paying for shipping, but I
> thought the asking prices were way out of line.

I noticed this same thing when I attended in 2005. Not only nosebleed
prices, well beyond that. Perhaps the feeling is that more newbies
exist in that market who are getting in late and willing to pay a lot
to 'catch up'? There seem to be two schools in the extreme: the ones
who say "I checked ebay and that's what they sell for on there" and
the others who remember $10 SX-28s, $50 R-390As, and think all old
gear should still be dirt cheap.

The free market is great. When an item is priced too high, it doesn't
sell. My purchases in 2005 included some hard drawn copper from the
Wireman, and maybe a small trinket or two. I didn't bring a lot of $
along with me since I was traveling anyhow, but there wasn't a lot to
buy anyhow. I did see the same fellow who had boxes of tubes at
Orlando also up in Gaithersburg in September of the same year.

Were there a large number of 'good buddy' amps and such there this
time? One fellow had a vanload of this stuff, and a lot of others as
well. It was priced higher than some of the good ham gear.

~ Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ