[Milsurplus] Hamfest - a different perspective

[jeff]

On Sun, 2004-05-30 at 21:48, Ray Fantini wrote:
> None missed any deals at today's Hamfest, an over priced R-390 and a lot of little bits and peace.

I'm a newbie SWL, milcom, scanner, and Boatanchor fan.
At some horrid hour of the morning, the wife and I left the
Philthydelphia area for Maryland.  We made it in spite of Mapquest's
directions.

This would be my third hamfest and my sainted wife's second.  I was not
impressed, based upon what others have told me about hamfests and my own
experiences.  Don't get me wrong - any day I can hang out with nice
people, a ton of radios, electronics, tubes, computer accessories, and
just plain odd stuff is a good day.  I left the house knowing it was a
hike and figured we'd enjoy the day out regardless.

I liked the odd and some of the normal stuff, but there didn't seem to
be a lot of anything significant to hold my attention (damn ADD).  I
hear all sorts of great stories about hamfests but some of the vendors
were packing up and going home around 11am.

Forgive my newness, but am I reacting to this not being a `major'
hamfest?  Should we have made Timonium instead?  WARC was a bit of a
bust, but that seemed to be weather-related.

Any recommendations?



I saw a pair of 390A's (first time in person) and was suitably
impressed.  I saw the prices and lost my enthusiasm.  It was a very good
place to look for ancient computer software and hardware, some
pre-Windows.  And expensive tubes.  Not a big Boatanchor day.



Thanks.