[Milsurplus] Timonium Hamfest

[ersmar at comcast.net]

Gents:

     I, too, went to Timonium yesterday afternoon.  I arrived around 2 PM (late, I know) and was also surprised at the amount of open space in each venue.  My intentions were to purchase at least one more 75 AH gellcell for my home station, but I found no vendors.  There were, however, quire a few new Ham equipment and parts vendors in attendance, offering such things as unique coax/antenna connectors and adapters, plus the usual suspects, (MFJ occupied about 15-20% of the active display space.)  

     No milrads seen nor purchased by me.  I bought some Scotch 33 tape and two hot dogs, the latter at half-price after 3 PM, and returned home disappointed in the turnout.

     I am, however, looking forward to Gilbert in September,hoping to demo the AS-2259 look-alike I'm testing.

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Dennis Gibbs" <R390A at Cox.net>
> Hi Ray,
> 
> Thanks for the report.  I could not go yesterday (Saturday) to Timonium, so
> I went today.  Here's my (short) report....
> 
> First, I haven't been to this hamfest in 2-3 years.  However, I consider it
> now the largest hamfest in the MD-DC-VA area, now that Gaithersburg is a
> fraction of what it once was.
> 
> Given what's been happening with all the other hamfests in the area
> (shrinking), I was expecting it to be smaller than years past, but I was a
> bit shocked at how much it shrank.
> 
> The large outdoor tailgating area was only about 1/5 full.  At its peak, it
> used to be overflowing.  The indoor area (Cow Palace) was about 1/3 full.
> The 4H Center was nearly empty, and no radio related wares inside (Mostly
> crafts).  The exhibition center was about 3/4 full.
> 
> I spoke to a seller in the Cow Palace and commented on how dead things were.
> He told me there was a computer error on many of the advance ticket sales
> for tailgating spaces.  Apparently, the number of spaces that were requested
> was erroneously doubled.  So, space sold out when in fact it was only 1/2
> full.  If this story is true, it would certainly explain the drastically
> smaller attendance.
> 
> I did not see any boatanchors receivers today - no Collins receivers, etc.
> I did see a few transmitters.  I found an excellent deal on pristine NOS
> tubes - 6C4WAs, 6BL8s, and 6AJ5s for $2 each.
> 
> I think the decline in hamfesting is being brought about by many factors.
> First and perhaps foremost, Ebay.  Secondly, young technically-minded kids
> now flock mostly to computers, not ham radio.  Throw this in with the high
> cost of gas, and it's no wonder attendance is down.
> 
> I used to have this dream of attending at least one hamfest in every state
> (Is there an award for that?  HAS?  [Hamfested All States :-)]  but I'm
> rapidly losing interest in doing this.  So far, I have been to hamfests in 7
> states.....
> 
> Dennis
> 
>