[Milsurplus] Don't Miss NEAR-Fest This Weekend

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Apologies in advance for any list overlap.

Just a quick reminder that the New England Amateur Radio Festival
(NEAR-Fest) takes place this weekend, April 30th - May 1st. It's
usually held the first full weekend in May, but a combination of weird
calendar and scheduled bookings this year has us in both months.

To those who aren't familiar or haven't attended for a while,
NEAR-Fest came to exist when the crew of three who ran the Hosstraders
events in NH for 30 years decided to retire. Rather than lose an event
that so many of us enjoyed attending through the decades, we put
together a group to start a replacement event, which has become more
successful than we could've imagined. It is easily the largest event
in the northeast, held twice yearly and attended well.

The event is held at the old Deerfield Fairgrounds just north of
Manchester and east of Concord. The event is known for its great mix
of equipment, particularly old tube gear as well as military surplus.
Some of the guys even bring their restored military vehicles to
display. Along with two buildings full of commercial vendors hawking
the latest and greatest gear, we have forums and guest speakers
running through both days. Of particular interest this time will be a
talk given by George Rancourt K1ANX, resident R-390A guru. Rather than
his usual R-390A workshop, George will be giving a talk on covert or
'spy' radios which will include a number of them on display from his
personal collection.

The AMers have a BBQ taking place Thursday afternoon and evening in
Concord for folks arriving the night before, and of course the AM
Dinner takes place Friday evening at 7.

For more information on NEAR-Fest including the two day schedule of events, see:

http://near-fest.com/


And if you'd like to attend any of the AM events offsite, see the
Announcements section of AMfone:

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php


So far the WX is looking to be fantastic, high 60s and sunny Friday
and mid 70s Saturday. Perfect for radio shopping, gawking, or just
catching up with old friends. Hope to see you there!


~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4