[MRCA] Dayton Last thought

[Ray Fantini]

Not quite back home yet, stoped at WV two spend a day or two at a large sporting goods store, spent more money buying the sniper variant of a Mosin Nagant rifle and other odds and ends. Want to apologize for anyone who tried to get up with me at Dayton being that only just now getting to reading all the emails. Some final thought s about the Hamvention, first no complaints this year about the venue. Yes it’s a dump but no worse then it’s been in years past. The Hara Arena is maybe a metaphor for what’s happened to Dayton in general and looking at downtown Wheeling there appears to be a lot of that about. Prices are what they are and it appears there are two or three sets of prices, one set of high prices by the people who know what they are selling and want what they perceive a fair market value, a second set of prices that has to do with being connected to the word Collins and a third set of low to sometimes crazy high prices by people who are selling something they came across as part of a estate, trade, yard sale or whatever. But at the end of the day that’s maybe how it’s always been, well except for the Collins stuff. All the WW2 stuff is approaching if not already the realm of antique radio equipment so that has added to the perceived value. The days of the $20 BC-348 or $5 ARC-5 in clean unmodified condition are over. You can find modified or parts sets, but today the good stuff is snapped up fast by people who know what they have and want what they want. There are what I would consider bargains out there. PRC-47 radios and sets are selling at low prices, $200 for the radios and complete field kits for $400 and the R-388 that are out there can be haggled down to reasonable numbers and that’s not a bad radio for $300  The best thing about sales like Dayton there’s always something that you never thought of that’s there. I had been looking for an APR-4Y for years, not a constant search and have seen them on EBay at stupid high prices and now ended up with a couple receivers and a flock of TU for them with less then $100 and the other thing I picked up just as a impulse buy was a old sonabouy, with the transit case and everything for just $25, where else are you going to find stuff like this? And as already has been mentioned it is one of the biggest event for mill radio people for the real use of field equipment on AM and FM and one of the best opportunities to get together and talk to or just see people who you may only know from the keyboard or on air operations. Perhaps in the future we can think about having a forum there?



Ray F
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