[NJARC] Fwd: RadioActivity 2007 Review

[John Dilks K2TQN]

It looks like  we missed a great radio meet.

73, John Dilks, K2TQN

>From: "Paul R. Farmer" <oldradiotime at hotmail.com>
>
>Hi guys,
>
>I didn't get in until 8 PM last night so I was too tired and it was 
>too late for a RA2007 critique.
>
>Another great meet and thanks to all of you very deserving MAARC 
>Directors and all our volunteers for another job so well done. The 
>suggestions offered so far would make additional big improvements to 
>the event: a general discussion membership meeting (with intro 
>report by the Pres) and a more detailed tag on auction lots (like 
>those used at Lansing and Rochester, which I will again attempt to 
>get copies of for Domi).
>
>Ed's presentation Thursday evening was a big plus, providing an 
>activity for those early hotel check-in people. I think we could 
>beef up the late Thursday afternoon and evening programming that 
>would strengthen the meet without extending its duration 
>significantly. The proposed general membership meeting might be one 
>thing to schedule on Thursday. Those from out of town who don't 
>attend monthly meetings are the one's arriving early at the hotel. 
>Of course an evening Estate auction would be perfect whenever we can 
>arrange one in time and that is large enough to be a worthwhile draw.
>
>I have to apologize for selling a few books on Thursday. I arrived 
>at 6 AM on Thursday as is my usual practice in order to: avoid the 
>commuting traffic; ensure that the parking lot was satisfactorily 
>secured; save spaces for Geoff, Tom, Brian, Eric, and the tube 
>trailer; get my canopy etc set up; take a nap (good luck); confab 
>with early arrivals; put out the Bret DVDs for club sales ($1,000 
>worth sold), and deliver about 10 copies of the Radiola book that I 
>had pre-sold. With folks milling around with nothing to do for most 
>of the afternoon, I put out about seven other books that I was 
>planning to sell, to keep people entertained. This worked pretty 
>well, sparking numerous conversations and some general "hanging 
>out." It also resulted in a couple more Radiola book sales and about 
>three other book sales. Well I figured that this was not a case of 
>letting buyers get a jump on some hot-deal artifact sale ahead of 
>the official FM start, so I didn't worry too much about it. It did 
>not preempt anyone who wanted to buy a radio or one-of-a-kind item. 
>Still, there may of been those who objected.
>
>The experience DID give me the idea that the Board might consider 
>allowing paper sales on Thursday PM for those arriving early, i.e., 
>new and used books, paper advertising, magazines, manuals, etc. This 
>would give the folks who must arrive early something else to do 
>without preempting equipment sales that would still have to wait 
>until the Friday FM opening. You can kill a lot of time going 
>through paper without acing others out of anything in high demand. 
>Just a thought for your consideration. BTW, I did not bring my main 
>inventory of books to sell because I do not like to undercut sales 
>by the Bournes which benefit the Huntington Museum. Also, maybe the 
>club could do capacitor and tube sales on Thursday, plus things like 
>the DVDs and t-shirts and bumper stickers.
>
>I walked the parking lot about 9 AM on Friday checking vending 
>permits to ensure that they were displayed and that the vendors were 
>occupying the right number of spaces. About 6-8 scofflaws were 
>apprehended. The worst violator had 4 spaces and was not even going 
>to register for the meet. We got $75 from him and monies from 
>several other out-of-compliance vendors. In the process I counted 
>about 110 occupied vendor spaces. That actually includes 6 or 8 more 
>spaces that were taken later in the day and Saturday AM. Let's see 
>how that compares with the number of spaces that were recorded as 
>paid. Charlie, Geoff, Steve, and maybe others of you did some 
>parking lot policing too. I unfortunately did not get around a 
>second time for that purpose.
>
>Personally, I did not sell too many radios but book sales were 
>strong, a lot of DVDs were sold for the club, and I picked up a few 
>great items. I thought the FM was a tad bigger and a good bit more 
>active than last year. There were some new faces and everyone seemed 
>pleased with the event.
>
>I got two gorgeous Muchow collection sliding coil tuners from Ed 
>Bell that set me back $550 (an Arnold of NY) and $300 (a Sears 
>Meteor) both in outstanding condition. From the auction I got that 
>crazy lot of audio tubes for $600. There are some nice NOS audio 
>tubes there, the beasts being two NOS Amperex Bugle Boys which I am 
>very glad to have. They are getting so scarce and can either be put 
>to use or kept as one of the few certain investment-grade 
>radio-related items. Also from the auction I got the very expertly 
>refinished Silvertone 4565 table model ($180) with the primo large 
>copper/brass dial and 8-tube chassis including tuning eye. My 
>grandfather had the same dial in his 10-tube console.
>
>My final purchase was the beautiful O'neil (for Sears) speaker of 
>Buford's from the contest and from his personal collection. I never 
>expected Buford to sell this speaker and I am grateful beyond 
>expression. It is an honor in my mind to get a speaker from Buford's 
>collection, as only the best of the best actually gets a spot in his 
>personal collection. I will write Buford and Jane a thank you note 
>separately. My small speaker collection is starting to have real 
>class. If I can just keep it small and not get carried away, I will 
>be a happy man....
>
>It was a very interesting auction; large and better quality than for 
>some years. The Soghoian Estate made a big difference but there were 
>other pluses as well. Such as the Deforest set with loop and the 
>Radiola 24 that were both in such nice shape.
>
>Looked to me like the contest was about the same size as last year. 
>Once again the quality was fantastic. We just need about eight more 
>entries to fill the room. My favorites were Geoff's mirror set with 
>the great back story, Dave Willenborg's Ultradyne restoration, the 
>side-by-side pair of bakelite Airline scroll-dial sets by Geoff and 
>Rod, and just about anything that Gary Alley brings, plus Buford's 
>speaker of course. I hope photos of EVERY entry can make it into 
>Radio Age. Thanks Eric, Jim, and anyone else for taking the photos 
>and making them available.
>
>Unfortunately, I missed all of the Friday seminars. Rats.
>
>Looking forward to seeing the official numbers for RadioActivity 2007.
>
>Regards to all,
>Paul
>
>P.S. Feel free to forward this email along to other attendees and radio nuts.
>