[NJARC] Fwd: RadioActivity 2007 Review

[pmalvasi at aol.com]

I was lucky enough to go to this - first time Ive been there in 10 
years and it's the same as it ever was back then - some of the nicest, 
friendiest collectors around - great guys.  On par with the old 
Heightstown fests and auction.

The only suggestion I would have to MAARC and other's with a no 
selling/buying before the opening time is to MAKE THE VENDORS OPEN 
THEIR TABLE ON TIME AND NOT LEAVE THEM COVERED UP WHILE THEY SHOP!.  
The guilty ones are typically the scoffer/profiteers too - like the guy 
 from upstate NY who sells keys.  I wont mention any names..  But some 
of those guys keep their tables closed, buy stuff at other tables, and 
have the B&*Ls to put it on their own table later on.


-----Original Message-----
From: John Dilks K2TQN <oldradio at worldnet.att.net>
To: njarc at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Sun, 10 Jun 2007 6:55 pm
Subject: [NJARC] Fwd: RadioActivity 2007 Review


Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org 
_______________________________________________ 
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. 
> 
 
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