[R-390] NH Hosstraders Oct 3-4

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

Hey John - comments follow in text...

flood@Krohne.com wrote:

>Greetings fellow radio fans with back pain!
>
>It's almost time again to get rained (or snowed) on again at Hosstraders in
>Hopkington, NH.  Just wondering who will attend.  Boomer made mention early
>summer about a meeting of the listmember there this fall.  Perhaps we could
>have some sort of memorial service to all of the mechanical filters that
>have "gone to a better place".  Or maybe sacrifice a pto in some sort of
>pagan ritual filled with fire and of course distilled and fermented
>beverages. 
>
The AM crowd has us beat hands down for rituals. Last one I (clearly) 
recall was a B&W SSB add-on accessory being taken to the top of the 
bleachers at Deerfield and hurled off to its doom - several times. Many 
a Yaecomwood and such have met a similar fate as a sacrifice to Zap, the 
Radio God. I think a more respectful view is now held of all vintage 
(read 'tube') gear, but riceboxes are still fair game. SS gear in 
general, really. I figure with the 'recyclability' of the R-390 family 
of radios, we should save all the PTOs, filters (good or bad) and 
everything else for later use, experimentation, or investigation. Maybe 
we could find one of those RatShack DX-301 boxes or something similar? 
They're mostly plastic, so it should make a nice pyrotechnics display. 
How about one of those JRC N(e)RD gadgets?  Plenty-o-plastic there!*ducking*

> On a serious note Just to get a chance to put a face to the
>names is good to do.  Also who will be bringing heavy metal or parts
>looking for a new home?  Perhaps a "preview" listed here for list members
>before the unclean hoard gets to take them away would be in order?  
>
Just a note to the wise: be sure if you haul anything big for someone to 
pick up from you there that they will indeed follow through. I had the 
misfortune of taking a Heath HX-10 Marauder to a previous 'fest for a 
listmember (not this list) who insisted he wanted it. Held it all 
weekend for him after he told me he'd pay me then, but would rather wait 
until the end of the 'fest after he'd sold more stuff. I agreed (the ol' 
"Trust your fellow ham/listmember" routine) and ended up getting stuck 
with taking it back home. Wouldn't have been so annoyed if not for the 3 
offers I turned down on it - one for more than I'd "sold" it to him for! 
I stopped selling as a result, just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Other side of the coin is the R-390 I told a listmember I'd sell to him 
but had already promised to George Rancourt (hadn't heard back so I 
assumed he didn't want it). George was there, still wanted the rig, so I 
sold it to him as promised. They were both present when the deal was 
concluded, so no harm or malice involved. Luckily Fair had some R-390s 
in stock, so John (#1?) was able to pick one up while visiting them. I'm 
a whole lot more careful about it now (it's true what they say  - never 
ASSUME anything!), and John still has first dibs on the next 
whateveritmightbe I part with that he's looking for.

>As
>well, listing something here that you may not normally want to take up with
>you, on the fear if not sold or traded,  having to bring it back past the
>incoming inspection of "Homeland  Security", a.k.a. XYL, could bring out a
>confirmed deal ahead of the meet.  Just a few thoughts from a fellow
>pacrat.
>  
>
And mighty fine thoughts they are. You'll make a First Class Packrat 
someday. Even if you already are, you can use the 'in training' bit as 
an excuse to accumulate more 'stuff'. There used to be a guy who came 
*every* year with a pile of R-390s and -As, usually missing meters and 
stacked in nice rows. Wasn't so long ago, either - mid 90s? Even if you 
(we) have stuff to peddle other than R-390 stuff, it's always nice to 
give friends first crack at it. Then you know it found a good home and 
you can feel better about giving someone a better price without the 
concern that they just want to turn it around the next week on epay for 
twice what they paid you. Trading is always fun, too. Everyone comes out 
with what they want and little or no cash exchanges hands.

I'm not sure if I'll be there Friday night or Saturday morning. A friend 
drives over with his motorhome and wife (she watches the table, he 
prowls for more 'stuff' - now *that* is true love) and has offered to 
let me crash there on Friday night. If the offer still holds, I'm there! 
My tent-pitching days aren't over, but they're certainly limited in 
number and reserved for special ocassions. Perhaps as the day draws 
closer, we can get an idea of how many will be there and plan on a time 
and place to gather. Larry, NE1X was there last year as well as Alex, 
AI2Q(?). I think Bob Camp traveled down Friday but returned home due to 
the weather. Mr. Mike W1RC is always there, he was with me when I ran 
into Alex in front of your nice R-390A. BTW, did you ever manage to move 
that fine receiver?

Looking forward to it, as always....

~ Boomer,  KA1KAQ