Well, another great 'fester is history.
After watching the weather forecasts all week I decided to take Friday
off and go over early. Admission cost is a bit higher for going in
before 4PM, but it was well worth it. Had I waited and gone later, I
would've missed out on several good items and only had a couple of
hours before darkness and rain closed in.
Some of the items seen included:
R-390A - 2, one missing IF deck but with meters for $100, later sold
for $150. The other was complete and clean, don't recall the price but
$450 comes to mind?
ART-13 - This is the one John mentioned already, very clean w/LF
oscillator installed *and* the two slide mounts and base, all separate
pieces. Represented as a -13A, possibly because of the LF osc? Was
unsold the last time I saw it.
AN/GRR-5 - not bad but a bit scruffy, mismatched units, $250 unsold at
last glance
TCS transmitter, receiver, AC supply and connecting cables, $250 unsold
Scott RCH receiver not working but very nice, in cabinet w/shockmount
base and all tags attached, $100 (I snarfled onto this, sure is HEAVY)
RE-2 antenna relay unit for ARC-5, missing back and scratched up, $40
unsold
BC-442A, fair to good condition, complete w/back, $50 unsold (same
seller as RE-2)
ARA Q5er receiver, drawer mods, fair-good cond. $44 unsold
R-388 receiver, missing covers otherwise looked complete, $375 unsold
Hammarlund Super Pro & PS repainted and w/GR replacement knobs, $100
sold for $40
RCA URR-13 200-400 mcs restored by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, nice
shape - $60 sold for $40 (to me, still not quite sure what to do with
it but the shockmount feet are cool)
Johnson Valiant - 2, one in nice shape for $250 and one more scratched
up just around the aisle from it for $350. The $250 was gone when I
went back by later, and the price was missing from the $350 example.
Collins 75A-4 - 2, both in very nice condition, one had the SSB
filter, didn't check inside the other, $850 for one, $900 for the
other, both unsold last time I wandered past
Collins KWM-2A, older winged emblem in nice shape, $550 sold.
Collins 51J-/R-388 original cabinet in very nice condition w/feet and
hardware, $120 sold for $100 (to me, now my R-388 has a place to
reside). Same seller had the $900 75A-4. Last year W1RC found a CY-979
cabinet for the R-390(*) under a table for $5, so I was determined to
find one this year. Ended up with this one instead.
Hallicrafters SX-42 parts donor, complete chassis but rough looking, $5
sold.
Heathkit Apache tx, $125 sold.
Vibroplex Original, gray base, black paddles, old but NIB w/paperwork,
$90 sold, resold by new owner for $140 later.
Vibroplex Blue Racer chromed model (deluxe?) w/red paddles, $125 unsold.
National NC-173 - 2, one very rusty unsold for $50, one in good
condition for $175 unsold.
National NC-125 - 2, one in rough shape for $50 unsold, one in Cosmic
Blue wrinkle? for $150 unsold.
Hammarlund HQ-140 w/matching speaker, good cond. priced separately -
$? for receiver $100 for speaker (someone has been watching ebay too
much), unsold.
Very ratty Collins KWS-1 power supply and equally ratty 75A-4, price ?
Also numerous Heathkit SB-type rigs, some WJ receivers and many other
items I either didn't check closely enough or forgot to mention.
Attendence was down due to the forecasted wx, although Friday was a
beautiful day overall, mostly sunny and mid 70s. The rain didn't come
until late, and then it was a mist or sprinkles until 10PM at which
time I left. In fairness, some of the items may have sold later that
night or Saturday, although I suspect the rain had an impact on
Saturday's business.
One item strangely missing this time around: Hammarlund SP-600/R-274
receivers. Didn't see a single one. They are usually as plentiful as
R-390 types, sometimes moreso.
Dale, KW1I had his wonderful GRC-19 set up in canvas covered wooden
box set up working for all to see, its audio clearly heard around the
AM/milsurplus corral. Most interesting vehicle this time was a
restored Model A (I think?) pickup driven down from Maine by a fellow
who was selling gear from the back bed. Larry, N1ES also brought along
his 1965 Falcon again. Only military vehicle I saw was Dale's GMC
radio van, or maybe it was Brown's?
I also managed to pick up the required 6 sets of Millen type 32103
feed thru insulators for a transmitter restoration project for $9, one
of the large ART-13 connectors for $1.50, and some stainless steel
hardware I didn't even know I needed. Someone was selling large
plastic bags full, roughly 2 pounds for 50ยข or a large bag (about 5+
pounds) for $1. Apparently they had bought out a shop. I ended up with
a bunch of small screws as well as large Phillips head rack screws,
along with lock washers, aluminum hex standoffs, and the nuts that
clip into those square rackmount holes. Can't remember what else, but
$6 worth was all I wanted to carry.
Saw many folks including my old friend Gary WZ1M (he sold me the
URR-13), George Rancourt, John Flood who brought along the 28VDC power
supply he was holding for me, and met John Forster. Had dinner in
Concord with Joe, WA2PJP and saw my old friend Brian (formerly N1HUT
now W1LYD) who drove down from Alaska. Talk about dedication!
Actually, he's visiting until December.
All in all, a very good 'fest despite the threat of rain. Hopefully
others will contribute their observations and purchases. Winter is
long, and 'fests are few.
73 de Todd/'Boomer' KA1KAQ
