Dalton, GA Hamfest 2010

[N4VGB]

http://darchamfest.tripod.com/

It's that time of year again! 28th annual Dalton, GA Hamfest. It is a dandy 'fest.

Yes, it's on Feb 27 and down here you'll have 3 possible choices of weather. 1-Sunny and clear weather almost like Summer and you'll go home with your first and maybe worse sunburn of 2010. 2-Rain, rain and more rain. 3-Cold and windy.

27 years of attending this one and I don't remember any other weather conditions.

[N4VGB]

Today was one of the best Dalton hamfests. Lots of sellers inside the 2 buildings and in the flea market area outside, well attended by possible buyers.

My 2 hamfests companions K4CMY & KJ4RC filled the bed of my truck with items to sell and sold almost all of it. Which unfortunately made room for some items to "follow me home".

Complete, working and with complete spares kit AN/GRR-5, R-174 for the rcvr alone, was purchased for $25.

RT-380/AR (mil version of Collins 18S-4) in good condition purchased for $80.

RCA Senior Voltohmyst and HP audio oscillator, both working FB and with manuals purchased for $20.

Not much moving in the high dollar items but there seemed to be lots of sales on items $500 and less.

The premier item of the hamfest for me was a Johnson Valiant that looked better than Johnson ever made one, I didn't ask the price and it went home with the seller.

[w2amr]

Today was one of the best Dalton hamfests. Lots of sellers inside the 2 buildings and in the flea market area outside, well attended by possible buyers.

My 2 hamfests companions K4CMY & KJ4RC filled the bed of my truck with items to sell and sold almost all of it. Which unfortunately made room for some items to "follow me home".

Complete, working and with complete spares kit AN/GRR-5, R-174 for the rcvr alone, was purchased for $25.

RT-380/AR (mil version of Collins 18S-4) in good condition purchased for $80.

RCA Senior Voltohmyst and HP audio oscillator, both working FB and with manuals purchased for $20.

Not much moving in the high dollar items but there seemed to be lots of sales on items $500 and less.

The premier item of the hamfest for me was a Johnson Valiant that looked better than Johnson ever made one, I didn't ask the price and it went home with the seller.
I'll bet the XLY was thrilled to see you bringing home more junk. :lol:
I'm thinking of selling off some more stuff I have here. I finally unloaded to Globe Scout Deluxe last week, that's a start.

[N4VGB]

I'll bet the XLY was thrilled to see you bringing home more junk. :lol:
I'm thinking of selling off some more stuff I have here. I finally unloaded to Globe Scout Deluxe last week, that's a start.



She gave up years ago George. :shifty

The OD green and black of the military gear is an addiction that cannot be broken, ever. And none of we addicts are even looking for a "cure". :lol:

Now the quest begins for a Collins 180K-3 antenna tuner and 314S-4 remote control unit, maybe even a 350C-5 shock mount for the RT-380/AR and a 350D-3 shock mount for the antenna tuner!? :drool: :drool: :drool

[w2amr]

I'll bet the XLY was thrilled to see you bringing home more junk. :lol:
I'm thinking of selling off some more stuff I have here. I finally unloaded to Globe Scout Deluxe last week, that's a start.



She gave up years ago George. :shifty

The OD green and black of the military gear is an addiction that cannot be broken, ever. And none of we addicts are even looking for a "cure". :lol:

Now the quest begins for a Collins 180K-3 antenna tuner and 314S-4 remote control unit, maybe even a 350C-5 shock mount for the RT-380/AR and a 350D-3 shock mount for the antenna tuner!? :drool: :drool: :drool
Shoot, I wish I had known that last year. I sold my working GRC-9, DY-88 dynamotor P/S, T-17 Mic, Speaker, spare tubes and vibrator for $125. And I had just installed new filter caps in the PS.

[N4VGB]

Shoot, I wish I had known that last year. I sold my working GRC-9, DY-88 dynamotor P/S, T-17 Mic, Speaker, spare tubes and vibrator for $125. And I had just installed new filter caps in the PS.



I gave up on acquiring a complete and decent GRC-9 years ago, those things were selling for big bucks around here. So I settled for the Chinese Type 102E radio off of eBay, a clone of the GRC-9 circuit and I've been satisfied with it.

Sweetwater Bob/K4ENC (saw him at Dalton yesterday) bought the same type 102E from eBay but has already sold it now (he never keeps anything very long). Bob didn't buy the complete set with all accessories, only the rcvr & xmitter. So he comes down to see me and borrow the hand crank gen set for the rig and has his wife crank on it for initial testing! :roll: :yes: :rofl:

Bob is fooling around with the thing and accidently shorts the HV and it pops a bit, the wife flinches slightly at the noise and the little platform she's straddling to crank the gen set collapses under her and dumps her butt in the floor! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Even I am not bold enough to ask the XYL to operate a mil hand crank gen set for me! :slap:

[w2amr]

Shoot, I wish I had known that last year. I sold my working GRC-9, DY-88 dynamotor P/S, T-17 Mic, Speaker, spare tubes and vibrator for $125. And I had just installed new filter caps in the PS.



I gave up on acquiring a complete and decent GRC-9 years ago, those things were selling for big bucks around here. So I settled for the Chinese Type 102E radio off of eBay, a clone of the GRC-9 circuit and I've been satisfied with it.

Sweetwater Bob/K4ENC (saw him at Dalton yesterday) bought the same type 102E from eBay but has already sold it now (he never keeps anything very long). Bob didn't buy the complete set with all accessories, only the rcvr & xmitter. So he comes down to see me and borrow the hand crank gen set for the rig and has his wife crank on it for initial testing! :roll: :yes: :rofl:

Bob is fooling around with the thing and accidently shorts the HV and it pops a bit, the wife flinches slightly at the noise and the little platform she's straddling to crank the gen set collapses under her and dumps her butt in the floor! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


I'm sorry I missed that. :lol:

[w2amr]

Shoot, I wish I had known that last year. I sold my working GRC-9, DY-88 dynamotor P/S, T-17 Mic, Speaker, spare tubes and vibrator for $125. And I had just installed new filter caps in the PS.



I gave up on acquiring a complete and decent GRC-9 years ago, those things were selling for big bucks around here.

I got mine from Fair radio a long time ago. They had plenty of them at the time. Also R-390's with the meters.

[N4VGB]

I got mine from Fair radio a long time ago. They had plenty of them at the time. Also R-390's with the meters.



They had plenty of all the old stuff for years. I bought a brand new T-368E there that was still in the original crate that B&W had shipped it in to the military, still had all the original paperwork attached. Also grabbed a real nice R-390 there on the same trip.

Fair Radio would give you ulcers back then. They had rows of BC-610s, T-368s, etc. in various stages of being cannibalised for parts to sell. :sick

[w2amr]

I got mine from Fair radio a long time ago. They had plenty of them at the time. Also R-390's with the meters.



They had plenty of all the old stuff for years. I bought a brand new T-368E there that was still in the original crate that B&W had shipped it in to the military, still had all the original paperwork attached. Also grabbed a real nice R-390 there on the same trip.

Fair Radio would give you ulcers back then. They had rows of BC-610s, T-368s, etc. in various stages of being cannibalised for parts to sell. :sick
Wow. Do you still have the T3?
I had a chance to buy up a beasty 610 once, too friggin heavy.

[WØTKX]

Used to get that Fair Radio Sales catalog as a kid. Used it as a reference to figure out stuff at ham fests. Way too expensive for me back then.

[N4VGB]

Wow. Do you still have the T3?
I had a chance to buy up a beasty 610 once, too friggin heavy.



Oh yeah, still have the T-368E. Used it on the low power 90 watt CW setting for quite a while, talk about "overkill"!!! :rofl:

The BC-610I that I have came from a ham in NC many years ago. It's also in excellent condition. I can't remember his name or call??? Anyway, I went over there strictly to look at the BC-610I only, but after arriving it seemed the old boy might be in a financial bind and needed to sell everything. He kept offering me bargain basement prices on all his parts and NOS NIB tubes, I ended up driving home a pickup truck with only barely enough room for me to sit in it and drive! The only thing I left behind was a 51J-4 rcvr that some other ham had already laid claim to. :roll:

I'm a sucker for just about anything with a "bargain basement" price tag. I purposely don't take much money to hamfests, just trying to make sure I don't buy anything that I don't really need or want, it never seems to work. :doh:

[w2amr]

Wow. Do you still have the T3?
I had a chance to buy up a beasty 610 once, too friggin heavy.



Oh yeah, still have the T-368E. Used it on the low power 90 watt CW setting for quite a while, talk about "overkill"!!! :rofl:


Doesn't that use a single 4-400 like my 500? But weighs about 5 times more. :lol:

[N4VGB]

Wow. Do you still have the T3?
I had a chance to buy up a beasty 610 once, too friggin heavy.



Oh yeah, still have the T-368E. Used it on the low power 90 watt CW setting for quite a while, talk about "overkill"!!! :rofl:


Doesn't that use a single 4-400 like my 500? But weighs about 5 times more. :lol:

Yep, I don't recall it's exact weight, something like 400-500? The bottom PS chassis is the only real back breaker, the middle modulator chassis and top RF deck aren't bad at all. I can still handle all except the PS by myself, need help for that one.

[w2amr]

Total weight of the RF deck, and the modulator/PS is 174 lbs on my 500.

[N4VGB]

Total weight of the RF deck, and the modulator/PS is 174 lbs on my 500.

That's about how much the PS deck weighs in the T-368E. You know the military, over engineer everything. But the extreme mechanical and electrical design is exactly what I love about the mil surplus gear. Built to the extreme in every category, with the unlimited funding of the taxpayers.

The thing is not so noisy after you remove the back panel and kill that giant Dayton fan that moves air through the whole cabinet, the litttle fan that cools the 4-400A alone is enough, the rest of the tubes seem to convection cool just fine in amateur service.

These things sell for big bucks today on the email reflectors and eBay, glad I grabbed this one before the price on them inflated.

[w2amr]

Total weight of the RF deck, and the modulator/PS is 174 lbs on my 500.

That's about how much the PS deck weighs in the T-368E. You know the military, over engineer everything. But the extreme mechanical and electrical design is exactly what I love about the mil surplus gear. Built to the extreme in every category, with the unlimited funding of the taxpayers.

The thing is not so noisy after you remove the back panel and kill that giant Dayton fan that moves air through the whole cabinet, the litttle fan that cools the 4-400A alone is enough, the rest of the tubes seem to convection cool just fine in amateur service.

These things sell for big bucks today on the email reflectors and eBay, glad I grabbed this one before the price on them inflated.
Kinda like classic cars, and everything else for that matter. Send me back to the days of the $25 Ranger, $40 Apache, and the $300 57 Chevy rag top. :lol: