Went to Crossroads Ham Fest Today...

Hi guys,

Well, I found myself up at 6 am. On a lark- I headed out to the hamfest at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo MI.

It was standard fare- saw a few people I know. Largish hamfest by my standards.... Purchased the kinds of things you can only get at a ham fest. Paid $9 for a pretzel and a bottle of water.

Was seriously looking for some potentiometers. No one had any.... so to have a good time- when they said they had none, I then asked "how about rheostats?".

Strangely no one got the joke. And I'm less popular. Go figure.

I did find one guy with one bag of pots- and bought two. He seemed to like me. Probably because no one else was looking for potentiometers. He also had rheostats. He didn't get the joke either.

One thing they had was lots.... piles... scads.... a small van full of variable capacitors. No one seemed to want any. I asked if they could be used in place of potentiometers- they didn't get that joke either. Didn't bring up rheostats.

Almost bought one of these:

Attachment 15262Attachment 15261

Decided against it... potentiometers are easy to see. But hard to find. The guy at this booth didn't get the joke either.

Here's what the fest looked like when the doors opened- though it got busier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VY...ature=youtu.be

So I came away with:

1. Two sets of handi-clips.

2. 2 pots.

3. One Alinco Microphone.

4. Three of these little bastards (which I have been trying to find forever!!):

Attachment 15263

So it was a pretty ok day. Came home... slept for a few hours. Came here.

I had a set of those cables that discolored, badly. Loved the metal strain reliefs, but no amount of Deoxit would keep them from tarnishing.

Crossroads? .....wasn't that out in the South Pacific at Bikini Atoll? Geeeez........... long ways to go for a freakin Hamfest! :mrgreen:

Hey lil' bastard! (referencing the little bastard) Did the lil' bastard do rheostat work?

My audio connector box is full of those little bastards...1/8" and 1/16"...mono and stereo. I make it a habit to snag the things every time I see someone selling off a bunch.

What I've been having trouble finding lately are the 1/8" mono male to RCA female adapters. Probably because I need a quantity of them at the moment.

Go to your nearest (still open) Radioshack, prices are good in the parts drawers now.

However, Amazon has 'em too.

10 pack in "gold"

20 pack in "silver"


A guy like you could probably fill a minimum order elsewhere, and get them even cheaper.

And the project begins.....

Attachment 15266

Diggin' the KPA500.