It seems that this blog post never actually got published on the day-of so I am re-releasing it but under the correct date.
This morning started at 6:00am when I eagerly left my apartment, destined for the Carp fair ground where I planned to meet with Larry (VE2DO) who is a very knowledgeable (and friendly) ham that I me at the Iroquois and Montreal West Island ham fests earlier in the year.
At 7:30 I was helping Larry unload his wares and managed to get a sneak peak at some of the equipment that other hams have amassed over the years. What is apparent in this hobby is that it is easy to accumulate lots of .. well .. questionably useful stuff. don’t get me wrong, there is probably a use for most of the stuff one could find at at ham fest, however as Larry pointed out, much of what people have on display often has very little value or usefulness.
Once the ham fest was officially underway, I watched to see how Larry stalked the deals. I tell you, the best thing you can do as a new ham is to watch and learn!
With some help from Larry, I managed to acquire a Kenwood 30A power supply for a steal at $35 – wow! What was really nice is that a medium-duty power supply was on my wish list and I managed to cross that off for only $35 as opposed to nearly $200 for a modern switching p/s.
Also on my list of purchases were:
- Kenwood 30A power supply with modular plug & 2 power-pole connectors
- YSK-857 separation kit for my FT-857D
- 4 “egg” insulators for antenna projects
- 2 “end strain” ceramic insulators
- 10 silver plated, teflon PL-259 connectors
- 5 silver plated RG58 adapters
- 2x NMO mount mobile antenna mount assemblies
- 5/8 and 1/4 wave VHF antenna (2m only)
- dual-band magnetic mount UHF/VHF antenna for “base operation”
All said and done, I spent only a little over $200 which is quite good considering the equipment I now have.
I was really hoping to find a steal of a deal for a CW iambic key anda cross-needle SWR meter. I almost grabbed a CW key that Ante (VE2BBW) recommended however by the time I decided to go for it, the darn thing was gone. I was a bit hesitant due to its aesthetic properties, however, I am sure it would have served its purpose well.
I did not stay too long at the ham fest as I was suffering from a fairly serious bout of poison ivy, so I was glad to get home and into a scalding hot shower for some itch relief.
I look forward to my next ham fest – hopefully one soon. I heard of one in Kingston in October. I doubt that I will be able to make that one, however, I remain optimistic.
Of the attendees, I managed to have some great conversations with the following hams:
- Larry, VE2DO
- Ernie, VE3EJJ
- Bob, VA3QV
- Ante, VE2BBW
- Glen, VE3XRA
- Guylène, VA3GLN
- Guy, VE3VCF