[AMRadio] Massillon Ohio Hamfest Report


Don Merz n3rht at yahoo.com
Mon Oct 30 16:04:38 EST 2006


I went to the Massillon Ohio hamfest yesterday--a
beautiful day for a drive across Western PA and into
Eastern Ohio. Massillon is a solid 2 hours and 15
minutes drive for me so it's further than I want to go
for a hamfest. But I was itching for a good hamfest
and the timing was right so I went. And I'm glad I
did.

The fest is in the 2 gynmasiums of the Massillon Boys
and Girls Club. It's simple to find and a perfect
facility for a hamfest. They had probably 125 tables
set up and I heard that they were all sold, though 10%
or so were no-shows. The Massillon club did a good job
staffing the fest and the whole thing was very well
organized. Estimating attendance is hazardous
business, but I'd guess it was in the 3-400
range--doggone good, I think. 

Boatanchors were out in force. Here's what I remember,
though I know I'm missing a bunch:

Collins 75S3B with 32S1 and the AC supply $1275 sold
Collins 75A3 in great shape $650 unsold
Collins 75A2 in ok shape with no cabinet. $350 sold
2 Drake L4B amps in nice shape. One sold for $550
Drake TR-4s of various stripes unsold
Drake B-lines, C-lines and accessories, all unsold, I
think
Many Heathkit monobanders $40-$60 One may have sold.
Gonset Tri-Band HF RX with wrong knob $75 unsold
Various Gonset converters--$20 each one sold
NC-109 with speaker (forget the price) unsold
NC-300 in mediocre shape $250 unsold
Hallicrafters SX-71 in beautiful shape $265 unsold
SB-301, SB-101, SB-102, HP-23 supplies $175--$200
each, all unsold I think
Various Hickok test gear, unsold
Heathkit Mohawk RX near mint $300 (see below)
HT-32 TX in good shape, untested (mine) $100 sold
Military Navy WWII RBB RX in ok shape (mine) $100 sold
VHF ARC-5 command RX $25 unsold--missing one side
ARC-5 Q-5er $25 unsold
CE 458 VFO for the 10B/20A--no cabinet, otherwise
nice. $35 sold
CE 10B in nice shape $75 unsold, I think
HP 8640B signal gen in mil cabinet $225 sold
Tek 24xx digital storage 'scope $300 unsold.
Various tek 'scope plug-ins unsold
HP 275mhz 'scope didn't get price unsold

Old time hamfests used to always have an auction
running simultaneously with the hamfest and the
Massillon club has the only hamfest I know of that has
maintained that tradition. Perry Ballinger is the
auctioneer. Anyone wanting to auction anything could
just go into the other gymnasium and set it on the
tables arrayed for that purpose along one wall. By the
time the auction started at 9AM, 3/4 of the tables
along one long wall were full to overflowing with all
manner of stuff--but mostly small parts and strange
oddiments.

There was one thing in the auction that I wanted--a
homebrew rack transmitter in a 5 foot tall cabinet
with PP 813's in the final. It was (and is)
beautifully built but the power supply and cabling
between the chasses was unfinished. I and others
suspected that it had never been on the air. I also
found an original SCR-274N cable with the right
connectors on both ends in one of the junk boxes. So I
hung around and picked up both items from the
auction--the cable for $5 and the rack TX for an
incredibly reasonable $50.

Other stuff seen in the auction
Atlas 210X with console $75
Atlas 215x with mobile mount and AC PS $85
Swan 500cx with PS and bad S-meter $70
Hallicrafters S-38B 
Various wooden antique broadcast radios
Caps, knobs, AC power distribution stuff, much more

While I was in the auction, waiting for the stuff I
wanted to come up for bid, my son Mishe was manning my
table. Every time something would sell, he'd come
running over and give me the money. First $20, then
$100, then $40,, etc. By his third or fourth trip, the
audience was in stitches and calling out for him to
give them the money. It was pretty funny.

I ended up spending more than I wanted to--but it
couldn't be helped (yea, right...). A friend of mine
who is retired from the merchant marine showed up with
a very nice RCA Radiomarine 8506-B receiver with
cabinet and shockmount. I like RCA stuff and couldn't
resist for $100. Another guy had 2 SCR-274N
transmitters that looked like new and were unmodified
for $25 each. Neither one is a ham band TX, but I am
assembling parts for an SCR-274N station and had to
buy them "just in case". I also found this neat Gonset
accessory that is a combination code practice
oscillator and station monitor for $5.

Finally, we had packed the minivan and I went in to go
to the bathroom. The guy with the Mohawk had marked it
down to $250. I stopped to look and he said "look
inside", opening the lid. It was clean enough to eat
off of inside--sparkling, like new. For the first
time, I gave it a good going over on the outside and
realized, with the the exception of two very light
scratches on top of the cabinet, I was looking at a
near-mint original Mohwak. The seller gave me a sob
story about how his friend gave it to him to sell and
he couldn't take "less than $200 for it". So I offered
$150. And we settled on $190. It has the original
manual and the original tuner assembly manual--also
both near-mint. Looking it over at home, the radio is
positively glowing--front panel and cabinet are almost
pristine. It's an impressive receiver and has found a
home in the shack of N3RHT.

We didn't have any food so I can't comment on food
quality. People started packing about 11AM. We did
likewise at 11:45 and were pulling out at 12:15.

Since I am severely space-constrained here, I am
selling my SX-25 and EFJ Thunderbolt to make room for
the RCA RX and Mohawk RX respectively. If anyone has
any interest in the SX-25 or Thunderbolt, please send
me an e-mail and I'll get pictures for you.

The last hamfest of the year in this area is WACOM at
the Washington, PA County Fairgrounds this Sunday.
I'll be there. Please stop by and see if Mishe has any
money for you.

73, Don Merz, N3RHT




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