On Mon, May 10, 2004 at 01:29:40PM -0700, SHAUN RIPLEY wrote:
> Is there computer stuff in the hamfest? I browsed
> their webpages but what I saw are all radio stuff.
Not so much indoors, but lots of the flea market stuff is computer-related.
They also host a computer-only show in March and August that's 100% indoors...
there used to be lots of flea-marketish stuff, but a few years ago they
changed the table rates and made things too expensive for people selling
$5 motherboards to effectively show up. I do buy a lot of connectors
and cables, though, at the ComputerFest. Sometimes modern RAM, CPUs and
blank media.
If you can arrive at the opening bell on Friday (presuming you aren't
a seller and browsing on Thursday night ;-), you *might* be able to find
a classic bargain or two. The other scrounge time is Sunday right before
closing time - people abandon stuff rather than take it home - that's
how I got my first PDP-8/L for 20% of the marked price... the guy didn't
want to load it in the trailer in the rain. Over the years, I've found
PDP-8 hardware (more in the past than recently, though there was an -8/a
last year), an RCA VIP, an ASR-33, DECmates, C-64 and VIC-20 bits,
a hand-held proprietary bar code scanner with a 4004 inside, machine
pin sockets, crystals, even bags of parts that were later turned into
GG2 Bus+ boards. Pound for pound, though, most of the computer
components in the flea market, are recently obsolete Intel hardware,
Macintosh and Sun boxes.
Oh, yeah... weather has *lots* to do with how good a HamFest it is...
hot and sunny days can really hurt. People tarp things up in the rain,
but an on-and-off rainy weekend can force some real bargains out of
the sellers.
And watch where you park... I prefer to pay for a spot in the grass by
the BBQ restaurant that's to the left of the arena as you leave (can't
remember what cardinal direction that's in)... get there early. It's
not a bad place for lunch and a beer when you walk back with your
morning haul, either.
Enjoy!
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-130-S Current South Pole Weather at 10-May-2004 21:00 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -71.5 F (-57.5 C) Windchill -115.4 F (-81.90 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 9.9 kts Grid 059 Barometer 681.4 mb (10571. ft)
Ethan.Dicks_at_amanda.spole.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
Received on Mon May 10 2004 - 16:12:35 BST