It has been literally a hundred years since I went to a Hamfest. I miss the pomp, circumstance and sheer adrenaline rush of finding some item that you thought had disappeared from existence. Summer is in full swing and time to find a Hamfest. For our UK friends the radio rallies are a 1st cousin to the US Hamfest.
One of the best monthly Hamfests here in California was in the parking lot of TRW near LAX. If you didn't start shopping by 6AM, you would miss out on the good stuff. In the 1970's I went to a TRW event arriving prior to 6AM and at the 1st table I found one of those you will never find this ever deals. Some months earlier, I had purchased a used SBE-33 SSB transceiver which was in good shape but did not have the special and very rare DC to AC inverter that was sold to enable mobile operation. There it was and a $20 bill put my SBE-33 in the car operating 20M Mobile.
Today you could buy a suitable inverter for less than that $2o bill at You know where.
What would I look for at a hamfest today? Regrettably today most hamfest treasures involve a lot of old computer parts and not old-time radio equipment. So here is my list.
Mason jars chock full of transistors as there is a good likelihood of the presence of PNP Germanium RF transistors needed for those early hybrid radios.
Jones Plugs (12 Pin) as these are the standard amongst many manufactures (Drake, Swan) as is the 11 Pin octal type (Heath and Collins). BTW if any blog reader has a 10 Pin socket (rectangular) made by Elco let's talk turkey. Contact me at my QRZ.com email address.
Ceramic slug tuned coils (National and JW Miller) and IF cans. Frequency or inductance not important.
Dynamic microphones (throw the case away and keep the innards).
EOL (End Of List)
But there is a process for going to a hamfest which involves taking only $40 in cash along with a backpack and small pull cart. Keeping the cash stash low causes you to be a deliberative shopper and not buying the moon. Having cartage along, frees up the hands to pick through the boxes under the tables.
Speaking of rummaging through the under the table boxes, Hazmat Gear including KN95 masks and several pairs of Nitrile gloves are mandatory. Some of those treasures were formerly bathrooms for rodents and thus present a health hazard until washed in the kitchen sink and dried in your oven. (If you use such a process a distinct possibility of rat poop in your sink. Think Hantavirus!)
Have fun and remember wear a hat (if bald) and use sunscreen. But above all enjoy.
Them that know can make things go!
73's
Pete N6QW