Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following photos from the Berryville Hamfest.
Dan notes that the resolution is not great in these photos, but I believe we can still see enough detail to know that this hamfest had many vintage treasures:
Thank you once again for sharing these, Dan!
Well, unlike Steve, I love the old rigs, but I have to admit, they seemed to be in pretty awful states for the most part. A nicely renovated R-390A, for example, is simply a thing of beauty, and properly aligned will stand it’s own against anything more modern. Alas, I don’t have the time, nor experience to take those projects on, and sold the last of my R390As’ a few years ago. Hopefully, they went to a better shack and are still being tuned today!
I wanted to go, but couldn’t make it. Now that I see what was being sold, I’m glad I didn’t attend in this hot weather. I don’t know what other hams want, but the ones I know are far more interested in state of the art rigs – not what is essentially junk from the mid 1950s or earlier. Maybe they can be turned into lamps, but using them on the bands really isn’t an option for most of us. Most of this stuff belongs in radio museums, not a ham shack. Sorry for being harsh, but I don’t see the relevance of this equipment in 2022. The only reason I even go to the occasional hamfest is for wire, connectors and various things that are hard to find in B&M stores these days.
73,
Steve, N4EUK
Ten Tec Eagle, Elecraft KX3, Yaesu FT-818 and numerous HTs