Tag Archives: Shelby

A photo tour of the 2022 Shelby Hamfest

On Friday, September 2, 2022, I had just enough time in my schedule to visit the Shelby Hamfest for a couple of hours.

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest outdoor hamfests in the southeast US.

Shelby Photo Gallery

Weather was ideal for the hamfest: clear skies, sunshine and very dry. It was quite hot, though! Attendance was much lower than I’ve ever seen at the Shelby Hamfest in the past, but then again this was also my first Friday attending; typically I visit on Saturday which is historically the busiest day.

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A photo tour of the 2019 Shelby Hamfest

My Labor Day weekend was free of travel this year, so I was able to make another pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddy, Vlado (N3CZ).

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest outdoor hamfests in the southeast US. This is the fourth year I’ve made a concerted effort to publish a photo tour of the event.

Weather was ideal for the hamfest–clear skies, sunshine and a dry weekend. No doubt, this was one of the reasons I believe the hamfest was well attended.

Shelby Photo Gallery

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A photo tour of the 2017 Shelby Hamfest

My Labor Day weekend was free of travel again this year, so I was able to make another pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddy, Vlado (N3CZ).

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest hamfests in the southeast US. This is the third year I’ve made a concerted effort to publish a photo tour of the event.

I sold both my Hammarlund SP-600 and Hallicrafters SX-99.

Like last year, we set up a table in the flea market to sell a few items along with other good friends from the NCDXCC. In other words, once again, I was in selling mode, not buying mode, as I need to downsize some of my collection and use the money to offset costs of review radios, and some of the conferences I’m attending this year (including the Radio Preservation Task Force Meeting in Washington DC on behalf of our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive).

Overall turnout was a little less than last year, I believe. No doubt, this was due to the possibility of rain that never materialized. By lunch time the sun was out and the foot traffic increased.

Shelby Photo Gallery

Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge or comment on the photos:

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A photo tour of the 2016 Shelby Hamfest

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My Labor Day weekend was free of travel again this year, so I was able to make another pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddies, Vlado (N3CZ), Dave (K4SV) and Phil (W9IXX). This year, all four of us brought things to sell in the flea market.

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest hamfests in the southeast US. Last year, I posted photos from the hamfest and many of you sent notes of thanks for that.

We arrived very early yesterday, prior to the gates opening for general admission. We set up our tables and almost immediately had customers in front of us. This year, I was in selling mode, not buying mode, as I desperately need to downsize some of my collection and use the money to offset costs of review radios, and some of the conferences I’m attending this year.

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The seller of this Grundig Satellit 500 only wanted $75–an exceptional bargain. I turned it on, though, and quickly discovered the LCD screen worked intermittently after having only been on for a few seconds. It was a little scuffed up too. Still–it produced great audio.IMG_20160903_104935512 IMG_20160903_104924284 IMG_20160903_104909396 IMG_20160903_104840559 IMG_20160903_104753772_HDR IMG_20160903_104732133 IMG_20160903_104706457_TOP IMG_20160903_104638547_HDR IMG_20160903_104633192 IMG_20160903_104355149 IMG_20160903_104343941_HDR IMG_20160903_104335454_HDR IMG_20160903_094424451 IMG_20160903_094413210 IMG_20160903_094350615_TOP IMG_20160903_094345045_HDR IMG_20160903_094337535 IMG_20160903_094247499_TOP IMG_20160903_094222390 IMG_20160903_094157726 IMG_20160903_094153301 IMG_20160903_094129115_TOP IMG_20160903_094125382 IMG_20160903_094121510 IMG_20160903_094112237 IMG_20160903_094108929_TOP IMG_20160903_094102125 IMG_20160903_094057690 IMG_20160903_094051265 IMG_20160903_094047198_HDR IMG_20160903_094043251

Someone had done a spectacular job restoring this Super-Pro. It would make a fine addition to any shack.
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The same seller who had the Grundig Satellit 500 was also selling this Sony ICF-6500W for $75. Other than scratchy pots, it seemed to work well.  It was very tempting to purchase, but I passed in the end.IMG_20160903_093525866_TOP

He was selling this Panasonic for $150. I passed because I had a hunch it needed a little work.IMG_20160903_093512146 IMG_20160903_093503774 IMG_20160903_093301777 IMG_20160903_093259270 IMG_20160903_092333597_TOP IMG_20160903_091445596 IMG_20160903_090320282_HDR IMG_20160903_090221887 IMG_20160903_090216356 IMG_20160903_090213331_HDR

One of the finest R-274-As I’ve ever seen. Again: someone spent a great deal of time restoring this beauty. By the time I found it in the flea market, it had already been sold. Thank goodness!IMG_20160903_090137715 IMG_20160903_090122681 IMG_20160903_090115476_HDR IMG_20160903_090103868_HDR IMG_20160903_090059269 IMG_20160903_090048304_TOP IMG_20160903_090028432_TOP IMG_20160903_085937840_HDR IMG_20160903_085717679 IMG_20160903_085703210_TOP IMG_20160903_085642966 IMG_20160903_085627053 IMG_20160903_085624079 IMG_20160903_085617071

I must have spotted at least six or seven Hallicrafters SX-100s this year at Shelby.
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I managed to come home with only $40 worth of parts: connectors, cables, plugs and a 17 meter band MFJ whip antenna (to try on my recently-acquired Elecraft KX2). I was pretty proud of myself as there were an exceptional number of vintage radios I would have loved to have taken home (like the console radio below–!).

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Any Post readers attend the Shelby hamfest? Have you attended any other local hamfests recently?  If so, please comment on what you found!

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A photo tour of the 2015 Shelby Hamfest

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For the first time in over a decade, my Labor Day weekend was free of travel, so I was able to make a short pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddies, Vlado (N3CZ), Dave (K4SV) and Phil (W9IXX).

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest hamfests in the southeast US. The last time I attended–most likely in 2004–I was amazed at the number of vendors and, especially, the size of the flea market section (my favorite part of any hamfest).

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We arrived just after the gates opened at 8:00, yesterday morning. While there were quite a number of vendors sprawling the Cleavland County Fairgrounds, attendance must have been down as it seemed there were more vendors than attendees.

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Still, it was nice to hunt for treasures without so much competition at each table!

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This BC-348-R (above) was one of the first radios that grabbed my attention. Though I already have a BC-348-Q, I certainly wouldn’t mind having another one of these classic WWII era receivers.

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This BC-348-R was very clean inside and in pretty good original cosmetic shape on the outside. To power this BC-348, I would need to add a transformer or a 28 volt Dynamotor. The seller had it priced at “$100 OBO” (or best offer). I was willing to make him an offer, but even though I kept checking back, I never found the seller at his table. Too bad.

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This BC-348-Q–priced at $125–needed a new transformer and a “tune-up,” per the seller.

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It’s rare to find a GPR-90 this clean and with a matching speaker.

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The seller only wanted $40 for this Hammarlund speaker.

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There were a number of Hammarlund SP-600s scattered across the flea market. I have one and can confidently say that it’s a joy to operate–especially on the medium wave band. IMG_20150905_084228534 IMG_20150905_084913833 IMG_20150905_084716573

The seller wanted $200 for this Harris–it needed substantial repairs internally.

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This gorgeous WWII era ART-13 was the most tempting thing I found in Shelby.

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It would look so good sitting next to or above my BC-348-Q.

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This one had been professionally restored and was in perfect working order. I’ve seen ART-13s at other hamfests, but never as clean as this one.

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The seller wanted over $500. While I know an ART-13 in this condition could command that price, I simply didn’t have the budget for it on this trip.  Fortunately, the seller is a friend-of-a-friend and if he still has this ART-13 post-fest, I might just contact him!

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The Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 is a classic little QRP transceiver! Someday, I’ll pick one up.

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If memory severs, the seller wanted $275 for this used Satellit 750 and $325 (or more) for the 800.  I noticed he had sold the 750 by my second pass.  IMG_20150905_090725657

This Sharper Image shortwave receiver (above) has BFO and tone controls on the back(!) of the unit. Very strange–imagine tuning in an SSB station by reaching behind the radio and tweaking the BFO knob!IMG_20150905_090544603 IMG_20150905_090516038 IMG_20150905_092653649 IMG_20150905_092054649 IMG_20150905_092025822_HDR

The seller wanted $100 for this Hallicrafters portable receiver. Knowing my weakness for anything Halligan, I forced myself to slowly back away. It wasn’t easy leaving it on the table.

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There were very few console radios at this hamfest; all of them were in poor condition which made it much easier for me to pass them by. IMG_20150905_092958884 IMG_20150905_103504866_HDR IMG_20150905_103155217_HDR

This 1960’s era Signal Corps TG-34-A Morse code reader was also tempting and one of the last items I viewed in the flea market. The seller wasn’t at the table, so I never bothered asking about the price. If it had been a WWII era reader, it would have come home with me.IMG_20150905_103229288

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Elecraft had a nice indoor display and a steady number of attendees inquiring about their new K3s transceiver and, of course, the KX3.
IMG_20150905_105237940In the end, I came home from Shelby with very little: only two patch cables and a male SMA connector.

I did, however, get to spend time with my friends, re-connect with a buddy I hadn’t seen since high school, and meet a few SWLing Post readers. I certainly call that a successful hamfest!

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