Hurricane Beryl sure did impact the typically large crowds at today’s Texas City hamfest.
I’d estimate the vendors and buyers were down about 50%. Tidelands ARC president, Bo KT1AA, confirmed that this hurricane was quite a difference maker. But kudos to Bo and the Tidelands team for keeping the event intact and on schedule.
Around 0700, a lingering rain shower and an overturned vehicle on I45 slowed up most the earlybirds trying to get down to Doyle Convention for setup and early browsing. But by mid morning, the weather turned out nice and a few of us sat outside to chat with fellow hams.
The JSCARC tables were just the right size to hold several members’ private items for sale. Because of the smaller than normal crowds, selling was a rather slow and sometime painful- as hams are still known to be cheaper than dirt. I think hamfests activates a fellow ham’s gene to pinch pennies and hold onto their wallets. Maybe it’s the natural evolution of more hams getting older and being on fixed incomes now?
Nonetheless, a few of us were successful selling our treasures either at asking price or reduced “I don’t want to take it home” basement prices.
Of note, Tanner found a new home for his IC-9100 VHF/UHF radio. I luckily sold my R390A (that’s 85 lbs of heavy boatanchor metal) and HX-50 (40lbs) to our JSCARC president Terry KA5TBB. Terry has the boatanchor disease and is savoring over his newly acquire 125 lbs of radios to complement all the other cool military/boatanchor equipment at this QTH. Ask him about his Collins Gold Dust Twins (75A4/KWS1) and his ART-13 projects in-work.
This was quite an unusual hamfest for me, as I only bought one thing- a box of toy plastic straws for my grandkids. (thanks Danielle!). I was actually on a mission today, as I had just bought a Rigol DSA815-TG spectrum analyzer and needed to sell some stuff to offset the expenditure. Luckily, I exceeded my $ goal with the help of selling my IC-706MKIIg and TS-2000.
The JSCARC group was in full force
- Ken K5RG
- Tanner W9TWJ
- John AB5SS
- Keith KG5HOK
- Brian KC5FNB
- Jerry N5FWB
- Danielle KI5LQT
- Terry KA5TBB
- Ron KD5JRR
- Kelvin K5KGH
- David KB5PGY
- David K5DLF
- Keith WD9GET
- Wayne KE5QG
L-R K5KGH, W9TWJ, K5RG, AB5SS, KI5LQT, KA5TBB, K5DLF, KD5JRR, KB5PGY, W5OC
David KB5PGY along with JSC and CLARC members (David K5DLF, Kelvin K5KGH, Tanner W9TWJ) hosted the VE License Exam held during the hamfest in another room.
Congrats to 2-3 JSC student interns who passed their Tech license! Tanner W9TWJ graciously agreed to conduct an online license exam on Friday evening for another 4+ JSC student interns who couldn’t make it today.
One of the coolest items on the JSCARC table? Danielle’s 3d printed NASA Orion capsules and her 3d printed speaker deflector cones. Besides her 3D printing expertise (using solidworks) she was selling some resin reproduced knobs. She has that unique skill to reproduce parts using resin molds!
Danielle also found and bought the most interesting item- an antique navigational sextant housed in a cool wooden box. Who needs GPS?!
Many thanks as usual to Ken for reserving a table for the club and being the club spokesmodel for all of these events.
And thanks to Ron KD5JRR for donating a General License Exam book to the club (for a student intern).
Lastly, congrats to Keith KG5HOK’s daughter Sophie who will be attending Texas A&M University- Commerce this Spring. She and Keith were roaming the hamfest looking for good deals. Good luck Sophie!
73 Dave W5OC
Really missed going this time. Had some critical items to take care of when power was restored.
Great report David. I submitted a copy of the report to the Combat Information Center (CIC) for validation of my participation in this fun event. Bad news is that the Club only made $13 but what good Government program isn’t based on deficit spending?? Flea Market Table: $20 Derived Income: $13