{"id":17737,"date":"2016-03-21T22:13:01","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T02:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idlenot.com\/?p=17737"},"modified":"2016-03-21T22:13:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T02:13:01","slug":"the-2016-ecarc-swap-meet-or-what-can-10-get-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idlenot.com\/?p=17737","title":{"rendered":"The 2016 ECARC Swap Meet or What can $10 get you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2016 Eastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Club Flea Market<\/strong> is now history. It took place last Saturday, March 19. I wait all year for this one (see an earlier post <\/a>about the 2013 event). It’s nearby (I made the drive in 45 minutes ), well attended and it usually has lots of old stuff that radio collectors like. The emphasis, of course, is on amateur radio equipment. I’m pretty well all set when it comes to ham radio. Unlike me, most of the attendees are looking for newer items. That’s good news because I have my pick of the old stuff.<\/p>\n

\"ECARC<\/a><\/p>\n

I look for bargains. A nicely restored radio is not usually something that I will buy. I want something that I can work on and hopefully bring back to life with minimal work. Otherwise I am content to leave some radios as found so long as they look good. Well, I circled the church hall where the event takes place several times. Some restored portables were interesting but none of them were must-have items, so I concentrated on looking for parts.<\/p>\n

One seller was disposing of some nice rigs (mostly Heathkit) and a variety of parts that once belonged to her recently deceased husband. The radios did not interest me much but the parts did. She had about 8 boxes of them. The deal was that you took a cardboard flat (the ones that hold beer) and filled it up \u00a0for $5. If you filled three the price was $12 for all three. I was able to fill just two with the items that caught my interest. It’s amazing how many neat items you can find by \u00a0sifting through all the junk. \u00a0Just to prove my point I have inserted a little gallery of photos here to display what I took home. The photos do not cover everything, just some of the more interesting items. Have a look and then let me know if you think it was worth $10.<\/p>\n

(Note: Click on any image to see an enlarged version. Comments welcome)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n