Radiofest 2005 in Monteray

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Thoriated

Radiofest 2005 in Monteray

Post by Thoriated »

http://www.radiofest.org check it out, B there or B square, Elecraft guys will be there, drool drool!
Thoriated

Post by Thoriated »

Radiofest recap....

It was a small fest, there were literally THREE outside swapmeet type vendors, I got a few things, an old AEA 5/8 wave 2m ht antenna in mint condition for nostalgic reasons, some odds and ends, and a neato Heapshit er Heathkit HW-16 CW transceiver, I might have to get that puppy working for some QRO maybe what, 25,30 watt action sometime.

There were more vendors inside, some swapmeet type and some dealers, I got an ARRL logbook and an ARRL diamond sticker to geek out my car. I got 3 kits from some QRP group, an antenna analyzer that can fit in the standard Altoids can, a little tuner, and a keyer. And oh yeah, this KX-1 thing with all the accessories, that sucker better hit the repeeter!

I caught part of a lecture by Wayne Burdick, and got to hang out with the guy quite a bit later in the thing, that guy's kind of my hero, to go from homebrewing to designing stuff like the NorCal 40, then starting a company like Elecraft and having it work so well, it's kind of a dream of mine to pull off something like that.

Fort Ord is hella out there, driving according to the directions on their web site from Mountain View, it's about 100 miles. I took the "scenic" route along 17 coming back, and that's considerably shorter.

I didn't see much that was hamsexy, I did see an ARES'd-out truck with all kinds of safety stickers, a NASA sticker, and FLAMES on the front, that was good for a giggle, and an orange vest for sale on a table but no one actually bought it and put it on. Darn! The guy who makes discones for HF, yes you heard it right, HF, was there, and you haven't lived until you've seen a discone that works down to 40 in all its glory. He says he'll be advertising in QST soon so maybe we'll all get to.

There were hot dogs, hamburgers, hot dogs, coffee, hotdogs, chips, Italian sausage with onions and peppers, hotdogs, and soda. I steered Wayne Burdick towards the Italian sausage, wanting to see my hero live a little longer.

Shameless plug department - Elecraft has just come out with an automatic antenna tuner the size of a pack of cigarettes that plays very nicely with the FT-817 and really tunes down to 1:1 rather than just saying it does like some others. Runs on a 9V battery and handles a fair number of watts, and costs not much over $100.
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Post by Wardriver »

A discone for HF?

Be sure to keep us updated on that if you would please.
Thoriated

Post by Thoriated »

OK, Mr Discone shows up at random fests here in the bay area, that discone he shows off is HUGE and he says his at home works down to 40m!

Um, I asked him why he doesn't have it deployed (it was there on the trailer but not deployed) and he pointed out that in the morning he'd forgotten to tie something or other down and it had CRASHED down onto his truck! OUCH!!! dented the top of the cab and he says some of the radials got bent etc so I guess it was time to get to the fest, just got in and drove there, worry about fixing up the 'tenna later. He has central "hubs" for sale there, his work is not cheap, but you can always buy a hub and do the rest on your own.

Let me say that his work is beautiful, very well done, and I asked him about putting a small ad in QST, he said he plans to, offering his discones, trailer hitch antenna mounts (also very well made) and baluns (likewise).

He's a nice guy, I got a planetary reduction gear for a tuning capacitor etc from him for a whole dollar, thus adding to his vast financial empire - yeah right! I hope the guy makes a great success, he'll have to appeal to the high-end hams and commercial buyers, trying to make decent money at a hamfest is like doing this: qrzmoderator
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Post by w7com »

trying to make decent money at a hamfest is like doing this: talking to a qrz moderator
Remember that copper wire was invented by two hams fighting over a penny.
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