Hosstraders Flea Market is no more!

[kd4e]

I was at HamCation, a larger-than-Hosstraders
Fest here in Florida, this past weekend.

The Fest was packed with buyers and vendors, both
commercial and tailgaters.  It is undiminished over
the past several years I have attended.

There was an excellent representation of BA gear,
test gear, parts, modern gear, antennas, and other
toys.

As for test gear, both old and new were represented
and there are retail and Internet businesses here
in Florida that sell new and discontinued test gear.

Perhaps some of the "decline" you believe you see
is more regional than nationwide.

Here in the southeast we experience the need for
Ham radio in disaster response on a regular basis
and many older Ham citizens have relocated South.

There are discussion lists of Hams actively buying
and selling and restoring BA gear, sharing MacGuyver-
like creations from "junque", and thinking of creative
new ways to enjoy Ham radio.

My wife and our 11yr old son are licensed, as is a
26 year old neighbor, and our 10 yr old daughter
is working on her license.

I see no decline of the hobby at all around here!  :-)

> I stopped selling a few years ago after
> getting sick of people pissing and moaning about the price of some
> item (well below internet prices, even) and dealing with idiots in
> general. I think this may be what the guys were referring to as the
> 'changes in the direction of amateur radio' along with the
> plug-n-play-then-throw-away approach. I even had one guy who wanted a
> receiver say to me "Gee, I've always wanted one of those, and that's a
> really good price - but if I buy it, then I have to carry it back to
> my car and I don't wanna', maybe thinking I wanted to sell it badly
> enough to do it for him?
> 
> Disagree. I'm looking for newer, high end test gear. There used to be
> lots. No longer. Virtually all gone to eBay. Now even the dealers don't
> bother to go to fleas any more.
> 
> If you'd have asked me 5 years ago if I'd be around to see the end of
> ham radio, I'd have laughed. Now, I'm not so sure...
> 
> ~ Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ



-- 

Thanks! & 73, doc, KD4E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Projects: http://ham-macguyver.bibleseven.com
Personal: http://bibleseven.com
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