Small flea market report.

[Gerald C. Lemay]

One of the local repeater clubs, the Interstate Repeater society (IRS) had a
small flea  market last Saturday in Londonderry, NH. So small in fact, I
only heard about it on Saturday  morning after turning on the 2 meter rig. I
don't usually do that first thing, so it must  have been fate. Since it was
a relatively short drive and the weather was pleasant I  decided to have a
look. First stop was at the coffee shop for a large one to go. It  wouldn't
seem right to walk around without a nice hot cup of coffee at the flea
market.  Didn't expect much but to my surprise, I DID see a few nice
boatanchors. Setting the tone  was a nice Heathkit Apache with SB-10 adapter
just as I walked in. Also seen was an  excellent shape DX-20 with original
manual, if you please for only $50 asking price. It even  had the crystal
door which is usually missing. Also seen were a nice Hallicrafters SX-101, a
pair of S-38's, and National NC-300 among others. Didn't see much computer
junk. There were  other interesting things such as an Allied AX-190
solid-state communications receiver from  early 70's vintage and a few
pieces of audio entertainment gear. Shortly after going in and  paying my
$3, we were told to move our vehicles because there was a funeral coming in
to  church next door. The church was built in 1859, just before the civil
War. So everyone went out and moved their vehicle and went back in. Someone
had  a Siltronix 1011D for sale at $60. That was a glorified CB radio
manufactured by Swan which  usually goes for a MUCH higher price on the
"other" place. Officially it only covered 11  meters "receive only" and
provided coverage of part of 10 meters in transceive. What was  supposed to
happen (or at least the story Swan gave at the time) was that Hams would
monitor  11 meters for skip openings and be able to switch over to 10 meters
to take advantage. What  really happened was that Hams didn't have strong
enough stomachs to listen on 11 meters and  recognized a turkey when they
saw one. CB'ers on the other hand were willing to shell out a  lot of cash
for a "Silly". I bought it for $50. Maybe I can turn this sow's ear into a
silk  purse. The front panel and knobs are nearly perfect. The case is
another story but it can be  fixed. I'm cleaning it up now and plan to do
away with 11 meter coverage by modifying that  band to cover the low end of
10 meters. I think I just have to clip a couple of padding  caps. Right now
10 meter coverage is 28.5 to almost 29 MHz. If nothing else, it's a nice
little footwarmer for the coming winter months! I'm either going to have $50
worth of fun or  $50 worth of electric heat. So as you can see, sometimes it
pays to look even when you don't  expect to find anything. What I saw last
Saturday is that ebay still doesn't rule all  pricing on the used market. At
least not yet. There was plenty of good humor, informality,  and


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