Got back from Dayton late last night and have to say the wife and I had a great time there. Spend about 1-1/2 days going through the flea market and then about another 1/2 day on the inside stuff and the forums we attended. I may be wrong but I think there was far more what I call "Junk items" there than in the past. Things like cavities that had dents in them along with the assortment of junk antenna parts. I was looking for a great boat anchor rig of some sort and never found anything to my liking.
I actually was very frugal this year and escaped with only spending $60.00 for a re-build kit for a Drake AC-4 power supply. I did talk to the fellow that was selling the XM-1 QRP rigs and was about to pull the billfold out to purchase one when we got to talking about the XM1-MKII that will be out later this year. After seeing a picture and seeing the feature and rather large display I am going to hold off and get one of those since the expected price is not going to be that much more than the current model. Plus the fact that 3-watts on sideband with a marginal antenna can really test your patience especially if the sunspot cycle starts dipping next year as some suspect it will.
While attending the Kit Builder forum one of the owners for DZKits was talking about how him and the other owner of the company tried to purchase the Intellectual property from Heathkit so they could bring the name and the business back to life. The sad part of the story is that the bids were submitted and their bid $10,001.00 was beaten by one other person. This person is a nameless party and no one knows what the person plans to do. It does sound as though one of the better chances of seeing Heathkit gear once again came up short.
I am glad I decided to take the trip to Dayton because the biggest event that was to be held here in Minneapolis/ Saint Paul got flooded out. Also I was unable to take any pictures as the only camera I brought with me wold not work when I got to Dayton, that really bummed me out.
I actually was very frugal this year and escaped with only spending $60.00 for a re-build kit for a Drake AC-4 power supply. I did talk to the fellow that was selling the XM-1 QRP rigs and was about to pull the billfold out to purchase one when we got to talking about the XM1-MKII that will be out later this year. After seeing a picture and seeing the feature and rather large display I am going to hold off and get one of those since the expected price is not going to be that much more than the current model. Plus the fact that 3-watts on sideband with a marginal antenna can really test your patience especially if the sunspot cycle starts dipping next year as some suspect it will.
While attending the Kit Builder forum one of the owners for DZKits was talking about how him and the other owner of the company tried to purchase the Intellectual property from Heathkit so they could bring the name and the business back to life. The sad part of the story is that the bids were submitted and their bid $10,001.00 was beaten by one other person. This person is a nameless party and no one knows what the person plans to do. It does sound as though one of the better chances of seeing Heathkit gear once again came up short.
I am glad I decided to take the trip to Dayton because the biggest event that was to be held here in Minneapolis/ Saint Paul got flooded out. Also I was unable to take any pictures as the only camera I brought with me wold not work when I got to Dayton, that really bummed me out.
