Did a ton of walking and shopping this weekend at two back-to-back hamfests. What’s a hamfest? Easiest answer is “an electronics flea market”. They’re called “hamfests” as they’re often hosted by ham radio clubs, and while a majority of the gear for sale is radio related, you’ll find other deals at them as well.
The first was the MARC Hamfest in Kimberton, PA. Got a few goodies there and met up with some regulars.
Next up on Sunday was the Sussex County Hamfest up in New Jersey. This one is a bit of a haul and I attend it both to support some friends, and plugs it’s a bigger event. I found a few goodies here as well.
The biggest item on the loot pile? A Teletype ASR-32! While it’s not the ASR-33 (I’d still LOVE to find one for a decent deal!), its nearly identical in appearance and I’m hoping I can use it for vintage computer fun as well as some ham radio RTTY (radio-teletype) action. As part of the deal I also got a HAL ST-6 “teletype unit”, which is a demodulator (receiver) for RTTY. You can find a picture of it here. This unit receives RTTY signals from a radio, and converts them to serial data thats transferred to a teletype via a “current loop” connection. In this case the HAL ST-6 has been modified with a AFSR board so the teletype can be used for sending RTTY as well. More importantly, it looks techy and has blinky lights. No pics yet, but some will be forthcoming as I mess around with it and get it going.
With weather forecast in the mid to hid 90s this week, I think imma stay in the AC and geek out some!