Flea Markets

(CIDX Articles from the Archives #3)

by Jos Matthews, VE2BCL

When I came back to the radio hobby some 20 years ago, the term flea market had little meaning. Now, with many hours and dollars spent, I can afford to offer a few comments. There are too many articles from "experts" who try to lead you to the ultimate bargain, which is more fantasy than anything else.

To make a long story short, flea markets can be summed up by the movement of stuff, mostly junk. At least that's what an outsider would perceive. The driving force behind the crowds flocking to the opening door is getting the pot of gold for peanuts. The notion is that the guy behind the table might not know what he's selling. Well, more often than not, the sucker winds up on the buying side of the table. But buyers are not complete fools either. There are always reasons for parting with money, most of them not rational.

Another factor in this game is space. When they say that space is the "final" frontier it surely applies to us restorers and collectors of older equipment. No matter how large the radio space, it gets filled up in too short of a time. Then, choices are made, stock moves out and the flow continues.

Hamfests are rituals orchestrated by the various local ham clubs. Some are very well organized; some less so. This is all done by volunteers and it's a credit to the people who put in countless hours for a common cause. The big event in this area [Montreal, Quebec, Canada -- editor] is in Tracy, at the end of May. Although there's a big crowd at opening time, I get there some time after. The best deals have already been done between various tables, and few people are interested in what I'm looking for.

Receivers are getting scarce. Early synthesized receivers can't be found at flea markets, mainly because they still command high prices. Tube receivers are seen now and then. Several were present at Tracy, most in dire need of restoration to be functional again. Sellers have such cute terms to describe the condition of their equipment: "It's only the dial cord...", "Uh, the bandswitch needs a little cleaning...." Most people today, especially the newer hams, don't have a clue about the time and effort required to do a decent restoration on older equipment. So, you will not see restored receivers at hamfests, except maybe as part of an estate sale.

For restorers, hamfests are the source for parts, manuals and even test equipment. To describe a cycle, I let go many years ago a Marconi signal generator to make space. It also had modulation trouble. Well, the thing showed up here and there for the next few years until I repurchased it. I let it go again and last year, when I saw it at a West Island flea market, I bought it and left it home. The poor thing had travelled enough. I'm sure the original trouble is still there. All sorts of test equipment can be seen at these events. Some are real good buys and restorable, many others are first class lemons. Lots of HP equipment have special in-house chips, available only from another unit.

Talking about parts, you can find Mil-Spec tubes new in their boxes. Also seen are used TV tubes loose and piled up. You need nerve to sell that type of garbage. The same comment applies to dead rechargeable batteries put on a table. To sum it up, the learning curve can be steep and expensive and that's the usual price to pay for knowledge and experience. There's always a few tables with the new stuff. I go for the books and Sheldon from Radio HF (www.anarc.org/cidx/radiohf/) always has a stack of them on display. Now we buy books about the old stuff that was new when we were young.

Hamfests are also meeting places. Receiver restorers are few and far between and pursue their hobby in a solitary fashion. It's nice to say hello, chat a bit , talk about the latest project, then go on our respective ways. But times are changing, more and more computer stuff is showing up at these events, a result of ever-changing technology. Today, you have trouble giving away a 286 or a 386. Good quality receivers from the past are now going into a second or third generation of users and restorers. Prices for top notch equipment such as Collins are slowly rising and most dealings now are done between individuals, outside the flea market circuit.

For many years to come, let's hope the hamfests continue, not only as a source of hardware, but as a reminder that radio is alive and kicking, despite the hard times we are going through.

Editor's note: This article was first published in the CIDX Messenger, August 1997. Reproduced with the kind permission of the author.

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