it's about time!
The 2021 DeKalb (Sandwich) and Starved Rock hamfests were great successes! This was the first time for Starved Rock Radio Club to hold the hamfest in Mendota IL which worked out great - hope it helps the club rebuild what was once one of the best hamfests in the area..
The South Milwaukee 'fest is special because it's what a hamfest should be, to my way of thinking at least - a big tailgate swap area and nothing else. No "indoor sellers" (at least not many), no new equipment dealers, and no seminars or other distractions from the business at hand - buying and selling old radio junk. It's always been the kind of 'fest where a load of "barn fresh" gear is likely to show up for picking, and where friends from half a state or more away will make the journey. Really glad to see it's back! (even without the free beer)
Photo above is from Peoria 2007, in front of the "Taj", with the famous WA9VRH rib smoker visible in the foreground.
As the hamfest season for 2021 draws to a close it's now possible to say that the two I first wrote about were the best. The Peoria Superfest did take place, which is a bit surprising since the club was forced to relocate TWICE. This is probably the new permanent location as the city of East Peoria which owns the event center added crushed blacktop to the dirt field, making it at least as good as the worn-out parking area at Expo Gardens. The indoor space seemed adequate and hopefully if the outdoor flea market expands to fill the available space the club and city will find a way to add more spaces. The biggest shortcoming was the lack of any kind of food service at the hamfest. Why the club didn't at least notify a food truck vendor or two is a mystery to all. On the plus side, the outdoor spaces were generous in size and marked (although not clearly) and there are some good local restaurants within walking distance.
The CFMC has held it's RadioFest at the Boone County Fairgrounds at Belvidere IL since the closing of "Grayslake" and it's a nearly ideal venue with long paved "streets" between the vendor spaces and plenty of indoor space, bathrooms, food, etc. The problem was attendance - based on the number of sellers in previous years the fleamarket area had to be at least 20% smaller, and the overall quality of "shtuff" included more non-ham offerings than usual. But it was a beautiful day and hopefully attendance will bounce back at both 'fests next year.
The annual BBQ-AM Get-together at the beautiful home of KI8BQ was again, as WA6GYC puts it, "the high point of the summer". This will be the last year that Gary is able to host the event, but stay tuned, as plans are being made for it to continue under the auspices of Terry N6TLU at Battle Creek MI in 2022.
![]() |
I know many of us who enjoy restoring and repairing vintage gear look forward to winter when there is less competition for time and energy, and a chance to really make a dent in our "to be fixed" piles. A couple of years ago I set time aside for "Heathkit Singlebander Week" and went through every one of them I had, with the result that they're all working ... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/19/2023
|
![]() |
Leo Meyerson had been in the ham radio retail and manufacturing business for over 25 years, and by 1970 he was ready to retire. His son took over the WRL distribution and retail business but the Galaxy Electronics manufacturing operation was sold to his long-time friend Andy Andros WØLTE, founder and president of Hy Gain Electronics in nearby Lincoln NE. The CB radio eleme... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 11/26/2022
|
![]() |
Most of the articles on this site are about hams, or ham radio. This one is not about a ham but about a man who built as much a reputation through HF radio as any ham on top of the BPL ever did. Don Taylor is one of those rugged independent-minded people who thrive on a lifestyle most of us couldn't even imagine - as a trapper in Canada's Yukon wildernes... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 10/31/2022
|
![]() |
Most radio fans know the history of KDKA but maybe not "the rest of the story".In November 1920 the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company began operation of a radio broadcasting station, KDKA, in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, often described as the "Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World." KDKA is generally considered to be the first commercially... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 09/09/2022
|
![]() |
The microwave network constructed by AT&T Long Lines and other telecommunications companies in the past 50 years were engineering masterpieces using state-of-the-art technologies and some were designed to withstand nuclear attack during that Cold War era. This is a non-hardened site on top of a mountain in upstate New York that existed long enough for graffiti taggers t... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 09/08/2022
|
![]() |
In 1917 a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles. But he was shocked when many people couldn’t understand the books. They spoke Cakchiquel, a language without a Bible. He believed everyone should understand the Bible, so he started a linguistics school (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, known today as SIL) that trained people to do Bible ... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 07/02/2022
|
![]() |
Visitors to the Elgin National Historic area along the Fox River in Elgin Illinois may not realize they are at the site of a famous shortwave radio station - W9XAM - the time signal station operated by the Elgin Watch Company.Elgin was the only watch company maintaining an observatory that observed, recorded and broadcasted time from the stars correct to the hundredths of a second. Located a... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 05/09/2022
|
![]() |
The Mosley CM-1 receiver is quite well known and not especially hard to find in the US even though it was the only radio produced by the company that has been well-known for antennas since 1939. Or is it...?A full-page ad (advert for you on the other side of the pond) appeared in the RSGB Bulletin in 1963 for a nice looking and very capable SSB transmitter called the "Commando II&... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 04/15/2022
|
![]() |
DIY DEG - Homemade Droplet Energy Generator works!Producing electricity from flowing waterCategory: Technical
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/30/2022
|
![]() |
When I was first licensed in the 1960s in Nebraska, two groups of hams were commonly heard on the air before those with jobs got off work - other teens like me and the disabled hams. Some of my earliest Novice ham buddies were blind students at the Nebraska School for the Blind in Nebraska City, and there were many other visually-impaired hams, all of whom were exceptional operators, e... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/21/2022
|