Kutztown Radio Show Fall 2020

All pictures were taken with a Fuji X-E3 camera + Meike 28mm f2.8 lens

Pavilion 1

This was the first audio related event I've attended since the March 2020 lockdown.

Thorens TD124 MkII

Dyna PAS 3 + ST70, ARXA turntable, Heath W4 amp

H. H. Scott 710 + Gray 216

Garrard record changer, Harman Kardon tube receiver

Weathers Turntable

Time travel to 1948

NOS pair of WE755A + full documentation

If you need to ask how much for the pair, you can't afford it. 😆

Western Electric 597A, probably worth a kidney?

Vacuum Tubes

Pavilion 2

I thought it was a pretty good turn out.

More pictures from past events

JE Labs Flea Market

My boss told me we are running out of storage space and before I can acquire more audio toys, I have to free up some space.... 😜

Just like the olden days, I decided to revive the JE Labs Flea Market as an outlet for my surplus equipment and other goodies.

Kutztown Radio Show September 21-22, 2018

All pictures were taken with a Fuji X-E1 camera + Canon 28mm f3.5 LTM lens.

I wasn't able to attend as many hamfests/radio shows this past summer. So I made sure I went to Kutztown.  

This speaker caught my attention as something I've encountered in a vintage magazine in the past. Since there was no one manning the booth, I went on...

A pair of University Lowboys + an EV Aristocrat

Nice Gates CB77, but I couldn't afford it 😞

Belt-driven Rek-O-Kut

Scott 299, LT110B FM tuner, Fisher KX100, etc.

Fisher PP EL84 mono block

My bud Larry always has a live demo set-up.

Sonographe SD-1: mid-80s Philips 14-bit oversampling chassis with twin TDA1540 DACs, audio section tweaked by conrad-johnson, nice piece but check out that asking price 😲

Tubes galore!

I scored a TDA1543 equipped Magnavox CD player from this booth. 

Lots of 70s-80s Hi-Fi equipment 

Used CD prices are at an all-time low 😃

The speaker I spotted earlier kept haunting me. I just had to give it a new home. My gut feel was right - it's a Stewart Hegeman-designed omni-directional speaker. 😎

Kutztown Radio Meet May 11 & 12 2018

All pictures were taken with a Fuji X-E1 camera + Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f1.9 lens

 Radio shows around the country have continually diminished in scale. This Kutztown event, however, has become the biggest radio show in the east coast and is still growing!

There are still cheap tubes to be had if you're willing to get down on your knees and your hands dirty. But everything else is close to retail or eBay going rate.

Minty Altec 604D with the original paper suspension cone, IPC horns and Jensen field coils

Marantz 7, 10B & 8B

Rek O Kut LP743 

Next time I went around, it was gone...

2 pairs of Heath W4 mono amps

I still remember cleaning and fixing these for Angela Instruments and I built my first pair of PP2A3 amps on these chassis

Scott 310B + 335 mpx

I listened to this combo in the 90s. I should've kept them. 😞

Fisher + Grommes

Early Audio Research D50 power amp

Altec tube type mono mixing console

Western Electric WE124 mono PP WE350B power amp 

Holy Grail!

I go to this event mainly to hang out with old buddies like Chong and Larry R. Also made new friends with Francis S. who's been a frequent visitor to this blog and a dyed in the wool Western Electric/Altec enthusiast who has been carefully studying Altec 3000 tweeter repair.

Since the price was right, I adopted a single JBL D123. 

Will it be as good or better than an Altec? Stay tuned...

More pics

Classic Corvette in the field

Harrisburg Hamfest

After playing the first concert for the July 4th Summer Series with Harrisburg Symphony, I received a text message from a friend that there was a Hamfest in town on July 1st. 

The venue was only 10 minutes away from our hotel.

Pick of the day!

Spring 2017 Camera, Hamfests and Radio Shows

 Kutztown Radio Meet

May 12-13, 2017

Kutztown, PA

I used to frequent this radio show until I left in '08. It used to be a relatively small event but has evolved to the biggest radio show in the east coast.

Contax II + Helios 103
Foma 100 in Rodinal

A pair of MC60s + a Dyna PAS 3 preamp

RCA preamp/mixer + 2 x Rek O Kut B12s

My friend Larry's booth featuring handcrafted and modified tube preamps and amps

Contax II + Helios 103
Foma 100 in Rodinal

Mike used to sell vintage audio but has shifted to classic/vintage film cameras. An avid music lover, he still listens to a hifi system using carefully chosen classic equipment.

Got an EV MC12, loktal triodes, 6C6 pentodes, a 10Y and a Ciro-Flex C TLR

Classic cars in the field

more Kutztown pics

Photorama USA

June 3, 2017

Centreville Moose Lodge

Fairfax, VA

Fuji X-E1 + Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f4.5

Twenty some years ago I frequented Photorama shows in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area.

Fuji X-E1 + Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f4.5

This was a good place to source classic cameras, lenses and accessories during pre-eBay days. Since I've been in the market for a Sonnar 50mm f2 or f1.5 for my Contax II, I thought I'd try my luck at this event...

Fuji X-E1 + Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f4.5

Even if the show was only a fraction of what it was 20 years ago, I did find a nice Opton Sonnar 50/2 with a dead Contax III (good for parts) rear lens cap for less than the going rate on eBay.

Icing on the cake: Tewe Zoom finder, Paterson Tank, a book and freebie expired TX400s

Radioactivity 2017

June 15-17, 2017

College Park, MD

From the early 90s until '08 I attended this event regularly. Many of the tubes, transformers and chokes I am still using in my hifi system came from this radio show.

Leica M6 + Canon 35mm f2
Foma 100 in Rodinal

Leica M6 + Canon 35mm f2
Foma 100 in Rodinal

But time has taken its toll...I was expecting to see familiar faces here but some have dropped out of sight or may even have joined our ancestors ;(

Radioactivity loot: some guy practically gave away a mammoth Omega C-II 4x5 enlarger, a couple NOS loktal triodes a filament transformer and choke

Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest

June 17, 2017

Chambersburg, PA

Pentacon F + Helios 44M-4
Foma 100 in Rodinal

While some of my favorite hamfests have shrunk or gone extinct, the Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club inaugurated their first hamfest. 

Pentacon F + Helios 44M-4
Foma 100 in Rodinal

 I didn't have to wake up too early for this event since it was less than 30 miles away.

Pentacon F + Helios 44M-4
Foma 100 in Rodinal

Pentacon F + MIR1B
Foma 100 in Rodinal

Pentacon F + MIR1B
Foma 100 in Rodinal

All the best to CVARC !

  NOS loktal triodes + EV LS12 = Loot

Baltimore Amateur Radio Club Father's Day Hamfest

June 18, 2017

Upperco, MD

Pentacon ZI + Tessar 50mm f3.5
Foma 100 in Rodinal

From what I gathered from my hamfest buddies, this event is what is left of what was once the mighty Timonium hamfest ;(

Pentacon ZI + Tessar 50mm f3.5
Foma 100 in Rodinal

There were more vendors than the previous day in Chambersburg, PA. I even saw some of the same faces at both events ;)

More NOS loktals, another 10Y and a Fujica M42 mount SLR which turned out to be much better than its Pentacon ancestors, but that's another story ;)

Bye for now...gotta go fiddle for food and toys again ;)