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!
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Friday, June 30, 2017
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.
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| 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
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| 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
Photorama USA
June 3, 2017
Centreville Moose Lodge
Fairfax, VA
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| Fuji X-E1 + Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f4.5 |
Twenty some years ago I frequented Photorama shows in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area.
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| 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...
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| 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.
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| Leica M6 + Canon 35mm f2 Foma 100 in Rodinal |
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Pentacon F + Helios 44M-4 Foma 100 in Rodinal |
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| Pentacon F + MIR1B Foma 100 in Rodinal |
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| 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
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| 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 ;(
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| 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 ;)
Thursday, June 22, 2017
2017 Update: Hi-Fi Room
One year progress report
Stereo
Garrard 301 + Ortofon RMG 309/SPU GME or
SME 3012 + Denon DL103
JEL Stereo SE2A3 DX amp with Tango NY15S OPTs
Altec 414As in 3.5 cf bass reflex enclosures + Altec 32A horns with 802D compression drivers
or
Neat P58H 4 speed idler turntable + Velvet Touch viscous damped tonearm with Denon DL102 or GE RPX cartridges
je2a3 mono integrated amp
Mono
je2a3 mono integrated amp
Monday, May 29, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Electro-Voice EV 209-8A - 8" wide-range
During a visit to Sakuma's Direct Heating website, I encountered a cool SE 801 amp schematic designed for either a Lowther PM6 or an Electro-Voice 209-8A. I googled the EV 209-8A and nothing came up in Audio/DIY centric English language websites. But there were a lot of US dealers stocking the driver from as low as $18 each.
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| basic specs |
After downloading and studying the detailed specifications at the EV website, I chose the cheapest internet seller and phoned-in an order for a pair.
It cost $40/pair from Full Compass delivered within a couple of days to my doorstep. In spite of their great customer service, their packing left a lot to be desired - see the slightly wrinkled whizzer in the above right picture - the drivers were free floating in the box, not even tied down face to face ;(
Due to lack of resources to build the recommended 1.8 cubic foot sealed cabinet, I loaded the EV 209-8A in a Heathkit 1.2 cubic foot ported cabinet, which used to house a Jensen P8RL + RP103.
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| Heathkit 1.2cf + EV209-8A |
Sharp fall off below ~ 90hz, otherwise the in-room RTA result was satisfactory. The tonal balance reminded me of a good mini-monitor speaker with no upper midrange nasties. It was also quite extended in the high frequency and at no time did I crave for a super tweeter.
Further internet research yielded this Japanese website which did an in-depth study of the EV 209-8A. Based on Chrome browser translation, transmission line loading was used to get around the bass deficiency.
Regardless of Qts values ;) and in keeping with JE Labs tradition, a trial in an open baffle is de rigueur. Since my original pair of OBs are currently in storage, I improvised a 55" wide x 32" high flat baffle using a 24" x 24" x 1/2' thick pine plywood baffle from my experiments in the 90s as the core, supplemented by cardboard extension wings.
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| OB + EV209-8A |
Despite the even sharper fall off in mid bass response as shown in the RTA, subjectively, the bass extension was similar to the EV209-8a/Heathkit box combo. But the scale of the sound field produced by the EV209-8A/OB combo was a lot larger than when it was loaded in the Heathkit cabinet.
Since I discovered that my very first high efficiency speaker (a green KS 14703/Altec 755C) was carefully stashed in a box in the basement, I installed it in the OB to take a trip down memory lane.
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| OB + Altec 755C |
I've covered the Altec 755C in the Sound Practices No. 17 Homebrewer feature many moons ago, so I will spare adjectives to describe the subjective performance of the KS14703/755C. Suffice to say that the above RTA graph shows it all. It is just in a different class sonically and affordability! Perhaps not a very fair comparison for the EV209-8A because this driver with an intact cone and voice coil is worth about 20 times more when they come up for sale.
So even if I couldn't coax Altec 755C performance from the EV209-8A, its street price, efficiency, relatively flat impedance curve and midrange to upper frequency performance quality impressed me enough to bring it to the attention of the Audio/DIY world.
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