By John Lindholm, W1XX (Amigo #3)
Discussion continued up to the last minute of decision on Thursday night: Do we go to NEARFest on Friday with good weather forecast, or take a chance on Saturday and 50% chance of rain?
James (K1SD), John (W1AN), and John (W1XX) – penned “The 3 Amigos” by Mike KB1RFJ – met van driver John (W1AN) at the exit 7 commuter parking lot off I-95 at 5 AM Saturday morning. The van was packed with gear from the KA1GEU estate. A poster advertised the big ticket items which were left home at the W1AN QTH.
The drive up was rather uneventful…overcast but no rain.
We set up in a good spot near the entrance which caused a feeding frenzy as we unloaded stuff in boxes from the van. The bux were flying fast and furious. Couldn’t keep up with the accounting and equipment list.
AN was hard-nosed on pricing while XX kept trying to almost give stuff away. SD tried his best to keep those two apart. Things got really testy when XX sold a whole box of toroids for $100. AN predicted that the buyer would re-sell them at 5 bux apiece at his venue a short distance away. He was right. Oh well, a hundred bux is a hundred bux. The high-ticket items poster drew little interest…simply the wrong venue for towers, amps and such.
After a couple of hours it did start to rain – not hard but a steady drizzle. Meanwhile, AN found a bucket of needed tower parts for Mike, KB1RFJ, for 10 bux. We tarped the tables and concluded around noon or so that we were about done.
The three amigos stopped for lunch on the way home at a bar-restaurant in Methuen. Food and drink was good. We missed the 93 to 95 exit so continued on through Boston to pick up 95 south of Boston. We were all home by about 5 PM.
The Deerfield turn-out was perhaps a little disappointing…but overall we were satisfied and glad we went. We turned the radio gear assets into $ 660 cash for the club. Not bad.
Thanks to John, W1AN, for driving. The three amigos had a good time kibitzing with the folks.
P.S. – Posted by K3IU for W1XX
