February 16, 2005
Hams ecstatic about hobby
Cherryland Amateur Radio Club holds annual Swap and Shop
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Trading the green stuff (money) for dusty stuff (eye-of-the-beholder treasures), more than 300 amateur radio operators attended the 37th Annual Cherryland Amateur Radio Club Swap and Shop.
Held Saturday morning at the Immaculate Conception Elementary School gym, the meet represented the arc of technology: from vacuum tubes to transistors, dials to digital display.
The Cherryland Amateur Radio Club offered a club table featuring donated items from members. Proceeds from the sale of these items benefited the local two-meter repeater that boosts signals. This "table," which started out a few years ago with one table, has grown into seven tables of everything from an RCA victor deluxe radio and a D.C. Ammeter relay to circuits boards, coils of cable and a box of dials and knobs.
Dated relics at other tables included citizen's band radios, old fax machines, dual-floppy personal computers and jars of electronics components. Where else could you pay a dollar for a baggie of connectors?
"You'd be surprised at what people buy, bits and pieces and things," said Rob Janush, a member of the club who worked the club table, joking that the meet's mottoes could be: "Anything you can't live without, make an offer. We deal in fulfillment."
Don Havlicek of Edmore, Mich., brought two tables of items to swap and did a brisk business. A ham for 51 years, he learned the ropes in the early 1950s on surplus World War II equipment. He began by listening on the short wave radio and figured if they could do it, he could, too.
Attending the Traverse City swap meet, he wanted to unload some surplus equipment.
"I built some stuff over the years and acquired some more - all of this is equipment that has been accumulating," he said with a sweep of his hand.
A DXer, Havlicek is a distance operator who has talked to all but three of the current list of 326 radio 'countries' in the world. Noting that a country can be a mere island, he has more than 350 contacts total. The countries on the list can come and go, but he keeps adding to his list.
"I've built all the antennas that I use," said Havlicek, who bills himself as the only American Rabbit Breeders Association judge and ham he's ever met.
Jon Schumacher, president of the Cherryland Amateur Radio Club, never misses a swap meet. Every year, the four-hour event draws operators from around the state. The gym is aswarm with shoppers by its 8 a.m. opening and begins clearing out two hours later.
"People come in, shoot the breeze and look for some bargains before heading out again," he said. "It's a good time to get together with people and put a face with a voice."
Mick Glasser of Traverse City hung up his microphone a few years ago, retiring as a ham. But that does not stop this World War II Navy veteran from attending every swap meet. Hanging out in the busy cafeteria, where shoppers renourish after hard bargaining or renew acquaintances, Glasser catches up with his former radio buddies.
"We come here every year just to see old friends," he said. "I wrote the [club's] newsletter for 100 issues."
A practical man, he said that amateur radio equipment has drastically changed from when he began after World War II.
"Computers kind of took over, making it easier to communicate and much less equipment," he said, brandishing his cell phone as the hallmark of easy communications. "That's all part of the fun of amateur radio, all the equipment."
And there were at least 300 people on hand Saturday who agreed with him.