I think Colin has nailed it; the more valuable equipment rarely gets 
as far as hamfests these days.  Dayton is an exception but after all, 
that is Dayton!!
Still fun to go out and kick tires and tell lies!!
Our local club has a mid-winter hamfest and the first organization 
meeting is tonight.  They are a lot smaller than fifteen years ago 
and a lot less work to organize.  In the early ninties, we had 
attendance in the 5,000 range.  Last year we just got over 1,500 
attendees.  The club still makes a little profit, but not as much as 
then.  And the 300 member club of the early ninties is just under 100 today.
But it's still a great hobby!!
Pat, K9JAU At 01:47 PM 10/14/2007, you wrote:
>Hi;
>Just returned from a local ham fest.  Never saw such a pile of semiworthless
>trash in my life.  I think the most current radio for sale was a ts830.
>Have everyone else experienced similar situations?  They also had bunches of
>used lap tops that were in need of repair.
>Richard