I was pleasantly surprised at recent swaps (Hazel Park, Marshall, Maumee) to see not only good to excellent attendance, but a wide variety of new and vintage transceivers and equipment, regular attendance by retail vendors, and lots of parts and literature available. The number of great solid state, all-band rigs selling for under $400 made me wish I was a novice again - I would have had a great radio to learn with. There were also plenty of test equipment and tool vendors to fuel the do-it-yourself crowd. Prices in general were very good, and deals abounded.
It was also interesting to note the personalities of the different swaps. Hazel Park wasn't as big as I remembered in the past, but had a goodly amount of interesting stuff including industrial surplus. Marshall had *lots* of old and new equipment, some really nice vintage tube gear, and lots of pieces and parts to homebrew with. Maumee had the usual excess of CB equipment, both radios and amplifiers, some of it retuned for 10 meters and the rest ready for same, as well as lots of tools and test equipment.
I didn't spend all that much, perhaps $100 between Marshall and Maumee, but I got some great deals and have some new projects to work on as a result. If you haven't been going to swaps, start thinking about personal projects, field day, etc. and check at least some of them out. It's always interesting, and you might see some people you haven't seen in a while. Hope to C U there. 73 de kt8k - Tim
