How was TCF2016 besides the booth?
Do they just have in the inside or is there an outside again? How big was the flea market? Are they selling computers and parts? The last time I went, remote controlled helicopters were a big thing
The flea market was pitiful. Maybe ten vendors, absolutely nothing of interest, except one guy who had a radio station CD player for sale. One guy selling cable 'n' crap. One or two selling used computers (boxes and laptops) One guy selling educational electronic kits (mildly interesting, sort of a Lego approach) One of "our" guys selling Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Sadly, his name escapes me. Somebody selling blank CD, printer paper. A guy selling ancient clamshell GSM phones, making a big deal that they were quad band. Somebody with some HAM equipment and a broken Argus camera from the 40's. All in a half-occupied 20 x 30 room. Pitiful. I've been going to TCF for most of it's existence, always for the flea market. I probably won't go again. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux. On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 9:42 AM, Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
Do they just have in the inside or is there an outside again?
How big was the flea market?
Are they selling computers and parts? The last time I went, remote controlled helicopters were a big thing
that's sad to hear, I'm surprise the HAM community doesn't combine their efforts for this. When did they stop the outdoor flea market I think the last time I went in '06, the outdoor flea market was already getting small I had a spot next to MARCH in there and you could walk across the whole thing in 5min Dan
On 3/21/2016 9:57 AM, Dan Roganti via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
When did they stop the outdoor flea market
Hi Dan, They stopped the outdoor flea market about 5 or 6 years ago went the date was moved into March. The event is no longer run by the user groups and is now run by the EE dept. at TCNJ. The event was moved into March to coincide with the school's Spring Break schedule as the facilities are much cheaper to rent. Some folks have said, "why don't thaey still have the outside flea market anyway"? Well I can tell you that it has snowed on the fest weekend at least 3 times in the last 5 years and one year we got quite a bit of snow on the day of the fest. I have been selling at TCF for 37 years starting at the 3rd fest (missed 2 in the 90's) and it hurts me to see the state of the flea market now. However, business was brisk as I sell items of interest to the attendees. Regards, Jeff
Jeff had a well stocked booth of Arduino and Raspberry Pi stuff and if I didn't already have almost everything Arduino I'd have been a customer. His was one of the few interesting (to me) booths. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux. On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 10:29 AM, Jeff Galinat via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
On 3/21/2016 9:57 AM, Dan Roganti via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
When did they stop the outdoor flea market
Hi Dan, They stopped the outdoor flea market about 5 or 6 years ago went the date was moved into March. The event is no longer run by the user groups and is now run by the EE dept. at TCNJ. The event was moved into March to coincide with the school's Spring Break schedule as the facilities are much cheaper to rent. Some folks have said, "why don't thaey still have the outside flea market anyway"? Well I can tell you that it has snowed on the fest weekend at least 3 times in the last 5 years and one year we got quite a bit of snow on the day of the fest. I have been selling at TCF for 37 years starting at the 3rd fest (missed 2 in the 90's) and it hurts me to see the state of the flea market now. However, business was brisk as I sell items of interest to the attendees. Regards, Jeff
On 03/21/2016 10:42 AM, William Dudley via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Jeff had a well stocked booth of Arduino and Raspberry Pi stuff and if I didn't already have almost everything Arduino I'd have been a customer. His was one of the few interesting (to me) booths.
Yes, fully agree. I stopped by Jeff's booth (sorry I didn't say hello). I did spend a lot of time with the lady from Fubar talking about the new space and the move. Turns out she lives a mile or two from where I live. :-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
I think I last went about 10 or 11 years ago, maybe more. I used to look forward to it mostly for the flea market. After the rise of eBay and when the market for more interesting items (non-generic PC stuff) petered out, it suddenly lost its value. It used to be pretty amazing, but I suppose it was last pretty amazing for me back in the 90s. With that said, the advertising (or lack thereof) is also pitiful. I like to think I keep on top of most things, but this is always a struggle to even know when it's going on. I'm sure they could reinvigorate the event with actual advertising, getting more classes, opening up the flea market to more vendors, etc., but who knows if the will is still there. Kind of sad for such an historically significant event. ======================================================== Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade, Inc. <http://www.armchairarcade.com> ======================================================== Authored Books <http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1> and Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to get in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice> ======================================================== On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 9:50 AM, William Dudley via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
The flea market was pitiful. Maybe ten vendors, absolutely nothing of interest, except one guy who had a radio station CD player for sale.
One guy selling cable 'n' crap. One or two selling used computers (boxes and laptops) One guy selling educational electronic kits (mildly interesting, sort of a Lego approach) One of "our" guys selling Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Sadly, his name escapes me. Somebody selling blank CD, printer paper. A guy selling ancient clamshell GSM phones, making a big deal that they were quad band. Somebody with some HAM equipment and a broken Argus camera from the 40's.
All in a half-occupied 20 x 30 room. Pitiful.
I've been going to TCF for most of it's existence, always for the flea market. I probably won't go again.
Bill Dudley
This email is free of malware because I run Linux.
The flea market was pitiful. Maybe ten vendors, absolutely nothing of interest,
that sucks.
I've been going to TCF for most of it's existence, always for the flea market.
I agree with you 100%
With that said, the advertising (or lack thereof) is also pitiful
I have to agree.. I didn't even know it was this past weekend.
I used to look forward to it mostly for the flea market. After the rise of eBay and when the market for more interesting items (non-generic PC stuff) petered out, it suddenly lost its value. It used to be pretty amazing, but I suppose it was last pretty amazing for me back in the 90s.
So long story short on that was that TCF pretty much alienated the "average joe" person selling so that they could cater to the beige box suppliers. This was when they allowed someone else to run the show, Ken Gordan. That person ran it into the ground and they never recovered. This is not to say they tried, but I always got the impression that they cared little for the flea market. Also the NJACC seemed to want to focus more on sessions and presentations. And while I agree there is a lot of value to that, I believe they neglected the flea market. Now I just go to HAM fests. Ham fests are really a lot of fun.
Kind of sad for such an historically significant event.
Well here is a You Tube slideshow for everyone to look back upon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EPVTnao5UE
Sorry for top reply, but on iPhone. Cable n crap guy was me, but as I recall you made your round through pretty late. I sold a lot of stuff as I was unpacking, even a nice C128 with 512k RAM expansion for 80$. And my prices on the crap were hard to walk away from...19" lcds for $3, cat5e and cat6 @ 25 cents for any length, laptop power supplies for 1$. 32gb USB drives for 3$...which probably explains why I was out of almost everything by Noon. I've tried to bring good stuff, some vintage and some modern, every year, the last 7 years, with the hope I could improve the flea area just a bit, but this year was as empty as I've seen it. I will bring more next year, maybe get a few extra tables and try and keep the flea area alive and interesting.
One guy selling cable 'n' crap.
On 03/21/2016 09:42 AM, Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Do they just have in the inside or is there an outside again?
How big was the flea market?
Are they selling computers and parts? The last time I went, remote controlled helicopters were a big thing
That part was tiny when I went in at the start of the show (some folks hadn't arrived yet). I think Evan shamed me into representing IXR next year (and he's right to do so). I'm currently putting a plan together. One year is not a long time to get this done properly. Besides, the fiasco with the software for my presentation (corrupted library on the Raspberry Pi) kind of killed my HA presentation. I need to be better prepared next year. I had to go with my B plan. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
Please don't fret, Neil. Your presentation was very informative and engaging. I would have stayed another hour if you had it. On Monday, March 21, 2016, Neil Cherry via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
On 03/21/2016 09:42 AM, Christian Liendo via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Do they just have in the inside or is there an outside again?
How big was the flea market?
Are they selling computers and parts? The last time I went, remote controlled helicopters were a big thing
That part was tiny when I went in at the start of the show (some folks hadn't arrived yet).
I think Evan shamed me into representing IXR next year (and he's right to do so). I'm currently putting a plan together. One year is not a long time to get this done properly.
Besides, the fiasco with the software for my presentation (corrupted library on the Raspberry Pi) kind of killed my HA presentation. I need to be better prepared next year. I had to go with my B plan.
-- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
On 03/21/2016 11:55 AM, Dean Notarnicola wrote:
Please don't fret, Neil. Your presentation was very informative and engaging. I would have stayed another hour if you had it.
The only reason I shut up was I wanted to get to Pat's HA presentation. I actually had a lot more slides (in case of emergency). I removed about 30 of them also. Talking is never the problem, getting me to shut up is. ;-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
Between us, yours was much more comprehensive and infirmative. No offense to Pat intended. On Monday, March 21, 2016, Neil Cherry <ncherry@linuxha.com> wrote:
On 03/21/2016 11:55 AM, Dean Notarnicola wrote:
Please don't fret, Neil. Your presentation was very informative and engaging. I would have stayed another hour if you had it.
The only reason I shut up was I wanted to get to Pat's HA presentation. I actually had a lot more slides (in case of emergency). I removed about 30 of them also.
Talking is never the problem, getting me to shut up is. ;-)
-- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
On 03/21/2016 12:18 PM, Dean Notarnicola wrote:
Between us, yours was much more comprehensive and infirmative. No offense to Pat intended.
Pat and I spoke before hand so that we didn't cover the same material. I think that worked out very well. I didn't touch on security. Some of that scares me. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
participants (8)
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Bill Loguidice -
Christian Liendo -
Dan Roganti -
Dean Notarnicola -
Jeff Galinat -
Justin Jernigan -
Neil Cherry -
William Dudley