News — fatcat.parts

  A lot of hamfests had their dates changed in 20024, including Jackson.  Usually the end of January, the Jackson Hamfest moved to the first weekend of February in 2024, due to a venue scheduling conflict.   The new Trade Mart facility was a grand location as usual, Load-in for vendors started around noon Friday, and the doors opened to the public at 4:00 Friday and  lasted until 7:00 that evening.  Saturday the event was 8:00 until around 3:00 in the afternoon. The flea market and vendor tables were very full, with only a few vendor tables not sold.  The crowds...

Nov. 4, 2023 was the annual Papa Jack's Trade Day in Tupelo, MS.  In contrast to previous years, the weather was dry, and the crowd was maybe a bit larger than in recent years.  The event began being populated around 7:00 in the morning, officially opened at 8:00, and wrapped up around noon.  As usual, the host club provided tables, doughnuts, and coffee.  This year one of their members also brought a wonderful, steaming hot bean soup, and passed out bowls of that, which was a treat on a chilly day. 

I love vintage gear, especially tube radios.   One of the drawbacks to using vintage gear is that often the manufacturer no longer exists, or if they do exist, they no longer support that product. That can create a real problem when trying to find a repair part. Maybe Fat Cat can help with that.... I just added a new category to the Fat Cat website, and it's not the usual "stuff for sale" type gear.  This is a category of gear that is being sold as is, for parts only.   Most of these is vintage, some are in various stages...

The Cullman hamfest has been a staple of the north Alabama radio community for many years.  In years past, the hamfest was held in the city civic center, which was torn down several years ago.  Supposedly the city was going to build a new civic center, but that effort seems to be slow getting started. The 2022 hamfest was held in Building #1 at the Cullman Fairgrounds.  It is a large, metal building with no air conditioning, and the hamfest was held in July.  In Alabama.  Normally, that would sound like a really bad idea (temps were hovering around 90...