RARSfest

[Andrew Robinson]

RARSfest is coming up this weekend in Raleigh NC. While not Fusor related, ham fests are always a great place to look for odds and ends that can be used in pursuit of a fusor. I'll wait for Richard to respond at length on this subject. I'm sure he has LOTS to say about both RARSfest and ham fests in general. I know Richard and few other Fusor.net members show up each year. I'll have my usual table setup. Hope to see some of you out there.

https://www.rarsfest.org/

[Richard Hull]

Yes, this will be year #28 in a row for my attendance at RARFEST. I Would not miss it. It is the farthest south I will go for a hamfest just outside my 130 mile circle radius of hamfests I will attend. It is worth crossing that circumferential line as they always have cool stuff that tends to never wander as far north as the Richmond hamfest.

See you there......

Richard Hull

[Dan Knapp]

I regret that I missed RARSfest this year. I've seen no booty posts yet. DId anyone score anything we could be envious of?

[Andrew Robinson]

Bootie attached

[Richard Hull]

I found and bought a lot of small stuff.

Bags-o-bolts 50 Allen head 1/4 - 28... 1.5" & 2" bolts ... $2 each bag full. (conflat bolts for 2.75- inch flanges)

2- TFT arduino displays with library software on CD. $10 for both

12- various radio shack, new in blister pack, 1200mah, Li-ion, 7.2v, flatpack, Blackberry batteries found in a huge box of ex-RS stock... 50 cents each

1000 proto board gold plated 1-inch long pins in an unopened box $15 (for making up really nice jumpers for proto boarding.)

5- 3 foot long, slender shrink tubing for the pins above $2.50

10 reels of Kynar 28 gauge wire for $1.00/reel! Wow!!! Most reels were over 1/2 full 500 foot reels. Two reels were full and never used. One reel was half full, 250 feet of silver plated 28 gauge, milky, see-through plastic rated at 1kv insulation. I went for various colors. I had to take these to the car as they were bulky and heavy. I then returned to the fest.

2- Weller 75/100 watt guns (no tips) $2.00 each. I found the copper tips at another seller for $1.00 each. They worked when I tipped and tested them, once I returned home.

1- Large three armed WW-II 860 tetrode, vacuum tube... NOS in packing $25.00. I might make a small induction heater with this tube.

My super buy of the entire fest was a classic, made in india, putt-putt boat. They were just as I remembered with razor sharp, sheet metal, exposed and ill-fitted edges. (new manufacture) $5.00 ....discussed in these forums in the past. Lost childhood regained.

Three nice stepped cone ceramic insulators, diamond bits for dremel tool, 1 radium dialed WW-II tuning meter, etc.

Typical wonderful fest, chatted with Andrew and a couple of my old UNC nuclear engineering dept. buddies. (bought a few NIM bins and modules from them in the past.)

Richard Hull

[Andrew Robinson]

What an awesome tube! Nice find! Reminds me of Capsela toy.

[Rich Feldman]

Very nice.
Is the fluffy stuff under the tube just its padding from the original box?
Reminds me of a pile of fur along my way to work, that was a road-killed coyote a couple weeks ago.

[Andrew Robinson]

Looks like insulation for thermal purposes.

[Richard Hull]

Most all vacuum tubes of some size were packed in this weird stuff during WW-II. I have three WW-II, NOS boxes with 304TL tubes in them and this stuff is packed in all of them. I can't figure out what it is or what it is made out of, but it is nice stuff. Soft as cotton, tough as nails to tear, but cuts easy with a sharp knife or scissors.

I know all the super old hams, (70+), here have encountered this stuff at hamfests when snapping up really old WW-II surplus items in their original boxes. Many instruments, etc. were also packed in this material. (Bob)? I am super old by any standards... 73.

Richard Hull

[Bob Reite]

I know the stuff you mean but I can't think of the name of it.