RADIO RALLIES

THE END

Last weekend I attended a RADIO RALLY. I wish I hadn't bothered!  It was quite poor.  I'm sorry if this upsets some people, but I'm just saying it how I see it. Of course this is just my opinion and others may think it was fabulous - but it wasn't.

Considering that Covid has denied us so many Radio Events, you'd think that this one would have been a little special - that it would be attended by all the main retailers and maybe even by Yaesu/Icom UK. But no, that's just wishful thinking.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. Maybe my visits to non-radio events at the NEC and other venues are clouding my judgement. 

 

I look at Radio Rallies subjectively and positively by default  because I'm a radio enthusiast and I want it to be good. But looking at it objectively, they remind me of "Jumble Sales" from the 1970s.

The vast majority of stands (tables) are filled with absolute junk from years gone by. I'm not talking about sought-after classic radios - I'm talking about bric-a-brac! There were even things there that had nothing to do with amateur radio such as piano keyboards, cassette tapes and even a Haynes Ford Mondeo Manual. Good God, if you set up a committee to try and make a show as bad as it could be, this is what you'd include.

I could have gone around taking photos of all the dreadful stands, just to make my point, but it would have identified people sitting behind the tables which I didn't want to do.

I keep hearing stories about amateur radio being a dying hobby, full of old blokes using their walking sticks to beat up any unsuspecting FT8 fans - and you know what - that's how it feels at these rallies. There's hardly any feelings of excitement or vigour generated by them. Just mountains of old junk from some silent-key's shed.

I'm probably sounding disrespectful but I'm not trying to be. I just think that Rallies are a great opportunity to get people together and promote the growth of the hobby instead of clearing out your old crap. There is nothing modern and exciting about a Radio Rally anymore. Even some of the (local) Radio Clubs who had stands seemed more interested in displaying their past than their future. 

I hung around the RSGB stand and got nothing from them. There was no engagement and it seemed to me that they were their to sell their books and memberships. Very little meaningful interaction with people. 

The venue itself was big enough and bright enough, but OMG the men's toilets were horrific! It smelled like a cesspit in there! Jeez, this isn't the 1970's!!

On a more positive note, there were the traditional component stands brimming with useful connectors, adapters, ferrites, electronics, etc. There were also two decent retailer stands - one was CANNY COMPONENTS from Newcastle and the other was LAMCO from Barnsley. 

The staff at Canny Components always work very hard at these shows and bring along a vast array of stuff. It's a great stand and they are usually flexible on price. I bought a battery for a good price. This is why people go to these rallies - to hopefully grab a bargain and come away feeling good.

LAMCO had a smaller stand in the corner of the hall and had no bargains to offer the visitors.I looked through their selection of antennas and was about to buy a whip. I asked the owner for the price of it and using his phone he looked up the price on his own website and told me they were listed at £110. Obviously, I asked him what was the best price he could do (it was almost closing time) and he told me £110.

I didn't buy the antenna. I couldn't believe that they would drag all this stuff from Barnsley to exhibit at a Radio Rally and not offer a penny discount off their regular prices. If he'd had given me a sob story and said "All I can do is knock a fiver off" I'd have bought it. But to be so utterly inflexible lost him a sale.

Thankfully, another trader showed great flexibility and I bagged an absolute bargain! It was a QRP-LABS QCX 5W CW TRANSCEIVER. I cannot work CW at all, but I have built a few QRP-LABS kits and just love them. 

 

After Tax, Import Duties and Postage, a QCX will cost a UK buyer around £100. If you want the aluminium case to go with it, the figure goes up to £130. Here was one with both items, boxed, unopened and even had a full colour printed spiral-bound manual (which you can't even buy) and I blagged it for £10!!!!  How good is that??  I also managed to buy a couple of decent books for a bargain price (both new) from the Bolton Wireless Club stand.

  

So although I was extremely lucky to come away with a lovely radio-kit at a bargain price, I drove away from the venue deciding that it would probably be the last Radio Rally that I'd ever attend.  My days on this Earth are getting limited and I don't feel inclined to waste them on another radio-archaeology event.

If the format changes and if some genius finds a way to inject new life into a Radio Rally, then I'll be the first to queue at the door offering any help I can to support it.

73, Tom, M7MCQ.