photos from VCF UK etc

On 21/06/10 19:14, Tony Duell wrote: Practically nonexistent. Even the bring-and-buy stand (actually the "charity stall" -- three or four tables in an L-shape, all proceeds going to charity) at the 2005 Wakefield RISCOS Show was bigger than that. (Though IIRC this was scrapped or at least severely downsized in the more recent shows; can anyone confirm?) The BP fleamarket seemed to be all BBC Model Bs, Sinclair Spectrums and ZX81s. Starting prices around the ?50 mark..... yeesh. As I understand it, it was all extras from the TNMoC collection, not a bring-and-buy. I'd have expected to see a 3" drive or two, but the closest I saw to that was a Cumana 5.25" dual, an untagged 5.25" full-height external and a couple of Amiga and Sinclair QL 3.5" drives. Nope, not even close. I suspect the threat of The Wrath of The Ambulance-Chaser has put paid to most of these. The organisers are just too scared that someone will buy (say) a BBC Master, plug it in and the PSU will go "pop" and dump a ton of smoke into the room. The "hapless and unfortunate victim" then proceeds to sue the event organisers because everything "should have been safety-tested" and the device was "obviously unsafe"... The Barnsley "Great Northern" hamfest is still good though -- they book out one of the two basement-level gyms/sports halls in the Metrodome, and the entire room (a good sized basketball court) is lined with tables. You have to watch out for the good bargains, but you often see really unusual surplus parts you'd never buy new from a supplier. A lot of the vendors have websites or (occasionally) price lists and order forms (remember those? :) ). Half the entries in my contact list are electronics component suppliers I found out about at the Barnsley hamfest. OK, I'm going to say two things about that: 1) LOL! 2) Want one! A visual representation of the Doppler Effect? -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/