Sussex NJ, SCARC HAMFEST Sunday, July 16, 2017 :)

2017 SCARC HAMFEST
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Gates open at 6:00am for sellers/tailgaters
8:00am for buyers
270,000 square feet (Six Plus Acres!) of outdoor tailgate space and 10,000 square feet of indoor space. Food, Door Prizes and Ample Parking too!

The SCARC Hamfest will be at the Sussex County Farm & Horse Show Fairgrounds:
37 Plains Road
Augusta, NJ 07822
Talk-In is 147.300 (+) pL 151.4
Latitude and Longitude is 41o 08’ 10.2” x 74o 43’ 01.9” (decimal 41.136200 x -74.717233)

Admission is $7 per Person
Indoor Tables $20 which includes ONE admission.
Tailgate Space $20 which includes ONE Admission. Each Additional person is $7.
Overnight camping fee is $25.
Acres of Tailgate space available. No electricity outdoors.
Bring your own tables and chairs. Saturday setup is ok after 6PM.

http://www.scarcnj.org/hamfest.html

 

The weather forecast looks almost perfect!!

I will be there with Stuff to sell!

On Average how many people attend the Sussex Hamfest? K2HAT

Hello Lee, we generally get 1200 to 1400 buyers and between 250 and 300 tailgaters. This doesn't include the indoor sellers such as KJI. 73, John N2HMM

 

Just learned a very important lesson - call to find out how LATE a hamfest will be running. My wife and I decided to go to the hamfest today (it's about an hour and a half drive from our home) and we figured we'd take in an early movie first (War for the Planet of the Apes if phenomenal btw). We hit the road and about 6 miles from the fairgrounds we chatted with a couple of ham's on the talk in frequency. When they heard I was just rolling in they gave me the bad news - they had left a while ago and folks were packing it in.

We rolled up around 2:45 PM and all but three vendors outside and two inside were gone. And those that were there we were in the final stages of packing. I was looking for an automatic antenna tuner and a RigExpert (or similar) antenna analyzer - but those guys were long gone. We said hello to the folks that were still there, used the restrooms, and headed home. Being a new HAM I had no idea - I thought they would be there until at least 6 PM. The upside is Sussex is God's country and just a beautiful drive.

A lesson the study guide won't help with

 

As a general rule, hamfests typically run from 8 or 9 AM to sometime in the mid-afternoon, with some sellers and vendors beginning to pack up around noon. Always plan on arriving as early in the day as possible. If you can't make it until later on it's probably not worth the trip.
Sometimes the flyer will have a start and end time, but if only a start time is given you should assume the preceding to be true and plan accordingly.
Sorry you missed the bulk of the Sussex fest, I was there early and it was a good one, definitely the best we have in this area.

 

Had the same sort of experience with my first hamfest. Got there around 11:30-12pm and almost everyone was packed up. Kinda sucks, but now u know. These sort of things happen early!! I was the guy with the motorcycle that camped overnight at the sussex hamfest and i came out of my tent at 6am and dealers were rolling in one after another with plenty of people already set up with dealers walking around seeing what the already set up guys had on their tables. Early is when u find the good stuff. Get to a hamfest at 8am. And try not to be too much later than that.

 

Years ago there was a saying, "the best deals are made in the parking lot". That may still be true at the big fests like Sussex where there is quality stuff to be had.