Harpenden 4th March

[glowinganode]

Well done Jeffrey, that's excellent.
Many thanks for the other bits and the pattern generator, I must get me one of them televisors.
Also a big thanks to Mike and crew for a really well run auction.
Cheers,
Rob.

[Hunts smoothing bomb]

Wow! That's superb Jeffrey, good news indeed,
I've had a great day today, all be it long, on the road at 7am this morning and got in at 21:30!

A massive thanks to Mike and the team, also Jeffrey and the guys running the B&B stall.

I thought it a bit of a shame that there was a fairly low number of us bidding in the auction which in turn I believe was responsible for the lower than normal prices.

The only gripe I have is that it would be good if we could organize the tables in the "canteen" area a bit better somehow so that more seating space is available so people have somewhere to sit when they come in for their lunch/snacks.

Cheers

[Danny]

Hi, sadly couldn't make it this time. Was there many teles?

Danny

[audiomagpie]

I think there was one on the bring & buy earlier on, but none in the auction, only a small b&w monitor.

Greg

[ppppenguin]

There was a Pye PTV (the one that looks a bit like a monitor) and a genuine Pye professional monitor on the B&B. Hardly had time to look round the hall but didn't notice any.

[Danny]

Thanks ishouldnt hav asked as this could have caused depression. But on the upside i was away collecting an interesting project. the bring and buy is always the icing on the cake at these bashes and you never know whats going to turn up. hope to get to nvcf. but sadly no auction to bid at . Danny

[raditechman]

I spotted 2 dual standard 19" TV's under a traders table, and I saw them later being carried out. One was a Bush (or Murphy) I think.
John

[Hunts smoothing bomb]

Hi,
There were no tellies in the auction, only a small B&W monitor,
I did however spot and manage to bag a 16" Pye dual standard model 31 chassis set that was being sold on one of the stalls in the hall, it's in good condition in and out and has seen no repairs inside that I can tell. It does work fairly well for the first 5 minutes until the caps start leaking.

Cheers

[crackle]

Hi
I would just like to echo the thanks to all the “team” responsible for putting on the event.
This was my first visit to any BVWS event having only joined in December, and I was really impressed with the organisation.
It was also great to meet a few of the people and put a face to some of the users of this great forum.
Mike

[Andrewausfa]

Thanks to Mike and the team for putting on another good event. Just a shame about the knob 'collector'.

Andrew

[radiolot]

Another wonderful Harpenden - well done everyone. Vic, Mike and the boys certainly know how to put an event together.

My friend and I thought the first of the two sets' knobs could have fallen off, until the second set was held up to reveal the same problem.
I hope the radios of whoever has done that blow up. Like Mike said, none of that s*** should be anywhere near us.

Hands up who wants me to do another pick 'n' mix for next time.

Laurence

[Paul Stenning]

This is the first Harpenden I have attended for about 4 years (hence "apologies for absence" on previous AGM minutes). It is a much easier and quicker journey from Bournemouth than it was from Hereford.

It was useful that I could attend the AGM (as BVWS Webmaster) this time as there has been significant changes to the website, and more work planned to report. In previous years it would have been "nothing to report".

The arrangements for the AGM have changed since my last visit, and I think the conventional swapmeet and auction in the main hall and AGM in the smaller hall works very well. Those interested in the AGM can come and listen, while everyone else can carry on trading and chatting. I will update the website to match these arrangements shortly.

The plan to relay the AGM to the main hall didn't work out, possibly due to insufficient range on the cordless microphone, but hopefully everyone who was interested in the AGM business joined us in the smaller hall. I didn't count but I would estimate there were about 40 people there.

I think the £3 minimum bid in the auction worked well too. It means that the vendors would have received something for their lower value and "junk" lots once collection and storage expenses and commission have been deducted. There was very little unsold so the sort of stuff that would previously have sold for £1 did sell for £3.

Regarding the "missing" knobs - I agree 100% with everything Mike said.

I didn't buy anything this time due to financial and space constraints. There were a couple of tempting items in the auction but they went for more than I wanted to pay.

It was good to see some forum members during the day. I spotted a few more more familiar faces from the stage while helping with the auction too, but didn't get a chance to speak to them. Hopefully next time.

Overall an excellent day.

Thanks are especially due to Mike who spent several long days sorting and lotting all the auction items and loading them onto the van, while also dealing with membership renewals, component sales, preparing the AGM agenda and chairman's report, and everything else. Thanks also to his exceptionally patient and understanding partner, Jim.

[ppppenguin]

I'm not 100% certain but I think a box of vintage headphones went missing from the B&B stall. It could have been poor record keeping by us but we had no record of them being sold and they weren't there at the end when we came to pay the vendor.

[audiomagpie]

Originally Posted by Paul Stenning

I think the £3 minimum bid in the auction worked well too. It means that the vendors would have received something for their lower value and "junk" lots once collection and storage expenses and commission have been deducted. There was very little unsold so the sort of stuff that would previously have sold for £1 did sell for £3.

I think this saved a lot of previously wasted time and kept the rhythm of the auction going at a good and interesting pace

Re the knob thief, it's not even as if the knobs in question were either rare or expensive.
Hope they get knobrot!

Greg