On 2006-05-22, Peter Wieck wrote:

In any case, I remain of the general belief that eBay is not a
significant factor in the hobby to those in the east. And to those in
the west or out-of-range of large, older population centers, it has
_always_ been a factor, neither more nor less much than now.

The thoughts of others are actively solicited!

As a rank newbie (not even licensed, yet) I more or less have to
agree. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) where there are at
least a couple local ARC swap meets per month, I see none of the stuff
found on ebay in the way of classic old ham equipment. Hell, I can't
even find a used morse code key to practice on. I'm gonna hafta buy a
new Ameco from HRO. Not quite sure exactly why this is. Perhaps most
of SFBA ppl are all digitally oriented due to Silicon Valley being the
original hot-bed of digital. Whatever the reason, old Collins, Drake,
Heathkit, etc, rigs are rarer than cheap gas and low real estate
prices.

On the positive side of the ledger, due to the glory days of the late
great SV, there's hardly a man or woman alive in Northern California
that can't fly a Fluke or wield a mean Weller. I'll be flogging my
own acid-free flux and have already bought my first QRP kit with my
eye on another.

nb