I know why the named it the 5000.  That's how much you bank account will go down.  At least.

www.nytimes.com/1992/03/30/business/plug-is-pulled-on-heathkits-ending-a-do-it-yourself-era.html

Interesting website:
 
users.tellurian.net/gjurrens/famous_hams.html
NOTE: Former XARC secretary (around 1980-82) Jeff Dunteman K7JPD is on this list.

Old short movie about Ham Radio that you might find interesting.   Ignore the portugese title and comments.

I went to the RARA Meeting last Friday and enjoyed the presentation by Ev Tupis on PropNet.  I've been thinking about asking him to reprise his talk for our club.  Since that would not likely be for a couple of months, here is the link to their website, where you can probably learn a lot just by visiting.
www.propnet.org

I vaguely remember Heathkit previewing this in a catalog not too long before they quit the kit and ham business, but I didn't know any actually were sold.
 
cgi.ebay.com/HEATHKIT-SS-9000-TRANSCEIVER-POWER-SUPPLY-WARC-BANDS_W0QQitemZ280433865834QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0

My install of the FT-857 is complete. All went fairly well. I opted to use the separation kit and mount the transceiver under the drivers seat and mount the control panel on the dash. There was a small cubby hole next to the cigarette lighter, so I was able to trim a small piece of a 2x4 that I screwed to the back of the opening, and then mounted to display panel bracket to the front side. The cable comes in through the hole that held the cigarette lighter.

I haven't been on HF in well over a year.  I knew that the bands have been bad, so when I got my FT-857, I hooked it up to my Hustler vertical to try it out.  The conditions didn't sound great, but I was able to work Russia and several European stations on 20 and 40m without much difficulty.
A pleasant surprise was how much better 40 meters is at night below 7.200MHz with most broadcasters gone from that segment.  It used to be a wasteland at night.  Not anymore, with quite a bit of DX on the band.

OK, the last new radio I bought was in 1997.  So I figured I was due.  I have a Yaesu FT-857 ordered from Ham Radio Outlet.  I expect to mostly operate from my vehicle, so I'll be looking at how best to make that happen.  I'll need to decide if I should remove my Kenwood TM-733 and use the FT-857 for 2m and 440.  I don't see why not at this point, but I guess I'll need to play with the radio a bit first.
At some point I'll probably get a screwdriver antenna, but initially I might get a couple of hamsticks.

After a few years of declining attendance and restricted fleamarket space, the relocation of the 2009 hamfest seemed to me to be a success.  Though there were a few hitches, like the bit of a bottleneck getting cars parked between 8:30 and 9, overall I was happy with the change.  The lack of indoor space would be one other criticism, though vendors willing to use the space is really required to make it worthwhile.