[Boatanchors] Radios, and N.O.S. tubes

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Reminds me of my ex-wife's yard sale last century. Actually the summer of 
1979. She had some stuff on tables that should have been hidden inside a 
plain brown paper sack and then burried in the trash can underneath cans, 
bottles and garbage! Then hopefully picked up by the trash dude with a blind 
assistant!

I remember a small tube type AM tabletop radio she asked me what to charge 
for? Now this radio was what the kids now refer to as "hit", as in got 
kissed by a Mack truck! It had cosmetics indicating it had been in a serious 
rock fire fight, and lost! A knob was gone, the plastic was coated with 
paint that had more cracks in it than a legal document, the power cord was 
just waiting for the right person to plug in the radio so it could ignite 
and go POOF ... She wanted to sell this thing?

I told her it was worthless and besides that it was an electrical hazard. My 
advice was to throw it in the trash. You can guess the rest, right? She sold 
that darn thing for $4 to somebody! Then sold a coffee pot with pieces of 
the strainer missing for $6 to some 'lucky' yard sale trooper! I guess the 
worse it looks, the more they want the stuff! The nice wood end table and 
solid Oak chest of drawers was totally ignored, but some cardboard like 
material little table with dark brown spots on it, scratches, dents and one 
leg shortened by an encounter with who knows what. Now that sold for $15! 
And people were charging it to buy it!

If beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, than I believe we have a lot 
more blind people roaming the streets than the supposed 1.5% of the 
population!



 ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ka2hlw at netzero.net>
To: <Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 5:16 PM
Subject: [Boatanchors] Radios, and N.O.S. tubes


> Hi Group,
>   Not all sellers are like the ones that are described in past posts.
> BUT, there are a few (or likely more than a few) sellers that will say
> anything to get the top dollar for their broken radios, or used tubes.
> Just because the tube has an original box doesn't make it N.O.S., and
> this "hesitation" to visually inspect a radio's insides, or to plug it
> in to verify its electrical condition should raise red flags in your
> minds as to its actual condition. At a hamfest, the club sponsoring
> the 'fest should have a "test bench" with basic test equipment(vom,
> dmm, freq counter, dummy load/swr/power meter, 12vdc supply, a/c mains
> access). The Montgomery Al. 'fest has had a table with this stuff for
> years.
>   I actually had a seller be totally honest with me at the Huntsville
> Al. 'fest last weekend. There was a Hallicrafters SX-130 sitting on a
> table with a $20 price tag on it. This was definitely not a normal
> price for this radio, so I asked what was wrong with it. The seller
> said that when he plugged it in to test it, he let the smoke out of
> it! It was D.O.A., and he knew it and priced it accordingly, he said.
> I was pleasantly surprised when he said that he would take $10 for it
> so he wouldn't have to lug it home. Who could refuse this bargain from
> an honest man? So, I have a winter project now, and some of my faith
> restored about buying used equipment from a stranger. This one deal
> made the whole hamfest worthwhile. There are honest sellers out there,
> and I'm glad I met one.
>
>        TNX FM FRED - W4FJF/NNN0QAA REGION FOUR, 73
> AMATEUR RADIO IS A NATIONAL RESOURCE, NOT "JUST A HOBBY".
> NAVMARCORPSMARS MEMBER,"PROUDLY SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE".
> A FOOL'S PARADISE IS A WISE MAN'S HELL.
>
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> ** List Administrator - Duane Fischer, W8DBF/W9WZE **
> ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
> $$ For vintage radio info, see the HCI web site $$
> http://www.w9wze.org
>
>
>
>
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