[Boatanchors] Re: [R-390] Ebay Prices

[Grant Youngman]

> 
> True, but you have a much better chance of seeing deception in person
> than via a photo. 

I'm still burning over the beautiful (physically) and "perfect working
condition" Drake L-4B I bought some years ago at a local fest.

Now you could say I should have had my toolkit and taken the covers off, and
examined, even tested the tubes, and checked the power supply components, or
maybe had the seller haul it to the "test table" and run it up on 20M for
me.  You could say that.  And I certainly should have gotten the seller's
call sign (if he even had one) and the name and location of his first born.
No question.

One of the tubes had a grid anode short, several RFC's were fricasseed, the
other tube had a dead filament, and the power supply was cooked.  Still, it
sure did look good.  The fellow I ended up selling it to a year later got a
fully renovated L4-B, all fixed up, new tubes, rebuilt power supply and
several $100 in free parts plus labor, since he also expected a "hamfest"
price, and wasn't interested in paying any kind of premium -- he just wanted
an L4-B.  At least it was out of my sight ...

Ebay, hamfests, or craigslist -- unless you're buying from a long standing
friend or someone you know or at least know of by reputation, your goose can
be just as cooked.

To be honest, I've only been "taken" a couple of other times out of too many
transactions to remember.  But the record is 2 - hamfest, and 1- eBay :-)

Grant/NQ5T