[Boatanchors] Amazing prices

[Rob Atkinson]

The prices went sky high starting sometime last fall.  I think the
uptick in the economy has something to do with it.  If you had been
looking for vintage gear 5 years ago you would have gotten some
halfway decent deals, but nothing like the 1970s when hams were
practically giving away old rigs to buy slopbucket transceivers.  The
prices will come down again, but in the meantime it is best to stay
away from the auction sites and stick with hamfests and swap.qth.com
and classifieds in the back of ER.  The gear that gets the super high
prices are the pristine restored plug and play rigs that have already
had all the work done on them.  If having something look brand new
isn't important and you are able to do some fixing you can get the
same thing for a lot less.

73

Rob
K5UJ

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 8:32 AM, Curt <rhulett1 at consolidated.net> wrote:
> Having started in this hobby in the early 60s, the old radios continue to
> interest me.  Several of various sorts have moved into the shack for awhile
> then moved on.  Lately I have been looking at Hallicrafters and National
> 40s-50s receivers and the prices seem rather amazing.  I've seen several
> priced near $300!  Much of the gear is in poor condition, missing parts,
> inoperable.  Would have thought estate sales would have saturated the market
> and driven prices to few cents on the pound given the age of this equipment.
> Must be a lot more old folks like me interested than would have thought.
>
> 73, Curt KB5JO