[Boatanchors] 20s-30s-40s Home Radio Market Collapse

[Rob Atkinson]

I saw this coming a few years ago.  I was never in this to profit or
break even.  When I haul gear and parts to a hamfest I'm happy to have
cleared out some space at home--that's my pay, and I'm happy if the
stuff avoids a landfill by going home with someone.  For that I'll
even let things go for free.  Of course that means some of the
merchandise gets swept up by eBay flippers or winds up on another
hamfest table but then it's someone else's problem.  I don't like that
but I can't prevent it and it still means that eventually the parts
etc. wind up being used instead of sitting in my basement waiting to
be thrown in a dumpster by my family after I go SK.

Maybe the dropping prices will induce younger hams to give a vintage
set a try.  What's interesting is what moves and what doesn't.  At the
last hamfest I had a pair of HP 410Bs priced at 20 bucks each.  They
had the RF probes too.  I thought they'd go right away but I took them
home.  They weren't mint, but these are the Cadillac of VTVMs.  No one
even made an offer for them.

73
Rob
K5UJ

On Sun, Sep 3, 2017 at 11:00 PM, David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> For those of us who collect "home" wooden radios like the cathedrals
>
> or those pretty "furniture" 1920s battery sets, this is either time for
>
> you to cry over lost money or smile over inexpensive treasures.
>