[GreenKeys] eBay Line Control Units

[Steve Garrison]

If any of you saw the Line Control Units on eBay a couple of weeks ago, buyer beware! 

They (Surplus Sales of Nebraska) wanted $90.00 for them and advised that they had two of them for sale.  I had previously purchased one from them several years ago but remembered it as being around $20.00, so I thought the $90.00 was just way too much and made an offer of $25.00.  They came back eventually with a counter offer of $50.00.  Well I went ahead and took it at the $50.00 price as I really wanted one to incorporate into my iTelex system.  After just a few days it arrived on my doorstep, but much to my surprise, this one didn't have the line relay either.

I then placed a call to Surplus Sales and found them to be great folks to work through an issue.  They weren't even aware of the relay in the first place as these were mostly NOS units and asked what they needed to do to double check for the relay.  They also said that they understood that the item didn't have the same value as one with a relay and they would lower the price of future units to the $20.00 price range  if there was no relay.  Additionally they were going to check their existing stock (turns out they had more than two) and ship me one with a relay if they found one and I could just keep the first one for my troubles.

The second one arrived yesterday, but sadly it also didn't have a relay either.  So now I have two without relays at a final price of $25.00 each. My original offer!!! Now I have two to add to the iTelex system.

Now the best part of this is they also work just fine without the relay.  There is a switch that allows use either with or without the relay, as well as a switch to allow either a local or a remote loop supply.  The relay was to "clean" up a long noisy line, and since my distances are just a few feet it is not absolutely necessary.

So if you go to purchase one, just be sure to inquire about the relay.

And I think you will find the folks at Surplus Sales of Nebraska great to work with.

Steve G./N4TTY
Sent from my iPhone