Hi

Even back when the paper route (remember when kids on bicycles delivered
the day’s news?) supplied the spending cash, boat anchors were mostly in
the “affordable” category. The market was full of them and anybody with any
interest already had the garage full of them. Compared to that shiny new radio
…. they came in a *lot* cheaper.

Competition for your time was not all that stiff. The idea that each kid had to be
driven to three or four “activities” a day simply didn’t exist. For one thing there
was only one car and dad hadn’t made it home yet …. Teachers had not yet
been told that 8 hours of homework a night was “how it’s done”.

The one TV station in town probably didn’t have much interesting stuff on it
most nights. One day they *might* start broadcasting during the day. Family
might eventually get a TV with a screen bigger than a note pad.  Maybe
you could listen to exotic short wave stations with some sort of radio. Way
more fun than what’s on TV.

I don’t remember anybody looking at a boat anchor as something to be preserved
for the future back then. You want to tear it all to pieces to “improve” it ? go for
it. That’s what everybody else is doing. If the “improvement" results in a ….. errr …
really stinky fire … errr …. that was part of it as well. Make a note to be a bit
more careful next time :)

These beasts (as everybody here knows) were built by hand with point to point wiring
for the most part. Printed circuit boards … not so much ( yes, I have R1051’s …).
By the time pcb’s became common, they stopped selling stuff cheap. Then they
started sending it all to the crusher. Point to point is *very* user friendly. 16
layer PCB’s with BGA’s on them …. not so much.

Interestingly, I know a lot of “kids” around here who would disagree with that last
part. They are quite happily doing up PC boards and mounting crazy parts on
them. Home brew electronics is still alive out there somewhere. They also
seem to be learning about stinky fires :) What’s missing are the boat anchor
radios. They have piles of boat anchor servers ….

So sure, a lot changed. Welcome to progress !!!!

Bob

> On Feb 12, 2022, at 11:18 AM, MICHAEL ST ANGELO <mstangelo@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Boatanchors have a fascination with oldtimers because it was an introduction to the hobby when electronics was expensive. Electronics is cheap and commonplace today and Moore's law has made electronics obsolete in a couple of years so the fascination with the hardware has disappeared. Younger people today are interested today in software.
>
> The people I know from the Northeast who have moved to Florida downsized and got rid of most of their equipment before moving so I believe Hamcation is not representative of the typical local hamfest. Even so I believe the market is filled with sellers, not buyers. I have always been a proponent of selling your boatanchors at the local Hamfest. You will not get the price you want but at least the equipment would not land up in the landfill.
>
> The Antiques Road Show, like most reality shows, is an exaggeration of reality. I believe for every gem shown on the show they edit out lots of items what are worthless.
>
> Enjoy the equipment while you can.
>
> Mike N2MS
>
>
>>
>>
>> For those who've watched too much "Antique Road Show,"
>> those who think selling their boatanchors are going to
>> save their finances, those trying to sell common
>> Heathkit/Johnson/Milradio etc. on Ebay for big bucks
>> (and relisting them for months), etc. etc., please
>> take note of this from a Hamcation attendee.
>> These stories are becoming commonplace.
>> Father Time is merciless to collectables, folks.
>>
>> "Update from Hamcation.
>> So there was one seller in the field today who was
>> offering a boatload of VERY nice boat anchors of
>> various types. RCA, Johnson, etc. Beautiful receivers
>> and transmitters, all said to be working, mostly going
>> for $200 to $350 each. More than a dozen at bargain prices.
>> Evidently he had no, or few, takers. By mid-afternoon he was
>> offering the lot for $900. Methinks the boat anchor era
>> really may be ending. My other thought about Hamcation,
>> as I stood in the ticket line at 0830 this morning:
>> "Jees, all these guys are OLD."
>> (He said, the day after he turned 72.)"
>>
>> To which was commented:
>>
>> "Greying out. We’re on the shady side of the nostalgia bell-curve."
>> "I think most of the boatanchor enthusiasm was driven by
>> Boomer hams remembering the radios they longed for
>> but could not afford as kids. As this (my) generation dies off,
>> I except the market for all old radios, to continually decline."
>>
>> Advice from one who once sold estates: What one *thinks*
>> it's worth means nothing. It's "worth" what a buyer and seller
>> agree at that moment, and that's all.
>>
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