[NJARC] A few thoughts on the repair clinics and the News letter.

[antqradio at juno.com]

Dave is correct, you can't make a living repairing old radios.  I do it
for the enjoyment and personal satisfaction of making the radio play
again.
My services are advertised for free on a local talk radio program called
"Help your Neighbor".

It the repair is just replacing tubes, capacitors and resistors and
tuning, I charge a flat $50.00 fee.
I have collected a lot of repair parts, so for me it is no big deal. 
Most of what I need is already on hand, if I can find them!
If power transformers or cabinet refinishing is required, the repair
price is much more.


The club on the other hand is purchasing new parts (except for tubes) and
should be compensated.
Let's face it, radio repair is a thing of the past and few do it.  In
this area (Central Arkansas) I am the only one.
I have customers who travel 60 miles to drop off radios, unfortunately,
there isn't much business, a radio or two a month.

May I suggest that NJARC charge the cost of parts replaced times pi? 
This isn't much and those who want to keep the radio will still
appreciate the bargain.
Regards,
Jim

On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 10:02:01 -0500 David Sica <davesica at juno.com> writes:
> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> Thomas,
> 
> Remember "The Golden Rule": He who has the gold makes the rules! The 
> club
> decides how things will be done. And the club is all of us. So this 
> is
> probably a good discussion to be having. To date, we've done it the 
> way
> we've done it - perhaps due to carefully reasoned thinking, or 
> perhaps
> just because "we've always done it that way". I've not been part of 
> that
> decision-making process, but I was an early advocate of the repair 
> clinic
> program back when the club was formed and I do have a few (perhaps
> conflicting) thoughts on the subject.
> 
> I agree that it's at the very least disheartening that a person 
> would
> have our club fix a radio for free just so they could sell it at a
> profit. I'm enough of an idealist that when I think of people coming 
> in
> to take advantage of our repair clinics, I picture warm, fuzzy
> Rockwell-esque scenes where the family can now gather around 
> grandpa's
> old radio and enjoy... well maybe all they can tune in to is hate 
> radio
> on AM these day, but anyway it was a nice mental image while it 
> lasted! 
> :-) Hopefully our "open to the public" clinics, along with club 
> displays
> and lectures, generate publicity, goodwill and attract new members. 
> It's
> not realistic to expect 100% success from any endeavor and although 
> it
> really, really irks me when a few bad apples abuse our generosity, 
> if the
> big picture remains positive, well, I guess that's life.
> 
> If it turns out that we are offering public repair clinics to the
> detriment of serving our own members, then we might want to adjust 
> the
> percentage of public vs. members-only events or otherwise tweak the
> program to best serve the interests of the club. We've already been
> discussing ways to do that and the more input the better so your note 
> is
> very timely!
> 
> I'm not so sure about charging a fee at the clinics. (Although I 
> guess it
> couldn't hurt to ask for a donation?) There are a few folks who 
> provide
> commercial repair services, and I have to admire them; I can't 
> figure out
> how anyone could actually make a living that way. I've always 
> thought
> that repairing a radio was a great way to make a million dollars: a
> dollar an hour for a million hours!
> 
> I can't speak for Marv or the Board, but I think you can rest 
> assured
> that the Broadcaster will remain a members-only benefit. We're still
> working on the best way to make the current issue accessible only to
> members (as it now is when being sent via snail-mail) without making 
> it
> inconvenient to access. I don't think anyone ever intended that it 
> would
> be made freely available to the public. If anyone did, I'm on record
> against that. On the other hand, we ARE intending to continue to 
> make
> back issues freely available in our online library, and that's 
> always
> been viewed as appropriate. 
> 
> The swapmeets being open to the public is perhaps a "mixed blessing" 
> too.
> The admission donations collected from people attending our events 
> go a
> long way toward keeping our club financially healthy while keeping 
> our
> dues reasonable.  And they are good exposure for the club. Our
> mini-swapmeets held at many meetings ARE members-only events. 
> Although
> (with some notable exceptions) these usually provide only dubious
> treasures, parts and junque, our May meeting this year will be a 
> shining
> example of club pride at it's best. The Mike Hammer collection was
> specifically earmarked by his widow to be auctioned at a CLUB event, 
> to
> CLUB members not the public. Although this limited exposure has the
> potential to limit her financial return, because Mike was so 
> enthusiastic
> and happy to be a member of the club, that's the way she wanted it.
> 
> Anyway, I don't know if other folks would agree with any of your 
> concerns
> or if any changes will be made to address them, but the type of
> constructive criticism you've brought up is what helps make the club
> better each year. So, thanks!
> 
> --Dave
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 03:15:48 -0500 "Thomas Lee"
> <thomas_v_lee at hotmail.com> writes:
> > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > In the two years that I have been a member there was only one 
> class 
> > taught 
> > to the beginners/new members at the repair clinics.  Can’t a 
> > schedule of 
> > classes be made for new members and be held at the monthly 
> meetings 
> > or the 
> > repair clinics?
> > Being that the repair clinics are far and in between how are new 
> > members 
> > supposed to get hands on experience?   I understand the clubs 
> > resources are 
> > very limited but when you open the clinics to the public at the 
> cost 
> > of the 
> > members it just does not’t make sense.
> > I have been to a few repair clinics  where “the public” have 
> brought 
> > in 
> > their radios for repair, and most are not interested in joining, 
> or 
> > 
> > learning.  They just want a working set to enjoy or sell on eBay 
> or 
> > some 
> > other avenue.  Why should the club support that at the cost of its 
> 
> > new 
> > members, and that of the old member’s time when its resources are 
> so 
> > limited 
> > and would have been better served by concentrating on its new 
> > members and 
> > old ones?
> > As for the broadcaster being put online for free then just what 
> > would be the 
> > advantages of joining?   The swap meets are open to the public.  
> The 
> > repair 
> > clinics are open to the public, and you can have your radio 
> repaired 
> > for 
> > free.  If the news letter can be read online why join when you can 
> 
> > get it 
> > all for free?
> > I think it is all well and good for the public to be invited to 
> the 
> > repair 
> > clinics, but if they bring in a radio for repair, they should be 
> > charged 
> > some kind of fee, and those monies collected should either be 
> added 
> > to the 
> > clubs treasury to fund future programs and or have the member who 
> is 
> > 
> > spending his time on it compensated in part to discourage people 
> who 
> > just 
> > want a free repair and then go sell it somewhere.
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > NJARC mailing list
> > NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
> > 
> > 
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