[R-390] [R-390-A FS 40+

[Shoppa, Tim]

Don writes:
> Not necessarily.  Value is a function of both supply and demand, so 
> if there is no demand there is no value, no matter how much expense 
> went into producing the item in question.

That's a wrong (or at least different than what I was talking about) kind of value. You're talking about it like it's a game of speculating on the stock market, and that's not wrong if you view your 390A as an investment in a commodity. If you view it as a tool for doing what you enjoy, you can come up with a different definition of value, and you might decide that, say, you like nice usable radios for being nice usable radios, not because there's a demand for them or they are in scarce supply.

I will agree that many of the best old radios often have larger demand and they may be in scarcer supply. But others don't. I think my HW-16 has great value - in the wintertime it is such a joy to use on 40M or 80M CW - but that doesn't mean that I believe it is in huge demand or has a scare supply. I think it still suffers from being thought of as a "Novice radio" even 40 years later when there are no Novices and the newbies don't have to know code anyway.

I like my 390A's and I like my other old radios, they all have value to me. If I had to choose between my HW-16 and my R-390A as the single piece of radio equipment I was allowed to own, I'd choose the HW-16 any day of the week. Again, my value system, not the E-place.

Tim.