[R-390] JX-28

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 7:54 PM, barry williams <ba.williams at charter.net>wrote:

> Todd,
>
> As my students would say, "DUDE! Right on with that."
>
> I'm very opinionated as far as selling list member to list members. I have
> a JX-28 here that I bought from another list member for an outrageously
> reasonable price. He did great work on it and he was a great guy to deal
> with. If I were to ever pass it on, I would cut the same sort of deal with
> the new buyer from this list. Or, give it away. Enough friends on the list
> have sent me free stuff, and hopefully I've sent my share.
>


This is eggbeater Barry, right? (o:

I've got zero issue with what Perry or anyone asks or realizes from
anything they sell. That was only introduced as a straw man by Bob (and not
a very good one at that) to support his attempt at interjecting some drama
and opinion. I'm with you, I've found that my karma always does well when
I've helped folks out, but I've also gone the ebay route and peddled some
high end tubes to the audio crowd to raise cash. It's nice to live in a
country where we have that opportunity, at least for the moment.

The bigger issue for me was trying to understand what sets this particular
set so far apart from its siblings as to demand such prices for a set in
rough shape and missing parts. There could be a very good reason, which is
why I pled ignorance.  Having seen only a couple and noting some difference
but nothing major, it just struck me that it might be a lot to ask. Not a
criticism, since I love capitalism, just trying to understand since I know
personally the fellow interested in buying one.

Al, Les, and a few other folks filled me in as to the differences, Al even
sent along documentation. IMO, scarcity seems to be the main issue at play
since the differences aren't anything earth-shattering. Like a VLF model as
example, I'd expect a -620 (or JX-28 as I'm familiar with them) to bring
perhaps twice, maybe more, what a similar SP-600 would bring.

And of course, when it's scarce and you have one, it's a bit different than
just the typical free market supply and demand thing. When you cross over
that collector threshold, all bets are off. The 'gotta have one' factor is
impossible to gauge. I once saw what was apparently a NOS SP-600 with paper
tags still attached bring $1800 on ebay. Where ya gonna find another? I'd
just as soon rebuilt one, but if you're a collector...

It's an issue that's been thrashed to snot over the years, be it so-called
'spook' 390As with black panels, R-390s with micro dials or whatever else.
It wasn't my intention to reopen the can of worms, merely understand the
receiver Perry mentioned a bit better. The condition/pricing/availability
being what I couldn't get my head around but thanks to some of the crew
here, I have a much better understanding.

Perry, I wish you all the best with your radio.

de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ/4