The AM Forum

Last month I purchased a Johnson 500 RF deck off eBay.

Despite the seller's excellent packing, and my paying for 2nd Day Air shipping, UPS managed to really damage the face of the unit, looks like a steel rod was driven into the VFO section.

Thankfully I paid for insurance on the unit, so we are set there.
So now I need to show UPS the value.
I need an appraisal or statement, as to the value of the unit.
Any suggestions on how to go about getting such?
Anybody care to hazzard a value guess to what the replacement cost is?

It gets better, I have until May 1 to get this together for the claim rep.

Tnx,
Bruce


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Hi Bruce.  I will take a stab at this.

Your original ePay receipt (with shipping) should fill (it shold, but check with them) the UPS document requirements.  Of course this will get you back what you spent, not necessarily what it is worth.  To strengthen your case of value you can also provide listings of 500's off of eHam, QTH and ePay (select completed listings) to establish a fair market value.  Not sure how many have sold or are selling...

As far as appraising the the 500 you simply need a knowledgeable company with "factual" letterhead to write what their estimated value is.  Any dealer or repair shop should do.  I have done this on all of my show cars over the years.  I simply get a letter from any local car dealer (used normally) to the effect of their estimated value.  If it is good enough for insurance companies it should work for UPS as well.  You can also go to the Antique Radio Classifieds - I have seen people advertising to do appraisals in the past.

I know this is not much information, but I hope it helps a little.

Matt

Good ideas, but no sales other than mine listed on eBay.
They will not consider my sale as valid - don't ask why, I don't understand either.

No sales completed with price on QTH or eHam.

AF4K's price guide is gone as well.

What to do??????

Copy this because it will be wiped out soon.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5744811032

Same thing happened to me.  I copied the prices off the price listings that AF4K maintains then found an antique appraiser.  She wrote a letter and the company did not question it at all.   Give the appraiser your receilpt (check) and the prices listed and that should be enough to generate a letter.

I notice AF4K does not have a 500 listed, but find out from an appraiser what information they need.  If you don't know one, go to your public television station home page and look up Antiques Roadshow.  They have links to appraisers and you can find one near you.

Sorry to hear about the Viking 500, wish I knew a current listing to be able to help. Hard to find one complete with PS/Mod for under 3K if it is in working condition. $1400, seemed the lowest for a complete 500; as is, been under water, or so describe on that e-place. I've been watching just about every web-site for over a year looking for a 500, either a Johnson or GlobeKing.

Found one local and didn't have to deal with delivery issues.

Hope there is a special place in HELL for those who ding boatanchors.

Good Luck,
            wd8kdg
                     Craig

Another source for repair and pricing is Dee Almquist W4PNT Bruce. I think Dee does the refinishing of 500's and Valiants and Rangers. I am sure he could give you a written estimate of the cost to repair the unit.

--Larry W8ER

Dee did the front panel on my Viking II and WOW was I impressed.  I jokingly asked him what kind of car wax to use on the panel as it came out so perfect you could see yourself in the finish from across the room.

Matt

I had a Ranger destroyed by USPS shipping and they required a quote to fix it before they would submit my application for consideration.
What concerns me is you insured the item for a given amount. They should either replace the item or give you the insured amount.

Well one advantage we have is that we are a UPS shipper and in fact the unit was shipped on my account.

The UPS field inspector has already seen the unit, and agreed it was their fault. The key thing is now what to do about it.

Thankfully I had insured the unit for $1500, so we are somewhat covered there.

I went down this road last year with a 32V3 which I shipped to Howard Mills, UPS did make good, just had to follow their rules.

The hardest thing is finding comp values, that get crazy.

73 Bruce W1UJR



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There is a Johnson 500 complete, in this months Electric Radio for sale, for $3200 I believe.

I bought the RF deck a few years ago, for about $900. 500s don't go cheap. I could find the original ad or email for that deal if it helps you. I hope you can rework/rebuild that VFO, maybe you can get a junker Ranger and use that VFO part.

Does your newly damaged  RF deck have the bottom plate on the chassis, which is used for both RF shielding and as an air duct? If so, I need to get a sketch/photo of that piece to make a duplicate out of sheet metal, as it is required to run the 500 and get proper 4-400 cooling. When you get time from your UPS dealings, let me know. Thanks and 73

Thanks everyone, Dave APE came through and the info is now sitting in UPS's fax machine.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this one moves faster than the last one.

PRO - I'll have a look at the Johnson over the weekend.
Will a copy from a copier work for you, or do you need the metal piece?

-Bruce

I wouldn't use UPS to ship dog crap in lead pipe.
FEDEX and USPS are my choice.

Why would one ship dog shytie in a lead pipe??? Just  add dry ice and ship it fed ex overnight.... just like i doo









Show a man dog crap and his shoes a clean for a day. Teach him to smell the crap and his shoes are clean forever.

it contains the alpha particles.

Wouldn't dry ice freeze it - thus decreasing any remaining nutritional value?

hay Bruce how about comparing the value to a new globe king 500

Bruce
A photocopy template or marked up piece of paper would work. I just need to get the general idea of the plate, I was going to just guess about it. The photos in the manual kind of show it too. I need the overall dimensions, the size of the fan hole, and where it is bent or cut out.

Thanks, whenever,
J

--- the alphas' where it  goes in but its the omega where it comes out  

sometimes one eats somthing for its taste, not its nutritanal value...

FedEx ground is the way to go, IMHO.  I bought a SW-3 on eBay and the goofball just put it in a cardboad box that the radio just barely fit in - no packing, nothing.  I paid for insurance, he sent it ups but forgot the insurance and of course the tubes and dial got smashed.  He was very nice about it and said he had another one that he'd send me free... he did the EXACT same thing wiht the packing (grrr!!!) but this time sent it FedEx ground and it came thru totally unscathed.  The second SW-3 is essentially a parts unit that's beenham-specialled to death but I got good parts off it.

Anyway, the fact that an SW-3 just thrown in a box made it thru FedEx without damage is testament to their relative care in handling packages.

73 John