Stupidity leads to more tragic destruction

[k4kyv]

I was in QSO to-night with an acquaintance of George, W1GAC (SK).  He told me that after George died, the people who cleaned his house threw out his basement full of old radio stuff - enough to fill two dumpsters.  They never bothered to check if any of it was worth something or if someone might have been interested in it, and there was no-one around at the time to see to it that anything of value was preserved.

Same old story I have heard over and over, far too many times.

[W5AMI]

What a shame.  Enough to make anyone with any sense very ill...

Brian / wa5am

[WA3VJB]

Yes, Dan W1DAN told us about this at the time it happened.

George's kin, along with the bank that held the reverse mortgage, were rapidly closing out the estate.

It's not quite as extreme as 'never bothered to check,' but there was indeed no time to organize an inventory, as I recall.

Pg. 24

http://amfone.net/W1GACbyW1DAN.pdf

[N3DRB The Derb]

poeple with stashes like that need to protect it, from both the family, who normally cares nothing about any of it, and will all go into dumpsters, and bottom feeders who will only haul the KW1 out and hrow away everything else.

Why hasnt the am community taken care of itself in this manner and established a sort of non profit distribution coop to make sure this does not keep repeating itself over and over again? Maybe a 501c3?  It could be done, it's just lack of initiative. Station owners could will it  or have an advance directive of some sort. Something needs to be done. This is the 20th or so time I've heard about his sort of thing over the years.

of course, someone would ruin it someday by hoarding something instead of selling back to the coop for fair sale value.

pipe dream I guess.

[flintstone mop]

I guess it's too late to trace where the dumpsters were headed. Someone might get lucky and catch them before they reach their eternal destination.
I'm sure the goodies are long gone by now.

Fred

[KF1Z]

I guess it's too late to trace where the dumpsters were headed. Someone might get lucky and catch them before they reach their eternal destination.
I'm sure the goodies are long gone by now.

Fred

It was months ago........

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

You have no idea how disheartening this is to me and a lot of others. All who knew George, would have wanted something from his shack, to say the least.

I do appreciate you posting this Don, so some may learn from others' mistakes.

Best Regards,
                  Joe Cro N3IBX

[k3zrf]

Put it in your will where, what, who.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

You could set up in your will the stipulation that a named person (preferably a trusted ham friend) step in to dispose of all the ham equipment, parts, etc. after you've passed on. You can also stipulate who would get the sold proceeds, any equipment, etc. It's probably best to do this  before you wake up dead one day.

Ya never know when you step off that curb
And:

[AF9J]

So George's Little & Mighty Mo transmitters ended up in a dumpster?  That's sad!

Ellen - AF9J

[W1RC]

Regretfully, that's the way it goes in some cases.  When the next-of-kin look at the job ahead of them their thoughts are usually of getting rid of the junk as quickly as possible.  This usually begins with the arrival of the dumpster into which are deposited the "junk" usually the glass tubes first then the transformers are tossed in on top of them. 

We are by nature hoarders and "pack rats" but others view it as "junk" to be disposed of as quickly as possible.

I have amassed more than my share of "stuff" over the years but I have decided to divest myself of a lot of it now to ensure that this does not happen to the stuff Ihave so carefully and lovingly saved over the years.

73,

Michael, W1RC
 

[W2XR]

You could set up in your will the stipulation that a named person (preferably a trusted ham friend) step in to dispose of all the ham equipment, parts, etc. after you've passed on. You can also stipulate who would get the sold proceeds, any equipment, etc. It's probably best to do this  before you wake up dead one day.

Ya never know when you step off that curb
And:

That's what I did years ago with a lot of my homebrew and vintage audio gear. Before the year is out, I''m  having my will revised to include the proper and desired disposition of all of my ham gear. I'll have the will structured so that a good local ham friend of mine will be appointed as the executor of my amateur radio estate. His compensation for this task will be to take whatever he wants, and then sell the remainder for fair market value, with Janet to get the proceeds from any sale. I have recently discussed this with my friend and he is amenable to this arrangement.

I don't recall seeing any pick-up trucks going to the cemetary loaded with a bunch of CVM-5s, NIB 4-1000As, or 833As in the back. Better to plan for the inevitable now, so as to ensure for the safe and useful disposition of this stuff, before we head off to that great ham radio shack in the sky.

73,

Bruce

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

On the other hand, it is just radio gear. Morn the loss of George/GAC, not his radios.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

A very good point Steve, something I've come to realize more with age (maturity might be a stretch here).

The stuff is great, but the people are what make it so. If collecting the 'best example' or whatever else is your thing - great. Enjoy it, but don't assume others will even be interested in saving it. If you know an old timer who is important to you, spend time with them, collect their history and preserve it for whomever. The bigger job will be finding that interest in 20-30 years. Think about the last piece of nifty HB gear you randomly saw at a hamfest. What did you know about the builder? What did the seller know? That should tell you a lot.

Dan did save a number of George's important contributions, projects he was known and respected for. It's too bad that everything everywhere can't be saved, but the amateur community lacks the interest. If it's a priority, we make it so. Otherwise, we talk about it later.

It certainly underlines the growing focus on the social vs material aspects of our part of the hobby. More of us going to hamfests to have fun with friends than to prowl for the next great deal. Not that we don't enjoy the deals, we just enjoy the fellowship more.

[WD8BIL]

I don't recall seeing any pick-up trucks going to the cemetary loaded with a bunch of CVM-5s, NIB 4-1000As, or 833As in the back.

I plan on having the Viking Bud buried with me. Told the wife to get the longest casket she can find. 

[WA1GFZ]

George was a straight shooter and a joy to listen to.
He been there and done that. I don't ever remember him saying anything I didn't agree with.

[W1DAN]

Hi all:

I just came across this thread (been super busy with school).

George told his family I could have his gear when he passed. Before then I interviewed him and took photos (see the PDF article and george's photos on this board. The whole story is there). I value this history.

All of George's ham gear was saved by me and Bob K1REC (we worked very hard and quickly to get ahead of the dumpster). We spent days collecting the goodies..which includes the Mighty Mo's and his home station. So feel assured that the dumpster was NOT filled with ham gear! We did let go pure junque...bad parts or parts of totally no use.

It WAS filled with about 1/2 of his house belongings (more than what should have been trahsed..shudda had a yard sale)...all the home stuff in his basement (broken TV's xmas stuff, yard stuff, plates, etc). Most good home furniture was sold at an auction house. I also saved some family photos and even an old Singer sewing machine (which I am not sure what to do with). His brother really wanted to clean the house out fast and he did. Faster than I would have liked to see. I have photos of most of the areas of the house before or at the beginning of the clean-out. Generally 50-80% of the items worth anything were saved or sold.

BTW, I have his SBE-33 xcvr in poor condition. Anyone want it? Free for pick up.

73,
Dan
W1DAN

[wb2fof]

I agree with Steve HUZ .

It also looks like most of the stuff found a home according to Dan's clip.

Picking up the pieces
After his passing, his nephew Dennis and brother Jim called and asked me if I wanted his radio gear as well as other radio memorabilia. They were clearing the house out quickly for sale. So I invited one of George’s long time friends Bob K1REC to pick up some gear and I “hi-tailed” it over there. Over a few days and car loads, we had picked up pretty much all his amateur radio equipment, log books, QSL cards, parts and accessories. I am glad we saved the gear. We now have all of the equipment mentioned here and more items, including a small Robert Taylor and George Raft VHS movie collection. I also brought home a collection of World War 2 newspaper clippings that Mary assembled in scrap books describing the travels of local boys she knew in the war. During the war, Mary’s brother and other high school friends who were in the war sent her postcards, patches and letters from different venues of the war. If we had not picked up this stuff, it would have all been tossed in the dumpster! Much other good stuff was tossed. It is sad no one else in his family or ham community had any interest in the gear or memorabilia. My goal is to learn about and operate the gear, tell people about George and pass some of his stuff around to his friends.
I hope I have told an accurate story about one of the few remaining hams who started running AM at the beginning of the ham AM mode in the 1930’s. George had an Advanced class ham license and had no interest in obtaining his Extra class ticket. Hundreds of hams knew George by his call sign or his voice and a number of new AM’ers talked to George as one of their earliest contacts.
My sincere thanks to Paul WA3VJB for the thoughtfulness to have George on tape and starting me on this journey as well as his continued support. Also thanks to Bob K1REC for picking up some of his gear and providing some history. Also thanks to Dennis and Jim (for the access to his gear and a some good stories), as well as his dance partner Georgina for many phone calls and good letters filled with stories and other information. I hope George would be proud of both his accomplishments as well as our preserving his hard earned efforts. Farewell “Old Buzzard George”.
73,
Dan, W1DAN
08/14/2007
Here are a few web sites where you can read, see and hear more about W1GAC:
http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=10204.0 (the W1GAC SK thread)
http://amfone.net/LateNotables/w1gac.htm (photos and scans I took of George’s stuff)
http://www.amwindow.org/audio/mov/w1gac.mov (Audio clip of W1GAC)
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/w5hro/bin/hams/w1gac/w1gac.html (W5HRO’s page on W1GAC)
http://www.hamelectronics.com/ham/k1deu/pages/ham/general/pages/am_pics/w1gac_t/index.htm (K1DEU’s visit to W1GAC)
Much of

[wb2fof]

I can see the picture of Bud, BIL's box.........Him, under the Viking-Bud, rifles, ammo, turkeys, antlers..........and those damm curtains fron his cellar shack !!!

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I just came across this thread (been super busy with school).

George told his family I could have his gear when he passed. Before then I interviewed him and took photos (see the PDF article and george's photos on this board. The whole story is there). I value this history.

All of George's ham gear was saved by me and Bob K1REC (we worked very hard and quickly to get ahead of the dumpster). We spent days collecting the goodies..which includes the Mighty Mo's and his home station. So feel assured that the dumpster was NOT filled with ham gear! We did let go pure junque...bad parts or parts of totally no use.

Thank you for clarifying, Dan. And thank you for your efforts in this matter, along with Bob 'Roosters Enjoy Chickens'.

I can see the picture of Bud, BIL's box.........Him, under the Viking-Bud, rifles, ammo, turkeys, antlers..........and those damm curtains fron his cellar shack !!!

Yes, those lovely, chic, designer curtains. You need one of the Collins coffin transmitters with viewing window for the full effect, though: 30K for the average ham, KW-1 for the tall, 300G or 20V for the robust. Just strip out all of that worthless, heavy junk and line the interior to suit your taste.

Then install curtains in window. 

[KB2WIG]

It seems to me that one is not truly dead untill one is forgotten.  

George, Ozona Bob,  Mike w2oy, and Irb still get mentioned.

Some of the guys that helped me out aren't going to be forgotten for a long time --  Norm, K2KLV and Ralph, W2WME.

klc

[k4kyv]

I'm glad to hear that most of his stuff was saved.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for all of us, especially we who tend to accumulate a large collection of things we know we will probably never use, to leave instructions somewhere with contact information for more than one person who would make sure our "collection" doesn't end up at the dump.  The contact people might include members of this and other forums who would post the details, as well as a few mailing addresses and phone numbers, in case the people handling the estate did not have access to the internet. Maybe even include detailed instructions on how to directly access websites, including a copy of a sample message.

It's one thing for well looked-over items that no-one was interested in from a collection to be tossed out, but it is a real shame when it gets dumped simply because no-one knew it existed or exactly when the place was to be cleaned up, or someone simply didn't care enough to inform anyone before dumping it.

In a typical situation, the "good stuff", like modern transceivers and high profile vintage items such as fully restored transmitters and  receivers, and maybe a few antique broadcast receivers, gets saved, but the "junk", like audio and power supply transformers, receiving and transmitting tubes, variable capacitors, meters, sockets, wirewound resistors, oil capacitors, tank coils and other small parts, as well as dilapidated or partially disassembled "junk rigs" that may still contain good parts, gets thrown out because those in charge thought it was all rubbish and not worth anything.  That "junk" is what keeps the art of homebrewing and restoration going.  How can the amateur radio community continue to restore vintage ham rigs, convert broadcast transmitters, or build rigs from scratch, if all the "parts" have been thrown away?

I recall that Roger, N4IBF was adamant about this, but when his time came, his collection almost ended up meeting the fate that always so horrified him.  He had said many times that he would leave instructions, but none of his family members were ever aware of anything.  His daughter had unthinkingly stored his telegraph key collection in a basement closet.  When I helped her sort the stuff out several years after his death, the key  collection and the packing material that surrounded the carefully wrapped items were found, saturated with moisture that had wicked up through the concrete block floor and walls.  Many of his restored and well-preserved keys and bugs dating back to the early days of the 20th cetury ended up badly damaged from corrosion.  Some other originally near mint condition items showed moisture damage from the damp cellar.  Roger always kept a dehumidifier running but no-one ever turned it back on after his passing.  A photo album full of original photos of ham stations from the late teens and 1920's, that had originally belonged to a member of ARRL HQ staff in the 1930's and which were probably the original prints for many of the photos in early QST's, disappeared and no-one could ever find a trace of it.  Some guy came over shortly after he died, supposedly to help sort through some of his radio parts collection, and ripped off every one of the two dozen or so n.i.b. 2A3's he had stashed away as spares for his BC-610.  His ex-wife and daughter were not aware that anything was missing, and the guy never offered them any money for the tubes.

[W3SLK]

Bob said:

I can see the picture of Bud, BIL's box.........Him, under the Viking-Bud, rifles, ammo, turkeys, antlers..........and those damm curtains fron his cellar shack !!!

Don't forget the Nugent thread!

[WD8BIL]

Bob said:
Quote
I can see the picture of Bud, BIL's box.........Him, under the Viking-Bud, rifles, ammo, turkeys, antlers..........and those damm curtains fron his cellar shack !!!

Don't forget the Nugent thread!

Spirit of the Wild, Baby !!!

This thread makes me think,once again, of my elmer Ken WA8MXU. Crusty ol' 6 meter AMer till he died. Not a nicer man has lived. His Vibroplex Blue Racer still sings from my shack to this very day !  God Rest ya Ken. Ya done gooder.

[N3DRB The Derb]

His ex-wife and daughter were not aware that anything was missing, and the guy never offered them any money for the tubes.

yeah, thats the problem. There's just no way to prevent skullduggery. Sooner or later, someone will steal or cheat or lo ball. The only way to prevent it is to PREPARE for that day in a manner that must be legally enforced. Seperate the estate into radio and non radio - and have trusted AM gangsters execute the radio estate for the good of the family and the hobby.

Don, we talked about this subject when I visited you years ago.