Why do we keep so much damn radio crap?

[The Slab Bacon]

I'm on the other side of the spectrum... I need to actually BUY junk to get projects done. I'm sad to say I don't have a proper junk box. Variable caps? Sleaze-Pay. Inductors? Sleaze-Pay. Transformers? Sleaze-Pay and huge shipping costs. Ahhh well...

Thatz what they have hamfests (and this forum) for!!

[K5UJ]

Ya need at least 5 of anything. (Xyl's excepted).

More to follow.

klc

On a bad day:  K 5 Useless Junk
On a good day:  K 5 Unique Junk

[k4kyv]

One  thing that I am fanatical about is saving every piece of hardware (screws, nuts, bolts, washers) that I can easily remove before I toss anything.  I now have several bins of hardware, and some of the stuff is actually sorted by size, and even by ferrous and non-ferrous.  I have found that 90% of the little pieces of hardware used in radio/electronic construction is not available at the local hardware store.  They have mostly zinc plated steel and maybe a little unplated brass, only in the most common sizes.  I have a large heavy gauge aluminium cookie sheet (think it came from an Army mess hall) that I pulled out of a dumptster.  That is my sorting tray.  I dump a pile of hardware into the tray, spread it out, and usually can find exactly what I want after a few minutes of picking.

After picking through junk and hardware and scooping it back up out of the sorting tray, there is always a mysterious grey powdery and flaky residue left behind. I have never figured out exactly what it is, but it always looks the same no matter where it came from.  I have never quite thought of an appropriate name for it, but I am sure most readers of this forum know exactly what I am talking about.

So far, I have accumulated very few pieces of metric hardware. What I have has come from old TVs, stereos and other consumer junk I have stripped down before tossing, and it all fills up a couple of small plastic drawers.  I have got to the point that I don't even bother with old TVs any more.  Usually not enough of salvageable value to make it worth cracking open the plastic case.  I still do strip out the power supply from "modern" stuff, particularly things like stereo power amplifiers, if it has a transformer in it.  I have never bothered to accumulate junked computer hardware, and have refused when someone offered it to me. I have seen enough of that stuff sitting around unbought at hamfests.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Thatz what they have hamfests (and this forum) for!!

Yep - Ebay, Email Reflectors, Newsgroups (are any of those active these days?), plenty of places to find or peddle stuff. If it's specific to the group. I list it here. Like the RA-1000, BC-610, Wilcox 99 etc. They all went to list members or local AMers.

I just sold a bunch of basically junk on ebay and cleared $325. Not garbage, but junk in the sense that it was nothing I needed, it was just taking up space, much of it was probably once labeled as 'in case I need one someday' or wtf ever. Now it's in the hands of someone who needed it. Example: 5 of the regular skirted knobs off the SX-42: $51. Waters Hybrid coupler: $47 and change. 2 reproduction Leviton end caps for the Lumiline bulbs and one chipped socket which where 'given' to me (aside from $15 shipping for 1.5 ounces charged to me afterwards): $31 and change. Some of this stuff had been laying around for years. Best of all, it was small stuff. Easy to pack up and ship in free Priority mail boxes.

After a while it gets to be a bit much. Unless it's something I'm not likely to come across again (and I do have plenty of that) like pre-war parts, gear, books, etc, I figure it's easier to sell or give it away now and replace it later IF (and that's a really big IF) I ever need it, decide I want one, and so on.

Same goes for equipment. I recently picked up an early Super Pro 10 which needs a fair amount of work, but only because they're pretty scarce. There are enough projects waiting, so I'd rather pay a little more for something that doesn't need open heart surgery. My time is more valuable by the day, and word came down a while back that we're not getting any more.

I bet I have a pickup load up north still that will go, too. An old Meissner Signal Drifter, CE 20A, BC-191, Gonset Gooney Bird (the long white one) etc etc. Gotta dig out those NOS 845s too, while the audiophools are still grabbing them up.

[Mike/W8BAC]

Let's not forget that old white refrigerator with the glass doors Todd  Have you moved it south yet?

Mike

[K1JJ]

Considering how much stuff some guys have and how often they get on the air, annuitized over a lifetime, I wonder how much $ per air hour it presently costs them to operate? Shall we add in a wage for time spent too?

I'm guilty. When I look back at all the stuff I've bought since 1964.... parts, tools, rigs, test gear, antenna hardware, etc etc, I'll bet it's way more than $5/hour to operate now, considering my total air time...   The more you're on, the less it costs per hour.

In contrast, I could call Pascal in Yugoslavia on the cell phone for free these days.   They're right - we never get our money back in ANY hobby...

Make those on-air hours count, guys.

T

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

That's sure true of this and probably any hobby, Tom. One of the primary reasons I never got into the so-called 'investment' end of old radios but stuck with whatever caught my eye for whatever reason. If you're in it for the fun, ya can't go wrong.  Of course, you probably use $5 an hour just in electricity.

Then again, the guys who did 'buy low' (translation: picked up or hauled crap home when nobody wanted it) and sold high during the feeding frenzy of the late 90s early 00s might be playing radio for free now if they were in it for the fun and aren't off collecting stamps now.

A couple years back during a flurry of discussion over some KW-1 that was for sale for big $, I ran the numbers and figured out that even if you'd bought one new in 1952 and sealed it in a room somewhere to resell today, it would still be in the current $25K ballpark. No real profit, just breaking even. We're all just nuts, that's all. Just look at some of the big corntester stations online.

Let's not forget that old white refrigerator with the glass doors Todd  Have you moved it south yet?

Well, yeah but.....home appliances don't count. It came down in the first truckload, Mike. We picked it up at the store where we had to remove the plate glass window to get it out, loaded into the truck, transferred it to another box truck and unloaded it down here. Had to build the two dollies to move it through the store, it's still sitting on them because I can't get it into this crackerbox of a 1980s house. So it's in the garage behind the 21E now along with the Garland gas range that won't fit in the door and my wife's 'little' retro fridge. We're looking at an old brick schoolhouse with high ceilings and 11,000 sq ft where it will fit nicely, if the VT house ever sells. It's one of the keepers.

[Mike/W8BAC]

I love that old thing It looks great just sitting in the garage. I can see it right now sitting near the restored Garland range. What a kitchen that will be. Have fun!

Mike

[Carl WA1KPD]

Aside from parts, my rule is if I THINK I might want to get rid of it, I put it in the attic. If after 3 months or so, if I don't miss it, it goes up for sale.
Lot of stuff has gone painlessly down the road
Carl

[K5UJ]

I have things I never use but I hang on to them because they are so much better than what is currently made for hams now.  I have a Bird Coaxwitch I'm not using but if I ever need a manual coax switch I have a hell of a switch.  I even just like to look at good parts.  I can get enjoyment out of a big glass vac. variable by simply looking at it--I don't have to be using it.  If I ever get a BC-939 I may never use it but it is so beautifully made I would put it in my house some place where I could see it.  Funny thing with me though, that does not extend to rigs, VFOs, and other gear--all that has to be useable.

I also have the same attitude about house appliances.  I have an old GE refrigerator that I refuse to get rid of, even though it does not defrost itself simply because it is built so much better than the new ones.  I use a big 55 year old Luxaire furnace that's built like a 57 Chevy--not very efficient but keep replacing the parts and it will go forever.  My range and oven is a Norge that looks like it dates back to the 1940s.  If I ever move, it's moving with me.  It will out-last me and I hope it doesn't fall into the hands of some moron who trashes it.  All my sinks are Case cast iron with Chicago faucets.   My microwave oven is a 30 year old Kenmore...weighs about 100 lbs.  New appliances are crap with microchips.

Well the new ER came in the mail today.  C U all later 

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Aside from parts, my rule is if I THINK I might want to get rid of it, I put it in the attic. If after 3 months or so, if I don't miss it, it goes up for sale.
Lot of stuff has gone painlessly down the road

That's an interesting approach, Carl. Out of sight/out of mind. And if you're not jonesin' for it in a few weeks, just as well.

Wen I got rid of my HQ-150 recently it was surprisingly painless. It sat in my kitchen for years listening to the gang while I was off the air. But I was only keeping it for nostalgia, just because I could. Neat receiver, but so are a lot of others. Figured it'd be easier to replace it later if I ever feel the need. Plenty of good memories, but I still don't miss it.

[w5omr]

5 XYLs would guarantee me a suite at the rubber room!! One is DEFINATELY enough to drive a man crazy.

Some people say the definition of bigamy is "one wife too many".

Others argue the same definition applies to 'monogamy'

 

[N0WEK]

Gates BC-1J
BC-610E
BC-610I
Two SX-28As
Two Super Pros
Two R-390As
Viking II
6n2er
A couple of Hallicrafters slopbucket tranceivers
Two IC-725s (left over from my aircraft ferry pilot days)
Kilowatt Matchbox
Jr Matchbox
Two Goony Boxes
Lots of old test gear
1940 NDB transmitter (all 400 lbs of it)
Ultrasonic welding machine (810s and 866s)
Lots of parts and old Buzzard gear

None of is on the air at the moment, since the shack is a construction zone.

The duplicate stuff along with much other stuff will get recycled as the shack comes together.

[KC4VWU]

O.K. guys, you asked for it... I know I qualify.


Phil

[ke7trp]

WOW!!!!!  Thats incredible.  I bet you could go through that in your spare time and organize and toss alot of it out. The stuff you need, label and box up or put on racks. 

C

[KB2WIG]

 "  Ya need at least 5 of anything. (Xyl's excepted).  "

GACK!!  You need at least 5 of anything EXCEPT XYL's


Oh the humanity!!

klc


more to follow

[K9PNP]

O.K. guys, you asked for it... I know I qualify.
Phil

I gotta build some more shelves to keep up with this group.  Might be able to find something that way.

[KC4VWU]

You know you've reached qualification when visitors refuse to walk into your shack out of fear for being crushed.

Phil

[WBear2GCR]

hey, he told a funny... "build more shelves"!! Ha ha ha... like that's going to work??

                    _-_-bear

[Opcom]

Shelves won't help. You will end up with 8 FT tall shelves full of the same stuff and 3FT aisles between them.

Why was it collected?

for parts to build with.
for parts as spares.
because it was too potentially useful to pitch.

I am surprised this topic has just been breached/broached? Good on the OP for cleaning out. I spent the better part of Saturday morning sorting the mixed contents of document boxes into bin-boxes. The result was a clear space where there was a 3x3x4FT pile blocking one of said aisles BTW.

I got a "large" tub of unsorted power resistors. Must weigh 60 lbs It will take two people all day to sort them. I know that because Apprentice Jacob and I already did one tub.

Unfortunately he knows better now. -part of the training! when to know better - and that applies to saving stuff, so why doesn't it apply to amateur radio operators?

Anyone want to show up here with a truck and I will fill it up with parts and or equipment of my choice. It's most likely I'll just point out what is free, and leave the deciding and toting to the party of the second part. I do not mean garbage either. anything from a Pioneer SX-series receiver to a tube amp to a bag of triacs to some old test gear and or odd piece of professional grade electronics equipment or big boxes of mixed parts and pieces. If you got a benjamin or two, the quality goes up and you get to pick what you pay for. I made this offer before, and some of you guys ought to take me up on this before I have to pitch it. There is also a storage in Fort Worth that needs severely thinned out. 900 cubic feed of solid boxes all full.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Wow.  I am humbled... I have in the shack

1- R390A
1- Valiant
1- KWD TS-520
1- S-85

plus a couple home brew/commercial tube type RVRs. mostly for parts or repair depending on my mood. 

My parts bins are small, generally I only get parts I need for a current project, so the stock doesn't hang around. 

Of course my shack is tiny, so maybe I just need more space to fill?

[ke7trp]

We are getting it down now..  Still alot of crap here but at least we are not tripping over things.  This week I am testing amps so they can be sold.  Tonight I tested the LK800-ism.  WOW what a power house this thing is. 

C

[The Slab Bacon]

Lets see, where do we start    

R-390A. SP-600, RBS, HQ-160, HQ-170, Hq-140x, HQ-150
SX-28, SX-42, SX-101A, NC-183, NC-183D, NC-2-40D, NC-300,
one of those little 5-tube AC/DC Nationals (forgot model #)
SB-303, 75A-3, FRG-7700, TMC MSR-9, and a few more RXs I'm forgetting

Viking 1, Valiant 2, Ranger 1, Invader 2000, Invader 200, Meisner EX,
Sonar SRT-120, Glob scrote, Glob chump 300, 32V-2, Multi Yellmac 67,
6' rack rig originally built by W4DEK, HX-50, HT-32, ART-13, My HB 4-1000 rig,
My HB 5w piss weaker, G-76, 2 KWM-2s, 30L-1, 312B-4, Johnson T-bolt,
HW-100, 1 very large homebrew tuna. and God knows what else I'm forgetting.

2 cabinets and 12 or 13 boxes of tubes, many assorted boxes of partz,
3 Ham-2 rotors, 2 half built (by someone else) GG amp decks, 1 813 amp deck
250lbs(or more) of assorted oil capz, at least 2000lb assorted iron, many boxes of RF coilz and capz, 1 large MFJ and 1 large griefkit tuna, 1 SB-610 and 2 HO-10 scopes,
and more!!

Not to mention 50 or 60 antique broadcash receivers restored and working, tools,
much assorted test equipment, and God only knows what else I'm forgetting.

And that is just my electronic stuff!! Not including my gas engine collection.

It's enough tonnage to keep my house from blowing away in a bad storm    

And that is not counting what I have sold off over the years to "thin the herd" a little! !

And I still dont hold a candle to Vortex Joe!!

My wife will have a good job peddling it all off after I crap out      

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Or they can't walk into your shack.

You know you've reached qualification when visitors refuse to walk into your shack out of fear for being crushed.

Phil

[The Slab Bacon]

You know you've reached qualification when visitors refuse to walk into your shack out of fear for being crushed.

Phil

I hactually had that happen in Joe's basement when a chair lost a caster and I went over backwards into a floor to ceiling pile of boat anchors. One of my scariest ham radio adventures!!