Cost or value of a station

[KA3EKH]

Imagine this is what happens when you get fed up with radio? Although looking at the price they are not completely thru with it. I remember from doing lots of drag racing that if someone had a car and you wanted to buy it from them they would want tons of money for it because of all they invested over the years but when they lost interest or were getting a divorce or something like that you can buy their car for a fraction of what they had in it. Maybe the same thing happens in heavy metal AM? People go out and buy into it and then louse interest? Don’t know about myself being I have wasted much time and money over the last thirty or forty years or so anyway look at item number:
270793304210
On that place, and as a disclaimer let me say that I have no interest or connection with the seller.
Ray F

[The Slab Bacon]

I have seen that same phenomenon many times in many different hobbies. The routine is usually the same. It is "for sale at a not for sale price", then something happens  (the szht hits the fan) and it changes the whole scenaroio (and price).
Then they want to just about give it away to get rid of it. (or keep someone else from getting it)

FWIW, I have worked Chris many times from that station. Usually late nights on 75.
It always sounded very good. Haven't heard him in quite a while, but I cant do the late nights any more. I often wonder what ever happened to him. That may well be a fair price considering what has been invested to build it, but it surely is no bargain.
(notice how many bids he has)

I would be curious to know why he is getting out................

[KA3ZLR]

HI,

Um,.. first I wish him a lot of Luck...at that Price no doubt in my mind it's worth every bid of it...
But in Today's world who would know how to sit down set it up and Operate it..let alone Move it.
without Damage..?

It's not Throw away so Nobody will want it, and only an Engineer wit available Funding I would
think go after it.or a Quality AM'er form the gatherings.

I Take Donations..LOL

73
Jack
KA3ZLR
 

[k4kyv]

...then something happens  (the szht hits the fan) and it changes the whole scenaroio (and price). Theh they want to just about give it away to get rid of it. (or keep someone else from getting it)

Worst of all is occasionally when some idiot goes to a lot of trouble and expense to get it hauled to the dump (or smashes it with a sledgehammer) for spite, just to keep someone else from getting it.

I notice so far no bids. The price doesn't seem all that far out of line, a minuscule fraction of the total cost of all the stuff when new, but I am sure a lot of Hammy Hambone types would consider that a "for sale at a not for sale price" even if they had the spare cash and could afford it.

I suspect some of the items you see on ePay asking outrageous prices are the latter.  The person is not interested in selling it, but decided that if someone were willing to pay a ridiculous sum, he wouldn't refuse the offer. OTOH, let it go for a ridiculously low price, and some bottom-feeder ends up parting it out, or just keeps an item or two he thinks he could re-sell, and hauls the rest to the scrap dealer.

I once posted a tongue-in-cheek offer to sell my homebrew HF-300 transmitter for 30 or 40 grand. Nobody made any enquiries, but considering all the blood, sweat, tears and time I have put into that rig since 1970, if someone had, I would have reneged on the offer or doubled again the asking price.

[K6JEK]

It's a gorgeous station.  Of course, half the fun is gathering the goodies and getting them to work. Here it is all done so half the fun is already used up.

Jon

PS:  If his working conditions are often like the video, who can blame him for getting out?  Noise!

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Haven't heard from Chris in quite a while, now. Last worked him a couple years back, on that station. I know it took him a number of years to put it all together and get it dialed in. Worth every penny he'a asking and probably more since it's a complete, proven, turn-key station of high quality.

He probably would've had better luck 10 years ago before so many AMers found BC rigs or built their own. Money is more of an issue now, too. Even 4 years back when G put up his converted and working 21E, he only had two parties interested. And one only wanted the iron.

Good luck to him. For someone who has the money but lacks the time to do the gathering, assembly, and testing, it's a nice deal.

[W3GMS]

It remains to be seen, but I think he will have a hard time getting that price for the station.  Typically, its tough to get paid back for the labor you put into this stuff, maybe a little bit if your lucky but not a lot.  I have seen 20V2's for a grand without being restored.  Its apparent that he did a great job with the restoration, but expecting to get paid big bucks for ones work is seldom realized.  R-390's can be found in good shape not restored for $500.00.  Start adding the pieces up and its tough to come up with his asking price.   Then again, if someone really wants the gear bad enough, out it goes and maybe he will get his price!  

I remember trying to buy a simple novice receiver made by Knight Kit.  I think it was an R-55A.  It's certainly was not a great receiver but I wanted to match it up with my Knight T-60 as a typically novice station.  A guy in Florida quoted me some outrageous price, something like $400.00 for a clean R-55A .  I asked him how he arrived at the price and he told me he calculated the inflation rate from when the receiver was produced to now!  I supposed that is an analytical way of coming up with a value but shall I say, I did not buy it.  Later I found one which also included a T-60 for around $200.00.   I had no need for the T-60 so I gave it to a friend since he had one as a novice.  

Joe,  W3GMS    

    

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I think he's basing his price more on the appeal of the complete, turn key package, rather than the cost of the separate pieces. The time involved in tracking them all down, restoring, testing, hooking up, troubleshooting, etc. The difference between, say, finding an original Hemi engine, rebuilding it, finding a period Charger, restoring the frame and body, finding the interior etc vs. the restored car, ready to drive.

As with flipping old gear, I think folks tend to discount or ignore the time involved beyond the actual acquisition costs with restoring and building a complete station such as this one. Then again, whoever gets it, if anyone, will still have to pack and move it all, and reinstall for use.

But I agree with you and others, Joe - I suspect he won't move it for his selling price, due to an overall lack of interest. The one or two or few parties with the money and desire to purchase and move such a set up will be harder to find today than a decade ago. And it's only going to become moreso going forward.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

His other station setups good great:
http://ve3ngw.wordpress.com/

[The Slab Bacon]

With the economy in the proverbial toilet, collectables and hobby interest stuff has taken a pretty good hit as well. That will definately have some impact on what it will actually bring. Not many have that much "mad money" That they can just plunk down for something hobby related and really feel good about it.

While clearing out my mother's estate to pay nursing home bills, there was a good amount of antiques and collectables. What I had to take for most of the stuff was downright sickening, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Everywhere you read about selling anything, because money is so tight, all you hear is "it's a buyers market".

As far as the acquisition and restoration of your own gear goes, it is a labor of love, and you can never expect to get out of it all of your labor to restore it. After all, the chase and restoration is half of the fun of any hobby. Just try to buy it at a price that will allow you to at least break even if you decide to sell it off later. Many times age and time will make you the money if you sit on / own something long enough.

[K5UJ]

That's an AM station for a checkbook ham if there ever was one.   

Slab Bacon is right--gear like that is not getting sold these days -- no one has any disposable cash.   That auction in S.D. later this month may have some great deals.     More accurately, some people have disposable cash, but they're sitting on it as an emergency fund.  I'm talking about average people like hams, not plastic surgeons and Manhattan divorce lawyers.

[KM1H]

Stupid question but where is the VFO thingy? Or does he just live on one rockbound frequency.

Certainly not a rig Id want to own in any case. For a lot less money I could be forced into a Johnson Desk, Ranger, and HRO-60

[W1ATR]

Stupid question but where is the VFO thingy? Or does he just live on one rockbound frequency.

Certainly not a rig Id want to own in any case. For a lot less money I could be forced into a Johnson Desk, Ranger, and HRO-60

There's a sig generator below the optimod that he uses to spin up the freq and drive.

[WA3VJB]

Some people have more money than time.

They can't buy time, as pointed out in another thread on here.

Perfect station to get on and operate with before too much time gets by.

In the scheme of the hobby, other elaborate stations for other activities can cost this much too.  That ICOM commercial radio IC-R9500, is about $11,000 (street price) on its own, starts depreciating as soon as you buy it, and there aren't even any tubes in it.

[W1ATR]

I believe this is the third time this station has been listed in the last month. First time was $16,500, second time I seem to recall was lower at $13,500, and now the price is back up at $17.5K.

I see every day how people just don't have the money to spend anymore. I spend my days fixings AC's that I was tagging and replacing a few years ago. That's just how it is. When the economy started to really go to hell a few years back, I shitcanned my $2700/month shop and moved the biz into my garages. Doing so allowed me to adjust my prices so we look a lot more attractive when compared to the big boys with crazy overhead. This is probably the only reason I'm able to keep the doors open in an environment where I see other small hvac companies folding up and calling it quits.



It is, what it is.

J

[k4kyv]

His other station setups good great:
http://ve3ngw.wordpress.com/  

I like the one he has listed on ePay better.

Some people have more money than time.

They can't buy time, as pointed out in another thread on here.

Perfect station to get on and operate with before too much time gets by.

Case in point: Derb. I remember two or three years ago when he was strapping with that little FT-101 running about 15 watts.  He was in the process of getting something bigger on the air, but he fiddled away a whole radio season trying to deal with everything going wrong that possibly could go wrong, including IIRC losing his antenna, without ever getting anything up and running. I thought even then that he was on borrowed time that he shouldn't be wasting, but one thing happened right after another to keep him from completing the project, and in the end, he never made it.

In the scheme of the hobby, other elaborate stations for other activities can cost this much too.  That ICOM commercial radio IC-R9500, is about $11,000 (street price) on its own, starts depreciating as soon as you buy it, and there aren't even any tubes in it.

And I doubt it will still be running 50 years from now, after one or more of the proprietary IC chips crap out just about the time the factory has "discontinued" replacements.

[steve_qix]

This would be a strictly emotion based buy.  From a practical standpoint, to spend that kind of money one could get a transmitter running 5 times the power and with better audio.

It's more like someone buying an old car because they like antique cars, or the old "woody" boats that people have up at the lake - very beautiful and very expensive.

[W1UJR]

This would be a strictly emotion based buy.  From a practical standpoint, to spend that kind of money one could get a transmitter running 5 times the power and with better audio.

It's more like someone buying an old car because they like antique cars, or the old "woody" boats that people have up at the lake - very beautiful and very expensive.

Right, it's all " Love Money".
I suspect that most of us bought our gear to learn about it, enjoy and operate, never as an investment...

I could that price 10, maybe even 5 years ago..but in these times..I do wish him well.

As someone pointed out, labor investment  is not highly valued by most folks.

[WA3VJB]

"Emotion-based buys" can be the most satisfying.  I know I feel that way.

After all, it's not the cost, it's the value that we place on a station like this that makes it all worthwhile.

[steve_qix]

"Emotion-based buys" can be the most satisfying.  I know I feel that way.

After all, it's not the cost, it's the value that we place on a station like this that makes it all worthwhile.

There is absolutely no doubt about it!  Sherrie and I bought a lake house a few years ago - this was strictly an emotional buy - we would same money if we rented.  But, we love the place and our time there.  What the heck - if you don't love what you're doing, why bother!!!

How many people die with fortunes in the bank, and who lived spartan lives!!!  I say, enjoy it while you're here.

[KM1H]

His other station setups good great:
http://ve3ngw.wordpress.com/   

I like the one he has listed on ePay better.

Geeez, that FTDX 9000 is wider than my HT9, it must also weigh as much.

I like his amplifier choice; an Alpha 77SX is nothing to sneeze at and would easily put a 1200W carrier out on AM

[K5UJ]

<<I say, enjoy it while you're here.>>

And, no one on their death bed ever says, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

[flintstone mop]

75M is not the place to be to show off nice audio. Maybe very early evening or after most people go to bed.
160 M would be a better showplace. Probably antenna/space problems at his QTH.

The price is reasonable for the high-dollar goodies he has there. A pristine (W3HM rebuilt ) Collins 20V might have commanded high prices about 5 years ago, but not now.
It's rebuilt just for the owner. It won't flip well and the owner gets his money back..

[Opcom]

aha! KM1H you have a HT-9 as well!

That station is real nice. With the spare parts of two more transmitter's innards, and all the rest, it's a fair price. There is always some negotiation but the price as it is is far from exorbitant. How much time and expense including travel would it be to build that station at home and stock the spares? Plus cleaning it up with a toothbrush as appears to have been done, you know those old transmitters are filthy when found.

[KX5JT]

75M is not the place to be to show off nice audio. Maybe very early evening or after most people go to bed.
160 M would be a better showplace. Probably antenna/space problems at his QTH.

75m is a GREAT place to show of nice audio!  Of course you need some scrote behind it if you want to do so during prime time, and maybe it's much better during the winter months, but I have heard MOST Beautiful AM audio on 75m.