Radio Shack, that is.
I'm getting tired at looking at piles of good, usable "STUFF" that I'm never going to do anything with, along with stacks of "Projects" that would either be completely useless to me these days, or impractical to use.
I really don't think I'm going to setup an EchoLink node anytime soon, so I might as well get rid of the controller kit (with the optional AGC module!), and maybe get back the postage I paid to have it shipped here!
Then there's the equipment I'm most likely never going to use again, like my Drake TR-270 VHF/UHF rig, my Yaesu FT-847 "Satellite Rig" and all the accoutrements to set up a fully-functioning *automated* Ham radio Satellite Station, along with my Kenwood TS-790 VHF/UHF/1.2GHz multi-mode transceiver, and the "Lightly Used" Kenwood TM-D710 mobile radio (with built-in TNC!) that I bought on a whim and used for a few months in the home shack.
My FlexRadio Systems 5000A is currently on eBay, and will sell, so it's outta here. It's still an extremely good radio, BUT....you have to use it with a PC, and these days, I'm just not into waiting for the PC to come up, update, and settle down, before I can turn on the radio. And since it's Windows ONLY, that would mean dragging my other PC up here, yada yada yada, and it's just not worth it.
So getting rid of this stuff now will free up some floor space and shelf space in the basement workshop, put some coin in the coffers, and save my wife the trouble of getting rid of it when the inevitable day comes.
I'm not getting any younger, and I'd hate to see the stuff just given away, or worse yet, wind up at the curb or in a dumpster.
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What I've Been Up To....
Started this post on Monday, then came down with a head cold, which is now progressing South. Feeling better, but still a bit woozy...... To...
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I hear you. I'm trying to do the same with the whole house. I've accumulated too many hobbies over the years and the house has little pieces of hobby-related stuff everywhere. In the shack, I have four complete stations, but use one 99% of the time. I could use to thin that down, but it has been kinda nice having the backup station now that the lightning took the main station out. Still, it's easier to live with two than four.
ReplyDeleteMost of the rest of it is stuff that's too big/heavy to put on eBay and is either garage sale, or some other local form. I'm not comfortable with Craig's list. My kids are a thousand miles away, so I can't just give them what they want without shipping costs, and most times packing and shipping costs.
Only four?......;-)
DeleteI think I'm going to keep the FT-847. It's pretty much "DC-to-Daylight", and it runs on 12 Volts, so it would make an excellent back-up-to-my-back-up radios.
I'm so close to the main repeater sites up on Horsetooth Mountain that I can (I tried) hit the repeater on a dummy load with any of my HT's, so I don't need a VHF/UHF rig on the desk. And I can always use my TM-D700 in the Jeep if I need to, so the Drake and the Kenwood D710 are most likely on their way out the door.
Oh, groan......Craig's list. Had BAD experiences trying to sell stuff there, so that's a NOGO for me, too.
I've got two of the 847s sitting here as my main rig, and (the project) a data rig....
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the stack of projects thing. I've got enough to last for 10 years at least, and I'm not making any headway into the stack. I've been going through my workshop and getting rid of all the "project" machines. It's been 3 pickup truck loads so far. I've stopped buying stuff that would become a new project (mostly, sometimes the deal is too good still). And I've realized that most of my "hey I should pick that up when I see it" list has been filled in duplicate or triplicate. So I have made some progress.
But.
Then I see a review in QST of a little single band HF rig and I WANT it... but I don't use all the gear I already have. So I say no, and live that little bit vicariously thru the magazine.
I was able to sell about 13 flip top crates of stuff at our local hamfest this year. Surely there must be a hamfest reasonably near you? (and to SiG- near you??) At least with hamfests you are keeping the gear in the community.
Someone in the back of QST is always running an ad looking for donated gear for schools...
And fellow hams always seem to be looking out for cheap gear- let it clutter up their shack instead!
73
zuk
"Not making any progress on the stack...."
DeleteBINGO!
I have at least two years worth of projects that have been stacked up for far longer than that.
I gave away and (GASP....!) threw away several small U-Haul trailer loads of stuff before we moved here, some of which I should have kept.
There are three hamfests within driving distance. One is here in Fort Collins, and two are down by Boulder. I've never had much luck selling at hamfests, so I don't consider it worth the effort to get there at o-dark-thirty.
I have all the original boxes in excellent shape for the gear, and the manuals, and all my gear is 'loaded' with the optional accessories. My 2k+ eBay feedback is 100%, so even with packing and shipping, I've always done far better selling on eBay than selling locally.
Have you considered https://www.rmrl.org/
ReplyDeleteSeem to remember you didn't find local hams friendly.
Oh, all the local hams I've met have been VERY friendly. It's just that I haven't met anybody who's into the same ham radio type things that I am. Satellites? "Oh, nobody does that here". Digital modes? "Oh, that's too complicated". And so on and so forth. I've volunteered for a dozen things, and it's always the same "Thanks! We'll get back to you", and I never hear anything back.
DeleteI was accepted as an operator for the big special event to mark 100 years of WWV operation, and I'm loaning them some power supplies and DC panels. And I've offered to help set-up and tear-down, and "We'll be in touch", so we'll see how that pans out.
It's kind of a Catch-22 situation....nobody knows me, so they don't know my background and experience. And I suspect they might be a bit wary of another "Kalifornia Know-It-All", which I understand.
Figures... Different strokes for different folks...
ReplyDeleteYep...I was into the "High-Tech" aspects of Ham Radio back in SoCal, and out here it's more "Practical Uses" of Ham Radio, like storm watchers, fire watchers, community service events, and such. Much more community focused than I'm used to.
DeleteThe really High-Tech guys here that do the networking, repeater linking, and repeater operations. It's a very impressive repeater network they have here, and it's not the bunch of Balkanized systems, jealously guarded by TASMA, that it was back in Lost Angeleez.....
I know, your stuff is important. But sometimes it just has to go, and we're lighter for it.
ReplyDeleteYeah....time to 'thin the heard'. If I'm not using it, and probably never will due to technical restrictions, I might as well jettison it.
ReplyDelete