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View Full Version : Bargains...what have you purchased?



KC9ECI
03-03-2010, 10:34 PM
As hams tend to be notoriously cheap, I thought it might be interesting to start a thread where we can post when we find a deal or buy something at a good price.

I just picked up a battery box from Cabela's. I plan to use it with the battery backup for my shack. Check it out at http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... =cat601233 (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat601333-cat21310&id=0077066021145a&navCount=5&podId=0077066&parentId=cat21310&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=9IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233)

KG4CGC
03-03-2010, 10:56 PM
Autek Research QF-1A filter: $38. Ebay snaggage, was listed in the wrong area.
$6 shipping. Fine business, 100%.

KC9ECI
03-03-2010, 11:18 PM
I'd be a little wary of buying anything from Autek. I picked up a RF-1 and it had all sorts of unsoldered joints. http://galesvillefiredepartment.org/kc9eci/autek_RF_1.JPG

I soldered the ones that needed it, fluxed and reflowed the solder on a few others and now it works as it should have to begin with. It will make a nice addition to the backpack when I'm out camping this summer.

KG4CGC
03-03-2010, 11:53 PM
No issues here. Fine business :)

KJ3N
03-04-2010, 12:41 AM
Just acquired today:

IC-910H 2m/70cm All Mode with 2 DSP units, voice synthesizer, and high stability crystal. $775

Now all I have to do is hope the UX-910 1.2Ghz module I got 2 years ago as part of an estate sale will work once I install it.

WX7P
03-04-2010, 02:13 AM
This weekend I got a complete R-8 vertical for $10 at a garage sale. It has all the parts and plays great. The ham radio vultures missed the R-8.

KG4CGC
03-04-2010, 02:58 AM
I got 32oz. of King Cobra for $1.25! Tastes just like Wonder Loaf!

W5IEI
03-04-2010, 06:26 AM
I picked up a high/mid serial number Icom 765 for $650.00.

It's doing duty as my straight key rig.
Mike

W3WN
03-04-2010, 09:06 AM
Got a Daiwa 620 dual-needle SWR meter for $30 at the hamfest, while dealers nearby were selling no-name knockoffs of same for $90.

N2CHX
03-04-2010, 09:29 AM
I got a great deal on a dress I can wear to the Celtic Festival this year :spin:

[attachment=0:1cgbkc3z]dress.jpg[/attachment:1cgbkc3z]

:mrgreen:

W3WN
03-04-2010, 10:15 AM
This weekend I got a complete R-8 vertical for $10 at a garage sale. It has all the parts and plays great. The ham radio vultures missed the R-8.
Nice.

N9FE
03-04-2010, 11:07 AM
This weekend I got a complete R-8 vertical for $10 at a garage sale. It has all the parts and plays great. The ham radio vultures missed the R-8.
Nice.
There kind of a bear to tune. But good Deal.

w3bny
03-04-2010, 11:48 AM
Has anyone ever gotten an Autek that didnt reek of cigarettes or have to be re-worked in some way? I got one in a desk drawer that is waiting for the second coming.

KG4CGC
03-04-2010, 11:53 AM
Has anyone ever gotten an Autek that didnt reek of cigarettes or have to be re-worked in some way? I got one in a desk drawer that is waiting for the second coming.
That would be me. That doesn't mean that someone else didn't already do the work.

w3bny
03-04-2010, 11:56 AM
Lucky bastridge...

I heard when...WHEN they work they are pretty neat-o-things.

KG4CGC
03-04-2010, 12:13 PM
Lucky bastridge...

I heard when...WHEN they work they are pretty neat-o-things.
Unfreakin' believable! Literally pulls signals out of the noise. If I was a big CW fan I wouldn't operate without it but, I do monitor LW aircraft beacons and it does help with hearing clearly. I'll report back in a couple of months when trans Atlantic LWBCB starts rolling again and I'll tell you how BBC4 sounds.

kf0rt
03-04-2010, 12:19 PM
How about a FREE course in audio engineering?

Woot!

http://www.audiosonica.com/en/course/post/2/Index

N8YX
03-04-2010, 12:35 PM
I just got hold of a Timewave DSP-599zx for about 2/3 of "list price".

A friend found a Drake R7 - excellent shape but would not operate on AC power - $25 at a garage sale. Worked on DC... two 400v, 3A barrel diodes later and he was back in business on AC power. :agree:

Another friend walked out of my place last night with an entire box of AEA and Heathkit stuff - FREE. Not worth much these days but when he was first getting into ham radio he kept bugging the sh!t out of me to sell the gear to him.

Patience pays off at times.

N4VGB
03-05-2010, 01:23 AM
Anybody else shop garage sales and estate sales? Many of my best purchases come from these sales, it's surprising how many radio items are in those.

Many moons ago I purchased a NOS NIB Collins R-390A at a garage sale for something like $20. I opened the outer box to verify it was actually NOS NIB via all the proper documents being inside the outer box, never opened the inner box. Sold to a collector in FL a few days later.

Went to one estate sale and the only radio related item there was an open rack home brew AM/CW xmitter and some spare tubes for it. Strange but nothing else radio related was found in the whole house??? Bought it for about $20 but had to recruit a couple of helpers to load it. 304TLs in push-pull for the RF deck, modulated by 152THs.

A local ham friend does the storage area auctions and he purchased a 10X20 foot storage area full of NOS NIB tubes for a few dollars, sold them at hamfests for 2 years afterwards.

Ham radio gear and parts are available and very cheap at these types sales, check a few out in your area. Ya just never know what you'll find.

w2amr
03-05-2010, 05:13 AM
Anybody else shop garage sales and estate sales? Many of my best purchases come from these sales, it's surprising how many radio items are in those.

Many moons ago I purchased a NOS NIB Collins R-390A at a garage sale for something like $20. I opened the outer box to verify it was actually NOS NIB via all the proper documents being inside the outer box, never opened the inner box. Sold to a collector in FL a few days later.


You sold a new R-390A? You should be shot.

KA5PIU
03-05-2010, 09:25 AM
Hello.

I look for the stuff nobody else wants, fried FT-101, super modded KWM-2(a), that type of thing.
Estate sales are the way to go.

N4VGB
03-05-2010, 04:06 PM
Anybody else shop garage sales and estate sales? Many of my best purchases come from these sales, it's surprising how many radio items are in those.

Many moons ago I purchased a NOS NIB Collins R-390A at a garage sale for something like $20. I opened the outer box to verify it was actually NOS NIB via all the proper documents being inside the outer box, never opened the inner box. Sold to a collector in FL a few days later.


You sold a new R-390A? You should be shot.

George I already owned a whole stack of perfectly good R-390s and R-390As at the time, still have about 4-6 of each, that "museum quality" and/or NOS NIB gear is much sought after by the deep pockets collectors and I gladly take their money for the pretty stuff.

That old stuff seldom comes out of the box looking brand new and actually works like it would have if purchased while it was newly manufactured. I took a local ham friend over to an elderly gents home who had owned a radio shop for many moons. My friend purchased a NOS NIB Hallicrafters HT-37 and matching SX-111 from the old gent. Both pieces were as pristine as the day they left the Hallicrafters factory, both had multiple problems and stayed on his workbench for weeks. By the time he finished them he had become completely sick of them also and shortly thereafter sold them for a small profit.

I noticed an unbuilt Heathkit SB-220 linear amp kit sell on eBay a few days ago for a small fortune. Granted it would be a hoot to build that kit, immediately after completion you've lost a lot of money because now you have only a very nice SB-220! :rofl:

w2amr
03-05-2010, 04:21 PM
Years ago a buddy gave me an unbuilt Heath Sixer. I'm sorry now that I put it together. I could have put it on E- Pay and some fool would have given me $500 for it.

N4VGB
03-05-2010, 04:25 PM
Years ago a buddy gave me an unbuilt Heath Sixer. I'm sorry now that I put it together. I could have put it on E- Pay and some fool would have given me $500 for it.

Easily. :yes:

The old question of what to do with an unbuilt heathkit is simple for me, I'd have to build the sucker and then be mad at myself for doing so. :rofl:

w2amr
03-05-2010, 04:36 PM
Years ago a buddy gave me an unbuilt Heath Sixer. I'm sorry now that I put it together. I could have put it on E- Pay and some fool would have given me $500 for it.

Easily. :yes:

The old question of what to do with an unbuilt heathkit is simple for me, I'd have to build the sucker and then be mad at myself for doing so. :rofl:
Kath's uncle built a 21" Heath color TV back in the 70's . It took him over a year to build it and it never did work right.

N4VGB
03-05-2010, 05:43 PM
Years ago a buddy gave me an unbuilt Heath Sixer. I'm sorry now that I put it together. I could have put it on E- Pay and some fool would have given me $500 for it.

Easily. :yes:

The old question of what to do with an unbuilt heathkit is simple for me, I'd have to build the sucker and then be mad at myself for doing so. :rofl:
Kath's uncle built a 21" Heath color TV back in the 70's . It took him over a year to build it and it never did work right.

I heard those Heath color TVs weren't much when they did work right! :rofl:

But I never actually met anyone who owned one.

w2amr
03-05-2010, 05:44 PM
Years ago a buddy gave me an unbuilt Heath Sixer. I'm sorry now that I put it together. I could have put it on E- Pay and some fool would have given me $500 for it.

Easily. :yes:

The old question of what to do with an unbuilt heathkit is simple for me, I'd have to build the sucker and then be mad at myself for doing so. :rofl:
Kath's uncle built a 21" Heath color TV back in the 70's . It took him over a year to build it and it never did work right.

I heard those Heath color TVs weren't much when they did work right! :rofl:

But I never actually met anyone who owned one.
The people were always blue .

KA5PIU
03-05-2010, 07:21 PM
Hello.

We Have a Heath/Zenith TV.
It worked fine until digital came along.
99% of the trouble was in how the thing was put together.
The one we got was first assembled by the chief of communications for San Antonio.
I read the manual, and with a solder sucker and about 6 months of nights got it to work correctly.
I was 14 at the time. :mrgreen:
I knew nothing of electronics to the point to where I could possibly assemble a TV, I just read the manual.
Kind of like paint by numbers, just follow what the manual says, right down to how to solder. :snicker:

N8YX
03-07-2010, 05:31 PM
Just snagged a Minicircuits 8-port, 50-ohm BNC-connector 10-1000 MHz power splitter for $29.00.

List price on that puppy is $140. :dance

N4VGB
03-08-2010, 10:47 AM
The people were always blue.



Permanent Smurf Vision!?

W3WN
03-08-2010, 11:22 AM
The people were always blue.



Permanent Smurf Vision!?
Or residents of Avalon... I think that was the name of the "planet" in Avatar

And I sure hope Ben Stiller got well compensated for making a schmuck out of himself last night... ok, that's redundant, but you know what I mean...

w2amr
03-08-2010, 12:46 PM
The people were always blue.



Permanent Smurf Vision!?
I don't think the smurfs were born back then.

N4VGB
03-09-2010, 12:37 PM
The people were always blue.



Permanent Smurf Vision!?
I don't think the smurfs were born back then.

Well, maybe Heathkit TVs were the sorce of their birth? :lol:

w2amr
03-09-2010, 03:17 PM
The people were always blue.



Permanent Smurf Vision!?
I don't think the smurfs were born back then.

Well, maybe Heathkit TVs were the sorce of their birth? :lol:
:rofl:

KC9ECI
03-21-2010, 10:17 AM
I just tossed $47 to China for a Puxing PX-2R HT. 70CM HT, for a bit more I could have gotten a dual band, but I figured I'd try this one first and see how it goes. It uses a cell phone battery so I like that I can recharge it from the USB port on my laptop, or in a pinch a small hand cranked generator or solar panel when I'm camping For $47 if it's a POS I won't feel too bad.

PA5COR
03-21-2010, 02:21 PM
Pierre Culliford, a Belgian cartoonist, created The Smurfs
Dutch singer Pierre Kartman made a song that propelled them worldwide in the interest of the people.

In May 1977, Kartner was asked to make a promotional song for an animated movie, which turned out to be about The Smurfs. The record company pressed 1,000 copies, since they were unsure about the success of the single. However, they were all sold within one day at a Schlager festival. After a repress, 400,000 singles were quickly sold. A full Smurfs album was then created, which also climbed the charts, with 500,000 copies sold. It was released in several dozen countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Japan, all sung by Kartner. He scored a number one hit in 16 countries. His Smurf works have sold around 25 million copies.[2]

Source wikipedia.
:neener: ;)







The people were always blue.



Permanent Smurf Vision!?
I don't think the smurfs were born back then.

Well, maybe Heathkit TVs were the sorce of their birth? :lol:

N4VGB
03-21-2010, 03:24 PM
Pierre Culliford, a Belgian cartoonist, created The Smurfs
Dutch singer Pierre Kartman made a song that propelled them worldwide in the interest of the people.
Source wikipedia.
:neener: ;)



But was Pierre watching a Heathkit TV when the idea emerged??? :rofl:

HUGH
03-23-2010, 03:03 PM
Most of my audio equipment came from "catalogue returns" shops. I still wonder why, I suspect things like the minidisc recorder and the HDD/CDR recorder were just too complicated for the average home catalogue buyer so they sent them back.

My old TS130 transceiver was very cheap and came from a heavy smoker in South Wales. He even delivered it so after a good clean up it's as good as new.

KC9ECI
04-11-2010, 10:12 AM
It just sort of followed me home. I swear. I think I'll keep it. Gonna make for a dandy ham shack during Field Day.

http://www.galesvillefiredepartment.org/kc9eci/99jayco.jpg

KG4CGC
04-11-2010, 10:56 AM
It just sort of followed me home. I swear. I think I'll keep it. Gonna make for a dandy ham shack during Field Day.

http://www.galesvillefiredepartment.org/kc9eci/99jayco.jpg
Anytime I see one of those, I think exactly the same thing.
Except, I would make it THE shack out back. :)

KC9ECI
04-11-2010, 11:05 AM
It gets worse than that...it's legal for passengers to ride in that in WI....the guys and I have already discussed a rover operation for the WI QSO party next year.

KG4CGC
04-11-2010, 11:14 AM
It gets worse than that...it's legal for passengers to ride in that in WI....the guys and I have already discussed a rover operation for the WI QSO party next year.
Yeah, that's pretty hardcore.

kb2crk
04-12-2010, 02:15 AM
earlier this evening off of gov deals. a motorola spectra. it will cost me more in gas to go pick it up than i paid for it and its only 50 miles from here.

N8YX
05-01-2010, 05:43 PM
Giving this thread a bump...

Posted an ad for a Timewave DSP-599 a few weeks back. Was contacted by a guy handling an estate and was offered one for $110 plus shipping.

Oh...what the heck. I've been missing out on all of those $275+ ads by mere minutes !

Got the unit in the mail earlier in the week; tested it last night. Everything but the "Low Pass Filter" adjustment worked properly. Dived in and found that the chopper disc of the leftmost opto-encoder assembly had somehow come loose and wouldn't turn with the knob. Had to desolder the daughterboard which holds the mode-set pushbutton (it fits over the encoder assembly) then a dab of epoxy secured the disc. Let it set overnight then trued the disc up...resoldered the board...reassembled and tested.

Voila! Full functionality!

This '599's Rev4.0 firmware also has the now-discontinued CTCSS Decode test function, and a spare PROM shipped with the unit might be Rev5.0 firmware - the seller indicated that it had been (or was in the process of being) upgraded.

KG4CGC
05-01-2010, 09:12 PM
100' of new LMR400 with silver teflon connectors attached: $100.
60' of 450 ohm for 14 cents a foot.

N8YX
05-01-2010, 10:19 PM
60' of 450 ohm for 14 cents a foot.
I should pick up 100ft or so of that and will probably do so at Dayton.

Planning on erecting a 90' version of Ye Olde G5RV and need 40ft for the matching section.

KB3LAZ
05-03-2010, 02:06 AM
Got a Yaesu 920 for 400$ once, a TS-850sat for 450$, a 706mk2 for 300$, a FT-100d for 400$, a few shortwave radios for free, and other misc deals over the last 6 years.

VK3ZL
05-06-2010, 07:54 AM
I am a parts collector I guess...I have developed a good nose to sniff out bargains...There is a disposal place about 80 miles from here and in the 1980's there was huge amounts of military surplus radio and electronic gear plus tons of spare components....That is how I was able to accumulate a really good junkbox with mil spec components all new and dirt cheap...

I was with a group of hams giving the disposal place the once over one day...Most of these guys were just looking at stuff not really knowing what most of it was....I used to carry a big box around and fill it up with all sorts of goodies....This particular day I happened across a neatly packed box with10 brand new 5-500pf 10kv Jennings vac variable capacitors....When I presented my box of goodies at the counter to pay for the stuff the attendant looked through my box of stuff...He said that those were nice looking "Valves" , tubes in your lingo, and charged me $2 for the whole box of "junk".. I am still using some of the capacitors in amplifiers and sold off a few at hamfests....Never came across any more of those caps in later trips to that joint and these days most of that beautiful stuff has gone....Ah, well....Them's th breaks......

Bob..VK3ZL..

W3WN
05-10-2010, 01:08 PM
Found on R&L's web site an Electro-Voice mike wired for Ten-Tec rigs. $20 + shipping, should be here today or tomorrow.

Should go well with my "new" Omni VI+!

N4VGB
05-14-2010, 10:42 PM
Found on R&L's web site an Electro-Voice mike wired for Ten-Tec rigs. $20 + shipping, should be here today or tomorrow.

Should go well with my "new" Omni VI+!

At the TenTec hamfest we park where the old Electro Voice buiding stood.

kf0rt
05-20-2010, 06:34 PM
Not ham related, but last Christmas, I bought a set (5) of Energy "Take" speakers from Newegg for $150 on a special they ran for about a month.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0021L9BME/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&condition=all

Harder to find now, and the set's going for five bills. Amazing sound in a tiny package, but they do require a subwoofer. Total bargain.

KC9ECI
02-16-2011, 07:56 PM
Score! Just got a nice J-37 key on a J-47 base on a $10 buy it now on Ebay.

NQ6U
02-16-2011, 07:59 PM
Got a like-new Bird 43 wattmeter with six slugs and a faux-leather carrying case for $100.

KC9ECI
02-16-2011, 10:38 PM
I picked up a like new Icom V8000 last week. +$60 and $10 in shipping. From the description,
no transmit keys up and shows it but no rf output!!.The rx is perfect and the radio looks like brand new with the nice stock mike and bracket full length power cord.I have not made an attempt to repair this, I am just gonna pass it along and let the next fellow deal with it it sounds just like the one I had that failed on me a couple years back. $27.50 from RFparts for an rd70hvf1 and I'm guessing it will be as good as new.

KC9ECI
02-17-2011, 06:33 PM
I'm thinking now that I couldn't have been more wrong! We're talking Golden Screwdriver award material here folks!

Full res pics at

http://galesvillefiredepartment.org/kc9eci/v8000a.JPG

http://galesvillefiredepartment.org/kc9eci/v8000b.JPG

RX is still good. Might make a nice monitor rig for WX.

KA5PIU
02-17-2011, 06:38 PM
Hello.

Soldering gun?!