What did you purchase for a great price, or even get
free?

About three years ago I acquired the Realistic/RS version of the Sangean
ATS818C (DX398? Is that right?) from the local R.S. store, where I had seen it
languishing on the 'out-for-repairs' shelf down behind the counter for nearly a
year.
Apparently, the RS home office told this store it was unrepairable, and the
store gave the customer credit or his money back or something, but this radio
sat forever with everything it came with.
Anyway, right around Christmastime I was shopping and went into RS for some
things, and curiousity finally got the better of me. The guy told me the
backstory of the radio, and then said I could have it for nothing, just get it
out of his store. I of course had NO problem with that. He went in the back,
got a big box, and cleaned the shelf into the box, and said 'take it all. Happy
Holidays..."
Well, there was the radio, but also a Weller 65w soldering gun, a RS 30w
soldering pencil, and a number of little items, all of which were supposedly in
bad enough shape to get rid of.
Turns out the radio only needed the BFO pot re-attached to the board (the RS
office must have assumed the board was cracked, and replacing the radio was
indeed the easier and cheaper of the choices) but the board was fine. So, after
fixing the pot, I had a brand new-looking, working DX398 for free! Plus, the
soldering gun needed a new tip and some rewiring, but works and looks good as
new. The soldering pencil was in perfect shape.
A good friend who was becoming interested in shortwave got a nice radio from me
that year!
Linus