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Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
This isn't exactly a pleasant subject but I am interested if anyone has any
suggestions of organization that are interested in complete boatanchors estates. I have contacted one organization which is very selective and I believe if someone is generous enough to put in their will that they will bequeeth their whole ham station to an organization there should at least be a little enthusiasm on the part of the organization. Does anyone know of any good causes to whom a person can donate his prized equipment, QSLs, tools etc etc where it will be treasured and appreciated after I am gone? Smokey Please remove "nospam" from email address when replying directly. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Smokey wrote:
...Does anyone know of any good causes to whom a person can donate his prized equipment, QSLs, tools etc etc where it will be treasured and appreciated after I am gone? I know one.... I'll send you my shipping address ;-). |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
I would expect than other than other individuals there is no
organization that would know what the stuff is. I believe you had better sell it before you depart which will probably but them in good homes for at least a while. It seems to be that libraries throw books away, museums auctioned stuff off or keep stuff in buildings that leak or basements that are full of mildew so that is left? Ron Smokey wrote: This isn't exactly a pleasant subject but I am interested if anyone has any suggestions of organization that are interested in complete boatanchors estates. I have contacted one organization which is very selective and I believe if someone is generous enough to put in their will that they will bequeeth their whole ham station to an organization there should at least be a little enthusiasm on the part of the organization. Does anyone know of any good causes to whom a person can donate his prized equipment, QSLs, tools etc etc where it will be treasured and appreciated after I am gone? Smokey Please remove "nospam" from email address when replying directly. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
This is a good idea. BUT,I can think of lots of "side effects" to it..
Mostly technical..A great percentage of estate radio equipment is obsolete,broken,needing unavailable parts, etc. New hams are not usually interested in books,tech data ,construction tools ,material etc.sad but true..Some radio clubs will take estates and sort them out ,direct the items to someone that will appreciate them..A radio club would be my suggestion.. good luck..W4PQW |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
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Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
In all seriousness, I remember on fellow in Ohio who was getting up in
years. He tried to donate his gear ( mostly all pre war equipment ) to the AWA and another organization. The AWA is literally ursting at the seams with similar gear. There truly is just that much of it still around. The other organization in New York posing as a charity school but in reality is a scam - I learned this by talking to the organizer of this con as he leaned bach on his Jaguar - no kidding. He described how the gear is donated and sold to raise money for other projects very little has anything to do with radio. Anyways, I was lucky enough to be given this equipment. I cherish and use as much of it as I can today. There is still at least one big transmitter the I will be restoring. But the parts and books have been very handy to me. It was sort of an inheritence in reverse. I got the 'goodies' up front and also got a great friendship with the OM and his XYL. It was great to have grandparents again albeit adopted ones. I was glad to help them out with things they needed around the house. It is utterly amazing how much we take for granted that an elderly person cannot lift or do. Lots of nice memories and gosh awful instant coffee with lunch. HI Our friendship lasted for over five years before he passed. I learned so much about history, life and even investing in the stock market from my Elmer. That was over 10 years ago. I was in my early thirties, It seems like yesterday. So my point is that if you can find the right person and the situation is right, things can work out well. In the end we just die and our belongings is only stuff whose worth is in the eye of the beholder. YT "Smokey" wrote in message ... This isn't exactly a pleasant subject but I am interested if anyone has any suggestions of organization that are interested in complete boatanchors estates. I have contacted one organization which is very selective and I believe if someone is generous enough to put in their will that they will bequeeth their whole ham station to an organization there should at least be a little enthusiasm on the part of the organization. Does anyone know of any good causes to whom a person can donate his prized equipment, QSLs, tools etc etc where it will be treasured and appreciated after I am gone? Smokey Please remove "nospam" from email address when replying directly. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
wrote in message oups.com... This is a good idea. BUT,I can think of lots of "side effects" to it.. Mostly technical..A great percentage of estate radio equipment is obsolete,broken,needing unavailable parts, etc. New hams are not usually interested in books,tech data ,construction tools ,material etc.sad but true..Some radio clubs will take estates and sort them out ,direct the items to someone that will appreciate them..A radio club would be my suggestion.. good luck..W4PQW I have reached the point to where I am ridding myself of stuff that the heirs would throw in the dumpster. I have sold or given to a good home most of my boat anchors and what is left, I will get rid of after making sure they are functional. If not then I will advertise them as parts. Some projects that are no longer important, have gone away. Leanne - W1WXS |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
I have a deal with a good friend who is a ham. The one left standing will
take care of disposal in the most practical means and in return get his pick of any items they want. -- Carl WA1KPD Visit My Boatanchor Collection at http://home.comcast.net/~chnord/wa1kpd.html "Smokey" wrote in message ... This isn't exactly a pleasant subject but I am interested if anyone has any suggestions of organization that are interested in complete boatanchors estates. I have contacted one organization which is very selective and I believe if someone is generous enough to put in their will that they will bequeeth their whole ham station to an organization there should at least be a little enthusiasm on the part of the organization. Does anyone know of any good causes to whom a person can donate his prized equipment, QSLs, tools etc etc where it will be treasured and appreciated after I am gone? Smokey Please remove "nospam" from email address when replying directly. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Rarely does a museum really need some piece of equipment. A donation means
storing it somewhere and then ultimately disposing of it under less than ideal circumstances. If you need a write off, then give it to a charitable organization that is geared up to sell it on eBay to the highest bidder. That will assure that it will be properly displayed and revered. If you do not need the money, give it to someone who will appreciate it. Do so while you are still alive to avoid having a family member overwhelmed with a pile of what they consider junk. I had aggressive cancer 10 years ago. Sold most of the stuff to a friend and retained visitation rights. Kept a few things. Then, I fully recovered. It took me almost 5 years to accumulate as much or more than I had the first time around. 73, Colin K7FM |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Donating a lifetime collection on the condition that it will all be kept
together seems rather unlikely to me. Not impossible, but there are very, very few old-radio museums in the world, and most already have more "stuff" than they can ever exhibit. Have you tried contacting nearby radio collector clubs? You may meet someone who would appreciate what you've got. One club list is available at http://www.antiqueradio.com/clublist.html (no connection to me). If you can't find anyone to take the whole shebang, and you aren't interested in eBaying on your own, perhaps you could find a local broker to sell everything on eBay for a commission. Selling piece-by-piece will get you much more than trying to sell an entire collection in one lot. I have already resigned myself to the idea that if I kick tomorrow, my "treasures" will probably be hauled away by the nearest charity truck. If you donate to a pick-up charity, at least you could take a modest tax writeoff. Regards, Phil Nelson Phil's Old Radios http://antiqueradio.org/index.html |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
On Mon, 6 Feb 2006, Phil Nelson wrote: Donating a lifetime collection on the condition that it will all be kept together seems rather unlikely to me. Not impossible, but there are very, very few old-radio museums in the world, and most already have more "stuff" than they can ever exhibit. Have you tried contacting nearby radio collector clubs? You may meet someone who would appreciate what you've got. One club list is available at http://www.antiqueradio.com/clublist.html (no connection to me). If you can't find anyone to take the whole shebang, and you aren't interested in eBaying on your own, perhaps you could find a local broker to sell everything on eBay for a commission. Selling piece-by-piece will get you much more than trying to sell an entire collection in one lot. I have already resigned myself to the idea that if I kick tomorrow, my "treasures" will probably be hauled away by the nearest charity truck. If you donate to a pick-up charity, at least you could take a modest tax writeoff. Regards, Phil Nelson Phil's Old Radios http://antiqueradio.org/index.html Its tragic that lots of XYLs have to deal with this problem, but I also heard (many years ago) that places like The Smithsonian get tons of donations that they cannot use and I'm talking about very large quantities. It is possible that they may even be refusing to take stuff unless arrangements can be made ahead of time. I've told my wife she needs to just get rid of the stuff and not worry about price. I hope to figure out some simplifying procedure or work out some arrangement. However, I recall that there are "junk haulers" who will come and take the stuff away for free and they worry about getting what they can out of it to pay their wages/costs and I don't remember, just now, the names of them but some are on the WWW. It might be worth it for some business-orriented ham(s) to organize a collection function along with a auction (eg. eBay) and pay for it with the proceeds of the auction and (maybe) some kind of profit sharing with the widow. However, I've seen "widow" tables at hamfests where they almost gave stuff away or they tried to get new or almost new prices for stuff that needed to be priced to sell, not priced so it would never sell. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Find a younger ham that will take control of all the equipment and liquidate
it when the time comes. I have been doing that for years. I sell the stuff at hamfests or eBay and do not even charge a commission. I keep what does not sell . A funny true story happened to me. A few years ago I got a call from a friend's wife. He was elderly and over a few months he had been going to lunch and never making it, ending up in nearby towns. At one point he was almost vegetative. His Dr's diagnosed him as Alzheimers and told his wife he would never recover. She called me and asked that I liquidate a building full of old radio and test equipment. I went to work and sold some to friends, some on eBay and some at a local swap meet. I just collected the funds until after the swap meet. There were a few things that did not sell at the swap meet, so I figured I was done selling. I called the woman to report my success and she said "just a minute, here is Henry". There was my friend on the other end of the telephone, home and alert. My heart sank. I had to report that I had sold his entire collection of stuff. It was the lowest point of my life. I felt like I had drained the blood from him. But, the rest of the story made for an ok ending. After I told him I had sold all of his equipment, he told me that even though he was home, he was not up to enjoying it and he never would be, so that it was still fine that I had liquidated his stuff. However, he said there were two things he wished he still had and those were two of the three items I could not sell. He was delighted and I felt like the luckiest guy alive. He died about a year later, but we already had liquidated his gear. Colin K7FM |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Wouldn't it be great if someone could organize a
ham radio museum? I've always thought it'd be a blast to have a building that had several operating positions starting from the spark era (just for show of course) through modern setups. Steve |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 10:12:07 -0600, "Smokey"
wrote: This isn't exactly a pleasant subject but I am interested if anyone has any suggestions of organization that are interested in complete boatanchors estates. I have contacted one organization which is very selective and I believe if someone is generous enough to put in their will that they will bequeeth their whole ham station to an organization there should at least be a little enthusiasm on the part of the organization. Does anyone know of any good causes to whom a person can donate his prized equipment, QSLs, tools etc etc where it will be treasured and appreciated after I am gone? Smokey Please remove "nospam" from email address when replying directly. I think this situation is somewhat similar to what I encountered a couple of years ago. At my place of employment we upgraded several programmable controllers. I called the local school to see if they wanted the older, (but not quite obsolete) equipment for their technical program. THeir reply stated Yes , but we will expect you to supply service and support for this equipment. Needless to say it was the dumpster for that stuff. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
I have a good friend who is a decent and honest man.
He feeds his family buying and selling old technology, including ham radio stuff. I gave his name and number to my wife and told her that he would be fair to her, and he will. This idea that goes around that anyone who deals in ham radio equipment is somehow "tainted" is just envy with a cheap coat of fake moral paint slapped over it. D.S. |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Pointed subject, to be sure. First, let me say I found the comment by
one person about that NY "radio club" charity. I've always wondered what it really was. But to my point... I'm fortunate in that my XYL is quite a bit younger than I am and she's been around when I've "accumulated" the current crop of equipment. Sure, I had a shack before she arrived on the scene, but the plethora of BA's I now have arrived post-XYL. She has an abiding knowledge of what the stuff is and what I originally paid for it (that, and I have a running inventory). I'm currently divesting some treasures owing to an impending move. But, most gear will make the trip. When the time eventually comes, she will sell the gear for what it will bring, hopefully with some allied support from trusted friends. I cannot expect her, or anyone, to interview the buyer to confirm their good intentions for the gear. All I can hope for is that it won't go to predatory ambulance chasers of the ilk we all know so well. Beyond that, I will have considered myself a good steward of these "maritime location securing devices" and will have passed them on in better condition than received. I will have had fun and done my part. That's all folks!! |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Thanks Colin. As is so often the case, your comments make more sense than
most on this newsgroup. I should have figured that I could expect vacuous suggestions ("Did you ever think of donating to a radio club? Duh") and sarcasm not to mention the tedious stand-uyp comics (who should keep their day jobs). Jeeesh...I am NOT giving the stuff away now (hopefully I've got a lot of years left).. Nor am I interested in walking away with any money from it. Nor am I interested in one entity getting it all. I just am interested in the stuff being received by someone who will appreciate it. As for those vultures who fly around widows trying to peck them clean, I am all too aware of that situation. We as hams don't have very clean hands in that respect. We've all seen it.My whole reason for putting this posting out is to plan for something instead of my executor landfilling my good stuff. I think I am going to go about this another way because, other than your comments, most others were worthless. Smokey "COLIN LAMB" wrote in message nk.net... Find a younger ham that will take control of all the equipment and liquidate it when the time comes. I have been doing that for years. I sell the stuff at hamfests or eBay and do not even charge a commission. I keep what does not sell . A funny true story happened to me. A few years ago I got a call from a friend's wife. He was elderly and over a few months he had been going to lunch and never making it, ending up in nearby towns. At one point he was almost vegetative. His Dr's diagnosed him as Alzheimers and told his wife he would never recover. She called me and asked that I liquidate a building full of old radio and test equipment. I went to work and sold some to friends, some on eBay and some at a local swap meet. I just collected the funds until after the swap meet. There were a few things that did not sell at the swap meet, so I figured I was done selling. I called the woman to report my success and she said "just a minute, here is Henry". There was my friend on the other end of the telephone, home and alert. My heart sank. I had to report that I had sold his entire collection of stuff. It was the lowest point of my life. I felt like I had drained the blood from him. But, the rest of the story made for an ok ending. After I told him I had sold all of his equipment, he told me that even though he was home, he was not up to enjoying it and he never would be, so that it was still fine that I had liquidated his stuff. However, he said there were two things he wished he still had and those were two of the three items I could not sell. He was delighted and I felt like the luckiest guy alive. He died about a year later, but we already had liquidated his gear. Colin K7FM |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
In article ,
Steve wrote: Wouldn't it be great if someone could organize a ham radio museum? I've always thought it'd be a blast to have a building that had several operating positions starting from the spark era (just for show of course) through modern setups. Steve I believe the Antique Wirless Association has done this. Check out. http://www.antiquewireless.org/museum/museum.htm 73, Chuck (W3FJJ) |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Smokey wrote:
Thanks Colin. As is so often the case, your comments make more sense than most on this newsgroup. I should have figured that I could expect vacuous suggestions ("Did you ever think of donating to a radio club? Duh") and sarcasm not to mention the tedious stand-uyp comics (who should keep their day jobs). Jeeesh...I am NOT giving the stuff away now (hopefully I've got a lot of years left).. Nor am I interested in walking away with any money from it. Nor am I interested in one entity getting it all. I just am interested in the stuff being received by someone who will appreciate it. As for those vultures who fly around widows trying to peck them clean, I am all too aware of that situation. We as hams don't have very clean hands in that respect. We've all seen it.My whole reason for putting this posting out is to plan for something instead of my executor landfilling my good stuff. I think I am going to go about this another way because, other than your comments, most others were worthless. Smokey In spite of your attitude, I would like to put in a couple of points: we are engaged in a hobby that is rather unique. The stuff we see as valuable, most everyone else in the world sees as trash. It's a shame, but that is the way it is. If you are at all like me, the value you see in a piece is largely a result of nostalgia. In the first place, once you die, it isn't going to make any difference to you what happens to your material possessions. It should make some difference to you, before you die, knowing the degree of a mess you will be leaving behind for your spouse and heirs to clean up. About all you can do, is try and not accumulate trash, and to leave some instructions to your executor that itemize the major pieces of your collection, and assigns each piece a realistic value. Your instructions should suggest how to find likely customers for your collection, and perhaps even give the task of disposal to some willing friend. And if all your good stuff ends up in the landfill, then perhaps, it will join you in the afterlife. (eg. you can rot together ;-) -Chuck (who will be leaving behind quite a mess!) |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
I am president of the Carolinas Chapter of the Antique Wireless Association.
One of the services our club provides to our members and their families is the auctioning of estate collections at our annual conference in Charlotte NC. We have done a number of these over the years and so far we've gotten several times what the family thought the junque was worth. Last year there was so much stuff in the collection that we had to have 2 auctions. It took all day for seven people to load the collection in a 30 foot race car trailer and then haul it 5 hours and unload it in a warehouse. We then spent many, many hours cataloging the collection for the auction and bagging small items in zip lock bags. We then loaded it all in a u haul truck and unloaded it at the Sheraton. At the time the club only charged 5% auction fee. That's not much for all that work. It's 10% now. An auction at a radio meet is by far the best way to dispose of items like this. You may have to haul it to the site, but there's no shipping or packing involved. And it's at an event where poeple have pockets full of money and are looking for radios to buy. Unless it's really rare, early gear, most museums are not going to want it. The best thing is to get it in the hands of those that do. 73, Ron cc-awa.org |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Ron has a good idea if the club knows about the equipment. Unfortunately,
many ham clubs are comprised of appliance operators who do not know the value nor care about the older stuff. One problem I have found is that a few hams have taken the time to write down values of equipment. But, if they do not know what they are doing, it can be a giant disappointment. I have seen in one case where an elderly ham got some prices from friends, who got it off eBay. The problem was that his stuff had sat in a moist garage and was rusty, while the pieces were valued at what a pristine and restored piece had sold for. If you are going to price it, make sure it is realistic values. Not long ago, I recall someone purchased a beautiful SX-88 on eBay for about $5,000. The purchaser wanted one and could afford it. Unfortunately, people see that and assume their ordinary and unrestored SX-88 is worth $5,000. I bought an SX-88 that had broken dials, rusty case and neede a lot of TLC. It was on the other end of the spectrum. If I did not spend so much time on the internet, I could have it restored by now. I am building a vacation home for the express purpose of sneaking a personal radio museum next to it. My plan is to store each radio, with all of the accessories and manuals together in their appropriate display area. One of the big problems I have when assisting in estates is finding power supplies, manuals, microphones and other items. Cannot tell you how many rotators I have sold without control boxes, because the family threw away the control box. Another sad story that still haunts me is when the father of a friend died with his ham gear in the basement. I valued it for estate tax purposes and sold much of it. However, there were 3 items I wanted to buy and so I left them with my friend and told him I would determine a fair price and buy them. He wanted to give them to me. They were an Elmac AF-67, new in the box, and two new gold Vibroplexes. I spent about a week deternining how much they were worth and went back to buy them. Alas, all three had been tossed in the dumpster. Now, I take the stuff first and argue about price later. 73, Colin K7FM Colin K7FM |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
COLIN LAMB wrote in message
ink.net... Ron has a good idea if the club knows about the equipment. Unfortunately, many ham clubs are comprised of appliance operators who do not know the value nor care about the older stuff. I thought we were talking about Boatanchor gear, not general everyday ham equipment... The idea for the auction wasn't about the local 2 meter ham operator club. BAs should go to a collector event. That's where the knowledgable buyers are. A bunch of 2 meter comandos wouldn't know what to do with a BA. Ron |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message ink.net... .... They were an Elmac AF-67, new in the box, 73, Colin K7FM Ohh I hate when that happens. Ahhh! The Icom 706 of the 50's. or... or... is the 706 the AF-67 of the nineties? I can never get that straight. (:-) 73, Steve, K,9.D;C'I |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
On Tue, 7 Feb 2006, Chuck Harris wrote: Smokey wrote: Thanks Colin. As is so often the case, your comments make more sense than most on this newsgroup. I should have figured that I could expect vacuous suggestions ("Did you ever think of donating to a radio club? Duh") and sarcasm not to mention the tedious stand-uyp comics (who should keep their day jobs). Jeeesh...I am NOT giving the stuff away now (hopefully I've got a lot of years left).. Nor am I interested in walking away with any money from it. Nor am I interested in one entity getting it all. I just am interested in the stuff being received by someone who will appreciate it. As for those vultures who fly around widows trying to peck them clean, I am all too aware of that situation. We as hams don't have very clean hands in that respect. We've all seen it.My whole reason for putting this posting out is to plan for something instead of my executor landfilling my good stuff. I think I am going to go about this another way because, other than your comments, most others were worthless. Smokey In spite of your attitude, I would like to put in a couple of points: we are engaged in a hobby that is rather unique. The stuff we see as valuable, most everyone else in the world sees as trash. It's a shame, but that is the way it is. We should not single ourselves out. How many people spend tons of money on antique-junk cars? Hunting guns, stamp collections, and all manner of other hobbies. They all have to deal with their collections. ===== no change to below, included for reference and context ===== If you are at all like me, the value you see in a piece is largely a result of nostalgia. In the first place, once you die, it isn't going to make any difference to you what happens to your material possessions. It should make some difference to you, before you die, knowing the degree of a mess you will be leaving behind for your spouse and heirs to clean up. About all you can do, is try and not accumulate trash, and to leave some instructions to your executor that itemize the major pieces of your collection, and assigns each piece a realistic value. Your instructions should suggest how to find likely customers for your collection, and perhaps even give the task of disposal to some willing friend. And if all your good stuff ends up in the landfill, then perhaps, it will join you in the afterlife. (eg. you can rot together ;-) -Chuck (who will be leaving behind quite a mess!) |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
This kind of thing, it seems to me, might well be something the ARRL/QST should be willing to shed a little more light and help on. Anyone know if it has been suggested to ARRL to welcome, for example, at regional hamfests some kind of large auction of such gear? ===== no change to below, included for reference and context ===== On Tue, 7 Feb 2006, Ron in Radio Heaven wrote: I am president of the Carolinas Chapter of the Antique Wireless Association. One of the services our club provides to our members and their families is the auctioning of estate collections at our annual conference in Charlotte NC. We have done a number of these over the years and so far we've gotten several times what the family thought the junque was worth. Last year there was so much stuff in the collection that we had to have 2 auctions. It took all day for seven people to load the collection in a 30 foot race car trailer and then haul it 5 hours and unload it in a warehouse. We then spent many, many hours cataloging the collection for the auction and bagging small items in zip lock bags. We then loaded it all in a u haul truck and unloaded it at the Sheraton. At the time the club only charged 5% auction fee. That's not much for all that work. It's 10% now. An auction at a radio meet is by far the best way to dispose of items like this. You may have to haul it to the site, but there's no shipping or packing involved. And it's at an event where poeple have pockets full of money and are looking for radios to buy. Unless it's really rare, early gear, most museums are not going to want it. The best thing is to get it in the hands of those that do. 73, Ron cc-awa.org |
Boatanchors and estates: Ideas?
Straydog wrote:
This kind of thing, it seems to me, might well be something the ARRL/QST should be willing to shed a little more light and help on. Anyone know if it has been suggested to ARRL to welcome, for example, at regional hamfests some kind of large auction of such gear? Well and good but someone has to "manage" it. Their 'compensation' may come as being the guy who has first pick. In my case, if I keel over tomorrow, the XYL knows who to call to help get rid of my stuff. If Guy A doesn't want to mess with it she also knows Guy B. Anybody who has a houseload of radio junk and a family should have a clue given as to how to unload the stuff. Thats what friends are for. Same as if you have a dozen St. Bernard puppies@! Pick your best radio friend and hope he doesn't die before you. -Bill |
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