Electronic parts

How about listing some of the instruments and your city and state?

Hi. Sorry for your loss. The care you're taking with your father's hobby stuff shows the respect you had for him.

I'm sure your dad would have wanted the stuff to benefit you first. Without your describing what you have, it's a wild guess if anything has value. You might want to go to eBay and punch in some of the rig and instrument manufacturer names model numbers. You might be amazed. You can arrange to sell those which have been sold on eBay "as-is", or you might want to have someone sell them for you. Be sure to include the instrument manuals with the meters, if he had them.

As far as what's left, you may want to contact the local junior college or trade school and ask them if they'd like to accept a donation.

Be sure to separate out any old capacitors (these usually look like little metal cans with two screws, wires or tabs sticking out) which have the letters "PCB" on them. These SHOULD NOT be thrown out -- PCBs are deadly toxins which should not be let into landfills. If you have any of these, you may want to ask the person at the junior college how to dispose of them.

Again, sorry for your troubles, and thanks for asking Chris

Hello cznative, please accept my condolences to you regarding your father's untimely death. Fortunately there is recourse. I urge you to visit

The sad fact is that decades ago, hundreds of thousands of workers across the country were exposed to asbestos. As a result, thousands of people have developed asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, other asbestos-related cancers, asbestosis, and pleural disease.

The asbestos epidemic is serious. The National Institute of Health in 1978 estimated that eight to eleven million U.S. workers had been exposed to asbestos by that date. In fact, by 1970, it is estimated that some 25 million tons of asbestos were used in the U.S.

Exposure to PCB and asbestos is not a choice that your father made willingly or knowingly. In his honor, it is up to you to remedy this, both in his memory and for the protection of future generations.

This course of action is not easy and, you may not collect money as fast as you would like. But to not do so would be a slap in the face to your father. Is that really what you want?

Hello :)

Sorry to hear about your Dad, mine came close in March too (aoritc aneurysm) so can almost imagine.

Possibly the most certain way of identifying the bits would be to take digital photos of the whole lot together, and then photos of the instruments, front, back, model/serial numbers etc. Truth is, some of it may be classed as scrap by some but a goldmine of irreplacable invaluable bits for others. I'm sure anyone here would look at the photos and help identify them.

If you were looking for someone to drop by then it's an almost sure certainty that someone knows someone through the grapevine. It'd be great should you weren't looking to sell, for it to go to someone/a ham who's just retired or alike rather than a college etc. where it'd be poked about and collect dust.

All the best,

Alison x

Sorry to hear about your father.

I'm a ham. I haven't had a rig for the last 12 years. I would love to get my hands on an old ham rig again -- the kind with tubes, that glow! Where the heck is cz?

Kell

I see that the vultures are out.

snipped-for-privacy@power.com certainly has an interesting posting history.

Yes, I know all about asbestos as I used to work in an environmental protection company. My father passed away due to complications from zenkers diverticulum. Thank you for your concern.

I'm in Austin, Texas. As for listing some of the instruments, I can't as I have no idea what they are. I'm a girl, what can I say. I will take digital photos of them today. I would assume they would say somewhere on them what they are.

CZ = Canal Zone

I believe there are one or more businesses in Austin that deal in used test equipment. They might be useful resources. If you have any especially valuable items, they'll know. Also, Austin should have a big amateur radio club (go to

In fact:

The traditional thing to do with a ham's estate is to sell it at a hamfest (swap meet). Experienced club members will probably be glad to help you do this and make sure you get decent prices for the valuable items. Selling (even if cheap) is better than giving away, in my opinion, because it guarantees that every item goes to someone who actually wants it.

If you can just tell us the manufacturer and model of each of the major pieces of gear (e.g., "Hallicrafters S-40B", "Heathkit HW-8", etc.) -- all of which should be on the front panel -- it will help us a lot.

There are some regular posters on other electronics newsgroups in your area. One is John Fields at Austin Instruments. You might contact him and see if he can help you, or recommend someone else, like a local ham radio club. A hamfest is a good place to sell off old electronics, if there is too much stuff to sort and inventory.

As far as the comment about asbestos, very little was used in electronics, and mostly in the early tube radio days where it was used to keep from burning the wood cabinets.