Does price matter anymore?

Yup people don't even take their old sets to have them looked at anymore. Which is great for a curb scavenger with a bit of techinal know how. I have a 25'' zenith with remote that I fixed some bad solider joints in the tuner. I'm trying to sell for $50 I've only had one call and it's in the paper now. I couldn't tell you how many TV's, Pc's, PC moniters, and stereos I have found by the curb that were 5 minute fixes. I once found a set of AR 2X speakers that were perfect except for dirty pots, needless to say they are staying in my collection. I once got a 17'' PC moniter that the only thing wrong with it it needed a focus adjustment. It's still as good as a new one and thats been close to 2 years ago. It's really sad now a days we all know the stuff they bought to replace the stuff we've ressurected won't last half as long and have the build quality of the stuff they threw out.

Regards, Chance

a new one

I sometimes wonder if that's actually part of the reason people buy new stuff. Think about it; in this day and age, people don't want to commit to anything - a job, a car, a religion, or even a marriage - so why would they want to commit their TV stand to the same set for 15 or 20 years? Like so many things in life, people want something they can acquire easily, have some fun with for a while, and then dump when they get tired of it. Commitment has become a dirty word to todays hedonists - and someday they're going to be very sorry. And the only sympathy they'll get from me is an "I told you so".

The cost of replacement parts exceeds the value of the equipment in many cases.

I'm throwing away a perfectly usable 300w APC UPS because the cost of a new battery (yes, even on eBay) is greater than what it costs me to buy a new UPS at Staples.

I'd sell the ups on ebay or use it for a 12v inverter

- Mike

Then again, why put even $75 into an old NTSC TV when the set won't even be able to receive NTSC broadcasts a couple years from now? When their old set dies, they're putting that $75 into the new HDTV flat panel they already wanted. As for the Salvation Army, perhaps they're concerned about incurring disposal fees for old unsold units that crap out before they can move them.

Actually Mike the inverter idea is a really good one!. Although I recognized that the battery is a 12V 7AH gel cel it hadn't sunk in that all I need is a cigarette lighter cord out of my junk box and I'll have some emergency power. Not much power of course, but better than nothing should the hurricanes hit us again this year.

Thanks for the suggestion.

now? When their old set

A set made in 2004 is considered old? If that's the case, I should donate most of my stock to the nearest museum.

Yeah, they've been predicting the death of NTSC for years now, in fact it was supposed to have been phased out at least 6 years ago. I think it's pointless to push everything towards HDTV; like Andy Rooney said, what's the point of a better delivery system, if there's nothing on worth watching? There will long be a demand for NTSC sets, as long as people hang on to their DVD's and VHS cassettes. I intend to keep a hoard of old NTSC stuff long after the format is gone, because I simply refuse to follow the trend. Even if I can't watch current broadcasts anymore, like I said, there's nothing worth watching anyway.

Good thing I didn't go looking for that cigaratte lighter cord yet!

Thanks for the info. I'll just put the UPS back in the junk box.

And what about AM Broadcast Band radio? Any future for that? FM also?

Goes against the grain to have to 'pay' a monthly subscription to listen to satellite radio etc.

If some broadcaster 'wants' me to listen they can attract by making it free for whenever, or if, I wish to turn it on!

I'll even tolerate 'some' commercials; although on TV the existing 20 minutes per half hour of programming versus 9 minutes of announcements/commercials (not including the channels that are ALL selling/advertising!) for which I pay either the cable or satellite company are becoming a bore. i.e. very little on worth watching and it is constantly interrupted by said advertising; often the same advert several times each hour. Bah, humbug.

Less on shortwave now too!

However: One of the more interesting is that CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) Radio One, (basically CBCs 'Home Service' for each of the regions of this huge country, after about midnight Eastern Time, carries half hour items from various networks around the world (in English). These typically include Holland, Germany, Australia, BBC, Sweden, Poland and many others. Often leave it on bedside radio at very low volume until 6.00 AM (local time) next morning, when it reverts to local broadcasting. CBC is available on the internet at <

Cheers.

Time to get into modern art. Start welding crap together. Call the shop a gallery, bribe some local newspapers... Your message could be disposable society... that's not cliche or anything.

-JB

On Fri, 12 May 2006 18:32:29 GMT, "Chris F." put finger to keyboard and composed:

IMO, items that should sell well are turntables and amps with RIAA phono preamp stages. I'm currently converting about 300 LPs to CDA and MP3 format. Of course, if your old equipment is anything like mine (30+ years), you will need to lube all the pots and switches. I suppose you could also package each stand-alone turntable with a soundcard-ready RIAA preamp.

Another useful item may be those old furniture-style TV cabinets, eg those made by Philips/Kriesler. Swap out the electronics and you'll have a modern set with a vintage feel.

- Franc Zabkar

Chris F. ha escrito:

Are you sure?

I have several APC UPS models which can be started from cold using the internal battery. The models are BE500R, BK250 and BK380.

In the other hand, I have a TrippLite UPS model BC250 which cannot be started from the battery. It should be connected to a 120VAC source prior to startup.

I guess I haven't seen too many APC units. Those units you mentioned must be the exception rather than the rule....

Chris F. ha escrito:

It could be. The BE500R is a very recent model, while the others two are a bit old... probably from year 2000 or before.

J spake thus:

Only problem is, all this new crap is almost all plastic, so no metal to weld to.

There's a major midwestern university in my community. With lots of students, there's lots of transient people buying and selling their consumer electronics every semester. 27" stereo TV's are commonly available for $ 50.

The Salvation Army and other thrift stores are much more selective than they used to be:

• The Salvation Army used to train people in TV and appliance repair. Those programs disappeared a few years ago. So now they require that donations be in good working condition.

• The cost to dispose of the unsellable items is very high. The Salvation Army pays commercial rates. Our local store gets drop offs, and they have to dispose of at least 50% of what's left there overnight. Just because they got it "for free" doesn't mean it has any value.

• Wired communities have local newsgroups or craigslist that makes it much easier to f> In the past couple of months, my already-poor sales of used electronics

You'd have to have some pretty unique vinyl to need to transcribe it these days. Even most of the really obscure music I had on LP appears on CD these days. I'm still holding onto a handful of laserdiscs, though, which haven't appeared on DVD yet.

Magnavox cabinets were made by Baker Furniture for a few years in the seventies. Throw the TV away but keep the fine wood cabinet.

Franc Zabkar wrote: