DIY Electronics

Dave W was thinking very hard :

I do recall having seen such an archive of WW issues.

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Dave W snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk> writes

It does.

That World Radio History website has been a godsend, and enabled me to get rid of hundreds of monthly magazines. However, until you get the hang of it, it IS sometimes a little difficult to navigate.

See also the wayback machine ...

WW (are the 1950's and 1970/1980's different magazines?)

PE

PW

PC

Some memorable covers there ...

I would find a group of Radio Hams and let them have it and or sell it at a rally or fund raising meet. They have been quiet due to covid, but I think things are moving again now.

I don't know about schools, as I feel there is health and safety concerns these days with electronics, which is a real shame as you have to experience a few burns and shocks in life in my view. I guess modern solder is less risky than the leaded kind even if it fails to flow very well. Brian

But only if all were licensed before 1970, because today's tranche are little different to CBers with their off-the-shelf cheque-book-wielded Japanese creations.

Able to tell one end of colour-coded resistor from the other? Fat chance!

Even the introductory Fool's Licence (AKA Foundation Licence) does not require knowledge of how to calculate resistances in parallel.

It is the same as when clearing an entire house.

"There must be someone who'd want this junk?"

But in the end the someone is Mister Biffa.

I've loads of 4-gang slow-motioned variable capacitors; loads of fly-wheels; loads of log / antilog pots - some with a track centre-tap for loudness controls.

They'll all end up in landfill, I expect.

PA

The thing to do is to list all the stuff as individual items on ebay. That's where people will go when they actually want to buy a <thing>, and they can easily search for it - unlike 'random components lucky dip job lot' listings. In particular being able to click 'buy now' and have the thing appear in the post is a massive convenience that people pay good money for.

The trouble is that's a lot of hassle and likely to be a slow burn, which is not what you want when you have to clear it in short order.

I've previously bought stuff on ebay that has the look of coming from a 'recycler' who picks up the job lot (some of it looks like it has come out of a skip) and does the listing, and sells enough to make it worthwhile. Perhaps there is someone doing that business who will take boxes of random electronics and knows what to do with them?

Theo

New apprentice had no idea how to swap a bc lamp.

That is a new low.

Like I wrote, Theo:

Mister Biffa.

The last time we moved house he took all by a single sample of each type from dozens of brand new mains transformers. Criminal, I know.

PA

This has become *much* easier now that the postie will collect parcels for an extra 72p - you buy the post online and then select the collect option. I've got rid of lots of small items which otherwise would have been binned as it wouldn't be worth the time taking them to the post office.

I wasnt aware of that. Yes, that is a considerable advantage...

Hermes do this too, If I recall correctly for 50p. We are now on first name terms with the Hermes car driver.....

Co-incidentally, a wall of lockers have appeared at my local Tesco superstore. They are like those yellow Amazon lockers but are in fact white and run by Hermes.

the stickers on them say you can also drop off parcels as well as collect parcels.

I think there perhaps is *something*?

Should be able to teach an AI machine to recognise constructional bits. Even better to handle the whole online selling operation, and instruct a robot to pack things in boxes.

As a bonus, would be excellent training come the day it has to fix itself, recognizing the bits it was built from.

Say, a clustered node thing that could self-repair and change it's own power supply, CPU and memory.

Hmmm... Life!

Do you find you can price competitively including that fee? (currently 30p for a limited time offer)

A lot of the stuff I see going sub-£10 I wonder how much they're spending on postage, packing and ebay fees and what they actually get back at the end of it. I can see it working making back a couple of quid per item if you're all set up with storage for items and a station for packing them, and if you had 20 to pack up then £40 for maybe half an hour's work isn't too bad. But doing the rigmarole for one item to earn £2 is less attractive.

Although I suppose you could just prepack everything in one session and label them up when they sell. That would save time, although waste packaging on things that don't sell.

Theo

Perhaps, before calling on the services of Mister Biffa, you could list them on ebay as 'loadsa new transformers, untested' on ebay in the category:

Business, Office & Industrial -> Electrical Equipment & Supplies -> Electrical & Test Equipment Wholesale Lots

Make it a 7 day auction, buyer collects, starts 99p

Then await bidding activity. Even if they sell for £1.50 they're going to someone who cares more about them than Mr Biffa. They might go for more than that, in which case you've made a few quid.

Collection-only would be minimal hassle from your POV, although if you offer shipping it'll likely increase the amount you get for them and more chance of them shifting.

Theo

Yes, a small parcel is £3.20 IIRC or £3.00 through eBay, so I charge £4.00 for postage and only sell for a minimum of £10.00 + p&p. It's more about getting rid of stuff without too much hassle than trying to make money. I work from home, so parcel collection is easy, and the odd few minutes to pack something can be easily found.

Last week I sold about unused 1600 chips for £25.00 - that's a short poster tube full. Mostly logic in original packing. They actually went to the US to an electronics lecturer, and while £25.00 is nothing to get excited about, it's good to think they're not wasted.

(SWMBO had read about the chip shortage and thought we'd make a fortune. If only BMW needed 74HC logic in SO packages.)

Not sure about kids, but maybe young adults still have a bit of interest in such stuff. The only mag that I know is still goiing is

I tend to use Hermes. It has a collection box nearer than any post office, and of course no queue. And I can use it any time that suits me, without having to hang around for a collection. Everything done online - only thing you need is a printer for the label.

I'm lucky that the collection box is actually in a small industrial estate which is a cul-de-sac. So very easy to park for the short time needed, day or night.