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.

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

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

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.

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.

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!!

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

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)

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!)

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