On Thu, 27 May 2021 10:16:28 -0700 (PDT), "Peter W."
wrote:

But, I agree that for the most part, many things find their way to landfill due to very minor failures combined, the rarity of good repair options,
I like the idea of the 'repair workshops' where people bring stuff
along and volunteers try to fix it for the cost of any parts and a
charity donation or similar?

This goes to a post I made some years ago when a British gentleman asked about initiating a 'repair cafe. I have been doing this along in the vintage electronics hobby for well over 20 years now

Excellent.

- so my 'rules' are as follows:

I participate in the occasional radio-club related repair clinic, and give one twice a year in Kutztown, teaching basic diagnostic and repair techniques for vintage radios and electronics from the 1920s to approximately the 1990s. There are some basic rules for the protection of the clinician and the 'customer'.

a) Do not take money. Do not imply Fee-for-Service. The moment money is taken, there is an expectation of professionalism and expertise that conveys a level of liability.

Understood. I have often done the same for friends of friends (who may
not already know 'the deal'). Best endeavours, no guarantees and no
liability accepted etc.

b) Make it clear that you are doing this as a hobby, and that you are demonstrating technique and skills that may be useful to the customer in their future endeavors along the same hobby-related lines.

Check.

c) If parts are to be replaced, those parts *must* be obtained and supplied by the customer. Pointing to possible sources is OK, as long as you are able to point to more than one.

Makes sense. A mate used to work that way in his car garage.
Mainstream new parts from manufacturer or factor or parts supplied by
the customer (where no liability for any consequences relating from a
failure of such excepted).

d) If power must be applied to an item during the process, the source must be isolated, and you must explain to the customer the reasons for it, and advise him/her why this is so.

Are we talking auto/isolation-transformers here?

e) Kluge repairs left in place are not acceptable, full stop. For instance, if one jumps out a damaged 'fuse resistor' to determine whether replacing it is worthwhile and the customer does not have the actual replacement - you may go as far as to suggest that the item is repairable - but not here, and not without the proper parts. Remove the jumper.

Good example. A Freecycle Colour Laser printer I picked up had two
(identical?) thermal switches in series in the fuser heater supply,
presumably so that there could be a 'failsafe' switch in case the one
became locked shut. I 'temporarily' shorted out the faulty one (and
applied a notice on the body of the printer to that effect) and it
remains so, but I never left the printer on and it's currently unused
in any case. I wouldn't have left it like that if it was going out of
my hands.

Whether or not an organization has "insurance cover', should there be an unfortunate event, the individual tech involved will remain involved whether liable for actual damages or not. And whereas most individuals are sincere and mean no harm, a fire, shock or other occurrence will change even the most gentle person.

Agreed. A neighbour asked me if I could show him how he could service
the brakes on his own motorbike and because I was aware of his
complete lack of wrenching skills (and tools, experience, interest,
patience), I declined.

I will teach technique, and I will show individuals how to make their own basic repairs such as re-capping, cleaning and similar. I will point them to books, manuals and sources. But in a situation where one is dealing with the *GENERAL PUBLIC*, I will take nothing for granted.

Wise words.

I often have to remind myself that some people don't have the same
range of skills as me (/us?). I'm only a 'Jack of all trades' (when
that is mostly anything practical that doesn't require lots of
training, (expensive) specialist tools or a specific mindset, like
plastering or coding) but was born into an era when 'make do and mend'
was still just about current and whilst I was always looked after by
my parents when it came to important stuff (school equipment etc), I
was generally left to sort out my own stuff, like bicycles, mopeds,
motorcycles and cars.

I also had an interest in 'things' from an early age and would
regularly open stuff up or take faulty things to bits to learn how
they worked.

Along those lines I was also often given old electrical stuff, radios
and record players by friends and family (mostly faulty at some level)
and would often repair them. A broken drive belt, a broken wire, blown
fuse or even a transistor shorted to the (earthed) can. ;-)

So I often assume everone else can learn to do the same range of
things (if I can, so can they ...) but that isn't always the case (it
seems).

A mate is also running Home Assistant home automation software to
mostly do things around his fish tanks and recently I dropped off all
the parts for him to assemble such a project (a CO2 controller [1])
and had overseen him configuring / programming the ESP32 board and
Home Assistant integration remotely over Teamviewer.

I setup the same thing here, tested it and sent him a picture.

His tasks. Solder some header pins onto a uUSB board (1x5, it breaks
out a uUSB connector), solder some header pins onto an ESP32 (2 x 19),
jumper 2 wires between uUSB board and 4ch opto isolator board (2
wires), jumper the output of the opto to the ESP32 (3 wires).

I'd provided him the circuit diagram for the opto board, the pinout of
the ESP32 and plenty of verbal guidance as to the goals.

Phone call the next day:

'I'm getting not 5V out of the uSB boards' (I had given him two boards
in case he screwed one up). I took him though various steps and it
turned out to be a dirty connection on his DMM.

Then it was a misconnection between uUSB board and input to the opto
(Gnd Gnd, 5V to 'NC'!, 5V wire then moved to Input1).

Then there was a misconnection between opto and ESP32 (Gnd from opto
connected to a data pin next to Gnd pin on ESP32).

Once they were all resolved, it all worked as planned. ;-)

He actually added a Dallas '1 wire' temperature sensor himself and to
the right pins but it didn't work, turned out to *need* the / a pullup
resistor (sometimes doesn't, I was trying to keep it simple for him).
;-)

My point was that I thought he 'understood' what I was telling him but
it may well have been that he didn't, knew there was no point in
asking as he still wouldn't understand or remember and so let it wash
over him knowing I was at the end of the line for guidance, as / when
he needed it.

Cheers, T i m

[1] He has an expensive CO2 controller that monitors the CO2 level in
a fish tank and then turns on a mains powered solenoid to allow Co2 to
bubble though the water for the plants during the day. He didn't want
to waste CO2 gas during the night. I didn't want him playing with 240V
or tampering with the existing controller so he powered the solenoid
from a TP-Link WiFi smart socket controlled by Home Assistant and we
used a basic phone charger plug to supply 5V to the ESP32 input as a
binary trigger to indicate the CO2 controller was calling for CO2, but
HA would inhibit that via a condition in an automation between the
hours of 22:00 and 08:00.

Are we talking auto/isolation-transformers here?

In my case, I use a Heathkit IP-5220 Isolated Variac - so, yes.

http://www.ipernity.com/remote/downl...%20IP-5220.jpg

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Thu, 27 May 2021 20:40:15 +0100, Rod Speed wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
micky wrote

Is there any "market" for old electronics, even for free?

Depends on what it is. Quite a decent market for early personal
computers and some more specialised stuff like SCSI cards etc.

I found a 70s Commodore Pet (8KB RAM) going for 3 grand!

Its much higher with the earlier stuff.

I actually found a recycler in driving distance
who claims he will even take my CRT tvs.

That's certainly a bit dubious.

Why? Presumably they break it for materials, like with any electronics.

There isnt much of any real value in a CRT tv.

Even the glass isnt of any real value because
its very specialised glass and there is plenty of
much more useful glass with used drink bottles.

I know, except for some weird situation I won't
find, no one wants a CRT TV but what about....

A westell DSL modem Hub

None here, we have moved to VDSL2+ now.

We have fibre optics.

We do too and all the new stuff is, but we also have VDSL2+
and so do you. I could have said the original better.

Only in a very few outlying areas.

That's not true.

It is in the UK. We even got fibre to the home at 18% a year ago. Pretty much everyone has fibre to the cabinet, which is usually 40-80Mbit.

Might still be some demand there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westell-Wir...-/153433002888
still offered for $20 plus 9 shipping,
but does that mean anyone can use it?

They can if they still have a dsl service.

My wifi router.

Some do still use those as wifi access points to get more wifi access
in
their house.

a router without wifi?

A few do still use those.

I virtually never use my wifi.

I do for the smartphone which I use all the time
and for the kindle and for all the fully automated
lights etc and for all the stuff like echo dots, google
home minis and for the video surveillance too.

I'm trying to set up video surveillance - testing some USB cameras, might
go for IP cameras over an ethernet cable. But WiFi is nowhere near fast
enough for several 4K video streams.

Plenty fast enough for the one for each camera.

What is that in English? What I meant was Wifi is shared is it not? Between all the cameras.

It's only for the mobile phone, and only because I run science projects
on it which would eat 4G data.

Yep, you are a real dinosaur tech wise.

I only use tech that I need or want,

But what you need or want is stupid with smartphones.

********, what am I not using that would benefit me?

you use it for the sake of it.

Wrong, I use tech that I need or want.

Most of what you have are gimmics.

Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
micky wrote

Is there any "market" for old electronics, even for free?

Depends on what it is. Quite a decent market for early personal
computers and some more specialised stuff like SCSI cards etc.

I found a 70s Commodore Pet (8KB RAM) going for 3 grand!

Its much higher with the earlier stuff.

I actually found a recycler in driving distance
who claims he will even take my CRT tvs.

That's certainly a bit dubious.

Why? Presumably they break it for materials, like with any
electronics.

There isnt much of any real value in a CRT tv.

Even the glass isnt of any real value because
its very specialised glass and there is plenty of
much more useful glass with used drink bottles.

I know, except for some weird situation I won't
find, no one wants a CRT TV but what about....

A westell DSL modem Hub

None here, we have moved to VDSL2+ now.

We have fibre optics.

We do too and all the new stuff is, but we also have VDSL2+
and so do you. I could have said the original better.

Only in a very few outlying areas.

That's not true.

It is in the UK.

Nope.

We even got fibre to the home at 18% a year ago.

Not to all but a very few outlying areas you didn't.

Pretty much everyone has fibre to the cabinet,

That's VDSL2+

which is usually 40-80Mbit.

Mine will do 130Mb but I only pay for 50Mb.

All of our new ones and plenty of existing houses
are fiber to the home and that will do 1Gb

Might still be some demand there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westell-Wir...-/153433002888
still offered for $20 plus 9 shipping,
but does that mean anyone can use it?

They can if they still have a dsl service.

My wifi router.

Some do still use those as wifi access points to get more wifi access
in
their house.

a router without wifi?

A few do still use those.

I virtually never use my wifi.

I do for the smartphone which I use all the time
and for the kindle and for all the fully automated
lights etc and for all the stuff like echo dots, google
home minis and for the video surveillance too.

I'm trying to set up video surveillance - testing some USB cameras,
might go for IP cameras over an ethernet cable. But WiFi is nowhere
near fast enough for several 4K video streams.

Plenty fast enough for the one for each camera.

What is that in English?

There is one wifi stream to each camera.

What I meant was Wifi is shared is it not? Between all the cameras.

Not.

It's only for the mobile phone, and only because I run science
projects on it which would eat 4G data.

Yep, you are a real dinosaur tech wise.

I only use tech that I need or want,

But what you need or want is stupid with smartphones.

********, what am I not using that would benefit me?

Google maps to get to where you want to go with
real time turn by turn directions and traffic etc
when you are going somewhere you havent been
before for a gumtree or freecycle pickup etc.

you use it for the sake of it.

Wrong, I use tech that I need or want.

Most of what you have are gimmics.

Wrong.

In article ,
says...

Are we talking auto/isolation-transformers here?

I was reading a sailing magazine that mentioned using an autotransformer
in the context of isolation. I felt impelled to write and point out that
because an autotransformer has part of the winding shared between
primary and secondary, isolation is one thing it definitely does not do!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotransformer

On Sat, 29 May 2021 04:50:16 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the two subnormal sociopathic cretins' endless absolutely idiotic
blather

--
Another typical retarded "conversation" between Birdbrain and senile Rodent:

Senile Rodent: " Did you ever dig a hole to bury your own ****?"

Birdbrain: "I do if there's no flush toilet around."

Senile Rodent: "Yeah, I prefer camping like that, off by myself with
no dunnys around and have always buried the ****."

MID:

On Fri, 28 May 2021 20:24:06 +0100, Mike Coon
wrote:

In article ,
says...

Are we talking auto/isolation-transformers here?

I was reading a sailing magazine that mentioned using an autotransformer
in the context of isolation. I felt impelled to write and point out that
because an autotransformer has part of the winding shared between
primary and secondary, isolation is one thing it definitely does not do!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotransformer

Ah yes, thanks (didn't even need to look at the link but did g)
just dragging stuff up from the past in my mind. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Do you sail and if so what OOI? Dinghy sailor and son of a Shell
Tanker Capt here. ;-)

In article ,
says...

On Fri, 28 May 2021 20:24:06 +0100, Mike Coon
wrote:

In article ,
says...

Are we talking auto/isolation-transformers here?

I was reading a sailing magazine that mentioned using an autotransformer
in the context of isolation. I felt impelled to write and point out that
because an autotransformer has part of the winding shared between
primary and secondary, isolation is one thing it definitely does not do!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotransformer

Ah yes, thanks (didn't even need to look at the link but did g)
just dragging stuff up from the past in my mind. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Do you sail and if so what OOI? Dinghy sailor and son of a Shell
Tanker Capt here. ;-)

2020 is the first year since 1974 that I have not been able to go on a
sailing holiday somewhere warm in the Summer! But it is decades since I
owned a sailing dinghy and have never owned any other boat. You
certainly know about the extremes! "OOI"?

On Sun, 30 May 2021 12:47:54 +0100, Mike Coon
wrote:

snip

p.s. Do you sail and if so what OOI? Dinghy sailor and son of a Shell
Tanker Capt here. ;-)

2020 is the first year since 1974 that I have not been able to go on a
sailing holiday somewhere warm in the Summer!

Shame. ;-(

But it is decades since I
owned a sailing dinghy and have never owned any other boat.

So you rent / charter something and if so what sort of thing?

You
certainly know about the extremes!

;-)

"OOI"?

Sorry, 'Out Of Interest'.

Cheers, T i m

But it is decades since I
owned a sailing dinghy and have never owned any other boat.
So you rent / charter something and if so what sort of thing?

There's an old saying: If it flies or floats, you're better off renting. (sometimes there's a third F mentioned but i disremember what)

In article ,
says...

On Sun, 30 May 2021 12:47:54 +0100, Mike Coon
wrote:

snip

So you rent / charter something and if so what sort of thing?

Cheers, T i m

Fingers crossed, 2020 postponed will be on
https://www.sunscapeyachting.co.uk/y...un-odyssey-389

A regular crew member lives in France and will probably not be able to
make it this year...

On Sun, 30 May 2021 19:22:52 +0100, Mike Coon
wrote:


So you rent / charter something and if so what sort of thing?


Fingers crossed, 2020 postponed will be on
https://www.sunscapeyachting.co.uk/y...un-odyssey-389

Very nice. ;-)

Dad had a Leisure 23 in a marina on the East coast of the UK and his
mate had a Hurley 27 in the same marina.

https://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/uncategorized/hurley-27/

I remember as a teenager being hoisted up the mast to change the
masthead lamp. Even in the marina the view below me was constantly
changing between jetty, deck, marina and back. ;-(

The biggest other thing Dad sailed after coming ashore from the
Merchant Navy was a Norfolk Wherry, this one in fact (hired by a bunch
of ex Master Mariners). ;-)

A regular crew member lives in France and will probably not be able to
make it this year...

Shame.

Safe cruising. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. It seems I've always been into practical stuff as I didn't want
to make book-ends or a bathroom cabinet in woodwork at secondary
school so build a 6' pram dinghy from plans instead. ;-)

On Sun, 30 May 2021 11:21:03 -0700 (PDT), Tim R
wrote:


But it is decades since I
owned a sailing dinghy and have never owned any other boat.
So you rent / charter something and if so what sort of thing?

There's an old saying: If it flies or floats, you're better off renting. (sometimes there's a third F mentioned but i disremember what)

Yup. Dad used to say that a boat was 'a hole in the water into which
you throw money' but that said, I think they (Mum and Dad) got a lot
of value out of most of the boats they had later on, even going down
there and just sitting in them, sometimes listening to the radio and
drinking tea, or going to the clubhouse for a meal, even if it was
stormy outside. ;-)

Our family holidays were often on the Norfolk Broads, either in a
chalet or on a houseboat or even on our own boats (pocket / trailable
cruisers) with a dinghy for us kids.

One regret could be not going out with Dad more often but I am more of
a convenience sailor, wanting to go sailing when I want, not just when
the water shows up. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Mon, 24 May 2021 20:59:49 -0400, micky wrote:


I know, except for some weird situation I won't find, no one wants a CRT
TV but what about....


People into classic gaming do. Harder to come by ones like Sony PVM and
BVM models can demand a fair bit of money. Not all CRTs are equal but
targeting gamers into that is an easy way to turn one into some amount of
$

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 3:12:59 PM UTC-4, Bradley Bowman wrote:
On Mon, 24 May 2021 20:59:49 -0400, micky wrote:


I know, except for some weird situation I won't find, no one wants a CRT
TV but what about....

People into classic gaming do. Harder to come by ones like Sony PVM and
BVM models can demand a fair bit of money. Not all CRTs are equal but
targeting gamers into that is an easy way to turn one into some amount of
$

They won't be worth any real money until the day I finally give away or scrap out the last CRT TV I have..

On Sunday, May 30, 2021 at 4:10:38 PM UTC-4, T i m wrote:
On Sun, 30 May 2021 11:21:03 -0700 (PDT), Tim R
wrote:


But it is decades since I
owned a sailing dinghy and have never owned any other boat.
So you rent / charter something and if so what sort of thing?

There's an old saying: If it flies or floats, you're better off renting. (sometimes there's a third F mentioned but i disremember what)
Yup. Dad used to say that a boat was 'a hole in the water into which
you throw money'

Another expression is that two best days of boat ownership is the day you buy it and the day you sell it.

People into classic gaming do. Harder to come by ones like Sony PVM and
BVM models can demand a fair bit of money. Not all CRTs are equal but
targeting gamers into that is an easy way to turn one into some amount of
$

Are you suggesting that our vintage 1999 32" Sony WEGA might be worth something? It followed us back from Saudi Arabia, so it is PAL1, PAL2, SECAM and NTSC, as well as voltage agile from 100 VAC to 240 VAC.

My wife is its only user, maybe I could trade it in for a 40" flat-screen.... they are so cheap these days, even for a 'name brand'. Thoughts?

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Wed, 02 Jun 2021 10:54:12 -0700, Peter W. wrote:

People into classic gaming do. Harder to come by ones like Sony PVM and
BVM models can demand a fair bit of money. Not all CRTs are equal but
targeting gamers into that is an easy way to turn one into some amount
of $

Are you suggesting that our vintage 1999 32" Sony WEGA might be worth
something? It followed us back from Saudi Arabia, so it is PAL1, PAL2,
SECAM and NTSC, as well as voltage agile from 100 VAC to 240 VAC.

My wife is its only user, maybe I could trade it in for a 40"
flat-screen.... they are so cheap these days, even for a 'name brand'.
Thoughts?

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

It shouldn't be too tough to find somebody who wants any Trinitron/WEGA.
I have a 27" from that time frame, US model though. Having PAL/NTSC
could be of interest to import collectors. Does that one have an RGB
SCART input?

A standard US Trinitron in good condition can get $50-100. SCART would
add value to the right buyer on this side of the pond. Some people SCART
mod them with varying results, having a proper factory-installed port
would be better.

I made a 4 hour round trip a few years ago for a Sony XBR960 (granted,
it's a sought after model)...some people contacting that seller lived 5,
6 hours away. There's a PVM listed nearby me right now for $700, which
isn't unreasonable.

I would encourage people to at least google the model # before recycling/
tossing.

On Wed, 2 Jun 2021 09:50:19 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

snip

Another expression is that two best days of boat ownership is the day you buy it and the day you sell it.

;-)

We have had boats that in hindsight, (change of circumstance) didn't
work out as planned and ended up costing lots of money.

For me the biggest example of that wasn't actually a boat but a 486
laptop I bought for around 1000 pounds with loads of idea as to how I
was going to get good use out of it. I probably ended up using it no
more than 10 times making it 100 pounds per go. ;-(

We haven't used the tandem cycle 'that much' either but for the times
we have used it (camping / touring holidays) it has justified the
purchase price and because it's dry stored (and with no marina /
mooring fees g) will probably recoup most of it's cost when sold.

Cycles don't go out of fashion quite like some electronics. ;-)


Cheers, T i m

In article ,
says...
We haven't used the tandem cycle 'that much' either but for the times
we have used it (camping / touring holidays) it has justified the
purchase price and because it's dry stored (and with no marina /
mooring fees g) will probably recoup most of it's cost when sold.

Cycles don't go out of fashion quite like some electronics. ;-)

Maybe having a partner on the back will turn out to be a longer-lasting
fashion/niche than e-bikes...

On Thu, 27 May 2021 20:44:46 +0100, Rod Speed wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
micky wrote
Rod Speed wrote
micky wrote

Is there any "market" for old electronics, even for free?

Depends on what it is. Quite a decent market for early personal
computers and some more specialised stuff like SCSI cards etc.

I actually found a recycler in driving distance
who claims he will even take my CRT tvs.

That's certainly a bit dubious.

I know, except for some weird situation I won't
find, no one wants a CRT TV but what about....

A westell DSL modem Hub

None here, we have moved to VDSL2+ now.

Might still be some demand there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westell-Wir...-/153433002888
still offered for $20 plus 9 shipping,
but does that mean anyone can use it?

They can if they still have a dsl service.

My wifi router.

Some do still use those as wifi access points to get more wifi access
in
their house.

a router without wifi?

A few do still use those.

(bought by mistake at a hamfest, when
I didn't notice it had no antenna. Otherwise
it looked just like the one I was using.

Thanks everyone. The guy who says he'll take the CRT tvs will also
thaek everything else electronic, AC or battery, and I'm going to use
what I find in this thread and decide how much other stuff to take to
him and how much to dispose of elsewhere.

A guy rang my doorbell a few weeks ago having spotted a few car
batteries
(well 1 car battery and 4 sealed ones from a UPS) lying at the side of
my
garage (17m from the pavement) and asked if I wanted rid of them. I
think
you can get a fiver each in bulk, I know someone pays £2 each to a local
garage to take dead ones from there, and presumably he makes a profit.

I've arranged to borrow a pickup to deliver to him, and there's a
hamfest the Sunday before that where I can just give some of the
lighter
stuff to any vendor who might want to sell it and keep what little he
gets money.

(One year I had my own "booth" (tarp) for two days at the Gaithersburg
hamfest, and I did pretty well. Over night, I just left evefrything
there, with prices marked and a couple things were sold, with the money
put under the tarp. Nothing expensive.

I guess IIUC UPS would wrap things for shipping if I sold on ebay, but
I'm not ready for that yet.

Has to be a fair price to bother with that. Ebay take 10%,

then you pay shipping.

Or the buyer does.

Silly way of looking at it.

Yours is.

When I buy I look at the whole price. Item + postage, or item + fuel for
me to drive there.

So does everyone else with a clue.

So you admit I'm correct.

If something is worth £10 to Mr Smith, but it costs £8 to get it to him,
you can only extract £2 from Mr Smith.

Silly way of looking at it.

No it isn't. If you have an item you're clearing out and are thinking of flogging it on Ebay, and it weighs a lot, you can only make the value minus the postage.

If it's not going to make a profit, put it on freecycle,

The local facebook buy swap sell groups work much better.

Maybe they do over there, but here Gumtree and Freecycle work best.

Bull****.

You've never tried it here. There aren't enough people using Facebook, and it's ****ing disorganised. On Gumtree, things are in categories, you can search for things, you can set up email alerts for when someone sells something you're looking for.

I went on a Facebook group and it had about 20 times less stuff. I put a
cooker on Gumtree and was phoned in 2 minutes.

The technical term for that is 'pathetically inadequate sample'

It's a huge sample wen you look at what everyone is selling on Gumtree in the whole country, compared to FB.

there will be someone who wants to play with old stuff,

Depends on what it is. No one ever
wants the old CRT tvs or monitors.

People with enough space that just want a crappy screen for a Linux server
do.

There are far fewer

It's "less". Do you have a separate word for more dependant on countability?

of those than there are old CRT tvs or monitors.

But the CRTs have mostly died, so there's a lot less available.

Repair Clinics http://www.dvhrc.com/pdfs/Oscillator...er%202019..pdf Go to page 7. That is a shot from the September 2018 Kutztown Meet showing me at the repair table. I am fussing with a Hickok 6000 tube tester for the younger gentleman in front of me. The older gentleman behind me to the left is an observer. The speaker is sitting on the Iso-Variac (Blue Box). Hidden behind the speaker are the transmitters for Radio Free Kutztown, and various tools-of-the-trade including a Fluke meter are on my right. You will note an articulated light, a silicon baking pad and that I work over an old towel - dropped screws don't bounce on a towel, and a hot soldering iron makes no impression on a baking pad, nor does hot solder.

Also not shown are the big Hickok 539B tube tester, the signal tracer and generator, LCR and ESR meters.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...9Tzvg&usqp=CAU

Shows a shot from the actual event announced in the previous article, same lamp, and the tube tester. Same towel, same red baking mat.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Fri, 28 May 2021 19:50:16 +0100, Rod Speed wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
micky wrote

Is there any "market" for old electronics, even for free?

Depends on what it is. Quite a decent market for early personal
computers and some more specialised stuff like SCSI cards etc.

I found a 70s Commodore Pet (8KB RAM) going for 3 grand!

Its much higher with the earlier stuff.

I actually found a recycler in driving distance
who claims he will even take my CRT tvs.

That's certainly a bit dubious.

Why? Presumably they break it for materials, like with any
electronics.

There isnt much of any real value in a CRT tv.

Even the glass isnt of any real value because
its very specialised glass and there is plenty of
much more useful glass with used drink bottles.

I know, except for some weird situation I won't
find, no one wants a CRT TV but what about....

A westell DSL modem Hub

None here, we have moved to VDSL2+ now.

We have fibre optics.

We do too and all the new stuff is, but we also have VDSL2+
and so do you. I could have said the original better.

Only in a very few outlying areas.

That's not true.

It is in the UK.

Nope.

We even got fibre to the home at 18% a year ago.

Not to all but a very few outlying areas you didn't.

Look up the BT stats. That's where I got the numbers from.

Pretty much everyone has fibre to the cabinet,

That's VDSL2+

We name it more recognisably.

which is usually 40-80Mbit.

Mine will do 130Mb but I only pay for 50Mb.

Mine will do 54 (long way to the cabinet over copper wire) but I pay for 38.

All of our new ones and plenty of existing houses
are fiber to the home and that will do 1Gb

I dunno about new homes here, but I've seen a few people have it retro fitted. I bet when their next door neighbour asks for it, BT has to do **** all to join it on, but charge them the same.

Might still be some demand there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westell-Wir...-/153433002888
still offered for $20 plus 9 shipping,
but does that mean anyone can use it?

They can if they still have a dsl service.

My wifi router.

Some do still use those as wifi access points to get more wifi access
in
their house.

a router without wifi?

A few do still use those.

I virtually never use my wifi.

I do for the smartphone which I use all the time
and for the kindle and for all the fully automated
lights etc and for all the stuff like echo dots, google
home minis and for the video surveillance too.

I'm trying to set up video surveillance - testing some USB cameras,
might go for IP cameras over an ethernet cable. But WiFi is nowhere
near fast enough for several 4K video streams.

Plenty fast enough for the one for each camera.

What is that in English?

There is one wifi stream to each camera.

What I meant was Wifi is shared is it not? Between all the cameras.

Not.

Your WiFi access point will transmit at a certain speed, that's shared among all devices. Unless you have two access points on different channels, which is difficult as then neighbours start interfering.

It's only for the mobile phone, and only because I run science
projects on it which would eat 4G data.

Yep, you are a real dinosaur tech wise.

I only use tech that I need or want,

But what you need or want is stupid with smartphones.

********, what am I not using that would benefit me?

Google maps to get to where you want to go with
real time turn by turn directions and traffic etc
when you are going somewhere you havent been
before for a gumtree or freecycle pickup etc.

My Satnav does that.

you use it for the sake of it.

Wrong, I use tech that I need or want.

Most of what you have are gimmics.

Wrong.

Still waiting for something useful. Your Alexa isn't for a start you lazy bugger.

Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Commander Kinsey wrote
Rod Speed wrote
micky wrote

Is there any "market" for old electronics, even for free?

Depends on what it is. Quite a decent market for early personal
computers and some more specialised stuff like SCSI cards etc.

I found a 70s Commodore Pet (8KB RAM) going for 3 grand!

Its much higher with the earlier stuff.

I actually found a recycler in driving distance
who claims he will even take my CRT tvs.

That's certainly a bit dubious.

Why? Presumably they break it for materials, like with any
electronics.

There isnt much of any real value in a CRT tv.

Even the glass isnt of any real value because
its very specialised glass and there is plenty of
much more useful glass with used drink bottles.

I know, except for some weird situation I won't
find, no one wants a CRT TV but what about....

A westell DSL modem Hub

None here, we have moved to VDSL2+ now.

We have fibre optics.

We do too and all the new stuff is, but we also have VDSL2+
and so do you. I could have said the original better.

Only in a very few outlying areas.

That's not true.

It is in the UK.

Nope.

We even got fibre to the home at 18% a year ago.

Not to all but a very few outlying areas you didn't.

Look up the BT stats.

They say nothing like that.

That's where I got the numbers from.

But you didn't understand that fiber
to the cabinet isnt fiber to the home.

Pretty much everyone has fibre to the cabinet,

That's VDSL2+

We name it more recognisably.

But you still couldn't work out that fiber
to the cabinet isnt fiber to the home.

which is usually 40-80Mbit.

Mine will do 130Mb but I only pay for 50Mb.

Mine will do 54 (long way to the cabinet over copper wire) but I pay for
38.

I can have 25 but prefer 50 for the higher upload speed,
20. You only get 5 with a 25 download speed.

You can have 1Gb each way with fiber to the home
which lots have.

All of our new ones and plenty of existing houses
are fiber to the home and that will do 1Gb

I dunno about new homes here, but I've seen a few people have it retro
fitted. I bet when their next door neighbour asks for it, BT has to do
**** all to join it on, but charge them the same.

Might still be some demand there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Westell-Wir...-/153433002888
still offered for $20 plus 9 shipping,
but does that mean anyone can use it?

They can if they still have a dsl service.

My wifi router.

Some do still use those as wifi access points to get more wifi
access
in
their house.

a router without wifi?

A few do still use those.

I virtually never use my wifi.

I do for the smartphone which I use all the time
and for the kindle and for all the fully automated
lights etc and for all the stuff like echo dots, google
home minis and for the video surveillance too.

I'm trying to set up video surveillance - testing some USB cameras,
might go for IP cameras over an ethernet cable. But WiFi is nowhere
near fast enough for several 4K video streams.

Plenty fast enough for the one for each camera.

What is that in English?

There is one wifi stream to each camera.

What I meant was Wifi is shared is it not? Between all the cameras.

Not.

Your WiFi access point will transmit at a certain speed, that's shared
among all devices.

Nope, they each get that speed.

Unless you have two access points on different channels, which is
difficult as then neighbours start interfering.

Mangled again.

It's only for the mobile phone, and only because I run science
projects on it which would eat 4G data.

Yep, you are a real dinosaur tech wise.

I only use tech that I need or want,

But what you need or want is stupid with smartphones.

********, what am I not using that would benefit me?

Google maps to get to where you want to go with
real time turn by turn directions and traffic etc
when you are going somewhere you havent been
before for a gumtree or freecycle pickup etc.

My Satnav does that.

Google maps does it much better with you being
able to do it by the name of the commercial
operation and with real time traffic info as well.

you use it for the sake of it.

Wrong, I use tech that I need or want.

Most of what you have are gimmics.

Wrong.

Still waiting for something useful.

You have got plenty in the past.

Your Alexa isn't for a start you lazy bugger.

Google/nest is much better and you are just plain wrong.

Only a fool switches stuff off when going to bed and on
when getting up instead of saying "hey google, goodnight"
and "hey google, good morning" and getting the weather
forecast as well as the lights done. And don't try claiming
that you can just look out the window, I get up in the dark.

Same with the cooking timer for most meals, "hey google,
timer 3" sets 3 timers at once. Alexa cant do that.

On Sat, 5 Jun 2021 04:51:03 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the two subnormal sociopathic cretins' endless absolutely idiotic
blather

--
Another typical retarded "conversation" between the two resident idiots:

Birdbrain: "But imagine how cool it was to own slaves."

Senile Rodent: "Yeah, right. Feed them, clothe them, and fix them when
they're broken.
After all, you paid good money for them. Then you've got to keep an eye
on them all the time."

Birdbrain: "Better than having to give them wages on top of that."

Senile Rodent: "Specially when they make more slaves for you
and produce their own food and clothes."

MID:

On Thu, 3 Jun 2021 15:08:46 +0100, Mike Coon
wrote:

In article ,
says...
We haven't used the tandem cycle 'that much' either but for the times
we have used it (camping / touring holidays) it has justified the
purchase price and because it's dry stored (and with no marina /
mooring fees g) will probably recoup most of it's cost when sold.

Cycles don't go out of fashion quite like some electronics. ;-)

Maybe having a partner on the back will turn out to be a longer-lasting
fashion/niche than e-bikes...

I guess for many an eBike could be just a novelty (especially when
they leave the battery to die and go to get a new one) but I have a
neighbour who regularly commutes on his eBike and for him it really is
an essential tool.

Tandems have their downsides, one big one being car drivers only
seeing 'a cycle', going to overtake, find out it's going faster than
they thought and then running out of road with a bollard in the middle
of the road (often then cutting the tandem up rather than dropping
back). ;-(

Ours is more of an off-road tandem and it's generally much more
entertaining there. ;-)

Cheers, T i m