I just returned from a two week trip to Florida. We drove almost 2700 miles. Most people go there to see the usual tourist attractions where you wait in line for over an hour to stuff yourself along with dozens of others into a thrill ride that lasts for 2 minutes.....Disney World, Universal Studios.......
I find myself sitting on an empty pier at sunrise watching the birds and people try to catch fish, walking a deserted beach at sunset taking awesome pictures as a storm rolls in, or sitting in a beach chair with my laptop writing code for my next project.
In between these strenuous activities, we relax by hitting the thrift shops like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and a few that don't even have names. In about a dozen visits, the women bought what looked like a whole car full of clothes (I got one shirt for $2), but.....
I got a Denon AVR-788 for $6.99. It powers up and the remote seems to control all the functions, but no speakers were available in the store to test further. I consider it a cabinet / chassis donor until proven other wise.
I got a Fender Squire guitar amp for $6, which will be a cabinet / speaker donor unless it works. In that case it will go to the grandkids to pay back my daughter for all the noise she gave me as she learned to play the drums 20 years ago.
I also got a set of plastic bongo drums with MIDI triggers for $4, and a couple of unknown metal electronics devices for chassis / cabinet donors, all cheap.
I visited Planet Surplus in New Smyrna Beach where I picked up a Bausch and Lomb microscope and stand for $105. I need this to help my 60+ year old eyes deal with soldering SMD parts. It's exactly the same setup I had at work for cell phone and two way radio circuit boards.
And a trip to Florida is not complete without a visit to ESRC where I picked up 270 vacuum tubes.
I would have picked up a spindle sander during a sale at Rockler Woodworking, but the car was too full already.
I find myself sitting on an empty pier at sunrise watching the birds and people try to catch fish, walking a deserted beach at sunset taking awesome pictures as a storm rolls in, or sitting in a beach chair with my laptop writing code for my next project.
In between these strenuous activities, we relax by hitting the thrift shops like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and a few that don't even have names. In about a dozen visits, the women bought what looked like a whole car full of clothes (I got one shirt for $2), but.....
I got a Denon AVR-788 for $6.99. It powers up and the remote seems to control all the functions, but no speakers were available in the store to test further. I consider it a cabinet / chassis donor until proven other wise.
I got a Fender Squire guitar amp for $6, which will be a cabinet / speaker donor unless it works. In that case it will go to the grandkids to pay back my daughter for all the noise she gave me as she learned to play the drums 20 years ago.
I also got a set of plastic bongo drums with MIDI triggers for $4, and a couple of unknown metal electronics devices for chassis / cabinet donors, all cheap.
I visited Planet Surplus in New Smyrna Beach where I picked up a Bausch and Lomb microscope and stand for $105. I need this to help my 60+ year old eyes deal with soldering SMD parts. It's exactly the same setup I had at work for cell phone and two way radio circuit boards.
And a trip to Florida is not complete without a visit to ESRC where I picked up 270 vacuum tubes.
I would have picked up a spindle sander during a sale at Rockler Woodworking, but the car was too full already.
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I am blessed (in a limited sense) living in Cali's Silicon valley for the surplus opportunities
I just concluded a visit to Sunnyvale's Weird Stuff backroom emporium, and walked away with a couple of AC outlet strips, a bunch of Class-
A sized heat sink extrusions, and a server chassis that will be transformed into a high power tube amp platform (fifteen bucks for a chassis is a deal too rare to resist). The total hit was under 100 bucks US.
I just concluded a visit to Sunnyvale's Weird Stuff backroom emporium, and walked away with a couple of AC outlet strips, a bunch of Class-
A sized heat sink extrusions, and a server chassis that will be transformed into a high power tube amp platform (fifteen bucks for a chassis is a deal too rare to resist). The total hit was under 100 bucks US.
Thanks, the remnants of a former hobby. I used to go everywhere with my camera, and had my own darkroom. Now, I use a budget Panasonic camera or my cell phone.
It used to cost $$$ every time you clicked the shutter. You thought about each shot, and set them up right. Now the clicks are free, so I push the button a lot. Sometimes I get some good ones. That particular place has always provided me plenty of good ones. Been going there for at least 10 years.
Yes, good collection of stuff from the Florida trip. The only thing that's seen any electricity yet are some of the vacuum tubes.
Yesterday we drove about 2 hours northwest into Ohio's Amish country to a rural flea market. It's only open on Friday and it draws a good crowd, especially on a day like yesterday with blue skies and 65 degree weather. We walked about 3 miles in 3 1/2 hours. I picked up 16 music CD's for an average of $1 each, and a SWTPC Tiger .01 amplifier for $10. If it works, it it's an amp, if it doesn't it's a chassis, transformer and heat sink donor.
Rogers Community Auction | Open Air Market |
Said Denon turned out to be in good working condition......It probably got ditched because the owner never figured out how to operate it. I have only figured out about 1/3 of it so far, and that's with the owners manual. The remote is particularly confusing. Still haven't found the tone controls or figured out how to get any sound through the subwoofer.
I connected it to a pair of JBL (made in USA, so they're old) bookshelf speakers that I got for $10 at a yard sale. I've been using that for testing a DIY music synthesizer......haven't blown the JBL's yet.
I just got back from Excess Solutions in San Jose (used to be Milpitas, Bay Area parts junkies...). I got a nice roll of Teflon wire, loads of power resistors (metal oxide and wire wound), a couple of 230V fans (run them at 115V for quiet air flow), and a bunch of rubber grommets and M3 hardware. Everything is 50% off - if you're local, stock up before they come to their senses.
