BA listings & Tales of Dumpster Glory*

[Hue Miller]

In a message dated 98-11-12 15:09:32 EST, jeffreyh at HAWAII.EDU writes:

> Above all else, preservation of this gear should be our main concern. It
>  makes me sad to consider about all the BA gear that has been tossed into
>  dumpsters over the decades. As an example, I salvaged a TTY Corp. reperf
>  unit in brand-new condition from a dumpster on the U.H. campus; it's new
>  owner has placed it in a communications museum in California. That made me
>  REAL happy.

---which brought to mind a dumpster & preservation related story.
i have a receiver picked up ( literally) by a gentleman in a  WW2
raid on a house in NY rented by german agents, who were using
the house as a radio site. in their haste to get out the back door,
the agents tossed the receiver into the bushes, making off with
the transmitter. ( possibly thinking a transmitter with its crystals
harder to replace ). the receiver has a crease on the side it landed
on but works. i was happy to get it, but wished that somehow the
matching-type transmitter had been obtained. well, years later,
i was offered such a type transmitter by a california acquaintance.
he wanted very little in return, but i added a zero behind his figure
to make it more realistic. when i inquired about its provenance,
he told me ---- he had found it curbside, waiting for the waste
technicians to come along & haul it off.
when i was living in Salt Lake City i had a similar experience. this
city has an enlightened policy of certain times a year picking up
for free, any, and i mean any, large yard waste, debris etc., which
policy encourages people to keep yards and houses in good order.
i bot from a professional scrounger several military aircraft radios,
radar assemblies, even some collectible Zenith radio products,
all garnered from the curbside.
i wonder, do people still send things to the dump, or do most
know better by now? well, i guess it still has to happen: to the
civilian eye, some old communications radio just doesn't look
as desirable - sellable as some shiny chromey piece of
consumer electronics junk.
hue miller
*apologies to Ed Sanders

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