Where'd all the Heath parts go?

[Multi-Volti Devices]

hello:

To my knowledge, most of the excess inventory was sold over a period of at
least 15 years, with a  boatload at the end as well, primarily to two
salvage dealers in the Benton Harbor area.

Walsh Surplus got most of it, for whatever reason, and Surplus Trading got a
fair amount, but they don't specialize in Heath as Walsh did.

Walsh for many years was only open Saturdays from 8-12, and did no mail
order. It was apparently a hobby business for the owner.

Oddly, I didn't discover Walsh until after I got laid off from Heath. (I
commuted 60 miles, so maybe if I had been a 'local', I would have known
about it). On my second visit there, and let me tell you, it was
overwhelming (I've never been to Dayton, but I imagine the same feeling or
even more at Dayton). Walsh had rows and rows of bins and boxes of mostly
Heath and ZDS parts, not particularly organized. As someone who recognized
alot of the parts there, I almost needed a bib the first time I went there.

The second or third time I went there, the owner was no longer negotiating
prices in his usual friendly manner. he kept referring inquiries to another
guy. I asked what kind of changes were in the works, and was informed that
the business was beig sold. Apparently after accumulating three buildings
full of stuff, he realized he'd never move the stuff on Saturdays only!

I talked to the new boss, and learned they were primarily interested in the
ZDS surplus. Due to a packrat gene, and a weird obsession with transformers
(and heatsinks) since I first got my ham license, I asked what the plans
were for the big row of xfmrs. Somehow I got it in my head that I was saving
these unique custom items from the landfill. Alot of other electronic parts
could be substituted (with enough headache), but I saw xfmrs as pretty
unique. (There're two sides to that coin, however).

They teased me with other items occasionally (which is why I ended up with
what little ham stuff I recognized as I scrounged around).

I actually took out a loan for this harebrained project. I took me about a
year and a half of haphazard weekends hauling the stuff (I had to pick the
heaviest parts, didn't I) sixty miles north, in various vehicles. (My father
is convinced we trashed his shocks when he was visiting).

This story is leading somewhere by the way (yeah, I know, on 2 m I would
have timed out the repeater already...it has happened)...

One morning I got a call from my contact there telling me I better make
arrangements to finish my haul. His boss set a deadline for them to get the
Heath stuff out. They had been patiently waiting for this guy to find
buyers, and as you can imagine, it's a slow process, with guys buying one of
this, one of that and so on. I had maxed out on room. I had stuff in two
levels of my house and my father-in-law's pole barn 30 miles away. My back
didn't relish the thought of dragging more stuff and I didn't want to
increase my debt...I was beginning to question the wisdom of my project...

They told me the boss went on a frenzy, heaving stuff in the dumpster right
and left, even stuff off one guys desk that he was using! (He went back out
& retrieved it). I did call and ask what landfill everything went to. I was
told most of it was actually sold to a material reclamation outfit in Texas
(he didn't know the name) (except for the computer parts).

It didn't take me too long to get over it (wasn't much else for me to do
about it). My contact there was just about sick over it. He quit and went
into a different industry.

I don't have a number for Surplus Trading, but they are in Benton Harbor's
Directory Assistance area. It's on either Blue Star or Red Arrow Hwy (not
sure what M-63 is called down there).

Before you call long distance, it's been my experience, and that of others
I've referred there, that they aren't real thrilled about searching thru
disorganized bins for nickel and dime items...can't blame them actually...

I have wondered if someone who lives in the BH area who shops there might
take wish lists (might be alot of work, maybe a commission?), or discuss
with them the possibility of them organizing/inventorying the small Heath
parts for porting thru the Internet and this list. Somehow, some type of
organized approach seems beneficial to them, in my opinion.

But, I live too far away, and haven't even scratched the surface with the
current load I have. It's also the third winter my wife hasn't been able to
use the garage, and I AM hearing about it .The newspaper says we had over
28" of snow from the last storm system, with more lake effect to come!

Those are the only two concentrated surplus sources I know of.

Murray

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