Basement treasures......

[WX2MIG]

Yesterday I was helping a friend work on a guys furnace in his basement. The customer was an old CB'er, and his father was a ham, this guy had just about everything he and his father owned stored in this damp, dusty, soot filled basement. Old SWL radios, CB's, a collection of D-104's and Turner +3's.

There are also two amps there, a Palomar 90A, and a Maverick 250....???

I dropped a few hints to the customer about being an active ham, and that I was admiring some of the old equipment he had down there in hopes he would make an offer, but he didn't seem too interested in giving or selling any of it....(even though it was all covered in years of dust)......

Had these items been stored in better conditions I would have made an offer of money for them, but I fear they may be beyond repair considering their age and poor storage conditions.
The Palomar looked like it was in the best condition of anything down there, but not knowing anything about it, I wasn't sure if it was anything I could use if it did work....

Anybody know anything about these two amps........????

 

[scout943]

I have 4 or 5 boxes of TV & RADIO Tubes if anyone is looking for them and I have a TUBE tester to check them with also, they have been stored in good conditions. Some of them go way back, and in their original boxes!!

 

[295]

Yesterday I was helping a friend work on a guys furnace in his basement. The customer was an old CB'er, and his father was a ham, this guy had just about everything he and his father owned stored in this damp, dusty, soot filled basement. Old SWL radios, CB's, a collection of D-104's and Turner +3's.

There are also two amps there, a Palomar 90A, and a Maverick 250....???

I dropped a few hints to the customer about being an active ham, and that I was admiring some of the old equipment he had down there in hopes he would make an offer, but he didn't seem too interested in giving or selling any of it....(even though it was all covered in years of dust)......

Had these items been stored in better conditions I would have made an offer of money for them, but I fear they may be beyond repair considering their age and poor storage conditions.
The Palomar looked like it was in the best condition of anything down there, but not knowing anything about it, I wasn't sure if it was anything I could use if it did work....

Anybody know anything about these two amps........????

The 90A (90 watt amp) uses I believe a pair of 6KD6 sweep tubes, I imagine that the Maverick uses closely the same. The 90A was marketed by Palomar as a Ham Amp but clearly it was destined for the CB market because most ham rigs already did more than 90 watts. I had a 90A years ago, I was not impressed, the tubes were almost impossible to find then. If the storage conditions are that bad, I would pass, sounds like scrap. Dust + Humidity = Trash

73

 

[WX2MIG]

The 90A (90 watt amp) uses I believe a pair of 6KD6 sweep tubes, I imagine that the Maverick uses closely the same. The 90A was marketed by Palomar as a Ham Amp but clearly it was destined for the CB market because most ham rigs already did more than 90 watts. I had a 90A years ago, I was not impressed, the tubes were almost impossible to find then. If the storage conditions are that bad, I would pass, sounds like scrap. Dust + Humidity = Trash

73

Thanks 295, I'm glad I didn't give the guy any cash for them. I had a feeling the Palomar was just 90 amps due to it's model name, and the Maverick's cabinet was covered in rust, so I can only imagine what the insides look like....

 

[Suicide Ride]

basement treasure or rusty junk?

Ya know.... I've seen LOTS of rusty equipment put back into service.

I would've bought both of them (if price was right) & even if not "usable", I'm sure things like relays, tubes, & Xfmrs would be ok. Now.... , if tube cap &/or pins are rusty, Xfmr wiring smells burnt, or relay contacts are melted or missing.....

SR

 

[295]

Problem is that most of the relays, the caps, and the tubes are what goes first. You can buy a single transistor 90 watt AB modulator cheaper than what it costs just for a pair of tubes. The right price would be, "If you give me that junk for free, I will take it out of your basement." Now of course if it was better quality stuff like a Collins 75S, a nice Henry, or Alpha. Then certainly it would be worth taking a good look.

Thanks for the input SR

73

 

[WX2MIG]

Now of course if it was better quality stuff like a Collins 75S, a nice Henry, or Alpha. Then certainly it would be worth taking a good look.

Thanks for the input SR

73

If it was a Collins or a Henry I would have offered him everything in my pocket, and this was the day after payday, so my pocket was fat with cash......:w00t:

From what I remember of the Mavericks, they were popular back in the 70's and built mainly for CB. A buddy of mine had a two stage Maverick that did 250 and 500 watts. Of course back then the tubes were a dime a dozen, and you could still buy them at any one of the 20 different TV shops in the area. We now have one TV shop, they haven't stocked or sold tubes in 15 years or more, and the tubes (if you can find them) cost an arm and a ball....:blush:

It makes you wonder though, how many really good old tube amps are sitting in the basement of a silent key's widow, collecting dust, with the caps drying out and the relays getting rusty.......

 

[295]

I am sure there are tons of basement treasures that show up from time to time, problem is a lot of the really good stuff ends up in the hands of professional estate handlers. Nevertheless, yard sales are a great place to find bargins. About 10 years ago a friend of mine at the time, his wife was a big yard sale queen, and about one Saturday a month she would always come home with some type of radio gear. It would not be unusual for her to come home with a Cobra 148GTL for 20 bucks or some of the nice older stuff made by Gladding, Stoner, Bengal or Tram. I remember one Saturday she came home with a DaK XX in mint condition I think she gave $50 for that one and it included a D104, I ended up with the D104, he kept the Dak.

People that are not into radio just don't know what they have after the owners pass away, once the kids get involved they just look at it as junk. I try to check a few of the second hand stores from time to time, you never know what you might run across. Last year a guy posted on another ham site that he found a Yaesu FT-1000D and a FL-7000 amplifier at a second hand store for the mere sum of $150.00 each. Why can't I be so lucky?

73

 

[Suicide Ride]

Problem is that most of the relays, the caps, and the tubes are what goes first. You can buy a single transistor 90 watt AB modulator cheaper than what it costs just for a pair of tubes. The right price would be, "If you give me that junk for free, I will take it out of your basement." Now of course if it was better quality stuff like a Collins 75S, a nice Henry, or Alpha. Then certainly it would be worth taking a good look.

Thanks for the input SR

73

Why does it have to be hi-end Ham "Brand" names like Collins, Henry, or Alpha to be "worth" taking a look at?

Just because the gear was made for use on 11m shouldn't detour someone from looking into a cheap purchase for "parts".

1 man's junk is another man's treasure....

WX2MIG said - It makes you wonder though, how many really good old tube amps are sitting in the basement of a silent key's widow, collecting dust, with the caps drying out and the relays getting rusty.......

:w00t::drool:

 

[2at124]

Nothing beats the sound of a smooth sounding transmitter

 

[295]

Why does it have to be hi-end Ham "Brand" names like Collins, Henry, or Alpha to be "worth" taking a look at?

Just because the gear was made for use on 11m shouldn't detour someone from looking into a cheap purchase for "parts".

1 man's junk is another man's treasure....

:w00t::drool:

I never said it has to always be hi-end ham brand names like Collins, Henry, or Alpha to be worth taking a look at. Most any gear 11m or ham certainly should be considered if it has been stored properly. However, in the conditions described by the original poster in THIS instance (gear stored in a damp, sooty, dusty environment) this always means corroded trashed components. IMO only the high end gear would be a consideration for what you might be able to have in salvage value for the time used in tearing the item down.

Most of the 11 meter stuff was not that great to begin with. I don't know what your experience is, but if gear is stored in the conditions noted by the original poster, there usually is very little that is salvalgable. Tubes usually are gassy or the pins are corroded, the transformer plates get corroded and the windings become shorted, the variable capacitor plates get corroded, tube sockets are corroded, so all of these are garbage. Not much else left after that which has any worth.

73

 

[linearone]

thats a nice pile of old crap