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NEVER BUY RIGS AT A HAMFEST!

NeoHam

NeoHam

New Again
Mar 27, 2012
84
9
18
MidMichigan
I just got my ticket and went to a hamfest and picked up up a rig and the mic does not work. Of course he said everything worked fine. I should have gotten a clue when he said he just does cw with it. Neither the transmit button nor the up/down work. I guess this thing used voltage and I don't know if it's the radio or microphone is the problem. I think the it may work by vox but haven't gotten that far with it. Is there some way to check the mic? I would have some recourse if I had gotten it from Ebay or a shop.
 

Try taking the mic apart and give all the contacts you can find a good cleaning.....maybe that is all it will take ...Those are some nice sounding rigs on the air.I have talked to a few folks that run the 757 ...those I have talked to really like the radio.But with their age giving them a cleaning is always a good idea

I have bought a radio or two,meters, and other odds and ends at hamfests without any trouble to speak of....
 
Agreed that the best place to start is with the microphone switch inside. A good cleaning may be all it needs. If that does not work then we can discuss other options. As a start, make sure the VOX switch is OUT and then try the microphone with the MOX switch both IN and OUT. The MOX switch will place the radio in TX mode allowing you to use the mic and see if the audio part of the mic is at least working. If the radio with TX with the MOX switch IN then it looks like the mic may be the problem.Start there at least.

As for hamfest radios, no problem there. I picked up a MINT Kenwood TS-820S with the external VFO and MC-60 microphone for a really good price. The seller told me it would not work with the external VFO so I knew that when I bought it but since I got it for a really good price i bought it anyway. The problem ended up being a simple broken wire in the VFO connecting cable. The best thing to do is ALWAYS get the seller's callsign at least. Usually as you approach the table and intro yourself by callsign the seller will automatically reply with his REAL call.
 
You have to be soooo careful when buying used and if its not in writing / typing you dont hav a leg to stand on unfortunately This brings me to the reason I use paypal and dont care and cry about the extra fees because if its junk I get all my money back anyways ;)
 
RatsoW8 said:
I've never been to a hamfest where there wasn't a testing station. Look for it next time cuz it's there for a reason.
Click to expand...

The local fests I've been going to always had a test session, but both have long since stopped the practice, shame. I haven't bought a used rig other than HT's as they are easy to test. The main reason I pass on big rigs is that they look like shit and got Ebay prices on them. I set my table up and put fair prices on my stuff and the guys come flocking, picking up stuff and offer a low ball price. I tell them it's not eating anything and they walk away, only to come back to find it sold.

Tight asses, many times I felt like getting up from my chair and booting their butts down the isle.

Hamfest rule number 1: If you see something that's a good deal, snatch it up cause likely it won't be there when you come crawling back.

Ebay has pretty much ruined hamfests.
 
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m42duster said:
I set my table up and put fair prices on my stuff and the guys come flocking, picking up stuff and offer a low ball price. I tell them it's not eating anything and they walk away, only to come back to find it sold.

Tight asses, many times I felt like getting up from my chair and booting their butts down the isle.

Ebay has pretty much ruined hamfests.
Click to expand...


Nothing new to see here folks.... except that (this) situation has been moved up to Ham Radio Rule #2 .... up from # 3.

HHR # 2

Hams are among the most outrageous tightwad cheapskates in the world. When they buy, they want to pay yard sale prices, when they sell, they want over-the-top dollar. True, it makes no sense, but that just moves you towards Ham Radio Rule #3.
 
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So true..

I've seen dudes buy stuff at my table and others then run back an put in on their table with a bigger price. Cracks me up.

I got what I was asking, so I'm happy. I probably could eventually get the same higher price, but don't feel like lugging the thing back and forth to different fest.
 
m42duster said:
Hamfest rule number 1: If you see something that's a good deal, snatch it up cause likely it won't be there when you come crawling back.
Click to expand...

Yuuuuupp!! Was at a hamfest two weekends ago and saw a 150 feet of Andrew LDF4-50 1/2 inch Heliax for $125 dollars. It was brand new,never used. I passed it by as I had seen a buddy across the floor that I only see once a year. We chatted for a few minutes and I told him I was just going to go back and get the heliax and would be right back. Yeah, it was gone.Three minutes and it was gone!! I knew I could have gotten it for $100 at the most but it was gone! So was the 125 feet of used heliax for $75 too! I wasn't being cheap but I did blink and lost. DAMN!! I did pick up some really good used heliax connectors for $2 a piece however.
 
Went to a hamfest today. HAMCOM, in Plano, TX and there were quite a few
used rigs for sale. Some were very questionable and I passed on them.
I ended up getting a TenTec Jupiter ($775) with the latest firmware updates.
Years ago, I owned one of the original TenTec CW only rigs. MAN, have these
radios improved!! This radio just about puts all my other rigs (too many) to
shame. The audio quality is outstanding. And the receiver is one of the quietest
I have ever heard. With the latest firmware update, it will even decode CW on
the screen and you can attach a keyboard to the rig and use that for transmitting
CW as well. I can only imagine what the Orion II is like.
This radio, just might be a keeper!!
Oh, I have bought radios at hamfests that I was told worked fine. And they turned
out not to be working. The last one, I managed to get the owner (not the guy selling it for him) to refund my money. Had the guy selling it for him not wrote his friend's cell
number on the box (he lost it and called his wife for it and wrote it on the box) I would have been out $750. Other times, the prices reflected the fact that the rig , just might not work! And didn't!!
But, overall, I have been lucky. And surprisingly, have yet to buy anything online that did not work and be as described by the seller. (maybe I have just been lucky)
trucker
 
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I have had many TenTecs

and never had one i didnt like,you cant beat them,hehe...I have never bought a bad radio at a hamfest.I have never been ripped off till last year swapping or trading on the radio local or dx,but realy got burned last year on here.As everyone know by now as seen at the bottom of my post about the dweab that use to be on here.I bought a old ts520 last year at a hamfest 3 yrs ago for 120 dollars,he want 200 dollars,but told him thats all i have left from getting another radio down the sidewalk...i got it home and fired it up 1st,and used it everyday till my son got his lic last month....73 de n0zna Oh ya,i never leave a hamfest empty handed,hehe
 

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