Is it time for an International Vintage Computer Association? Was: Yo

Computers or radio - why all this thinking that they are all expensive? Certainly there are scores of free computers (good ones, too) available all of the time. Do what I do - TRADE. You need to build up some trading stock, but that is not hard nor is it expensive. Then start the swaps. You might also start selling stuff at hamfest (rallies) - it always suprises me what little bit of junk I manage to sell, most of which I have no money in. Now this won't make so much money that you can retire (well, maybe if your really good), but a good day at a hamfest might make that radio or computer you have been eyeing look VERY affordable. For example, I have a lot of junk. And I mean a lot of junk. It basically consists of parts pulled out of whatever freebies I get that are not worth keeping, minus the parts I keep for my own projects. The junk gets thrown into big grey bins and hauled to the hamfest. The pricing is simple - the _buyer_ names the price and I take it. Most people are very fair, and on a good day, I can make a nice lump of cash on just the junk out of the bins. With that money, a $100 radio or computer part is not an impossible dream. In fact it can be quite painless. I have seen a lot of collections around the country, many of quite notable "deep pocket" collectors, and I can conclude that these "big guns" do treat their collections better than the norm. Just an observation. And before someone puts words in my mouth - this does _not_ mean that that the all (or even most) "normal" collectors treat their things poorly. William Donzelli aw288(a)osfn.org