k0ua
Epic Contributor
Most sellers at "Ham flea markets" What Ham's call Hamfests, will tell you if an item for sale is in perfect working order or may need some work. Most will tell you the truth if asked. Some will say nothing if not asked. I have never bought an item that someone claimed was in perfect working order that was not.
I bought a scanning radio at one not too long ago, that when I asked the seller if it was in perfect working order he replied that the retention of the programed frequency's in the various memory locations was very short if power was removed from the scanner. Knowing that it was not in good order I offered to buy it anyway. We agreed on a price more in line with a broken radio than a new one.
I was able to diagnose and repair the radio with a replacement of the supercap memory capacitor. BUT I would have been very disappointed if I had purchased the unit thinking it was "tested" and in perfect working order.
So if I have no "sense of humor", so be it. Some of us would consider that fraud and would be "pissey" about it.
One caveat about buying at Hamfests is to buy from people who are actually Hams not the general public. If a person is displaying or when asked will tell you their actual callsign, then usually you can have some assurance they will tell you the truth or something pretty close to it. They have to live in the Amateur radio community and cannot hide behind anonymity.
Just as I display my callsign here, you can know who I am, who I have been and who I will always be.
I bought a scanning radio at one not too long ago, that when I asked the seller if it was in perfect working order he replied that the retention of the programed frequency's in the various memory locations was very short if power was removed from the scanner. Knowing that it was not in good order I offered to buy it anyway. We agreed on a price more in line with a broken radio than a new one.
I was able to diagnose and repair the radio with a replacement of the supercap memory capacitor. BUT I would have been very disappointed if I had purchased the unit thinking it was "tested" and in perfect working order.
So if I have no "sense of humor", so be it. Some of us would consider that fraud and would be "pissey" about it.
One caveat about buying at Hamfests is to buy from people who are actually Hams not the general public. If a person is displaying or when asked will tell you their actual callsign, then usually you can have some assurance they will tell you the truth or something pretty close to it. They have to live in the Amateur radio community and cannot hide behind anonymity.
Just as I display my callsign here, you can know who I am, who I have been and who I will always be.