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I've been picking stuff up the off street for a long time. I started when I was 8 years old. Back then I wasn't so much fixing things as taking them apart and trying to make things out of the parts. It's different now, but back then people would start putting stuff out on the street 2 weeks before the collection date. I'd could cover the entire suburb on foot in that time.
Back then (early 80s) I was mainly finding black and white tube console sets.
I used to push an old pram around the streets with some tools in it. They were too big for me to move, so I'd strip out the chassis right there on the street. Often my parents would complain when they came home to find the entire lounge room floor covered in dusty TV chassis. Occasionally I'd find a portable set and drag it home intact. Those days I didn't really get much working. After a blowing a few fuses I wasn't allowed to play with mains power. It's kind of hard to get tube stuff working on batteries.
Twenty years later I'm still picking stuff up, but it's easier now with a station wagon. Now people are only allowed to put stuff out on the weekend before the collection day and scavenging is now illegal. I still do the rounds, as do others including some guys who I've seen out there since the days I was out there with my pram. One guy I know still goes out despite being caught numerous times and fined thousands of dollars. Most people don't have a problem with you taking the stuff as long as you don't make a mess or too much noise. I've got the stuff in the car and I'm long gone before anyone has time to complain anyway. The tube sets are long gone, but there's still other good stuff out there to be had.
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