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#31
04-30-2006, 10:31 PM
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Just today, I drove by a major mountain of trash just a block away from my residence. I had the wife stop and I found a few old reel to reel tapes and the an intact 16mm Bell & Howell film projector complete with case and even the machine oil it needs. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but I grabbed one of the home movies also being tossed in order to test it. I went back and one of the workers was tossing more out. He told me they were cleaning out an attic and for me to help myself. I then found a Sony reel to reel which I am now cleaning up. But I made sure that I did not knock over piles and let papers go blowing in the wind. Gotta keep the neighborhood nice. 
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#32
05-01-2006, 12:32 AM
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I couldn't agree with you more. I picked up all of my old TVs and radios I had in my old neighborhood from the neighbors' trash; no one ever said one word or batted an eye, and I kept up this trash-picking for over 30 years. The way I see it, these things are being put out with the trash, so folks obviously want to get rid of them. Why should they care if someone grabs an old radio, TV, etc. from a curb or trash pile, as long as no messes are made? They don't or should not care how these things are gotten rid of as long as they get them out of their homes, etc. When I moved here almost seven years ago, I put out a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w portable TV I had no room for in my then-new apartment. A day or so later (before the trash pickup), the set was gone. Did I put up a fuss about it? No. In fact, I was glad to see that someone had picked up the set and was supposedly putting it to good use;
 that set had plenty of life left in it and didn't deserve an undignified death in a landfill. The same thing happened when I put out some old furniture, etc. I had brought from my previous residence, again which I had no room for here. One piece was a 6-foot-high shelving unit I had used in a bedroom at the other house; I put it out near the trash barrels behind the apartment building, and within a day or so it had disappeared. My best guess was then and is now that the landlord may have grabbed it to use in the building's basement. It didn't bother me in the least. If someone can find uses for this old stuff people throw out, why not pick it up if it can be put to some use? I've seen several old TVs in the trash here recently, but didn't do anything with them because they were cheap tube portables with PC boards.  I once saw a 32" Mitsubishi color set near the trash barrels last year which I would have ordinarily snapped up without thinking twice; the only reason I left it was it was too big and heavy to lug back into the apartment.
__________________
Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. Last edited by Jeffhs; 05-01-2006 at 12:35 AM.
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#33
05-01-2006, 09:51 PM
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I never did too well with real curb finds myself. In this rural area curbside pickup of anything outside of a trashcan is pretty rare. Here in my town, now, they will take furniture or appliances but first you have to go to the town hall in the middle of the day, buy a "toe-tag" for $10 for each item you are tossing, then have it out there for a once a month pickup. I could see that if someone had paid 10 bucks to the town they might not be too happy with someone coming along and hauling it for free! I have to say, I don't recall ever seeing anything large out on the curb right here. Most folks go a few miles out in the country and toss it in the woods.
In some somewhat bigger towns I have found a few things-solid state tv sets left by a dumpster, a CTC-15 combo with a "free"sign taped to the screen...my very best luck was at the local auction house. I would go there the day after the sale, when all the leftovers were hauled out. Some pretty good stuff would end up there...I brought home a '60 Zenith bw console, and '70 GE color console, a Hallicrafters Super Defiant with speaker, many working small appliances, and on & on. I was always nervous about it since I never asked permission and it was private property, but then more than once the auctioneer spotted me and yelled out "Take it all!" Then I started picking through the junk pile at another auction house, where they had a dumpster plus a burn pile. From the pile I rescued an RCA 811K (cabinet was shot but chassis was still good) and a smaller radio; there was an RCA round color combo that was too far gone for me. (nowadays I would have saved it if just for the crt) When I came back the next time there was a dirty 70s solid state 19 incher sitting behind the dumpster so I proceeded to load it up...a woman came running out of the office and threatened to call the cops. I would have thought they would be happy to get rid of it...I still feel bad about that experience, and will not go back to their auction house.
__________________
Bryan
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#34
05-02-2006, 03:23 AM
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I used to pick up a lot of stuff that was dumped out back of the local auction house. It happened to be on my way to school, so I'd often drag stuff into class with me. The teachers gave up telling me not to drag it in, if they told me to take it outside I'd drag it all the way home. They didn't have a problem with me taking the stuff and I became a regular customer there for years until they closed down.
At another auction house they wouldn't even let me BUY stuff that was already in the dumpster. I got what I wanted in the end. It's very rare that someone actually succeeds in keeping something from me, I'm stubborn like that. Beaurocrats and their bylaws, OH&S and whatever other excuses they can come up with be damned. I once pulled a 3 rack PDP-11 (old mini computer) system out of a 5th floor control room and carried it out piece by piece.
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#35
05-03-2006, 04:07 PM
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For an area that's not supposed to have TVs in the trash, I've done ok this week.
I picked up a KV-20V60 first. It's not a bad looking set even though it uses what I call a "fake" trinitron CRT. It has an in-line gun instead of a single lens trinitron gun. Next I found a KV-13TR14 a few houses down from me. It appears to work fine, but I see a few solder connections that look questionable. The cabinet obviously needs a good clean too! Does anyone have a remote I could buy? It needs a remote with 3 recessed channel programming buttons (add/del, auto program, and TV/CATV). It also has a button that cycles through the various video adjustments and two buttons to adjust it. No universal remote I've seen duplicates those buttons. Pretty much any remote from the time period would work such as one for a KV-20TRXX, or KV-20EXR, 27EXR... Finally, about 2 blocks from my house I found a KV-1311CR. This is about the best 13" TV ever made. It's exactly what I was using in the kitchen back in PA (currently in sotrage). It has a fine dot pitch CRT like a computer monitor, or professional video monitor. It also has A/V inputs and outputs, plus an analog RGB input. This one seems to work fine as found, but looks a lot better after a slight adjustment of the gray scale and focus.
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#36
05-03-2006, 05:09 PM
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Today, the Sperrmüll-Day was repealed. When the people have old TV sets and so on, the phone the municipality, and they make a private date for taking it away. But today, we have the electronic-recycling day, which is better than Sperrmüll. The next will be next friday  Eckhard
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#37
05-04-2006, 07:42 AM
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No pictures yet, but here it has been the week for not so old, but nice and at the time expensive TVs. So far I've picked up a Loewe Calida 5672 (72cm, 100Hz, RGB) that needs a flyback. Back when I paid $1800 for a new Loewe Profil 3272 that set was several models up and about $1000 more expensive.
There was also a a relatively unmolested (missing a few screws, but no obvious signs they went any further) 84cm Grundig down at the TV graveyard that I'm very tempted to grab if I can lift it by myself and find somewhere to put it. These big Grundigs were heavily discounted by a couple of local dealers, but if it was bought before discounting started someone probably paid around $4000 for it. The TV graveyard is in the back corner of an open yard that is used to store containers and park trucks. A guy who bought used/dead TV/VCRs and other appliances in bulk had a couple of containers in the back corner. His suppliers would unload their vans directly into the container. He'd come along later and sort through it, literally throwing the sets he didn't want on an ever growing pile (for some reason he was a lot more fussy about TVs than any of the other stuff he bought). Others saw this pile and added their own dead sets to it figuring no-one would notice an extra set on the heap. The guy, the containers and his suppliers are long gone now, but the pile remains and others add to it regularly. Most of the sets are beyond salvage (someone else who visits the pile likes smashing CRTs), but sometimes you get to something before anyone else does. I often pick through the remains of the smashed sets. Chassis and even fragments of chassis often provide the parts to fix sets that would otherwise be unrepairable.
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#38
05-04-2006, 02:28 PM
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Today, I found a like-new looking Sony KV-27EXR25 set with the remote sitting with it! All I find wrong is the big power IC on the "G" board. I have one on hand, and will let you know how it works this evening.
Glad I got there when I did, it was starting to rain!
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#39
05-05-2006, 02:08 AM
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That's one of the last of the best Sonys made... Replace that STR-S6301, check the electrolytics on the G board, and you will have a nice TV! And if you didn't realize it, that is the top of the line PIP model, unlike the xxEXR15.
Charles
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#40
05-05-2006, 09:08 AM
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Hello!
It's the first friday in May, and we had the electronic-recycling day again. It is a warm and sunny day, and here is the recent report. I had been there with my son who had just school's out. The whole community was there and it was a fantastic mood: http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday1.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday2.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday3.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday4.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday5.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday6.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday7.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday8.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...yclingday9.JPG http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibl...junkVCRtvs.JPG Most of the stuff were computer parts, monitors, industry electronics, X-ray sets, and so on. For me, some junk TV sets from the 1950's and 1960's were interesting, so I filled my pockets with tubes (line output tubes, shunt regulator, dampers and so on): http://www.kirchenlöwe.de/collectibles/img/tubes.JPG In the moment our government makes new laws about electronic recycling, so we are in fear how long we still have the recycling day. Eckhard
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#42
05-05-2006, 03:11 PM
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I saw a sony trinitron video monitor on the curb this morning, a big one in a metal cabinet, I didn't have time to stop and check it out, and I really don't want it myself, but if anybody does (and can stop by soon to pick it up), it was right near my apartment, so I can pick it up on my way home and hold it for a while, or I could just direct you to its current location, if it's still there.
Last edited by Adam; 05-05-2006 at 03:51 PM.
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#43
05-05-2006, 06:22 PM
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Much more than the goodies I got there, it is an event for my son. He is 12 years old, and he reassembles computers from pieces. He learned there how to bargain, how to test the things. He wants to have a 100 watts hi-fi system. We have taken some loudspeakers out of the junk containers, some wire and went to the power point and test it. And the hi-fi system worked. After some bargain, he got it for $10. These experiences are much more valuable than the hi-fi system for itself. The discovery, that one needs not to go into a shop to get something, but can get it in a much cheaper and more exciting way, this is important. Eckhard
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#44
05-05-2006, 09:33 PM
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I go out some nights on bulk refuse and pickup some good stuff. My wife actually encourages me. I built part of my HT setup through finds, found a $449 snowblower this week (Got it working and farily new), second fastest computer in the house (2.6 pent4 dvd burner, 1 gig ram 160 gig hard drive all in one video card, highend soundblaster) was a street find. It is amazing what people toss. I figure I am keeping it out of landfills. I give some stufff to the low paid staff at work. Doing my bit.
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#45
05-05-2006, 10:14 PM
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We've had a few more bulk-trash-collection days in my area, but, alas no more TV's worth picking up. There are still several more bulk-trash days to go though. Did find some interesting non-electronic related stuff on the curb, including a reflector telescope (it's fairly chintzy though), and a not-so-old Kirby Generation 3 vacuum cleaner with a number of attachments. (You guys are right-- Kirbys do seem to be rather nice machines at that...) I quickly discovered why the Kirby was thrown out, though--it needs a new impeller. The impeller is plastic, and from the looks of things, it must have split through, then started tearing around in an arc near the motor shaft, eventually causing part of it to bend and somehow *fold over* on top of itself before the motor finally jammed. The folded-over broken impeller was wedged *very* solidly inside the housing-- I'm rather impressed that the motor was powerful enough to keep running to the point where it got so solidly wedged up. After removing the remains of the impeller, the motor runs fine, so looks like a new impeller blade is all it needs. From looking on the web, it seems to be an inexpensive and common replacement part.
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