3 ms·

Man, I envy people who have dumpsters like this around...

petercooper 3y ago
A couple of years ago me and my mother were responsible for clearing out my dad's entire collection of equipment accumulated over a career as an electronics engineer. I know much of it had value but there was too much to deal with so we sold a few obvious items and gave away the rest to someone on a local Facebook ham radio group who could drive round and take it all away. There was certainly a Tektronix oscilloscope like this among it! (Along with spectrum analyzers, test sets of various vintages..) I'm not sure of the best way to find such opportunities, but I bet there's plenty of kit like this getting thrown out when people's affairs are being put into order by their relatives. It gets me to thinking I should add some tips in my will as to where to give away my technical odds and ends(!)
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  A good place to start is your local auction house. They are often tasked with disposing of people's estates. Technical stuff usually goes for pennies on the dollar since nobody knows what to do with it.
seabass-labrax 3y ago
The same for me! My local refuse centre does not allow anything to be sold or given away once it enters the container for disposal. This is for safety reasons, but it is rather sad: reuse > recycling.
HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
You gotta work at the right places :-) Years ago we senior engineers stood around while an intern was in the dumpster grabbing stuff for us so we didn't have to get dirty. "No, the other gantry: it's got a bunch of really good stepper motors on it," "Yeah, I can find a use for that big slab of aluminum but you can keep the PLC's if you want..." Seriously, my boss said to me one day "I know you're kind of a pack rat and we're throwing out a robot arm. If you want it, call Facilities and have them load it into your car."
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  One time I got a whole entire commercial portable AC unit. Just gott be there at the right time and have a pickup. I stopped getting the "parts" kinda stuff a long time ago, I have enough motors/gears/ics in boxes. Now I limit myself to things that work or can quickly be made to work, and have an immediate application in our home.
- dr_kiszonka 3y ago
  I am sure the intern was thrilled you had them dumpster diving so that you don't get dirty.
  - xnzakg 3y ago
    Wouldn't be surprised if the intern didn't mind or was too busy looking for treasures to care :P
    - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
      Oh he loved it! Went home with a ton of stuff himself.

A couple of years ago me and my mother were responsible for clearing out my dad's entire collection of equipment accumulated over a career as an electronics engineer. I know much of it had value but there was too much to deal with so we sold a few obvious items and gave away the rest to someone on a local Facebook ham radio group who could drive round and take it all away. There was certainly a Tektronix oscilloscope like this among it! (Along with spectrum analyzers, test sets of various vintages..) I'm not sure of the best way to find such opportunities, but I bet there's plenty of kit like this getting thrown out when people's affairs are being put into order by their relatives. It gets me to thinking I should add some tips in my will as to where to give away my technical odds and ends(!)

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
A good place to start is your local auction house. They are often tasked with disposing of people's estates. Technical stuff usually goes for pennies on the dollar since nobody knows what to do with it.

seabass-labrax 3y ago

The same for me! My local refuse centre does not allow anything to be sold or given away once it enters the container for disposal. This is for safety reasons, but it is rather sad: reuse > recycling.

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago

You gotta work at the right places :-) Years ago we senior engineers stood around while an intern was in the dumpster grabbing stuff for us so we didn't have to get dirty. "No, the other gantry: it's got a bunch of really good stepper motors on it," "Yeah, I can find a use for that big slab of aluminum but you can keep the PLC's if you want..." Seriously, my boss said to me one day "I know you're kind of a pack rat and we're throwing out a robot arm. If you want it, call Facilities and have them load it into your car."

iancmceachern 3y ago
One time I got a whole entire commercial portable AC unit. Just gott be there at the right time and have a pickup. I stopped getting the "parts" kinda stuff a long time ago, I have enough motors/gears/ics in boxes. Now I limit myself to things that work or can quickly be made to work, and have an immediate application in our home.
dr_kiszonka 3y ago
I am sure the intern was thrilled you had them dumpster diving so that you don't get dirty.
- xnzakg 3y ago
  Wouldn't be surprised if the intern didn't mind or was too busy looking for treasures to care :P
  - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
    Oh he loved it! Went home with a ton of stuff himself.