Unveiling My Top Tips For Scoring Used Ham Radio Equipment

[@EricSolomon-op8ti]

Josh, Literally Just passed Technician exam (5 min ago) Your channel, the Technician videos HELPED IMMENSELY!! Also used online HamStudy & practice exams. Already scheduled General for Next Thursday. Gonna need some videos on BIG @$$ antenna towers. Details for powered/extendable/ multi band / etc / etc Wife has “Approved” a Huge antenna mast with all the goodies. NEED YOUR HELP!!!! BTW: THANK YOU !!!

[@dogbarbill]

Having a "test bench" at a hamfest should be a no-brainer. The five major hamfests we have in Oklahoma utilize one. A test bench also promotes honesty between seller and buyer.

[@rickyt121]

Just wanted to say thanks, passed my technicians exam today. I Appreciate the help and all the advice you provide.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Congrats!

[@johnclark2149]

Awesome job! I passed mine last year! Having a blast here in MN last year, studying for my General now.

[@WellingtonEcker-mm2cn]

Did you take General could have got both Tech and General at same time same price

[@PapasDino]

As a seller I started taking a video of the units in operation at the workbench and bring them along on the phone to the hamfest table. The interesting thing is that even though I offered to show the video to prospective buyers not one of them asked to see the video and bought the item...my intent is to overcome the "It worked last time I plugged it in" scenario. 73 - Dino KLØS

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

That’s smart!!

[@proudamerican6846]

Well, a video only proves that the item worked as expected at the time of that video also, the item in video may look like the item that is for sale but they may be completely different. Most people are honest but some are not unfortunately.

[@PapasDino]

@@proudamerican6846 Yep, you're correct, but it's still better than the alternative and they can see a receiver works, unit puts out full power etc. and video data shows it to be within a day or two of the fest. YMMV of course...

[@NovemberOneOscarGrouch]

Great advice Josh. Someone who is able to fix things can get really great deals, and sometimes hams are just nice and willing to help another ham out, so don't think everything needs to be new. There is so much great gear out there that is still relevant and usable.

[@MATTHEWPRUESSING-wd7yl]

As a new Hamm on a budget used gear is pretty everything I’ve bought so far I have learned if I offered to drive some of the older experience guys will tagalong and they help me pick out the gear, so offer to drive or buy breakfast and they’ll help you pick out the good stuff

[@wayneneuhofel6744]

The Ozone machine is a nice tip. O3 is also hard on some plastics, especially the hard stuff like Lexan.

[@don_n5skt]

Ah, so you fixed that Panasonic with Ozone 😉I have bought my fair share of used equipment. Some from ham fests and Shane helped with that one. But most of my major stuff, I have bought from Ham Stores. I even made a video on used equipment buying but mostly focused on Ham Radio stores. R&L, HRO, MTC, and Gigaparts. All have provided me some great deals.

[@Tom.K2TAV]

The ozone generator works great! I picked one up as a final step to get the smell out of a car that had been sitting.

[@JoeKrol]

Thank you Josh!!! I’m getting ready to move my mobile inside and create a shack. There is a ham fest in Bucks County PA in May that I’ll be going to hoping to score some stuff I need!!!

[@halcollins4293]

Good advice. There was a guy in my old club that HAD to have the latest version of everything. I bought several barely used pieces from him at reasonable prices.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Great tip!

[@alexharker7223]

My last two radios have been bought from QRZ swapmeet. Great condition and somewhere between 50-75% of the new price.

[@johnclark2149]

I use ozone generators all the time for work! (In property management) In homes during turnover. Works great!

[@davenewmyer3735]

Around the first of the year I found an old Yaesu 2M SSB rig on eBay that I won the auction on. Paid via PayPal and waited. Time went by, and eventually I contacted eBay that I hadn't received the item. Eventually it did arrive, but hadn't been very well packaged, and was pretty badly damaged. Eventually PayPal refunded my money. I don't know if the seller submitted a claim to UPS or not, they were not very good at communicating.. Too bad as Yaesu didn't make a lot of that model, somewhat rare find.

[@bodhi974]

I’m certainly looking for used gear. I am going to my first hamfest at the end of this month, taking my extra exam that day also. I’m hoping to find some used gear that day that doesn’t break the bank.

[@christina5588]

Here to learn. Thanks for your time.

[@billbrown3414]

Don’t forget yard sales. Finds: Kent hand key-$1; 3-way coax switch, several RG8 patch cords, numerous connectors-$1 box; Yaesu FT-8900 4-band fm xcvr-$5!! 150-ft of outdoor-rated CAT-5 cable-$2 (used to make hombrew 400|ohm ladder line). It’s out there. You just have to look-and the XYL will happily join you!!

[@ka2aubsworld]

Another good video. Hamfest season is starting up here in NYS. Time to see what I can find.

[@CoaxAndCampstools]

If you set a NanoVNA to sweep a certain band, you can hold the VNA Tx port up to the antenna jack on a radio and hear a clicking sound as it sweeps past to test radio Rx. Narrow down to a band or smaller range. East to miss the clicking if you sweep ~1-30MHz.

[@MaryBrownForFreedom]

VNA's will all put out a steady signal on a set frequency... really handy for aligning receivers!

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

TinySA ultra also has a frequency generator which I forgot to mention. So you can test both receive and transmit!

[@off-trailseeking3965]

Great to have a test bench at ham fests!

[@kb6lcw99]

Always love you sharing.

[@dinkjs]

Will be selling tools to work on radios at Dayton Hamvention this year

[@hparkersd]

I have gotten free stuff too for just showing interest. :) Some people are just looking for a good home to pass on their treasures.

[@dogbarbill]

I've shared this to a number of different Facebook groups in Oklahoma.

[@SCTaylorTX]

We need more hamfests on Houston!

[@mattstosh6960]

Look at your local Silent Key estates too. The widow wants that stuff gone....

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Those can be harder to find.

[@timel64]

When buying on service, like ebay, Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, keep all emails discussing the transaction in the thread. If you move the transaction to private email or txting, you won't get any support from the service, as they now have no record of what went on.

[@Bugkiller991]

Almost all my gear is used. Except a couple of GMRS HT. I’ve missed some “deals”, as I am super cautious. I know of one for sure. That’s OK. I use QTH mostly. Oh, Zelle and Venmo are not reccomended. I run if that is all the seller will accept.

[@ubergeek318]

Oh the great O-zone generator. From the Panasonic laptop

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I think I have used it a dozen times since I bought it for that laptop. It has been quite useful!

[@ubergeek318]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse they are handy. I always borrow one from a buddy that details

[@AllanBProductions]

What hamfests are there in SoCal?

[@bebopwing1]

Right after I upgraded to general, my local club was helping the family of a ham that had passed away by selling off some radios, and got a smoking deal on a Yaesu 991, tuner, power supply, and swr/power meter. I felt really good about the whole exchange; the club knew the radio worked, the family had no need for it and appreciated the money, and I got a much more capable radio than I could have afforded new. Plus I had talked to that ham before on one of the local repeaters while driving to work one morning. I would like to think he was using this radio last I talked to him. So I would definitely recommend your local clubs mailing list if they have one, just to keep an eye open!

[@ChrisKD9YSW]

I will have to take my friend that is an extra along with me to remember what to all do.

[@akiddoo8113]

Tip: When I sell something on line, I ask the buyer to send a photo of USPS MO with envelope addressed to me. I then ship the item and buyer can receive item sooner. Has worked several times without issue.

[@MaryBrownForFreedom]

I would never do this! They can turn around and still cancel that money order!

[@akiddoo8113]

@@MaryBrownForFreedom I don't think you can cancel a money order.

[@MaryBrownForFreedom]

@@akiddoo8113 take it and the receipt back to the issuing post office and cash it.

[@tradedate]

It's still a bit of an honor system approach. There are scammers who have mailed me fake cashiers checks in an attempt to run one of their Craigslist sales cons. I suggest you be cautious.

[@LeeMcc_KI5YPR]

I was banned from ebay. They would not say why, but I had 2 accounts (work and home) which had different emails but the same phone number.

[@jerryKB2GCG]

not seeing links for the power meter dummy load

[@Ghostchili]

I have the option of purchasing a used icom ic 7610 for $2400 or a new ic 7300 for $1100. I am new to the hobby. Any opinions?

[@fm71450]

Josh, I recently bought a used ham radio on EBay. It was listed as “tested”. I tried it on SSB doing POTA. That was VERY GOOD. Once I tried using my paddle on CW, it failed. I have tried to reason with the seller. Still hoping to return it. This is likely my last used item without an ironclad return guarantee. You are right - CAVEAT EMPTOR! As always, thank you. KQ4IXD

[@KirkRake]

I am not a smoker and I live in a US Veterans nursing home the smoker smell is something i can pick up real fast the zone thing never tried

[@PulsechainProfits]

so if the base station has 100w, do you need 100w dummy load?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I would aim for that, yes.

[@awesomecronk7183]

Used? Now you're speaking my language!

[@jamescady723]

Dummy load and meter Amazon links? Can't find them. Thx.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

In description I believe?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Ope! I see I missed those. I will add shortly.

[@MaryBrownForFreedom]

Out of the hundreds of items i have sold over the years I have had only one scammer... guy claimed item was never delivered, then he claimed it was delivered to some business at an address that was nothing like his... thing is the delivery driver took a picture of where he left it. The guys front door. I won the paypal case against him, left bad feedback and THAT is very important. Let others know who these bad guys are! Same ones pop up over and over again until they are banned from most sites... then they create a new account and start over...

[@truthdisseminator]

Your website's security certificate seems to have expired.

[@WESDEANEMARTIN]

I bought a TS50 from eBay and had to recap it entirely. Electrolytic capacitors are timebombs, and splooge their corrosive guts out over time as they age. Always consider that a recap session might be required. ..

[@TafferBoyElvis]

Tried to join discord, but says invites are currently paused.

[@AndrewB416]

Josh....is your finger OK? High speed CW accident?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I had a cut that I treated with bee propolis. It stains it.

[@jampskan5690]

I already have a boofwang in a go bag. What more do I need? It is a dirty feng too. FCC sticker says it's legal though, so idk. Must be legit.

[@forgetyourlife]

Mmmmm..Cheery black. Great smoke, horrible morning breath.

[@zippersmithic]

Ozone will damage rubber!!!!!

[@BobBob-il2ku]

Don’t buy HF radios from Japan on eBay atleast for yeasu radios they can not be mars modded to work on the USA bands I see this mistake a lot.

[@JohnTBlock]

Why no debit cards, if its in my name? I dont HAVE a credit card, dont like them....

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

they vary greatly with regards to fraud prevention, if yours is good, go nuts!

[@Ascania]

Because when you pay with a debit card the money comes out of your account immediately and it it very hard to get it back. With a credit card on the other hand because the credit card company pays on your behalf and you only later pay them off your own money isn't gone yet and you can chargeback/dispute the charge easily.

[@waakca]

I don't use a debit card because someone could drain my account and I may not really have a recourse to get my money back.

[@johnstewman2238]

My fat ass heard hamfest and was already briningin up the vid before I realized you was talking about radios.. my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Lmao

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

But if you clicked the video looking for my “top tips for scoring used ham…” that isn’t radio I am worried for you.