On Saturday 24th, Christchurch Branch 05 held one of their occasional Garage Sales at the Idris Road clubrooms. The day started out, well to be quite honest, the weather was really rubbish, a cold wind blew and the rain was on and off. But by 9am I arrived just in time to get one of the last remaining prime car parking spaces, and the joint was bustling as folks crowded in to the main meeting hall.
Some early birds had already been there for ages doing set-up. There was a wide range of stuff available. (and yes, the range of wares on offer could best be described as âstuffâ).
As expected, several folks had had a bit of a rummage âround and cleared out their shack somewhat. (Sometimes clearing out some of the clutter in the shack can lead to greater bliss in the domestic environment⊠well, so Iâve heard).
There were a few, but not very many old Ham 2-ways, but there was quite a number of valve (vacuum tube) domestic radios of yesteryear. Most, but not all of them, on the Wireless Radio Clubâs table.
Some of what was there came under the category of âbroke, needs fixingâ, but there were also components and parts⊠perhaps just what someone needed to finish their latest repair project?
I saw someone walk off with a great deal, a heavy duty 4-wheel-drive tow-rope, that also came with 20 free transistors! You scored well there buddy.
I saw loudspeakers going out the door plus another guy holding such a large cardboard box, it could barely be managed by one person. I still have no idea what he bought that was inside it.
I saw several of the members we donât see very often, as they live out of town. So it was quite a social occasion. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if it was a bright sunny day and with a sausage-sizzle happening outside⊠still perhaps thatâs an idea for next time?
I left about 9:45am, just as even more folks had arrived into the carpark, joining somewhat of a vehicular queue. As I pulled out of the parking space, it was snapped up immediately. As I left, the next round of bargain hunters were storming through the clubs entry doors. This time I was only browsing, but for the next Garage Sale day, Iâm gonna give my coin-purse a real big shake and see if I can get some more pennies to come out.
Remember these occasional events are a great way to release any surplus items from your radio shack back into the wild, and also an opportunity to hunt down some hard to find parts or equipment.
Itâs always worth a look, yânever know what you might find there.
Author Catherine ZL3CATH
