Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Electronics Flea Market

electronicsfleamarket.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 35 posts

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#11

Post by 20after4 »

bombcar wrote: post #10
JKCalhoun wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, back in the midwest after having spent 26 years in "The Valley" (no, not that valley, Silicon Valley). I hit the Electronics Flea Market only a few times because, back then, I was not a morning person. I remember showing up at 7:00 AM or so once when the dark was just lifting and seeing people leaving with their small wire rolling carts filled with electronics. I imagined that all the good stuff got scooped up…

Surplus electronics stores were the absolute best thing about the 80s into 90s, but they're mostly all dead now. Which is annoying, because back in the 90s you had hell to pay to get anything to work with a computer (usually abusing the parallel port); now any Raspberry Pi can easily control random doodads you might find, but there's no place to find them.

Now you have to go to Shenzhen to find them.

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#12

Post by HankB99 »

shrubble wrote: post #9
mikewarot wrote: post #3

I'd love to see what shows up at a Silicon Valley hamfest. Having it outdoors cuts way down on Covid risks, so that's a big time plus. Does anyone have any good stories about unusual finds at past events? Unfortunately, I'm 2000+ miles East of there.

There are the VCF swap meets, vcfed.org (corrected URL) ; might be one close to you.

https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet/

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#13

Post by HankB99 »

bombcar wrote: post #10
JKCalhoun wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, back in the midwest after having spent 26 years in "The Valley" (no, not that valley, Silicon Valley). I hit the Electronics Flea Market only a few times because, back then, I was not a morning person. I remember showing up at 7:00 AM or so once when the dark was just lifting and seeing people leaving with their small wire rolling carts filled with electronics. I imagined that all the good stuff got scooped up…

Surplus electronics stores were the absolute best thing about the 80s into 90s, but they're mostly all dead now. Which is annoying, because back in the 90s you had hell to pay to get anything to work with a computer (usually abusing the parallel port); now any Raspberry Pi can easily control random doodads you might find, but there's no place to find them.

American Science and Surplus is a fun place to browse. https://sciplus.com/

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#14

Post by tverbeure »

My wife is no fan of the SV electronics flea market…

20 years from now, I expect to be the one with a booth there trying to sell all the test equipment that I’ve gathered over years.

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#15

Post by tverbeure »

mikewarot wrote: post #3

I'd love to see what shows up at a Silicon Valley hamfest. Having it outdoors cuts way down on Covid risks, so that's a big time plus. Does anyone have any good stories about unusual finds at past events? Unfortunately, I'm 2000+ miles East of there.

This year, I bought an HP 5334A universal counter for $60 at the flea market. A week later, I bought an HP 5384A frequency counter through Craigslist from a local in Los Altos.

When I told him about the 5334A purchase, he replied “Oh yeah, I was the project lead for that one.”

You can see the loot here: https://tomverbeure.github.io/2023/06/16/Frequency-Counting-.... I bought another HP counter today in Monterey… It’s like bicycles: the perfect amount to own is +1.

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#17

Post by jeffdubin »

Loughla wrote: post #6
MiscIdeaMaker99 wrote: post #2

(( sigh )) I wish I lived closer.

I love living in the Midwest for 99% of the time. Open space, quiet, people leave me alone, I can pursue side projects because the cost of living is so low. EXCEPT for things like this. This type of thing makes me yearn for the coast.

Don't count out local hamfests. Yeah, some tiny ones are a little disappointing, but bigger cities usually have respectable events. Even if you're not into ham radio, you'll find plenty of non-radio tech stuff. And there there's the Dayton (OH) Hamvention which is /huge/ - people/groups/vendors drive in from all over the US and setup flea market booths, to sell and buy stuff, but also to just sit around and talk tech with the other attendees.

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#18

Post by WalterBright »

I bought a couple very nice oscilloscopes from the pawn shop for $40 each. One for me, one as a gift!

I enjoy browsing thrift stores and pawn shops because you never know what you'll find there, and it's all dirt cheap.

Re: Electronics Flea Market

#20

Post by Scoundreller »

> Sellers must register with form CDTFA-410-D upon entry to the flea market as required by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

wow, California has thought of everything!

> For example, a person who is disposing of unwanted household items, and does this no more than twice in any twelve-month period, is generally considered to be an occasional seller

Sounds unfortunate if your unwanted stuff is illiquid, but I guess there's some wiggle room if the official form phrases it that way

Post reply on HN