Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 — Having been fooling with eBay for more than a dozen years, I have developed certain habits of searches I enter and categories I watch. This will vary depending on if I’m on the hunt for more CW keys, a new/old rig, or a shack accessory. And while these searches mostly provide me with listings to add to my “Watch’ list, occasionally they bear immediate fruit. That’s what happened a couple of days ago just after midnight.
U.S. residents seem to put listings on eBay in the evenings, depending on the time zone, from 8 p.m. through 3 a.m. Eastern time. On one of my searches in this window, I found 
something I’ve wanted at a price I can afford — a Yaesu FT-817.
This was need-to-sell-it-today listing for the rig for $350. I have been wanting one of these rigs for a long time, and was tickled to get one at a nice price. I’m not sure when it will arrive, but I’m looking forward to putting it to use.
I have a second SignaLink USB interface that I originally setup to use with my Yaesu FT-7800; I’m going to order a cable to use the interface with the 817.
There were a couple of other possibilities listed about the same time; there was a IC-746PRO listed with a Buy It Now of $800; there was an IC-756 (non-PRO) for $600. I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but the first 756 had a monochrome display, kinda like the 746. I was looking at these as possible “listening post” rigs, but decided against it. The main thing that attracts me to the 756PRO is the display. It’s too much money for a rig I’m not going to transmit on!
The Devil with the Go-Devil seller
Tonight I was catching up on leaving feedback for some items I’ve purchased on eBay, and I got down to the fellow who sold me the rare Go-Devil bug and packed it with a few wads of crumpled newspaper. I decided at the time to keep the key despite the damage it suffered; I was aggravated that a rare and collectible key suffered a broken original paddle.
I decided not to leave the guy a negative feedback; had I complained to him, he would told me to send the key back and refunded my money. I didn’t want to send the key back, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t pissed about the damage. I left the guy neutral feedback and noted that the key suffered unnecessary damage due to poor packing. Hey, its better than a neg.
Hope to spend a little time on the air the next few days, would love to find the bands open above 20 meters. I can dream, can’t I??
73 es CUL de KY4Z SK … dit dit …..