Hi there, new here, what are these two receivers worth?

[PWNZ]

Hello all,

My name is Phil and I am from Hamilton, New Zealand. I used to be interested in Shortwave radio briefly as a kid and a family friend at the time was quite an avid fan and contributor to the Shortwave radio community in NZ, but sadly he passed away years ago and his wife gave me his radio equipment of which I had intentions at the time to put them to good use. However shortly after I shifted away for university and I guess I lost my interest in Shortwave radio around then.

My own father just passed away recently, and while I was visiting my Mom for Christmas we decided to go through the junk in the house to have a bit of a clear up of Dad's stuff, and I came across the two radios which I had been given and forgotten all about. Nearly ten years on I don't think I've rekindled my interest for Shortwave radio so I have decided to pass them onto someone who would put them to good use. Trouble is I don't know what they are worth, I know they would be worth something surely and I'm not out to make top dollar on them, I would just want to ensure I'm cutting myself short when selling them.

As for the radios themselves, one is an Icom IC-R71E and the other is a Drake R7, both are with their original boxes and packaging. I am unsure if any modifications or upgrades have been carried out to either receiver. Some pics (you'll have to click the links as it appears I can't embed images):

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l230/te71se/IMG_2893.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l230/te71se/IMG_2899.jpg

If anyone could give me an indication of their worth, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Phil

[K5TEN]

Hi Phil!

You have some VERY awesome equipment there! The Drake is a classic in and of itself!

The best way to get real, honest, accurate, estimates on equipment worth nowadays is ebay.com

If you don't already have an account, go there and sign up for it. It's free.

Once you are registered, log in to your account.

Once logged in, do a search in the search field for one radio at a time...make sure you use the "electronics" option in the drop down box.

Go to each radio for sale and then click "watching this item" in the upper right of the page. This will "save" each of those auctions in your account under "Items I am Watching".

Do this for both radios and save as many as you can for each. Doing this for about a month will hopefully give you enough auctions per radio to get a very good idea just how much your radios--in the same condition--will go for realistically.

If you Google "Currency Exchange Rates" you will find the up-to-date exchange rate for whatever currency it sold for to NZ currency rates.

Good Luck!

73

Bruce

[PWNZ]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for your reply. So far I have been offered NZ$720 (approx US$500) for both receivers - would you think that is a fair value?

[K5TEN]

Not really sure.

I'd still do the ebay watch for at least a month on each seperate rig.

Those are gorgeous rigs and both Drake and Icom were built for the "high-end" market and hold their value very well over the years.

There are folks out there very willing to part with a stack of cash for a classic rig that was the cream of the crop in it's day...and that is what you have now.

If I had the Drake---they'd have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers to get it.