10-11-2015, 05:38 PM
(09-11-2015, 10:08 PM)Murphyv310 Wrote: Hi Nick.
A very good read, you've put a lot of thought into the post and have addressed the situation fairly well.
There are things you've missed and some things not quite on the mark, nothing though that is seriously wrong.
The actual running of the business is likely to be much higher than you have bargained for. Unless I've missed it there are other expenses, heating the work area, electricity, maintenance, test equipment, guaranteeing your work, delivery charges, consumables like solder, switch cleaner, waste disposal and more.
Restoring radios is different to repairing, you could need a full chassis strip down into an acid bath, or a rebuild of the cabinet. These may have to be done by third parties, again an extra cost.
Now I know those that have done full restorations but often these are at four figure sums. One restorer that was possibly the biggest in the UK has closed, I wonder why? No doubt due to the fact less people are interested in old radios and so many are either restored already or really scrap.
After years of doing this myself I'll say it again, it's a dead loss.
I get a fair bit of "heat" from family or people who know me for messing with these old radio sets. In fact, it causes a degree of hilarity to see a lone figure heaving a great big Fifties wireless around. I once popped in at my local co-op, laden with 2 huge radios just obtained. The girls who worked there couldn't figure it out.
Could it be to succeed with radios you need to be a few cents short of the full dollar bill?
Personally I take the simplistic view that I am right and they are wrong. I mean, I now know my better tube radios can easily outperform any digital variant that runs on a puny 12 volts. The common masses, to put it sarcastically, have never really heard proper audio quality to make a comparison. Now, yesterday, they had some seventies disco stuff on the radio and I turned up my tube set full belt. What a sound! So different than the overly laden bass output of regular sets. I'm sure Keith Richards would agree with me.
It's not our fault the market has been dumbed down. Even so, we need to eat don't we? Who wants to wind up as a down-and-out plus a load of radios in the attic?
I did find someone who managed it, however. A sheriff in Arizona. His career was "repairer of vintage radios". However, he died later on.
Funny how the market is so disjoined. You can make decent money fitting LED lights in caravans or boats or doing a few solar panels but I often joke about sticking a note in the co-op. "Radio Repairs! Get your tubes checked out!"
