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K8LLG Gary Tripp - Beware

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:49 am
by w8er
I purchased a Collins 75A3 from Gary Tripp last Thursday. He told me that it worked fine and sent me pictures. We agreed on a price of $450. We met about halfway between his house and mine and I gave him $450 in cash and he gave me the receiver. His parting words were that while it worked fine, it might need an alignment. I brought it home, plugged it in and it was a brick! No signal on 75 meters at night was greater than an S4.

Figuring that it might well need an alignment and maybe a new tube, which was OK, I arranged to drive it to a friends house. Yesterday, six days following it's purchase, I discovered that the mechanical filter was BAD. This is not a trivial item. It will be difficult, if not impossible to find. I expect that may cost a couple of hundred dollars, if I can find one. Without it, the receiver is a better doorstop than anything else.

Gary refuses any responsibility and in the first email back to me accused me and or my friend of switching filters on him. Since I have pictures of the receiver, and the filter, that he sent me prior to me buying the receiver, I can easily show that there was no filter switch and that the original filter is the one in the receiver and it is bad. Further it is not even the correct filter that the receiver is supposed to have in it!

He claims that he could have gotten more money for it but refuses my request to return the receiver. I even offered to let him keep $50 for his trouble and bear all costs of returning it to him. If he thinks he could get more for it, I would think that he would jump at this offer. He still refuses to take it back.

Oh well .. be careful when dealing with Gary Tripp K8LLG Grand Haven Michigan

There used to be a day ...

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:59 pm
by w8er
After thinking about this past week and the transaction that I wrote about above, I had a couple of things that I wanted to add.

I have always considered myself to be a good judge of character. I am sure that many of you feel that you are able to spot a problem before getting involved too. In the past maybe it was easier but today it has become increasingly difficult.

The internet has made this whole process of buying and selling gear non personal. The seller can say anything he wants and hide behind his keyboard. In the past, you went to a hamfest and looked the guy in the eyes and if he lied, there was always the next hamfest where you were sure to meet up again. Guys just didn't tend to ice the cake so deeply!

Also the internet brings rumors to life. You watch Ebay and see a Joe Walsh pay $350 for an R390 cabinet and right away that old rack cabinet that you have rusting in the basement is worth $350.

In this case Gary may really have believed that the "Collins" 75A3 that he sold me was worth a lot more than $450. It is very clean! It's pretty! He may well have looked at other 75A3's that were not as pretty(on Ebay or QTH.com) and come up with a value that he thought was fair. After all it is a Collins radio and the collectors are paying big bucks!

The problem is that he didn't consider certain little things, like it was missing the box cover for the RF coils on the top and missing the shield for the RF section on the bottom. It didn't have a calibrator or a NBFM adapter. It had several undocumented modifications under the chassis. Most of all, because you could hear guys talking, it was a fully working fine business radio. He insists that it works fine. It didn't matter that the strongest signal was only S4.

Here I was looking for a nice boatanchor receiver. I just wanted a good receiver at a fair price. OK it was missing the calibrator and the RF coil cover. I could see those things from the photos that he sent me. I could also see that it was clean. When Gary accepted my offer to buy it, I thought that I knew what I was getting and I certainly had expectations that he was telling me the truth about it working fine. When I told him that I would drive to his house and pick the receiver up, he suggested that he would be willing to meet me halfway somewhere because he liked to drive. What a nice guy! Of course there is no AC in a Red Lobster parking lot and it meant I could not listen to it prior to giving him the cash but he seemed like a nice guy.

The next time that you are looking for a piece of ham gear just take some normal precautions, common sense, things that I could have done like insisted on hearing it first. Don't be so eager (stupid) like I was. Just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's a good deal. Just because the seller seems like a nice guy, well he too may think it is working fine!

This story could have a tragic ending. The original Collins mechanical filters were easy to find 50 years ago but today they are made of a material called "unobtainium". I was sent that line by a guy that repairs and restores these things and I liked it. Today I found a filter that may make the receiver work again. As I said previously, without a replacement filter that works this thing is a better doorstop than a receiver! It cost a fortune, making my purchase not so realistic anymore. I hope it works but this might just be the start of an education.

If you are reading this, maybe for you too!

$50 Rebate Received

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:14 am
by w8er
I received a $50 check from Gary. While I appreciate the ante, I would never recommend doing business with this guy.

When it became obvious that the 75A3 did not work and the filter was found to be defective, his first act was to accuse me of switching the filter on him! Most sellers would have offered to take the unit back, instead of insulting the buyer, when clear photographic proof exists that there was no filter switching.

I would be more inclined to forgive his indiscretion if he had simply apologized!

--Larry W8ER

K8LLG

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:29 pm
by Greg KC8HXO
Larry-
I am sorry you had a bad experience with Gary. I live about 5 miles from him, and I was told by a friend that he had some equipment he was looking to get rid of. I went to his home, and perused the various items, including the receiver you purchased from him. He seemed a genuinely nice fellow, and being a bit strapped for $$ right then, I didn't purchase any of the items, nor did I take them for a test drive. I don't believe he is a "sheister," but I also do not doubt any thing that you have said. Just thought I would pass this on, for whatever it is worth. (probably just what it costs!)
I hope you get the parts to get that Collins back in FB operation, as it was a BEAUTY!!!

73-
Greg, KC8HXO

Thanks

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:40 pm
by w8er
Thanks Greg for your input.

I did not get the impression that Gary was a "sheister" either. He did describe the unit as working fine and it wasn't. This could have been an error on his part but when the strongest signal that you can hear on it is S4 and you have been a ham for over 40 years, you have some questions to answer.

1) was it working and broke in transit? Not likely as it was hand carried on the passenger side seat in both vehicles.

2) Did he honestly think it worked? He has been a ham for 45 plus years and the strongest signal you could hear was S4.

3) Did it always work as it did the whole 10 years he owned it? Well, I can't answer that but if I had a receiver for 10 years that didn't hear any better than that, I think I would look into the problem. Since the filter was not the original filter (nor the correct model filter either) and was the defective component, I can not understand it when I see threads filed off of the locating pins so that it would fit and the actual connections clipped off to make it fit. Somebody somewhere tried to repair it! I don't know what Gary knew and what he thought. The facts speak loudly to me, the buyer however, and that's all I have to go on.

So far I have located 2 filters and have spent nearly $200 dollars to find a replacement. One of the filters had an open input coil (no the seller will not take it back) and the second one would not physically fit into the socket in the 75A3, even though the person that I purchased it from said that it came out of a 75A3. You have to figure that one! So now I am at $600 (including Gary's rebate) and I still have a broken receiver!

Am I sure that the original filter is bad. Yes, because my friend John took the standard filter out of his 75A3 and plugged it in and the receiver worked just great! It did not need alignment to hear 40 over 9 signals.

This is the prettiest, most expensive, doorstop I have ever owned!

Build a substitute for the filter...

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:36 am
by K4ICL
Doesn't need to be a doorstop.

It is possible to at least temporarily connect the mixer output to the IF amps using a some .01 caps and, perhaps, some resistor shunts on the input and outputs of the filter slot. Some research on the idea should net you the details need to do this.

Cheers,

AL
K4ICL

Really late follow up ...

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:24 am
by w8er
In case there was an interest in how this thing came out:

About 6 months ago, I was able to scrounge up a for real working filter that was good and made this receiver jump to life. I also found an 8R1 calibrator on Ebay that was pricy but worked instantly, when I plugged it in. The investment has been spectacular and only recently was I able to get it working but it's a neat one!

April 5th 2007 to September 2009 and I finally have a receiver instead of a doorstop.

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:26 am
by W4LTD
WOW! Thanks for reviving a 3-year old thread, I can sleep better now that you posted this information.

:roll:

Glad to help!

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 1:43 pm
by w8er
W4LTD said ".....I can sleep better now that you posted this information."

Being a proctologist, I am always gratified to find that I have helped ease someones discomfort! :?

Re: Glad to help!

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:33 pm
by KA9MOT
w8er wrote:W4LTD said ".....I can sleep better now that you posted this information."

Being a proctologist, I am always gratified to find that I have helped ease someones discomfort! :?
HAW! That's some funny stuff! Thanks for the good laugh!

Re: Glad to help!

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:04 pm
by NM7L
w8er wrote:W4LTD said ".....I can sleep better now that you posted this information."

Being a proctologist, I am always gratified to find that I have helped ease someones discomfort! :?
Good...'cuz there are some "hemorrhoids" on this forum that are in need of eradication.

Whaddya say, Doc?