UK, Luton - Dunstable Downs electronics car boot sale - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 09:27:32 am
content: The annual DDRC bootsale is this Sunday - the last remaining decent electronics junk event in the UK South East.I'll be there, having a clearout of all sorts of goodies, some will be FREE, the rest will be at mega-bargain prices.http://ddrcbootsale.org/

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 11:06:57 am
content: good on ya mikei hope people that need it get some of itand it doesn't go straight on ebayi'm near luton but got no transportlove rummaging in those kind of boot sales.luton used to have a really good amateur radio rallywhich had a good boot sale part.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 12:33:39 pm
content: I remember the days when the DDRC rally was at Woburn.A particular highlight was the Marchioness of Tavistock complaining that the club caravan was spoiling the vista.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 07:46:15 pm
content: I plan on coming over, might come and look at what you've brought.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 07:58:04 pm
content: The Met office is currently forecasting good weather, if it's going to be reasonable I might make a trip darn sarf.

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 08:21:05 pm
content: Saturday is meant to be a scorcher and the hottest day of the year so farhopefully the weather will run over to sunday O0

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2014, 08:26:20 pm
content: QuoteThe BBC says 21oC and sunny but warns of the possibility of a shower.Mind you the BBC weather forecast is pretty much exactly the same as guessing for anything more then 2 hours in the future and then phoning someone upwind to see what's on its way.

author: TVman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 02:23:50 am
content: I wish I could go.It would be heaven for me!But I live on the other side of the planet.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 04:47:14 am
content: The rest will be turning up with a car boot, but Mike will be turning up with a car boot, a back seat, a front passenger seat, a trailer and still more strapped to the roof.Will probably look a lot like the one time I saw a guy taking cabbages to market in his Peugot 504, where the entire car was full, including him holding 2 massive cabbages on his lap while driving. He could not see what was on the left side of the car at all if it was further back than the front tyre.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 08:33:48 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on May 16, 2014, 04:47:14 amYep - I'm borrowing an estate car and it will be rammed!

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 10:14:55 am
content: Just watched the vid again and that real of copper wire would be perfect to remake my 40/20 fan dipole, it's made from extension lead flex atm lolanyone else spotted stuff in the vid they could really use ?Not sure what I could use an "Argon Laser" for but it sounds fun lol

author: andy_silicon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 02:17:53 pm
content: Oh nooooo !Just told the significant other I was going to take a trip to ddrc to get out and enjoy the weather.I said I would try hard not to buy anything.How can I resist now !I must try and say hello to Mike ( and KJDS if he's there )I may have something to chat to KJDS about in regards the E4406 VSAs he has :-)Hope to see you all there ;-)

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 04:01:41 pm
content: I'm fairly sure I'll be there, just wondering whether to have a stall, I'm not sure I've got enough little stuff to make it worthwhile.

author: CM800
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 05:24:10 pm
content: I doubt il be there, however im always at FRARS Hamfest over athttp://www.frars.org.uk/cgi-bin/render.pl?pageid=1425It happens at:Flight Refuelling Amateur Radio Societyc/o Cobham Sports & Social ClubMerley Park RoadMerley, WimborneDorset BH21 3DAAwesome place. not far from where i live.

author: 8086
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 05:35:58 pm
content: I think I might come along and see what's going on. Bit of a distance from Medway but looks interesting enough to be worth it.And of course, the chance to meet the legendary wizard that is mike

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 05:53:41 pm
content: If weather is OK it's usually a good event - as it's cheap to get a stall & plenty of room for people to show up on the day, you get a lot of people like me wanting to clear stuff out rather than get the best price, as well as various traders, so plenty of variety. I rarely come back without having done at least 2 or 3 trips back to the car to unload...This time I may not have quite so much time to wander round, though I have roped in someone to help.Look for a black Mondeo estate, I won't be there at crack of dawn, so will probably be towards the left-hand side of rows as you walk across from the car park .

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2014, 07:14:32 pm
content: Wizzards, in Luton?I used to live in Luton, and met many women with magical powers, who had the ability to change from incredibly good looking at 2am in the club into something scary by the following morning.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2014, 04:08:46 pm
content: Quote from: KJDS on May 16, 2014, 07:14:32 pmThe beer goggles wore off then. It is more a perception issue than how they actually look.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 04:25:14 pm
content: I met some good people,. and bought . ...an ice creamIt would have been easy to spend a lot of money on old stuff.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 04:33:28 pm
content: Willpower. If lacking that lacking money works just as well.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 04:36:49 pm
content: Missed Kevin but did say hello to Mike - not that I managed to introduce myself as too many people milling around.I also suspect that Mike got a lot of "I know you on the forum......" from people he'd never met.

author: andy_silicon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 06:13:36 pm
content: It was a very nice day.I'm officially a Red Neck now.Bought a few things - and some from Mike.Mike - thanks the camera works a treat - and the Cypress Miniprog was just what I needed.Got a nice compact stereo microscope for a fiver - and some nice LEM current monitors for a quid each.Good to see you Kev.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 06:57:49 pm
content: I really enjoyed that visit, lovely day for it.I couldn't stay too long, but I did score a Solartron AS1410.2 PSU for a fiver, works perfectlyI also got a box of 2000 Osram white LED's, cheers Mike.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 07:12:57 pm
content: Would have bought some of the matrix LEDs Mike had but didn't have change early on and neither did Mike - by the time I got back they'd gone.I did score a Tek 2445 at a good price though as well as various other stuff so it was an excellent day.

author: 8086
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 07:18:40 pm
content: Had a very good time, got a FT800 dev kit thing and a kinect from Mike (who my girlfriend kept calling Dave, because she half tunes in to the videos I watch...), and scored a HTC Shift from someone else:http://imgur.com/a/qd1OWI have to admit, I felt a bit lost in the sea of radio gear, didn't know what half of it even was!There seemed to be several 'professional' sellers there with boxes and boxes of organised items - is this common?I wonder, does anyone know of any more decent events like this?

author: ctz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 07:41:17 pm
content: I got myself a 1964-vintage Farnell L30 bench supply for £3. Front panel has seen better days, but it seems to work properly, and is (as you'd expect) super tidy inside.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 07:41:48 pm
content: Quotehttp://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/Depends where you are in the UK. Rallies aren't anything like as good as they used to be, unfortunately.Bearing in mind that I go more for the general electronics than the ham stuff a whistle-stop review of the rallies I've been to in the last couple of years follows:The Luton rally is OK when the weather's good. Newbury is also still worth a visit (15th June). Reading might be but the only time I went it wasn't great. If you're in the Midlands - Rugby was good the last time I went and Telford was small but interesting.Wythall was utter crap this year (not helped by not having a car park). South Gloucs was OK last year but got cancelled this year. I went to the Red Rose winter rally last year and won't bother again. Norbreck (Blackpool) was OK two years ago - didn't go last year because it clashed with South Gloucs and didn't go this because I decided a three hour drive is really a bit far. Milton Keynes was utterly useless the last time I went as well (no traders, fewer visitors), similarly the "Radio Active" rally in Nantwich (not to be confused with the Hack Green rallies) was tiny and not terribly intersting. The rally at Hack Green itself was ok-ish but quite small.I'll go to Newbury and might give Reading a try again as I'll miss Telford and Rugby later in the summer.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 08:51:50 pm
content: Quote from: 8086 on May 18, 2014, 07:18:40 pmThere are a bunch of regular traders who do a lot of the rallies, many have been around for many years ( in some cases with much the same stock!).Considering the general decline in rallies I'm surprised it's still worth their while.A lot of the indoor rallies are dead or dying as only the traders would pay the higher stall fees - bootsale type events like DDRC and Newbury, with lower stall fees as the venue is cheaper, and no need for booking attract a lot more people clearing stuff out on the cheap.Many years ago, the best South-East event was at Picketts Lock in Enfield (I think this was the one that was previously at Alexandra Palace) - 3 very full halls and a huge queue of punters starting 2 hours before opening, but a combination of ebay, a big hike in stall fees and a couple of venue changes killed it stone dead in a couple of years.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 09:15:42 pm
content: Therally, at least in the Midlands, used to be the one held at Elvaston Castle near Derby - absolutely huge affair but sadly killed by rising costs and reduced attendance.Went a couple of times in my teens and once again sometime in the 1990'shttp://www.nharg.org.uk/elvaston_rally.html

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 09:34:53 pm
content: I used to be a regular at Longleat for the Radio Rallies, also went to Pickets Lock a few times. I even went as part of a trader stand on several occasions at a location in Wales (can't remember where). I used to come home with all manner of 'useful' equipment and components that would be 'useful one day'. Those were my bachelor days though.....As others have stated, eBay has had an impact on such events as you can now buy many useful items from around the world throughout the year, and not just at rally events. They were a good bit of fun and it got you out of the lab for the dayAh the memories

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 18, 2014, 10:31:41 pm
content: sounds like it was a nice day, shame i could not be there, i was out doing car stuff today

author: TVman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2014, 04:09:02 am
content: Quote from: ctz on May 18, 2014, 07:41:17 pmLucky you!