Just won huge pile of stuff... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: theaustindixon
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 04:29:55 pm
content: I just won several boxes of electronic parts at a local estate auction. I have no idea what is in here yet; can't wait to go through it this afternoon and find out. I can already tell though that there are a bunch of Raspberry Pi and Arduino in there.EDIT: After initial sorting: 22 Raspberry Pi (various models), 18 Arduino, and the rest is split between various Arduino break out boards, sensors, and loose components.

author: Veteran68
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 07:30:31 pm
content: Nice score!I wish I lived in an area with a large electronics presence where things like estate sales or surplus auctions turned up these kinds of opportunities. At least when I'm gone, anybody local that's into electronics will be in for the motherlode, since my wife won't hesitate to unload all my stuff.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 07:40:57 pm
content: Quote from: theaustindixon on February 26, 2024, 04:29:55 pmI don't know if this was a deceased estate auction, but if it was, the plethora of relatively modern development tools suggests the deceased may have been relatively young (perhaps aged 30-40), compared to the average deceased estate. If that's the case, then it's truly sad to lose that electronics talent and skill.On the other hand, the estate could be from a school which has shutdown their STEM program, which I suppose is equally as sad.I don't suppose you know the story behind the estate?

author: abeyer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 09:06:53 pm
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on February 26, 2024, 07:40:57 pmI wouldn't read too much into it... I've known plenty of people who got interested in the microcontroller and sbc world as a hobby later in life/after retirement.

author: theaustindixon
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 09:16:37 pm
content: Most likely a school, nobody needs 50 breadboards or 30 Bluetooth dongles. Virtually everything is unopened nos, so if it was a school they never got around to using it. Weird.One of the auction employees did tell me that the auctioneer was going to throw all this in the dumpster thinking it was worthless, but the employee convinced him someone would want it.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 09:46:59 pm
content: Quote from: theaustindixon on February 26, 2024, 09:16:37 pmmaybe it was someone who had a small internet shop?

author: theaustindixon
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 10:02:47 pm
content: Still a lot to go through, but here are some of my sorted piles:Box of sensors/cameras.Pi and Pi clones.Various Arduino shields, motor controls, microcontrollers, ect. I haven't looked closely at these yet, just set them here for now.Loose components, bit of everything. Going to take a while to sort this.Various Pi enclosures.A few motors.This box is all LCD screens.Arduino.

author: dietert1
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2024, 10:08:58 pm
content: Quote from: abeyer on February 26, 2024, 09:06:53 pmYes, i am approaching 70 and in my lab there is everything from 8085 and associated ICs to STM32H7 boards, most of them in use for something like GPIB, temperature controllers and the like. There is Blackfin DSP stuff, 3x RPi, an Arduino and many FPGAs as well, including some ZYNQ.When i learned electronics, it was all tubes. At the age of 12 or so i learned to fix broken color TV sets for my father who was selling them.Regards, Dieter