Sun 9th October: Special Auction Wootton Bassett

[audiomagpie]

Sunday 9th October, BVWS EXTRA SPECIAL AUCTION at ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT! 400 Lots! Set your alarm for an early start! 9am admission for viewing, 10.30am approx. auction commences.

Many quality rare items including a PRE WAR HMV 900 TV/WIRELESS. Early COLOUR & BW TVs, Radio, Audio, Test Gear, Communications, Trays of Valves/Components, Workshop Items, etc.

Hot & Cold refreshments all day from Jim's kitchen! BVWS table will be in the side hall selling Capacitors, De-oxit, etc. There will be NO bring and buy table on this occasion.

Members only can bid in the auction, so why not contact our membership secretary and join beforehand? You can join on the morning but before 10.00 please, just see a committee member and we'll help you out.

Come and stock up on projects for those dark winter evenings in the workshop. All major CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED, so flex that plastic and treat yourself!

For directions see: http://www.bvws.org.uk/events/locations.php (but please note special times above for this event)

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Look out for the Auction List, coming soon (Mike is still labelling and photographing between the showers!)..............

[Hunts smoothing bomb]

Excellent! Been looking forward to this for a while now!

Cheers

[Hybrid tellies]

I shall come and take a look but cannot buy anything unless it is very small.

[ajs37]

Annoyingly, I am already double booked this Sunday - Harvest festival lunch and a local Arts trail - still, at least it means I won't have to explain 'what's in the boot?'
Enjoy!

[Sean Williams]

Think SWMBO might get a bit grumpy if I attend this as well.....

[murphymad]

Catalogue and pictures have now been sent to Paul, so they will appear when he has time to get them sorted!

See you all Sunday...


Mike...

[Paul Stenning]

The photos and catalogue are now on the BVWS website here http://www.bvws.org.uk/auctions/phot...ootton-bassett

The catalogue is also attached.

EDIT: Updated catalogue posted below

[murphymad]

Hi All,

Auction Lot 364 should read PYE B18T and not B16T !

Mike...

[Paul Stenning]

Updated catalogue attached, and will be on the website shortly. Incorrect catalogue in previous post deleted.

[mole42uk]

How annoying! At the time of the auction I will be en route from Lands End to Knebworth Park.....

[dave walsh]

It's a great shame if potential bidders can't make it, as funds support the cause but as fellow BVWS members will know, from the recent magazines, the Society is doing perhaps too well with it's auction supply system and the amount of items coming in is considerable-hence the "Special" auctions that are held from time to time! I guess it's not possible, unfortunately, to get notifications in place the same way that it's done with the regular yearly events. If it helps, I don't get to most events myself anyway

Dave W

[Radio Wrangler]

It's also a great shame for those who live in other parts of the country. I quite enjoy looking through the catalogue, but it's all unreachable. Have there been auctions in other parts of Britain?

David

[Nukeybrown]

I agree David, there's a few i would add to my collection.

[Paul Stenning]

The reasons the special auctions are only at Royal Wootton Bassett are logistics and costs.

The BVWS storage facilities are in Devizes near Mike's home. Mike spends a week or so cataloguing and photographing the items, and packing the first batch into the van. The BVWS hire the hall from late afternoon Saturday and it normally takes two van loads plus a few car loads to get everything to the hall. By the time everything is transported to the hall, sorted out and set up, it is often around midnight.

If we had the auctions further away we would need to find a hall that can be hired for a day and a half, is as flexible about us finishing late on the Saturday as the RWB Memorial Hall, is as reasonably priced, secure, and has catering facilities. We would also need to hire one or two vans, and would need overnight hotel accommodation and meals for Mike, Jim and a few others, plus fuel and any other expenses.

Something has to pay for that, and the only way it could be paid would be increasing the commission on the lots (which would mean sellers wouldn't want their lots in that auction) or charging some sort of buyers premium (which would be very unpopular).

There is then also the unknown of how many people will go to the new location. Less people go to Harpenden than Royal Wootton Bassett, even though Harpenden is closer to London.

Remember that Mike and the rest of us don't get paid for what we do. Mike already gives a huge amount of his time to the society and it would be unreasonable to expect him to give any more.

Royal Wootton Bassett is close to the M4 and there are a number of hotels nearby such as the Holiday Inn Express just one junction along the M4. So it would be possible to make a weekend of it. It's a lot easier for potential buyers to get to the auction than it is for the auction to get to a different part of the country.

Also remember that you can leave commission bids with Mike for anything that interests you. Just phone or email him ASAP (by Saturday morning) and he will bid up to your maximum on your behalf. If you win your items will be returned to the store and Mike will contact you to arrange getting them to you. There is no charge for commission bids or for storage of your won items.

Regarding the special auction dates, we do promote them as soon as they are known, which is normally a few months in advance. They also tend to be outside the main holiday season. The next one is 5th February 2017, and the date of this has been promoted since July (7 months notice). This one has also been promoted since July (3 months notice).

[Station X]

Originally Posted by Paul Stenning

Also remember that you can leave commission bids with Mike for anything that interests you. Just phone or email him ASAP (by Saturday morning) and he will bid up to your maximum on your behalf. If you win your items will be returned to the store and Mike will contact you to arrange getting them to you. There is no charge for commission bids or for storage of your won items.

Can non BVWS members submit commission bids?

[Radio Wrangler]

I understood the reasons, but it does leave the rest of the country feeling left out, and feeling there is little reason for joining the BVWS.

I'm a member of the RSGB, Royal Photographic Soc*, British Horse Society** etc. and they seem to take care to spread their activities around and enjoy a distributed membership of fairly uniform percentage of population of an area. It takes effort and they have to find several people prepared to undertake exertions of heroic proportions. If there were more auctions spread around, with different people organising them it could take a fair bit of strain off Mike... we don't want to wear him out

David

* You don't have to be royal to join
** You don't have to be a horse to join

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Station X

Can non BVWS members submit commission bids?

No, only BVWS members can bid in BVWS auctions, whether in-person or commission.

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

I understood the reasons, but it does leave the rest of the country feeling left out, and feeling there is little reason for joining the BVWS.

Perhaps if more people in other parts of the UK volunteered their services to the society and offered to help with organising events etc then events would be more widely spread. There is a limit to how much the committee can do. The Golborne and Punnetts Town swapmeets are organised by members for the BVWS for example.

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

If there were more auctions spread around, with different people organising them it could take a fair bit of strain off Mike... we don't want to wear him out

Plenty of people are happy to grumble but few are prepared to do anything to help. The society have asked on several occasions for members to get involved and help organise things etc, but nobody ever does.

[Radio Wrangler]

So we're looking for someone with a large amount of storage space, a good-sized van, living in a conurbation and with a lot of free time and a lot of energy... and probably no other demands from family or interests. Finding an available hall ought to be comparatively easy after that.

It's the same in most fields. You get grabbed for the riding club committee and you suddenly find yourself in the saddle a lot less, if at all, you spend your weekends setting out showjumps in a field, and then putting them all away again long after everyone else went home.

This weekend I'm working on restoring a friend's place (watermill/stables) Next weekend it's Jamboree on the air for the scouts and I got grabbed for the local amateur radio club committee years ago. Then the weekend after I'm South of the Border to give a talk at what's expected to be the last G-QRP doo. In and amongst, I've been organising the evening dinner for the Scottish microwave roundtable event in November.

Which reminds me, I'd better put a post on here about the G-QRP doo, it's a great event for old components, radios etc.

David

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

So we're looking for someone with a large amount of storage space, a good-sized van, living in a conurbation and with a lot of free time and a lot of energy... and probably no other demands from family or interests.

Yes, that would be a good start!

It sounds like you are already very familiar with the delights of being involved with groups like this, and probably also familiar with the lack of gratitude from some members too!