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Old 4th Dec 2021, 3:55 pm   #21
G6Tanuki
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

If there's a local van-hire place it could be worth asking them if they know of local storage-places; people who are moving house/flat and hire a van to do it often need 'on the fly' storage as well. Student-y areas in particular, where they have to relinquish their halls-of-residence or rented flat at the end of an academic year and don't have the capacity to haul all the stuff half way across the country back to their parents' house for the vacation only to have to do the reverse journey in a couple of months. [it's amazing how much stuff students can acquire during a single academic-year, and things like surfboards barbecues drumkits or canoes don't travel easily in a small family hatchback or on a train].

I remember in my uni days the local carpet-fitter was the go-to guy for cheap storage!

Pragmatically though, do you _need_ to store so much stuff that you need to pay to house it? I have a rather strict policy of "if it doesn't work, or it's honestly not going to be made-working in the next six months, then it gets junked".

One person's 'sentimental heirloom' is another person's place-for-mice-to-set-up-home-in.
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 4:39 pm   #22
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Be careful with caravans, they are notoriously prone to leaks and the wooden structure rotting away.
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 5:44 pm   #23
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Simon, this is awful, surely you should be allowed to have some possessions, your collection represents your professional working life after all. If I were you, why not try to pass on some larger sets at the bring and buy tomorrow, at least it will show that you are making a start. I am sure that you could sneak in a few shirt pocket radios and the odd multimeter to maintain your interest without anyone at home noticing .
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 6:43 pm   #24
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

The problem is your interests start to take over your house. It's not intentional, it just happens. We all know someone who has an amazingly cluttered house to a degree that is almost unimaginable.
A receiver or two is one thing but when the house starts to appear like a junk yard you cannot blame the lady of the house for getting upset. If you have an unused bedroom maybe you could retain it for your collection and workbench.

The problem today is SPACE. Modern homes don't even have enough cupboard space for domestic use and gardens if can call them that would just about house a rabbit hutch.

If you have the space I would recommend a good insulated outbuilding but they cost money and take up space. They can of course be screened with evergreen shrubs. I would recommend Laurel bushes as they grow fairly fast and are very easily trimmed each year and don't have the dangers of Leylandii.

Are you really going to restore these receivers? We all have good intentions but somehow life gets in the way. I have seen many collections rotting away in damp sheds, such a shame but this goes for everything including vehicles etc.

I really do hope you find a solution. Regards, John.
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 6:53 pm   #25
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Storage - a cautionary tale.

Whatever you decide upon, don't end up like me..
I moved up here 20 years ago, & it was obvious as the removal company were bringing stuff in, (Up a muddy track, 3/4 mile from the road) that there was simply not enough space. So, I randomly found some storage about 15 miles away, @£20.00 per week.

It wasn't ideal, but it was only temporary...
It's still there after 20 years & 1 month.

Then there was also a whole collection of radios/test gear etc, being stored free at one of my customers premises. He then retired, so I had to urgently find somewhere else. The late Chas Miller offered me storage, so I arranged for a large van to do the transfer for me.
Unfortunately, the available storage had two cows in it, separated from the storage area only by some hanging sacking..! Not good for delicate tech kit.

The van driver said he couldn't wait, so in desperation, (only a temporary arrangement) I phoned a local proper storage company, & as it happened, became their first customer. My van driver diverted the goods & the kit has been at the new store ever since, some 16 years.

I'm now their longest-serving customer at £140/ month...

Don't add it all up, it's horrendous! Just separate out what you really need & then take up some of the good suggestions in the earlier posts!

I do understand your problem.. I will have to do something soon, or leave it to the grandchildren to sort out!

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Old 4th Dec 2021, 7:14 pm   #26
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

I'd take a holistic look at this situation. First off, we're all different, but these are my my views.

Much as I appreciate that you don't want to get rid of items, unless you believe they are investments, then there's seems little point in them being in storage where you can neither see them or enjoy them; you merely have the somewhat hollow 'joy of owning' said items and that's a pale shadow of being up close and personal with them on a daily basis. So maybe consider taking a long hard look at your collection, place a pecking order on them, and sell items off as appropriate.

The other, less easy aspect to tackle or even discuss is the subject of someone else telling you what you can and cannot do. Of course, I and no-one here can see what you situation looks like. So if there are sets 'everywhere and anywhere' then in all fairness it's perhaps understandable that a partner may object to that situation. On the other hand, if you believe that your collection is fair and there's little reason for it to affect relationship harmony, and that your partner is being unfair, then you have some thinking to do. I recall selling a video recorder to a fellow forum member some years ago. He explained how he loved messing around with and fixing videos but that his partner apparently didn't appear to like him 'being happy'. So, I think you have to think long and hard about your situation and ask yourself if you believe that you or your partner are being fair to the other, and often a compromise is the answer. Best of luck.
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 7:56 pm   #27
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

I would generally support the latest comment about caravans, they're not good for storage and they don't win many friends regarding aesthetics. Steve is on the money suggesting a holistic approach. Also rushed decisions in this arena can often be bad decisions, that is to say rushed decisions are for fighter pilots.

Without seeing the space available (or indeed the collection) my default solution would be....leaky old shed = firewood, new shed = uplifting project. It takes a lot to beat the smell of sawdust, even if it does make you sneeze.

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Old 4th Dec 2021, 8:00 pm   #28
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Most of us here have the hoarding gene to some extent. The only solution may be to hire a skip, have a couple of stiff drinks, then chuck out all the valueless junk that you think 'might come in useful' but is just redundant clutter. It's a bit like clearing a parental house after a bereavement - you just have to bite the bullet and be ruthless.
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 8:01 pm   #29
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Thanks for posting this poem.
It reminds me of my dad's Garage/shed, full of shelves of jars of screws and tins of many bits and bobs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by woodchips View Post

Tins - by Peter Pascoe

Got round to clearing out his shed today,
His haven of peace - six by ten,
With a carpet of sawdust, shavings and chips,
Mum used to call it his den.

Standing here now I can still hear him say.
“Nay lad, don’t chuck it away
Just put it aside in one of me tins
You’re bound to need it one day.”

The chisel just laid on the bench,
The wood still clamped firm in the vice;
I collect all his tools, still tidied in racks,
So orderly, neat and precise.

A half-finished toy stands on a shelf
Awaiting the touch of his hand
To instil it with magic, bring it to life
To dwell in a child’s wonderland.

Boxes of hinges, doorknobs and bits,
Odds ends of pine, elm and oak,
Plywood and leather, old wire and string,
Each with a purpose bespoke.

“Have you cleared out all of his rubbish?
Have you chucked all his junk in the bins?”
“Well, almost darling - almost my dear …
Except for a couple of tins.”


From Model Engineer 4163, 22 February 2002
Clearing out someone's once treasured 'junk' is not easy to do, but it has to be done.
It's best to keep a few things that person used the most, and try to re-home the rest if possible, rather than callously throwing it away...
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 9:11 pm   #30
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulsherwin View Post
Most of us here have the hoarding gene to some extent. The only solution may be to hire a skip, have a couple of stiff drinks, then chuck out all the valueless junk that you think 'might come in useful' but is just redundant clutter. It's a bit like clearing a parental house after a bereavement - you just have to bite the bullet and be ruthless.
True: while you may feel sadness at letting-go of your 'treasure' you should equally rejoice at the feeling that it's not holding you back any more [and equally, if you can pass-it-on to someone else who might just get to restore it faster than you can - surely that's a good thing??]

Though - having been a regular hamfest/radio-rally-goer for 40+ years I have to admit that a lot of 'old-timers' whose junkpile is on-sale have rarher-unrealistic ideas of what their stuff is worth.
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Old 4th Dec 2021, 9:11 pm   #31
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

I've got loads of stuff. Way too much, and much of it isn't even relevant to this forum. It's at a stage where I can't do things I want to do, but also can't get rid of things because the storage (mostly double garage) is too full to properly resolve the problem.

Why post this? I have thought about moving some of the stuff into temporary storage to enable the other stuff to start to be resolved. But I know myself, the 3 months of temporary storage would end up being a cost for thr rest of my life, and the least important stuff being left for someone else to resolve in years time.

I WILL bite the bullet and start to ged rid. This isn't through pressure from my wife, but partly because I spent a lot of 2019 helping my parents to get rid of stuff before they moved. They did have some stuff with value but that was fairly quickly stripped by other family (with their permission) and we ended up dealing with a fair bit of stuff, some of which was frankly refuse.This year we had to rearrange my Mother in Laws front room due to her failing health. Stuck under the furniture was a 1970s / 80s radio cassette that is so full of dust you wouldn't believe it that belongs to one of the 'kids' the eldest of whom is early seventies.

My FiL died quite a while ago. We haven't been allowed to clear out the shed. The most valuable things in there are second hand nails.

Coming back to me, I need to get rid of the 'it will be worth something one day' stuff and decide about the 'it's worth something, or worth preserving' stuff. I have in my collection a Sony MD that seems to be worth money. When listed they seem to be £450 or so if fully working. Likewise I have a Wren computer. But I don't need all of the several Honda generators, the leftover bits from cars I've owned, the scrap PCBs for spares, PC parts and so on.
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 12:40 am   #32
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Thanks for the comments. A lot of fuel for thought. My plan was to look for a workshop when I retired which should have been now but sadly that’s been pushed back by at least 6 years. So all the radios tv’s spares and manuals were for future use.
Space as has been said is in short supply and a problem we all face. The garden is to small to put up a decent insulated shed of any useful size the loftspace like in many modern houses is very small for a loft conversion and would cost a fortune.
I look at £25 pw as reasonable around here when you consider the cost of one modest night out, what people pay for a round of golf, an afternoon supporting their local football club or other measure pursuits. I am just use to my hobby not costing much. It’s now time to start paying out for storage of my stuff which will be difficult or impossible to source whenever I get to retirement. Some of the radios TV’s spares and manuals are already getting scarce.
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 1:00 am   #33
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

As Bill said "a few words of caution".

Dear friends of my wife's and mine had an offer they could not refuse of a great job in the USofA for two years. As they were empty nesters they took the opportunity to sell their large-ish house and store all their furniture in a lockup. Unfortunately someone not in accordance with the rules stored paint and combustibles and the whole lot went up one evening - liquid flames went under the walls. Everybody lost everything and my friends found out on their return that the insurance policy they had taken out was null and void due to the non-compliance of the other occupant.

A tin shed in the corner of the garden sounds much safer. You, unfortunately want long term storage. The company I worked for had many containers out the back for storage and they let me use one for six months when I moved house. The storeman who looked after the containers had free beer on Fridays after work!
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 2:08 am   #34
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

£24 a week for storage is about £105 a month or about £1250 per year. Sorry to be a bore but if you were to put this into your pension instead you would also get at least 20% tax relief on each contribution. If you also assume 5% growth per year and did this over 6 or 7 years until you retire you would add a lot to your pension pot.

My advice would be to do this and then find a halfway house on the 'stuff'. Be ruthless and chuck away the bulky stuff that won't be valuable in 7 years' time and then find a way to cram the rest in the loft or try and look at smart storage options within the home that will at least hide the stuff out of sight.
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 10:38 am   #35
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

I once belonged to an amateur radio club. One member was given the ultimatum by his wife:
The junk goes or I go!
You can guess what happened, as he remained on-air.

This is not a suggestion!!!
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 12:08 pm   #36
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

Simon - why not post a list of your pile of tellies. Either as a continuation of this thread, or open a new thread in the TV sub-forum. Ask folk to honestly estimate their possible future value. So, if you've a dozen TV22's & tellies of that ilk - then no doubt they're worth a lot of dosh. Other bog-standard ones might only be worth 10 or 20 quid as spares - dump em. Two or three pre-WW2 sets will be highly valuable, as would any spare components for them. If you've got a handful of old domestic radios - do likewise.
Decent test equipment - thats a different matter. Put them in plastic storage boxes with silica-gel sachets, and store them under the bed. If your wife complains - rig a megger to her side of the bed ! (Just joking).
Youse guys dahn sarf have access to a multitude of sale/auction venues(covid regs permitting) - use them. At the same time, take advantage of the oportunity of meeting friendly folk who share your vintage TV/Radio interests.

Regards, David
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 12:52 pm   #37
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

My view on this is to have less stuff - not more storage space, especially if the storage costs more than the value of the items.

I've been an avid home-brewer since a schoolboy in the mid 1950s and from 1977 to 2003 was an active radio amateur, plus vintage radio interests.

Over the years I've gradually accumulated components, amateur radio equipment, items I've built - receivers, test gear, amateur radio projects, plus vintage radios (both restored and unrestored 'in the pile'), tools and equipment, and so on it goes. Decades of magazines have either been given away or dumped - hardly anyone wants them these days and most are available online. With other interests in woodworking, woodturning and metalworking, yet more tools, equipment, (lathes, pillar drills, bandsaws), timber etc, yet more equipment will need to go sooner or later.

During my career, we move several times - Nottingham to Spalding to Grimsby in nine months, Grimsby to Mansfield to Sheffield in two years. When we moved to Hull 30 years ago, it came as a shock when Pickfords said 'Do you realise you have more stuff in your lofts, sheds, garage and greenhouse than you have in your house'). I didn't, but it hasn't deterred me from adding to it since!

For the last 15 years I've made some efforts to dispose of as much as I can, but it doesn't come easy, because it isn't until maybe our late 70s, that we start to realised that were getting towards our 'expiry date' so we have an in-built reluctance to take decisive action while we can. The biggest task for me was to get rid of my amateur radio equipment - transceivers, tilt-over telescopic mast, mini beam, trapped dipole and vertical antennas, ATUs, SWR meters, reels of coax. All gone now, and glad to see the back of it.

Until last year, I've had a stand at Hornsea Amateur Radio Rally each year where I've got rid of lots of gear. Maybe 35 valve portable radios, and 20 transistor portables have been disposed of. Towards the end of the day, I made everything half price, then in the last hour - everything free. Anything that didn't go, went to the tip with a clear conscience when I got home. I've had a stand at the NVCF (as was), but it's costly, especially of items are of low value, and a lot of hassle. (300 mile round trip, overnight stay, cost of the table)

I've put quite a few items on the forum, but am reluctant to do that too often, with due regard to forum rules which clearly state the limitations:

Quote:

D. Buying and Selling:

Regular contributors to the forum discussions may post messages requesting parts and sets they require, and may also offer occasional items for sale.
However it should be noted that any buying or selling is a peripheral activity and is not the main purpose of the forum.

End quote.

Too many 'adverts' by too many members can soon change the ethos of the forum, and make it appear that our primary objective for being here is as a free alternative to other options, (quite apart from the hassle of listing, posting and packing items).

I still have a loft full of stuff, a loft in the double garage likewise, a garden workshop, garden shed and the garage, (radios, valves, transistors, capacitors, analogue meter movements, etc). I've already taken some stuff to the tip which I know others would have found useful - radio backs, chassis, transformers, plug-top PSUs. Often bulky or heavy to post and just too much hassle.

The harsh reality is that at 83 next birthday with the clock ticking, if I don't press on with the task, eventually it will end up in a skip marked 'Granddad's Junk'. (Old age can be a bit of a drag at times, but it's better than the alternative, and the good thing is that it generally doesn't last long!).

I guess a good maxim is that if we haven't found a use for something in the last two years, and are unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future, it ought to go. A good time to act on that it while we still have our wits about us. (Do I really need a dozen analogue and digital multi-meters and other duplicated test gear such as signal generators, some of which never gets used and might not even work?). Another strategy is to not succumb to temptation - stop going to vintage radio events, stop looking at e-Bay, or nostalgia will overcome common sense and we end up with yet more stuff we don't need, which will just gather dust until it is re-designated 'Granddad's Junk' (or even grounds for divorce ).

It doesn't come easy.
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 1:11 pm   #38
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

At the point where i pushed myself to part with something fully operational to free up some space, the interested party was found to be a steampunker and had their twenty quid refunded. It wasn't the profit margin that bothered me, it was the destructive aspect.

This fashion hasn't died out yet, (It's remained more or less constant) and there's a sideways spread from test equipment, into television sets, radios, battery chargers, drills, carburettors, etc etc. I would frankly rather stash things under the floorboards in the marginal hope of a more enlightened future discovery than willingly allow them to be bustardised. Upcycling can become a misnomer.

This has become a rant, but as we're talking about storage/disposal what i mean to say is- if something looks steampunkable (or perhaps even bluetoothable) it's precisely the sort of thing that should be kept. (or passed to a reliable party)

Dave

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Old 5th Dec 2021, 1:16 pm   #39
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

I have a 25 sq ft unit at the local Safestore which is costing me about £120 per month including insurance. It is based on floor space and you can stack things up as high as you want (the ceiling of mine is well above what I could reach).

I have had no problems with damp or vermin etc, but you wouldn't want to store anything that needs relatively stable temperature and humidity etc, as it is just in a big warehouse unit with no heating or aircon, and the main roller doors are open all day every day.

Some companies offer the first 3 months at half price which is good for short-term needs such as storing for a few weeks while a new home is being renovated. Some also offer better terms if you sign up for a year or more (typically 20% discount), which is what I have.

Insurance is compulsory, and is just based on the like-for-like replacement value of the items (not new-for-old), which you would probably have to prove if something happened. I don't store anything of sentimental value etc in mine, there is some work stuff (boxes of padded envelopes, spare computer items, boxes of cables etc), offsite backup disks, and general overflow from the flat. I also have a few boxes of stuff belonging to a good friend in there.

If you are storing anything valuable I would suggest looking into your own insurance for the specific items rather than relying on the company's standard policy.

As others have said it is easy to get an "out of sight out of mind" attitude to storage. I visit my unit fairly regularly (once or twice a month) to add and remove things, but the staff there say there are some units that haven't been accessed for a decade or more and are just paying the monthly fees (and have probably paid vastly more than the stored stuff is worth). I am in the gradual process of clearing out stuff I will never use or need again, but it's never going to be a priority job.
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Old 5th Dec 2021, 1:36 pm   #40
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Default Re: Rented storage facilities.

As others have said, this might be the time to reduce your collection. If going down that route, Please consider offering the items for sale via this forum or otherwise, before dumping them.

If no one wants them, then firstly at least you tried, and secondly you can feel a bit better about skipping it ! If no one wanted it, then perhaps it was less desirable than you believed.
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