Things some times return

[Sangoma]

We often give things away to some one who can use them, rather than sell them.

Last weekend, two people who came to collect bread, saw bamboo in pots, and ended up taking them with them

On Monday, my sons were taking their bikes out the back gate, when some on shouted did they want some plants.
A contractor working on the drive and garden at a house in the road behind us.

Lots of plants, very large, some in 200l pots (if you can call something the size of a 44 gal drum a pot), but amongst them was a 200l pot full of bamboo about 8' tall above the pot. My wife's bamboo returned much much bigger

The bike the eldest was pushing out the gate, was a Norco Threshold gravel bike, which he had been given the same day.

Also some good news, a car I gave to some one last year (Onyx Firecat) has started being done up.

Been a good week this week.

[G6CSL]

Many happy returns.

[M0VMT]

Yeah I was given a gas and electric bill this week not so good

[G0BHD]

I once got offered a radio I knew was one of my old ones from years before, I bought it at a rally busted, fixed it up, did a few mods on it, and even used it for a while, but eventually "gave it away" to a newcomer to the hobby that wanted a basic 2 meter FM set that would get him on air.
He used it for a few years, and then he "gave it away" to another newby to the hobby who similarly needed to just get on air, what happened to it after that I have no idea, but one day it was offered back to me by a fourth, or fifth, or even sixth party, I have no idea how many hands it had been through,and for a bargain £50!
I knew it was the very one I had picked up cheap and busted many years before, as I had done various mods to it when I repaired it, and recognised them instantly, needless to say, as it was no longer of interest to me, I declined the offer.
I did point out to the fellow presenting it to me, that it had "done the rounds" for quite a number of years, and on at least a couple of occasions that I knew of been "gifted" away free to someone else, just to "get them on air".
He seemed none too interested in that aspect of it's life out in the field, and insisted "It was worth £50 mate!"
Yeah right, it cost me £5, absolutely dead in the water busted, plus a few hours of my own time work and know how to get it running again.....before I GAVE IT AWAY.

[Sangoma]

I once got offered a radio I knew was one of my old ones from years before, I bought it at a rally busted, fixed it up, did a few mods on it, and even used it for a while, but eventually "gave it away" to a newcomer to the hobby that wanted a basic 2 meter FM set that would get him on air.
He used it for a few years, and then he "gave it away" to another newby to the hobby who similarly needed to just get on air, what happened to it after that I have no idea, but one day it was offered back to me by a fourth, or fifth, or even sixth party, I have no idea how many hands it had been through,and for a bargain £50!
I knew it was the very one I had picked up cheap and busted many years before, as I had done various mods to it when I repaired it, and recognised them instantly, needless to say, as it was no longer of interest to me, I declined the offer.
I did point out to the fellow presenting it to me, that it had "done the rounds" for quite a number of years, and on at least a couple of occasions that I knew of been "gifted" away free to someone else, just to "get them on air".
He seemed none too interested in that aspect of it's life out in the field, and insisted "It was worth £50 mate!"
Yeah right, it cost me £5, absolutely dead in the water busted, plus a few hours of my own time work and know how to get it running again.....before I GAVE IT AWAY.

It seems the idea of selling something you have been given is quite common, and tells me that the person who sells it shouldn't have been given it in the first place.

[G0BHD]

Yes you are probably right there.
In fairness, it wasn't one of the two guys I knew for certain had been "gifted it" after it left me, they had followed in the spirit of the idea and also gifted it onwards to someone deserving when they were finished with it.
I imagine it had changed hands quite a few times by the time the chap that approached me saw it as a quick buck money maker.
But I take your point, some see a "generous gift that helps them out short term", as a future potential fleece someone money maker further down the line.

[M0HJO]

Ive had a few radios come back to me over the years, lol.

Every radio I've had, I make a note of SRL number and write a quick dit about it on a spread sheet.
Its amazing what's comes back, sometimes in dire condition and I've changed covers etc.

[G0BHD]

Well there was no mistaking my old freeby given away radio.
It was an early series Tait ex VHF PMR radio, that had 10 "programmable" channels.
The software back then was DOS based !
I had set it up for three local repeaters to the Midlands area, namely BH, CF, and MH, back in those days, the rest of the channels were programmed above and below S20 simplex FM.
It originally had as supplied a hard wired microphone, with no disconnect plug, curly lead fitted mic that came straight out of a grommet type front face rubber "boot".
I had replaced that with a five pin mini XLR socket, and incorporated a 1750 Hz tone burst board inside it, which it didn't have from scratch, and the mic now disconnectable, also had a "tone burst button" on it to make mobile use of repeaters a bit easier.
It did have onboard CTCSS capability, but back then that was not widely used on many amateur repeaters.
It also sported a crude but effective front panel led bar graph "S" meter I fitted, well five 3mm leds's actually, three green, one yellow, one red, that gave a basic less than 9 three green led reading, 9 approx on yellow led, and 9+ on lighting the red led, driven by a common back then Tandy bar graph driver chip, and the drive for that chip derived from the final IF.
Of course being an ex PMR it didn't originally have any "S" meter as standard.
The guy trying to sell it me pointed out all these "improvements and mods" as to why it was worth what he was asking, namely £50!
I simply told him...."Yes I know all about the mods mate....I did the damn mods to it, and eventually GAVE IT AWAY!"