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SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc. (Hons.) Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc Nicholas Vinen Photography Ross Tester Reader Services Ann Morris Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VK3UG Kevin Poulter Stan Swan Dave Thompson SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $105.00 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see our website or the subscriptions page in this issue. Editorial office: Unit 1, 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. Fax (02) 9939 2648. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip Publisher’s Letter Planning for future disposal of your assets This is a sombre subject to discuss: what will happen to your favourite things when you move to that big electronics workshop in the sky? The reason I raise this is because every now and again I receive an email from the spouse of one of our recently deceased readers, asking for advice on how to best dispose of their husband’s vintage radio collection, test equipment, tools, books, model train/car/ aircraft/ship collection or whatever. The problem is that during a lifetime in electronics, one can acquire a vast collection of all sorts of stuff which may have considerable value to someone with a technical background but probably zero value to anyone without such knowledge. Say you have a large collection of vintage radios. Some of those radios could be worth thousands of dollars and the whole collection could be worth much more. Some of the smaller vintage radios in your collection may look like ugly lumps of plastic to most people but such ugly lumps might be quite valuable. Who would know? Doubtless you may have a fair idea of your collection’s worth and you may have paid quite a lot of money over the years to acquire it. But does your spouse know this? I will bet not. Or if they do have some glimmer of what it’s worth, do they know which collectibles are really valuable and which are not? Is it all catalogued? Probably not. The situation is worse if you live alone and upon your demise your children or other relatives are likely to be confronted by a large miscellaneous collection of what to them is just “stuff that the old man used to potter about with”. Such “stuff” just might be summarily consigned to the tip in the inevitable clean-up in the winding up of your affairs. I speak from experience. Just recently I was in the home of one of my recently deceased relatives who had been ill for a long time. The house really had not been maintained or properly cleaned for years but it did contain valuable items and one such was a small nondescript vase in a display cabinet. That nondescript vase was by Clarice Cliff and was quite valuable. Few people would recognise it. What similar items do you have? The unfortunate fact is that many spouses only have the sketchiest knowledge of their household assets, liabilities and so on, let alone any knowledge of the value and extent of a collection of technical stuff. So you need to address the problem of how your spouse will best dispose of your stuff. After all, statistically, you will be the first to depart (if you are a bloke!) and she will be left with the problem. Or maybe your children will. Will they even care? So first of all you need to decide what is important and what can be disposed of now. Then you to need to catalogue it. This doesn’t have to be fancy; just a list and estimated values would be a start. A photo and brief technical description of each item would be even better. Then your spouse needs to know where this information is kept (easily accessible, in a filing cabinet with labelled folders!). This could be a fair amount of work but you owe it to yourself and your spouse. To yourself because presumably you don’t want your collection to be simply junked or given away. Second, you owe it to your spouse because it may contribute a reasonable sum to their welfare in the future. Finally, you need to provide some information on how the collection can be sold in order for that value to be obtained. Don’t leave it to chance because that will probably lead to a poor result. Oh, and your spouse should do the same for jewellery, bric-a-brac, furniture and so on. So go through it all. Get rid of junk that you will never use. Dispose of those units you have been hanging on to, to fix up when you “get round to it”. Clean and polish the “good stuff”, catalogue it and then display it so you can get the most enjoyment from it. Who knows, such a process might even rekindle enthusiasm for an enjoyable pastime. Leo Simpson siliconchip.com.au