"Scrounging is the highest form of recycling..." (The Anonymous Technoid)
"It is the customer who ultimately decides when equipment is 'obsolete,' not the manufacturer..." (Walter Shawlee, Sphere Research)
What follows are listings of electronic-specific swap meets and stores in the SF Bay Area, and a few outside of it. I've decided to, effective with the ending of the Scrounge 2K4 trip, completely redesign the site to include clearer descriptions, a letter grading system, and photos of actual storefronts (where available). Since photos tend to eat up bandwidth, I'm going to institute a separate page for each location, and a 'Back/Forward' link scheme at the bottom of each page. That should help considerably with navigation.
I will continue to award recognition for 'Best Surplus Deal(er) of the Year,' but I'm also going to break it up into two categories: Test equipment and components. I've chosen not to include computers in the category simply because computer parts are so ubiquitous.
I realize that not everyone can afford to spend a week or more in the Bay Area just to scrounge. With that in mind, I will recommend what I feel are the top six places to hit in alphabetical order:
ACE Electronics, San Jose.
AllTech Recycling, San Jose.
Excess Solutions, San Jose.
G2 Technology (formerly SV Electronic Recovery), San Jose.
Triangle Machine & Tool, San Jose.
Weird Stuff Warehouse, Sunnyvale
If you need to do them in order of what you're looking for, here's some different breakdowns.
If you're after primarily test gear: All Tech Recyclers, run by Dan Burtis and Jan Berry (formerly of Kaiser Technologies fame), should be your first stop. Although their inventory was a little slim at the time of my last visit (10-Sep-07), I suspect it's simply because they've not even been in their new location for a full year. Give them time. They're still a good bet.
Following AllTech, I would suggest hitting G2 Technology, followed by Weird Stuff and Triangle Tool in that order. Pay close attention to the lot sales at Weird Stuff, as that's where most of their test gear shows up.
If it's primarily component parts you're after: Hit ACE first, then Excess Solutions.
If you're a computer parts scrounger: Hit Weird Stuff, G2, and Excess Solutions in that order.
California has numerous monthly electronic/computer-related swap meets. The ones that I know best are in the Bay Area and in the Los Angeles (Lawndale, near El Segundo) area.
With any electronics swap meet, the best policy is to get there EARLY (at the crack of dawn if you can), as the best deals tend to go very quickly. Here are the two best known in the Bay Area.
Location: Robertson Park just south of downtown Livermore. Be ready for serious dust, and to have your car bounced around like a hyperactive superball. Bring bug repellant and, if you're selling stuff, tarps or tables to keep things off the ground.
To get there from west of Livermore: Find your way to I-580, and go east through the hills. Take the North 1st St. exit, turn south (right) onto N. 1st, and follow it to Concannon. Turn right on Concannon, and watch for the signs.
To get there from east of Livermore: Same thing, but take I-580 west to the N. 1st St. exit. Other directions as above.
New Event Site Report, 4-Sep-05
Now that I've actually seen the new location, and sold at it, I have very mixed feelings about it (mostly bad, unfortunately).
On the one wing: I did extremely well selling. I had a lot of small parts and subassemblies to get rid of, and I'm pleased to say that I did moved about 95% of what I brought out.
On the other wing, there's no polite way to say it. The Robertson Park venue sucks worse than outer space.
The area where the swap is held is 100% unpaved hard-pack dry dirt and rocks. If you're going to sell there, bring lots of tarps, and be prepared for a severe case of dust contamination when you're done. Also, bring bug repellant. You'll need it. The area has a thick and varied population of flies, mosquitoes, and tiny little green beasties that look like fluorescent gnats with oversize wings.
Don't even get me started on the alleged "restrooms." PortaPotties would have been a better idea!
Attendance seemed down as well during my visit. Way down. It used to take nearly a full hour or more to do the rounds at the original Las Positas College spot. At Robertson Park, it took me less than half an hour to look over the whole thing.
One other caution: Never attend this event during rainy weather! As dusty as the new location is, any significant amount of rain will turn the ground to the consistency of Jello.
I do have one bit of good news: I received an E-mail message from LARK's president not too long ago, telling me that Robertson Park will probably not be their permanent venue. They are, even as I type this, searching for alternatives.
At this point, however, I cannot in good conscience recommend the LARK swap. Their current venue is too much of a hassle, at least for my tastes.
I know nothing about it outside of a few photos of past events from their web site. I will say, given what I saw in those photos, that it most definitely looks worthwhile. If any of the board's readers happen to stop by, please let me know what you think.
Location: DeAnza College in Cupertino (see the maps on the ASVARO link above). Talk-in is on two local repeaters: W6ASH, on 145.270 RX, negative TX offset, PL of 1Z (100Hz); Or N6NFI, 145.230 RX, also negative TX offset, and the same PL code.
PARKING FEES: DeAnza College charges parking fees, just like the old Foothill College location.
BUYERS will need $2.00 cash in coins or single bills. The parking machines do not accept anything else, and they do not make change.
SELLERS are exempt from this fee (wheee!)
I have it from reliable sources that the move from the Lockheed complex was not, in fact, due to security issues but for other reasons. Specifically, just like what happened at Foothill, some major construction projects got underway which would not permit the swap to continue. DeAnza should be fairly stable for a good long while.
Given LARK's current conditions, and my own degree of success at both buying and selling at both events, I now consider the DeAnza swap to be the Bay Area's premier event in its class.
The swap in the L.A. area I mentioned earlier has quite a reputation in the scrounging community. Known as the 'TRW Swap,' and sponsored by the TRW Amateur Radio Club, it takes place on the last Saturday of each month year round. One of this page's readers was nice enough to provide a link to a new web site that has the details.
I would add that, based on live reports from friends of mine that have recently attended, the TRW swap may have lost some of the luster of its past years. I tend to believe that this is due more to the depredations of Ebay than anything else, so take it with a few chunks of rock salt.
The Bay Area is home to a rich concentration of electronic and computer surplus stores. Not all are a Great Deal, but there are
some real gems among them. The list, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
Advanced Component Electronics (ACE), San Jose
Alameda County Computer Resource Center, Berkeley
All Tech Recyclers, San Jose
Anchor Electronics, San Jose
European Electronics, San Rafael (Incomplete Listing -- See Report).
Excess Solutions, Milpitas
G2 Technology (formerly Silicon Valley Electronic Recovery), San Jose
HSC Electronics, Sunnyvale - WARNING! Scrounger rip-off: See report...
Lasermotion, Union City
Lynntronix, San Jose
Outback Equipment Company, Morgan Hill (Not worth a special trip, see report...)
Taraval Computer Repair, San Francisco
Triangle Machine & Tool, San Jose
Weird Stuff Warehouse, Sunnyvale
Last Update: 17-Sep-07
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