Junk!

[nick.sek]

Hey everybody, last week my friend was cleaning out his garage and we found an old tube amp! Which I was so excited about, it comes from a time without any PCBs. I had it up and running in a couple of hours, after I cleaned it and got a setup going for my guitar. And the point of this is asking where do you find things to tinker with.

I got some cool outlets, we have a recycling bin at my school were people can throw stuff out that relate to electronics but I was wondering if you guys have any tips for finding interesting "junk".

Nick

[Psi]

Some countries have an yearly in-organic rubbish collection where people put objects (to large for the regular rubbish collection) outside the house on the grass verge for special collection.

Things like TVs, Fridges, Radios, and lots of other stuff.

It's always a free for all when it happens here.
You never leave you lawnmower outside to go get more petrol when it's happening

[vk6zgo]

Look around for "Hamfests".
Things aren't free,but if you are looking for odd bits you will be able to pick them up cheaply.
At one time,various companies which use Electronics would give away obsolete stuff to Electronics enthusiasts,as it cost more to dump them or sell them.
The "Health & Safety" freaks have pretty much put paid to that,though!
Sometimes you can find stuff at ordinary swapmeets,but,again,not as much as in earlier times,as people are wary of being sued if some halfwit buys Electrical equipment & blows himself up!

[amyk]

If you're into digital logic and computers, you can often get tons of them for free (or almost) from the recycling centers. Old motherboards are a good source of MOSFETs and also make for nice SMD practice boards. You can get power transistors and rectifiers from discarded PSUs.