Wondering what to do with Old Test Equipment?
How does that measuring phrase go again? Ah, if you can’t measure it, then you can’t understand it. Or something close to that. In fewer industries does it ring as true as this.
Test equipment and measurement methods have for eons been the foundations of RF/microwave electronic technologies, irrespective of the fact that they have been taken for granted when it comes to their importance in the design process. The industry has certainly come a long way from the days of vacuum tubes to the present evolution of semi-conductors and ICs (integrated circuits) as the equipment increasingly leans towards high-speed digital technologies and integral computers.
The electronics test world is witnessing a golden period in terms of growth and evolution, with the list of firms contributing test equipment and instruments to the industry growing by the day. This means more and more equipment entering the market, and consequently, excess inventory going out the other way as the forerunners are rendered obsolete.
Regardless, the players tasked with developing test equipment and new measurement techniques have to keep up the pace in the face of discoveries happening within the industry. For in this business, the birth of each development in technology spawns new measurement challenges – probably even stirs the need to come up with a totally new kind of equipment.
Take an example.
As wireless communications technologies slowly evolved, they brought with them a need for developers of test equipment to move way past the conventional RF/microwave spectrum analyzer to the present-day signal analyzers. The latter boast wide analysis bandwidths and are able to capture and analyze signals using advanced digital modulation formats.
What is often lost to many is that equipment in this industry can be extremely expensive, and this is why organizations stick to their current lineup without feeling the need to do asset disposition. Because anyone who has ever purchased some of these assets will admit they can cost the proverbial arm and a leg, especially when new. And this has been a recurring theme for products that have been released through the decades in pursuit of advanced technologies and higher performance.
Regardless of the cost of acquisition for some of these high-end consignment assets, it reaches a point that a company has no choice but to upgrade. But one of the pressing issues is how to go about disposing these assets, other than the one option that seems to restrict most people: eBay.
Well, another option that will always be a guarantee whenever you have test equipment to get rid of is to go through a recovery solutions firm. One of the great things about entering into a partnership with such a party is that you are assured of a ready market whenever you need to dispose of your assets.
Now, assuming not much value can be salvaged from your equipment, one of the few options that remain is donating the same. An asset recovery services vendor like Excess Logic does not just offer liquidation services, but is also an outlet for all your equipment headed for recycling or donation.
One of the upsides of donating is that you get to earn a tax benefit amounting to as much as half the residual value, and you can kiss goodbye to asset taxes. For expensive assets like test equipment, this could mean a tidy sum saved over time.