Hiya Dan
I've done the same 'trick' myself in the past, bought radios that were 'legends', only to try them out and find they were junk.
My biggest disappointment was a Heathkit HW-8 QRP rig. Everyone (in QRP circles) had raved about them for years, and the prices were steadily increasing on eBay, so when I spotted one with a Buy Now price attached I snapped it up straight away.
When it arrived I unpacked it, and found it to look every bit as good as the photos I had seen; I was happy, until...
When I fired up the rig to test it out boy was I disappointed. The TX was very clicky and chirpy, the RX sounded as though the receive preamp was going in and out of self oscillation, and the filtering seemed no existent. Despite spending many months working on the unit, and reviewing hundreds of mods and improvements, the net result was a rig that was fit for use only as a paper weight or perhaps door stop!
These days I tend to have a look around You-Tube for videos of rigs in operation before I buy.
Argonaut 509's have come up for sale a few times here in the UK, and from what I recall they sell from anywhere around £150-£265 ($220-$400).
I do like the 'home built' look of the '509, but after the nightmare experiences of the Heathkit HW-8 with its analogue tuning scale I tend to steer clear of analogue displays on transceivers (unless backed up by a digital display too), but I do still enjoy receivers with analogue tuning scales.
By the way, welcome to the forum Dan!
Best 73, Mark.
