The AM Forum

Many of us have downsized, upsized, collected, traded, sold, many radios overs the years.

Let's hear about the "one that got away"..... that piece of gear you're really sorry you got rid of, and why.

Joe N3IBX is excluded.... (Joe, it doesn't look like you've ever gotten rid of anything!!  ;D ;D)

I had an Invader 2000 briefly at the Dayton hamvention.  Bought it, took it back to the car, and a couple hours later someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  And after using Slab's Invader I sorely regret that move  :'(

Oh JNy.... I feel ur pain !!!!

I had a old regen receiver back in the 60s made by a company named TOBE.
It was hamband only 160 thru 20. Now that I'm into vintage radio I wish I had it back.
Can't really remember what happened to it.

I had a nice SX-115 back in 1970 or so. Wanted to try sideband so I traded it for an HW-100, a truly idiotic move.

The difference in market value today is many, many $100's.

Have had lots of equipment,--that has "filtered through" my hands over the
past 40 years,--BUT the one I really regret getting rid of was a DX-100,  I
had back in the mid 60`s for some reason.
I really liked that transmitter, even better than a Globe King, and a Johnson
Ranger I had back then.
                                    73, K1MVP 

I had both a 32V and a 75A1 - at different times in my life - and dumped both.  Sure, it would be nice to have them back, but oh well.

The rig I REALLY regret getting rid of was my brother's HQ120.  That thing worked as well as any had and it was in original condition.  No extra holes in the rear for converters, preamps, etc.

I bid up to $400 on sleazeby for one last year before I came to my senses.   Of course the receiver went for $405.  Oh well.  Someday.

The one that got away from me (and eventually came back) was my Heathkit Apache transmitter.  I bought it from my buddy Steve Stutman, then WA2BAI, now KL7JT, around 1968.  I built an outbaord audio chain for it, including a modulator, consisting of a Heathkit A7 mono hifi amp driving a pair of 1625s and a mod transformer from a Navy TDT VHF transmitter.  Had a lot of fun with it on 75 AM after school was out for the day.  When I went off to college at the University of RI in 1970, it came along with my Scott SLRM without the outboard audio.  I set up 20 and 40 meter dipoles on the roof of my freshman dorm, Fayerweather Hall.  I was on the third floor of four, and the antenna feed lnes came down the outside of the building and into my room window.  As you can imagine, the Apache got into a lot of stereo systems and I didnt operate it much.  For my remaining three years living at a frat (Phi Kappa Psi) it ran it on and off into the same dipoles which I shared with a couple of other ham frat brothers who had an HW-101 in thier room down the hall.

In my senior year, a few other EE hams and I tried to revive the URI Radio Club, W1KMV, which went into dormancy in the late 60s after their complete Heath SB line was stolen from the club station.   The Apache and Scott went up into the attic of Bliss Hall, the main engineering biulding.  An 80 meter dipole was strung between the end of Bliss and the next building to the west, Lippit.  I believe another club member also had aa Heath SB-101 up there as well.

When I graduated in 1974. I took the Scott with me, but left the Apache behind for the club.  I figured that as a degreed engineer, I would soon be awash in cash and that Collins S-Line would be in my shack in no time.  (Its not there yet - but an SB line was pieced together in the early 80s)

I didnt maintain contact with the W1KMV club after graduation.  I would always keep an eye out for that dipole if I found myself on campus though.  It stayed up for many years, but eventually came down.

In the mid 90s. fellow AMer and Mil Radio enthusiast Brown, W1NZR, who I first met when I was running phone patches on the Maritime Mobile Service Net, and he was a radio officer on the tanker Arco Spirit, told me that the now revitalized club needed to clear out a lot of old gear as they were losing storage space in thier new location.  Brown was at URI and in the club a few years after I graduated.  He told me that my old Apache was amongst the floatsam and jetsam that had to go.  I took home what was left of it (most of the tubes were gone) and eventually gave it back to Steve, KL7JT, one Fall Hoisstraders a few years back as a birthday present.  We share the same birthdate and swap junk back and forth every year.  One of these days it might be back on 75!

Chris,
I worked yer man Brown, W1NZR last night during the Heavy Metal Rally.
His receiver weighs 2200 lbs. The transmitter weighs only 900 lbs.
THAT's heavy metal !

I had a near perfect (9.9 out of 10) SX42 years ago, and the bandswitch went up in flames. I was too lazy at that time to fix it, so I dumped it for a few bucks in a local club auction. I have pined for it ever since. I finally got another one this year it's no wheres as clean, but just the same I'm glad to have one again.
                                                                                         The Slab Bacon

I thought long and hard on this one [like a big stud] and can't think of any commercial rig I got rid of and wished back. Good riddance! My rule is, if a rig sees no use in the shack, it goes downstairs into the cellar. If it stays there for at least two years, I sell it off with no regrets.

So, if she sits in limbo with no use, cut the bitch loose, I say...  ;D

Homebrew rigs are another story. There's MANY I wish I still had running that were torn down for parts and recycled into new projects.  My old 4X1 PDM rig is one. I'm building another one now. Same for the 813 X 813's. Duplication.  But the bright side is that the construction techniques are much better these days, so well worth the new effort... ;)

T

Glen - I represent that remark - hi! Actually, I have horsetraded off some pieces for other pieces I really wanted, and flipped "shelf queens" now and then for other radios I wanted more, or gave them away as gifts.
I want everything in my shack to "sing for it's supper". If it doesn't work, I try to fix it. If I can't fix it I'll pay someone to. If that can't be done , it usually goes "that-a-way". Shelf queens don't earn their keep - hi! When friends come over my shack and just have to have something I have, they most likely go home with it.

I believe in karma. You do good by other people and give something away, it'll allways boomerang and come back to you.

Best Regards and a Happy New Year!
                                                   Joe N3IBX

 

Buddly,
         I believe the receiver you were referring to was made by "Tobe Deutchmann", or "Browning", with the very unique Tobe Deutchmann dial on it. Very very kewl indeed. I believe that DeWitt, N4QNX just picked one up a little while ago, though the one he has is a superhet.

Best Regards and a Happy New Year!
                                                  Joe Cro N3IBX   

Hi Joe;

I'm sure you realize my comments about you are strictly good natured ribbin FB HI HI OM..  fact is, I truly respect the time, effort and sheer mass your collection represents..I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I only wish I had the room, time and patience to assemble an impressive collection like your's...

Chris,

I also used to have an Apache that I'm sorry I got rid of. Loved that transmitter.. built like a brick litter box!  8) Too bad it didn't do 160m

With my recent re-interest in commercial/military radios, I'm truly sorry I got rid of my Harris 1310 exciter and the two really nice R-390A's I sold about 3 years ago (a nice Amelco and a beauty of an EAC) Now they cost mega bucks on E-bay... should have hung onto them!...  :'( :'( :'( :'(

I think I may have the prize award of all - around the time SSB was becoming popular I felt I just HAD to try it out, and what I had then was, of course, never going to be worth anything much again. AM was dead. It was a mint Collins 32V2. So, I go over to Harrison Radio in NYC with the '32V2, talk to Bil Harrison himself, and he told me what I needed was an Eico 753 SSB transceiver kit. It would have a great receiver, a wonderful transmitter, and all in one very small package. Sure was a lot neater and more up to date than that awful, old,  large 32V2. So, we arranged for me to have the 753, even swap for a 32V2.
I knew I was in trouble when I had to work people with one hand on the '753 VFO dial, and even tho I eventually mod'ed it to have the later transistor VFO it never was frequency stable - to say the least. I did correct my mistake a few years ago by finding a pretty nice 32V2 (not cheap, however), and then a year ago finding a 32V3 at Estes Auction in Ohio for $140. Only problem was, to make it work again I had to replace one of the mica bypasses in a RF coil can, under the tuning assembly. Only took about 12 hours, but now I have two of the 32V series. Live and learn!  And, you probably don't want to hear how I swapped a mint HRO (1937 model) for a National HFS VHF receiver. Another turkey!! Ven ve grow older sometimes ve grow smarter - yes?

73
Don, W2DL

Glen,
       Please don't take me too seriously! I know you were kidding around.
Very Best Regards,
                         Joe N3IBX

Don - Tell the truth: Would'nt you love to have a "Seven-Drifty-Three again?  Yes, we all cherish the old rigs, but some were better left to .............

We were discussing the merits of running a phased sideband rig with a seperate receiver a few weeks ago on the air. Most of your time was spent adjusting, checking, then readjusting just about everything whilst your transmitter would drift one way, and your receiver the other. Almost as much fund as using a Eico Seven-Drifty-Three!

What was it you said about using a BC-375 on 'fone? - hi!

Hope to talk to you soon and have a Happy new Year.
                                                                          Joe N3IBX

The little bit of slopbucket I did with my HT37, I had a Drake R4B so I knew the transmitter was doing the drifting - and not much of it either.  I listened to myself in the cans and was tweaking those two phasing controls constantly to keep the carrier to where I only heard hum in the background.

Fortunately I'm not a slopbucketeer so it wasn't a terrible ordeal.

Joe, did I ever tell you just HOW much I want an HQ120?

(I too am kidding!)

does a list of hot girls count?

Is this the one you are talking about? As Joe said it is not a regen but it did use a TOBE tuning set up. If so, and you are interested, I have one like this for sale/trade and am willing to talk! I need to down size
http://www.browninglabsinc.com/51eba350.jpg

Carl - That receiver with the Tobe Deutschmann dial is B-U-Tee-Full. I'll send you an email.
Best Regards and Happy new Year.

Not a piece of ham gear, but definitely vintage radio. About five or six years ago at the CC-AWA Spring Meet in the Carolinas held in Charlotte, NC I was roaming around the flea market on opening day. I had that morning just purchased a beautiful Freed-Eisemann NR-20 battery set from 1924. Since that blew most of the mad money I had brought to spend on radios I was just walking around looking at stuff and taking photos. I came to the space of an aquaintance from TN who had several interesting items, including one long battery set from the '20s that was missing two meters on the front. I asked him what it was, having a vague sense that I had seen something like it before. "Oh, it's an old Leutz C7 superhet from 1924 that I've never been able to find meters for. I'm only asking $80 for it". Not having the money for it, I immediately put one hand on it and with the other picked up my 2 meter handheld and called a friend of mine who has a Leutz or two in his collection. Needless to say my friend took the Leutz home. I've always regretted not having the cash to get that Leutz. But, as Joe says, Karma does have a way of coming back. My friend who got the Leutz is the president of the CC-AWA, and he's the one who is letting me have the clubs' Raytheon RA-250 AM broadcast transmitter for free.

Now we're even.  ;D

Gary - You may be even but I certainly hope you find another "Leutz"! My God, I've only dreamed of owning such a receiver, particularly the 6' "Around the World" Beast. May there be a "freebie in your future!

Well, I gave away my 810-modulated 813s, complete with VM-5 mod transformer, but at least it went to an AMer.    In reality it was a good move for me, because I was moving like crazy back in those days, and all that iron was a real pain to lug around.

There was my SX-25, a favorite receiver, that got ripped apart by an insane guitarist who wanted the transformer out of it, for some unfathomable reason.  So much for equipment in insecure storage.  "Duh, I thought you were throwing it away."  Grrrrr

And I gave my R-392 to an AMer, but he died, and I have no idea what happened to the equipment he had.

My G.F. owned a bar below Trinity College years ago. In the back he had a real old radio with head set only audio. It looked Regen. It had a nice case but it got away from me. They closed and sold before I could get it.
my Uncle almost blew a guy away while being Robbed. ( he was one of these WW2 Marines who went to all the bad places heading West including Iwo) He was reaching for his 45 while drinking a beer with the family lawyer.  The lawyer told me if he had not shaken his head no my uncle would have put a hole in the robber. And maybe a round out on to Zion St. full of traffic. That was the third robbery in a short time so my G.M. had enough of the scum bags who moved into the neighborhood.

Hi Gary;

Do they still run that flea Market?... I just moved to Winston Salem...

Go here for info on the Spring Meet:
http://cc_awa.homestead.com/Charlotte.html

The SX-25 I restored around 97. I had just gotten into BAs and it was my first real restoration. Bought it unseen from a lady about 50 miles from my house who was cleaning out her fathers’ radio shop stuff. It had been stored in a cellar with a leaky sooty oil furnace. Net result was the rig looked awful when I got it, but cleaned up very nicely. Recapped and restored it sounded great.

Sold it to someone out west about 3 years ago………. Would love to have that radio back

Can't think of any commercial ham radios that I wish I had back.   But there is one I'd dearly love - the Air Champ (Boy scout) two tube radio kit.  Either that or the Air Champ fixed crystal detector radio.  They must be very rare.  I've searched and searched the 'net for any mention of the Air Champ company with nil results.  Anyone here ever heard of them?

The were kits wired entirely with fahnestock clips.  All the soldering was done at the factory so there were wires coming off tube pins, coils, etc.

What I do wish I had back is the signals that short wave radios used to receive.

I suppose the one that I regret getting rid of the most was the Collins KW-1 serial #150 - the last one they made. At least I wished I had gotten rid of a bit later when the price went through the roof. I sold it in 1987 for $1800 and bought it in 1981 for $900.

Also had a SX-115 that I bought at Berryville for $80....IMHO that receiver sucked for AM...it was cool looking but too narrow and crappy audio. I think I let that one go for $150 - and that was after a complete restoration.

Then there was the Johnson Desk KW with desk that I bought for $200 at the Baltimore hamfest (Timonium now). I didn't care much for that rig either - noisy and always crapping out. That one went for $600.

My only regret is that I am not selling them all NOW!!   :'(

Got anything for sale, Dave  ;D

Ahh you sound better without that KW-1 anyway.  Cool xmitter to be sure, but most that I've heard on the air haven't impressed me too much.  There are a few exceptions - W0YVA's, and someone else I talked to not too long ago had a nice sounding one.... can't remember the call.

John,
      I think you'd also like the Collins "TDO". The TDO/16F is basically a 30K-1/KW1 that uses a pair of 813's modulated by 805's with the Collins "autotoon" setup. Think of having a KW1 that you dial in your memory channel and have all stages and the frequency tuned within 24 seconds!

Best Regards,
                 Joe Cro N3IBX

Only if they are still hot.

I know, Joe, those 30Ks are awfully cool.  I like the little telephone dial autotooner.

The Pavek Museum in Mpls has one, I've been bugging them to get that bad boy on the air.  If I lived out there still you know I'd be restoring that.

BTW when's good for you to get together to go thru that FRR-59?  Now that the holidays are over I got some free wkends.

73 John