[ARC5] Prices in "ye goode olde dayes"

[Glen Zook]

In high school, I was a member of Army MARS (AA9STH).  Every 60-days a box, weighing 101-pounds, would arrive will all sorts of "goodies", primarily parts and assemblies.  One time I got like 10-each inspection lamp assemblies from, I believe, B-29 bombers.  Those had a light, on a 5-foot retractable cord, that was then encased in a wall mounted box.  One day, I did get a power supply, brand new, in a weatherproof cabinet, that had all the voltages for ARC-5 and similar  equipment that had the capability of operating from 6 VDC, 12 VDC, 24 VDC, 120 VAC, and 240 VAC depending on how the input cable was wired.  Inside was a very large schematic, printed on silk, in a special holder. 

I don't even come close to remembering the nomenclature on that power supply.  I went off to college, got married, etc.  I don't know what my father did with that power supply.  Last time I saw it, it was in the basement.
 
Glen, K9STH


Website:  http://k9sth.com


________________________________
 From: Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net>
To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2013 11:53 AM
Subject: [ARC5] Prices in "ye goode olde dayes"
 
Even in relatively "modern" (from my perspective) times, new equipment prices
for even modest gear were always high.  The first new commercial ham rig I could
afford came well after college, following promotion to LTJG in the USN.  This
gave me the wealth to buy a HW-101 kit at a Heath store for $440.  That's almost
$1800 in 2012, and does not include the 400 Hz crystal filter, the HP-23 AC power
supply, the microphone, the speaker, and taxes.  (Heath stores generally charged
about ten percent more than the mail catalog.)

I still have it all today.  I need to break it out of storage...I love the
glow and warmth of the tubes.  My old HW-101 kit remains the most expensive
radio set that I ever bought or will ever buy, in terms of dollar buying power.

>> To put it bluntly, amateur radio today is CONSIDERABLY cheaper than in the 
>> "goode olde dayes"!

The same applies to most of the military surplus gear that was being sold 
"at such cheap prices" for 30 years after WWII.  That "cheap" used $80 BC-348-*
sold by Fair Radio in 1965 equates to more than $585 today.

Of course, one thing missing today is the massive and little-controlled freebie
program run by Army and Air Force MARS in the 1950s and 1960s.  :-)