On 11/14/2021 8:03 PM, Robert Nickels wrote:
> As a follow-on to Dave's recent posts about the Bendix,
>here's one you don't see often - a Sea Rad MM-50
>made by Multi Products Company of Oak Park MI, aka "Multi Elmac":
> https://tinyurl.com/4rjh4a68

Thank you for posting about this interesting radio, Bob.
There's always a thing or three about them to peak interest,
at least for me.  How about that red wire run from the 6146
plate cap, across and above nearly the whole innards of
the radio, so they can connect to a neon lamp on the
front panel and indicate RF being generated. Oh, My! ;-)

Several things about these radios appeal to me.
First- They're usually cheap.  That stirs the Scots ghost
in my soul.  I've paid as little as $10 for nice, clean sets.
IIRC the most I ever paid for one of these AM transceivers
was $50, which was for a very cool Western Electric
227B (Related to the TRC-109)
I need to put that radio back on the air- I like the handset.


Second- They are usually simple circuits which are easy
to repair, but with "eccentricities" that add interest.
Inevitable that, if you're going to be an "old radio" person,
you need to be in love with your soldering iron
because you're going to be spending a lot of time together.
If one can't or won't regularly get elbows-deep in them,
one should just buy a big-bucks "computer with antenna"
and be done.

Third- The Stories.
You know, when someone tells the story:
"This radio was used in the Beaufort Sea fishing fleet,"
there is no more proof that story is false than there is
that it is true.  So why assume an intentional deception?
Why assume the worst of someone when one has no proof?
People may inflate a little, conflate a lot, often with no
real awareness they're doing it, but intentional,
malicious deception is uncommon, at least in my experience.
Ignorance and confusion are common and forgivable.
Actual malice is rare.

Well, unless the story is just outrageous- You know,
like the one about SCR-287 and SCR-274 being installed
in Rescue motor launches along flight paths in the Pacific,
or the silly one about there being a Marine Corps version
of the BC-611.  I remember how people scoffed and laughed
and rolled their eyes at those "howlers-"
until documentation and physical evidence showed-up
to prove those stories entirely accurate.
"Never say Never."

There is this from President Harry Truman:
As a boy, Truman enjoyed an annual "Decoration Day"
picnic oration of a certain Colonel Crisp who recounted
in heroic detail the Civil War Battle of Lone Jack.
Challenged once on his accuracy by a veteran
who had been in the battle, Crisp responded:
"Damn an eyewitness anyway.
He always spoils a good story!"

So folks- unless you have iron proof something is false,
"why spoil a good story?"
Napoleon said that "History" was a pack of
lies we've all agreed to believe. Sounds legit :-D

GL OM ES 73 DE Dave AB5S

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