[Boatanchors] You never know what you'll find in a boatanchor manual

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 2/1/07, Bob Young <youngbob53 at msn.com> wrote:

> glanced at the manual but never really looked at it well. I took it out
> tonight to read it as the 100 is out of the case and I'm checking the tubes
> etc. I found an original letter dated 6-8-63 to the Heath Co. stapled in the
> manual along with the response from Heath dated 6-10-63 (like to see that
> happen today), from Ed Borezo Jr. K1SHH asking for info on mods for this
> transmitter to change it to a B.

Cool stuff, Bob. And great that you are getting back in touch with the
gent who owned it. Nothing goes better with an old piece of gear than
its history, from the original owner. It can even add to the value, if
such value exists. But it's interesting, none-the-less.

Like others have mentioned, I've found my share of goodies from 4-leaf
clovers to letters, pictures, brochures, and so on. Some of the more
interesting items are hand-drawn schematics for mods or related HB
equipment. The KW-1 manual had a note in it that said 'Larry has the
other book' which always left me wondering - how many 'books' came
with it when it was new?! Warranty card was still attached, but maybe
there was a service manual beyond the owner's manual?

More bizarre things in equipment, of course. The usual suspects - dead
spiders, flies, and other critters, the occasional coin. One
Hallicrafters receiver had a spare halli-branded tube rolling around
beneath it, and so on. But the wildest were some old TV sets I took
apart in school, donated by folks in the community. One was full of
macaroni noodles, no doubt shoved through the vents by some
mischievous child. Another was full of knitting needles and crochet
hooks, again probably by some child who wanted mom to pay attention to
them instead of that stupid blanket, sweater, scarf, or pair of
mittens. Some were nearly a foot long, capable of hitting the HV line
to the tube, flyback transformer, and so on.

I had a Hammarlund HQ-150 that the former owner had written inside of.
It included where it was bought (Uncle Dave's Fort Orange in NY),
date, and amount paid. Others have included notes of work done by
former owners, or just their name/callsign. It's all good stuff.

Looking forward to hearing you on the air soon -

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ