[Boatanchors] Cardwell 54

[Richard Knoppow]

     I have an August, 1946 edition of QST with ads for a couple 
of interesting receivers in it. I am pretty sure I've asked about 
these before. One is the Pierson KP-81, there is a handbook for 
it on BAMA so it evidently actually was sold, the other is the 
Cardwell 54. The picture in the ad looks like an artist's 
rendition and not an actual photo. While the ad states the 
receiver was shown at a Chicago radio convention I wonder if what 
was shown was either a mock-up or prototype. The specs are 
interesting. The closest thing to it seems to be the Hammarlund 
SP-600. Even there the earliest ads for them show a drawing and 
give specs which are not for the actual production version, which 
was not on the market for a year or more. The dials on the 
Cardwell look interesting and I wonder if they were not proposing 
the differential dials used much later on the Hammarlund Pro-310. 
I also know this was a period of great flux in manufacturing from 
both economic causes and rapid change in technology. A lot of 
smaller businesses just vanished, perhaps true of Pierson.
    In any case, if anyone knows anything I would be glad to hear 
it.
    I will also tack on a question about Solar Capacitors. They 
seem to have vanished in the late 1940s as did Micamold.
    I might be able to find out something from the business 
journals at Worldradiohistory.org but it would take a lot of 
searching so I am looking for a clue for guidance.

-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL