[Collins] Collins mods

[Brian Sherwood]

When I got my ticket back in '79, the local boatanchor source was The
Radio-TV Lab on Irving Park Road in Chicago.  Goerge WA9JEZ still had the
old Philco dealer sign out front.  You walked into the place [sideways due
to the narrow aisle from door to counter which was all there was open to
customers] and it was piled higher than I could see over [I'm 6'6"] with
stack after stack of old Collins, Drake, Johnson, Heath, Hallicrafters,
Hammarlund, Elmac, Gslaxy...I don't think there was ever a rig I didn't
covet that wasn't represented there, except maybe the B&W 6100 [not a typo].
I bought my HQ129X there, my Eico 720, my Heath HG-10/DX60, my Johnson
Invader, my T4XB...all long gone now.  I wish I had kept them all.  I missed
out on the mint 51J4 George had, someone beat me to it before I could raise
the dough.  I still have the R388 my folks gave me for Christmas '79,
though.  I remember the pallet-size-by-6'+ high pile of S-Lines George
couldn't find buyers for to save his skin [although even at that they were
out of MY teenage pizza-joint-wage budget].

Sadly, The Radio-TV Lab is gone now...I'm not even sure if George is still
alive.  It was truly the last of the old "Radio Row" type places.  The last
time I saw George I bought a roll of #18 DCC wire...

73 de ka9egw [who after all these years still doesn't own or really want a
decent microphone...]

-----Original Message-----
From: collins-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:collins-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of David Knepper
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 4:02 AM
To: kiyoinc at attglobal.net
Cc: Collins Mail List
Subject: Re: [Collins] Collins mods


As we nostalgically look back at this era,  when many of us were rushing out
to buy those new Japanese models, with all those "bells and whistles"  that
were appearing in QST, I often wonder if any of us would have been standing
in line to acquire this post-Viet Nam Collins that you mention?

I can recall Collins sitting on hamfest tables "begging" to be taken home.
When you were running Collins in the 70's and even the 80's, many hams would
begin to nitpick that the radio was distorted and drifting off frequency.
"What do you want to run that tube stuff," they would say.  How the times
have changed!


Dave, W3ST
Publisher of the Collins Journal
Secretary to the Collins Radio Association
www.collinsra.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <kiyoinc at attglobal.net>
To: <collins at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 1:50 AM
Subject: [Collins] Collins mods


> The spotting button is standard on the 32S-3?  Huh, and it has
> real grid block keying too, like my DX-60.
>
> I'd get one of those, except I can't afford it.
>
> here's some Collins chat I started on USENET.
>
> > The proprietor of the local radio shop said that the S-Lines and
> > KWM-2s were going to Vietnam so a lot of guys were going for Drake,
> > "the DX-er's like Drake."
> >
> > Recently, I've heard two stories from that era, one is that at the
> > end of the war, they stacked up KWM-2's and R-390As, and ran tanks
> > over them.
> >
> > The other story is that there are cache's in Vietnam with
> > KWM-2s wrapped in plastic and buried.
> >
> > I don't know if either story is true.
>
> > I don't either but I know the following story *is* true:
> > Pallets of used R-390As were stacked ~10 feet high and left
> > out in the weather at a supply location. I saw the picture
> > and it was claimed to be genuine. These were units that
> > needed work but were mostly complete. The stack was at least
> > 25 x 25 feet, and the picture didn't include the whole pile.
> > Even as parts units, their value to hams is staggering.
>
> > Dunno if there were any Helena Rubenstein '390As in there....
>
> and:
>
> > I _SAW_ the folks at the Osan AB MARS shack tossing R-390s or
> > R-390As into a dumpster in October 1969, when I was
> > outprocessing at the end of a TDY. They told me I could have
> > as many as I wanted, but my hold baggage was on its way back
> > to Camp Drake already.
>
> de ah6gi/4  turning on his 75S-1 every night to listen to a few
> minutes of CW.  I gotta build an audio filter for my speakers.
>
>
>
>
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