[Collins] Collins mods

Fri Jul 9 13:51:24 EDT 2004

George Sopocko sold the Radio TV Lab at least five years ago and 'retired'.
He still shows up with a table at Chicago area hamfests.  His hearing isn't
so good and don't get him started on his myriad of other health problems,
but he's still kicking.

Most of the stuff I bought from George over the years is gone too, having
been traded or sold as my interest changed.  Sure wish I'd kept the
Hammarlund SP-600-JX-17, because it was a nice one.  Someone had attempted
to install a product detector which didn't work worth a damn so George let
me have it for a little less.  The manual came with it (remember those 
days?) so I had the original circuit restored in a few hours and was
band cruising later that evening.

His former business is still there, being operated as Triode Electronics:
http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/index.html

>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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