[Lowfer] Allied Radio

[Paul Daulton]

The fellow who used to answer the phone at DC electronics in Scottsdale 
AZ was an engineer at Allied back in the 50's and 60's we've had some 
interesting conversations about Knight kits and test equipment. I have 
a mint condition sweep generator made by knight back in the '60s, I 
picked it up for $5.00 at a hamfest. Dozens of my novice friends had 
the T50 which was a clone( at about half the price) of a Johnson 
Adventurer. Layfaette has some really good gear, particularly the 
HA-350 which sold for $189 later at $129. It had a mechanical filter 
and crystal controled front end. I had one . It was as good as the 
Drake 2b, similarity between the Ha 350 and later Yaesu's makes me 
think it was made by Yaseu. 

Radio Shack has shifted away from the small parts and seems to 
concentrate on selling cell phones to people with bad credit. While the 
local store no longer carries such items as 8pin dip sockets and buss 
wire, these and many other items are still available online. A couple 
of my friends owned Radio Shack stores in small towns, both say a large 
percentage of their profits came from the small parts in blister packs. 
Sad that Radio Shack has quit promoting that business. RS prices on 
computers printers and other items are not competitive at all. I dont 
see how they stay in business. 

Paul k5wms

Quoting Dexter McIntyre W4DEX <dexter.mc at gmail.com>:
> History of Allied Radio on Wikipedia:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_Radio
>
> Allied marketed Knight Kits.  I built and still have several of the
> Knight Kits I built during the 60s.  Among those are the Star Roamer
> receiver, T-150 transmitter, R-100 receiver.  These kits were similar to
> Heath Kits but a bit more affordable.  Allied was at that time a very
> friendly ham oriented company.  All changed when Tandy Corp acquired
> Allied in 1970 and started opening Radio Shack stores.  Thats one
> reason, but not the only reason,  I never liked Radio Shack :)  Another
> reason is how aggressively RS competed with Lafayette Radio by opening
> stores close by. 
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Radio
>
> Knight Kits:
>
> http://www.nostalgickitscentral.com/allied/allied.html
>
> Dex
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Paul Daulton K5WMS
beacon WMS 185.302 khz qrss30/slow 24/7
Jacksonville,Ar 72076
em34wu