[Milsurplus] German Freya Radar on ebay

[J. Forster]

Although William is a bit too polite to say it, this is, at least in part, a
reply to my previous post.

 Part of the difference in opinion is because of collecting philosophy. To me,
to be really collectible, the thing has to be complete, working, and unrestored.

The first criterion needs a bit of explaining. If one took it too it's logical
conclusion, one could say that a complete ARC-5 receiver requires  B-17 to
properly display it. I don't go quite that far, but believe that if one is going
to collect a Rebecca (AN/PPN-2) you really need the Tx / Rx, Display, Control
Box, all 3 antennas, cables and mating connectors, and the test set. [BTW..
anyone have any FT-406, 409, or 416 shock mounts available??]  Same for any
system. Hence my comments on collecting the rest of the system.

As to working, I like my gear to be working as originally intended (capacitors
reformed, tubes degassed, bearings lubed, etc.). I get extremely annoyed at
museum displays that are obviously faked. IMO, there is very little to be learnt
from them. The chances of getting a Freya Rx and Tx, let alone the antennas and
other parts are slim at best, IMO.

As to unrestored, this is a real can of worms. Clearly depots repainted sets, so
why should they not be repainted now? No good reason, AFAIK, but I rarely give
such a set a second glance.

This brings up a related issue, that has been explored previously, but there has
never been a good resolution AFAIK. The problem is, what happens to all this
lovely stuff when we are no longer in a position to care for it. Anybody have a
really good answer?

-John

William Donzelli wrote:

> So why did a "trash heap" radar console go for $787?
>
> Well, it may be a shock to some of you - that piece was the single most
> significant bit of old radar technology EVER offered on Ebay, and
> certainly one of the most offered for sale anywhere in the past few
> years. Why? It's German, for one. Very little German radar technology
> remains outside of the British museum system, with the exception of tubes,
> of course. Also, it is a ground radar. With old radar systems from World
> War 2, the ground radars were probably the most important, yet survived in
> the fewest numbers. Lastly, it comes from a very important family of
> radars - the Freyas, the backbone of the German air defense system.
>
> As for condition - not great, certainly. The seller is pretty honest, and
> from my experience, the items are better than they appear in the pictures.
> Missing parts is an issue, but not a terrible one - the tubes can be
> found, as can knobs (little parts can still be found at German hamfests).
> The visor may be gone for good, but something can be fabricated.
>
> Doorstop? Radar consoles are the easiest part of a radar system to get
> working. Generally everything is fairly simple, and I doubt it is far
> different from US consoles. Consoles are also the easiest to get to do
> something - feed in video from another radar receiver or even a simulator,
> and watch the scope all night.
>
> Maybe when a modified RAT or RAV comes up on Ebay and goes for $787, we
> can all go nuts again.
>
> William Donzelli
> aw288 at osfn.org
>
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