[Milsurplus] Using Old Radios

[Bob Camp]

Hi

This turned out to be a little longer than I had originally intended  
- my apologies if you are on the on the other end of a modem line.

Radios are by far not the only item out there that are both "rare"  
and "surplus". Depending on which era they are from, it can be argued  
just how rare they are. Certainly any military radio gear pre-1910 is  
far from common around the shack here.

Other forms of military gear need to get quite a bit older to be  
considered rare. The first issue of anything regardless of age is  
going to be a collector item. A rifle chambered in 30-06 built before  
1910 is rare by that standard. A trap door Springfield converted in  
the 1870's is not rare by the same standard. Great Uncle Harry's  
dress jacket is a family heirloom if it's from the 1920's. It's a  
collector's item if it's from the 1820's. That's true weather he was  
a butler or a Major.

Aircraft are a favorite topic to bring up in this debate. The whole  
fly them versus display them argument gets *very* heated in that  
arena. It's also an area where we have no (as in not a single one)  
examples of many historically significant aircraft in existence  
today. We have replicas of many of these aircraft but none where more  
than 10% of the parts came out of the original manufacturing process.

Uniforms, weapons, radios, aircraft all are collectable. The stuff is  
rare not because we didn't make much of it. It's not rare because it  
all got blown up in combat. It's rare because we just plain threw it  
away. No place to put it, nobody interested in storing it, worth more  
as scrap metal, what ever.

The Smithsonian is a classic example of the problem. They have an  
ocean of stuff stored away. They exhibit a tiny fraction of their  
entire collection. The rest of the stuff is stored away and  
eventually a significant chunk of it is disposed of. This is hardly  
an issue only at one facility. It's a world wide problem. There  
simply is not enough room to store all the stuff unless it's highly  
interesting stuff. Europe is full of centuries old tiny little  
museums that are crumbling into dust for lack of funds to keep them  
going.

Regardless of weather its a B-17 or a BC-1000 it's a lot more  
interesting in operation than it is in a static display. That makes  
it more likely to be displayed or at least retained. It also makes it  
more likely to melt down or catch fire. Do we go for the money to  
keep the museum open today or the gear to display a couple of hundred  
years from now?

There is no single answer to this question in any of these areas. The  
two sides of the discussion will never totally understand each other.  
Flying classic airplanes into the ground raises the whole thing every  
couple of years. Burning up a radio is hardly as dramatic. The real  
answer is that these are two *different* hobbies. They get their raw  
material from the same pile, but they are doing different stuff with it.

A new in the original box piece of gear is an unusual item. A radio  
that has been through a number of hands and a has a number of reworks  
on it is a lot more common. I happen to use radios rather than  
collect them for static display. I think eBay is a wonderful thing.  
If I have a NIB radio I can sell it and use the proceeds to buy a  
couple of "normal" radios. I hope the guy who buys the NIB radio  
wants it for a static display. I also hope he has a way to keep his  
collection going after he no longer can maintain it.

Like it or not technology marches on. Are we going to have stations  
to listen to in a couple hundred years? I doubt it. Radio is moving  
to broadband / spread spectrum in a big way. We are rapidly wiring  
the globe three or four layers deep with a variety of communication   
technologies. The broadcast radio industry will change significantly  
as this happens. Military radio has changed already and is still  
changing. Utility and aircraft communications have changed and will  
change further. A R-390 is not going to be as interesting to use when  
the last AM station shuts down. That is not going to happen in my  
life time, but it will eventually.

If the radios are going to be used the time to use them is now.  
Saving them for our great great grandkids to work with does not make  
much sense. As they become more rare the prices on them will rise.  
The remaining radios will wind up in static displays. That's the way  
things work. Even if money is no object to you (can we talk about  
that?) it may be to your relatives. It simply makes sense to optimize  
the value of your collection down the road. Hack saw modifications  
(yes I'm guilty) are a lot less reasonable today than they were in  
the 1960's. Tossing old parts in the trash is not as smart today as  
it was in the 1960's. If nothing else - sell them on eBay. Better yet  
toss them in a bag and keep it with the radio.

I doubt we will ever rebuild radios the way we rebuild vintage  
aircraft. The level of interest just is not there. Hanging on to a  
partial radio is not the same thing as hanging on to most of a P-51.  
Blowing up an ARC-5 is not the same as flying a B-29 into the ground.  
You may moan about eBay, but it lets me pick up another ARC-5 in a  
couple of weeks. I could go to a *lot* of ham feasts these days and  
never see a good one. No matter how long I sit there I'm not going to  
see a listing for a NIB Martin B-26 (not the A-26).

Use the radios that have been used. Enjoy them while we can. Spark as  
much interest in them as working technology as possible. Pass the  
information on to as many people as you can. Get kids interested in  
this stuff. That's what will keep some of the gear preserved for as  
long as possible. People who use it are the ones who are the most  
interested in it. If nobody knows what the stuff is it will *all* be  
at the bottom of a landfill in a hundred years.

Preserve the radios that have been preserved. If I could still get a  
nice new ARC-5 for $20 straight from the RCAF depot I certainly would  
not hack it up. That goes double for all the trays and accessories.  
If the radio is in darn near factory new condition then leave it that  
way. There are still plenty of radios out there that are in less than  
new condition to play with. Like it or not chopped up radios simply  
are not going to "show" as well in a display. They are the real  
thing, but they are not what gets displayed. Long after the working  
radios are useless it's the display radios that will keep this stuff  
alive.

These may be two different hobbies, but they sure do need each other  
to survive.

     Take Care

             Bob Camp
             KB8TQ