[Milsurplus] 20 Years into the Future

[William Donzelli]

> Please say a little about the MAG. I have never seen it in a listing. I wonder
> what application it was intended for.  China also?

Green and portable, made by RCA. It is a box with a built in parabolic
dish, and it sits on a tripod. My guess is that they are from 1944,
and work on AM for voice way up at 2.4 GHz. Similar to the BC-9 that
stretched beyond the high end of the spectrum back in 1921, the MAG
manual says something about going thru all the 446A (I think)
lighthouse tubes until you get a set that will actually work.

The manual states the both the Navy and Signal Corps purchased them
(an unknown SCR?), some under an OSS contract. My example is one of
those from an OSS contract. It is also, unfortunately, pretty much
trashed from water damage.

Do you suppose the thing could be used for talking across the Channel?

> In your rating, it appears "overrated" is synonymous with "overpriced". That
> is purely an opinion, not a technical rating per the contemporary standards.

Yes, I mentioned it was pretty much just an opinion.

> You are missng the essential ingredient again.
> The oriental buyers never looked at a Bannermans catalog. They don't need
> no stinkin' catalog. They have #1 nationalist feeling #2 money and #3 scarcity
> of the desired item, as so much of this "product" was removed from the market.
> That is why the flow is in that direction.

Can it sustain for 20 years or longer? Maybe...but my feeling is that
it will not.

> Mmmm....i kinda don't think your numbers add up.

They do, and those numbers get bigger every week, when there is a new
guy introducing himself on the mailing list. A mailing list that now
generates about ten times the traffic that the
milsurplus/AWA/boatanchors lists combined. Go out and look for web
pages - you will find many more than those for big tube radios. And
then note the ages of the authors - sure, some are 40, 50, but many
more are 30 or so. Maybe go look and see that the vintage computing
section of Ebay is exploding, and the old radio section(s) is not.
Learn about some of these bidders on Ebay and you will see that they
could be your son, or even grandson. Look at the web pages for the
Vintage Computer Festivals over the past eight years - lots of young
folks in that crowd.

> So you are buying everything off the internet nowadays?

If not for all the legwork I do as a radio junk dealer, yes I bet
nearly everything would be from Ebay. Certainly not the hamfests or
ARC anymore.

--
Will