[Milsurplus] Pan Am radio equipment

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 4:13 PM, mac <w7qho at aol.com> wrote:
> Radio equipment in the replica doesn't look anything like the  the setup in
> the original picture that launched this thread.....


If you go to the museum website, they also have several shots of a
radio center there with a SP-600, SP-400, newer RACAL receiver and
several interesting transmitters. Also a CR-88 or 91. Most of the
receiving gear is post war, while the transmitting gear looks WWII or
earlier.

There's actually an old ad for sale on ebay right now from the mid 30s
claiming Pan-American relied on RCA Magic Brain circuitry in their
Sikorsky flying boats. Shots at the bottom include a Vibroplex similar
to the one in the video I posted a couple days back, and clearly
visible above the key are the same knobs from the old 20s style
vernier tuning used on the Pan Am sets:

http://tiny.cc/dsjhf

No RCA gear anywhere. So on the one hand, the ad seems to be promoting
better technology, but on the other hand - they aren't showing it,
though they do mentioned using RCA devices and inventions. I recently
picked up a nice RCA AVR-11 tower receiver from this time period with
the Magic Brain circuitry that would be right at home in Pan Am's HQ,
but information on it is at least as scarce as the Pan-American gear.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4