[Milsurplus] 1980's Navy R-390A's

[gl4d21a at juno.com]

There were several pallets of R-390s stored outdoors for months here at Kelly Field DRMO.  As far as any of us regulars ever saw, they never came up for either sealed bid or auction.  I'm a little hazy on the time frame anymore, but I *think* this was in the early '90s, maybe even as far back as the late '80s.

73,
George
W5VPQ

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Jim Conrad <jjc at oceanviewcom.com>
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] 1980's Navy R-390A's
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 08:38:20 -0500

I was one of the people that bid on the R-390 lot that was stockpiled 
outside on pallets at St J's DRMO facility in the mid to late 90's. 
They had been stored outside for a number of months. They were in 
fair condition (less the radium meters) when staged but as the months 
went by of course the elements took their toll.

I was bidding for another company and given the time since the 
auction I don't even remember if I won the bid or not because if I 
had the company I was bidding for would have arranged for the 
shipment. This was in the day when the auctions were the real deal 
held at the Norfolk DRMO facility in person using paddles with 
numbers like you see occasionally on TV. As I recall there was over a 
hundred of them and the lot went for many thousands of dollars.

That was one of the last large quantity surplus sales of vintage 
communications equipment. Shortly after that time DRMO changed policy 
on DEMIL and started to drop a twenty ton anchor on most of the 
interesting communications equipment.

I have been involved in buying and selling of government surplus 
since around 1990 when I got out of the Navy. Most of the good stuff 
no longer makes it to surplus because of the ever more strict DEMIL 
codes. It was easier to get the "good" stuff during the Cold War then now.


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