[Milsurplus] [armyradios] re: radium and eBay

[J. Forster]

To be honest, Radium dials are a bit of a sore point for me.

About 10 to 12 years ago, after 9/11, I bought a beautiful, fully
accessorized WS 58 radio from a dealer in Canada. It was shipped in two
lots to me from Quebec.

One box had the Vibrator Power Supply.

The second had the radio and a couple of rare headsets, antennas, etc. The
radio has some Radium on the dials. I expect it'd make a Geiger Counter
sing.

Anyway, I got the VPS w/o difficulty.

The radio just disappeared at the border. I put a lot of time and energy
into trying to trace it, even calling the Canadian Postmaster General. It
just  vanished. I suspect it wound up in a DHS dump somewhere.

It represented absolutely no threat to anyone who didn't lick the dials,
but try and explain that to a nameless, faceless authority somewhere.

The radio survived WW II, but not modern, irrational government.

YMMV,

-John

===============



> Right on John!  Ditto from me
>
>
>
> "Suppose you were an
> idiot and suppose you
> were a member of Congress.
> But I repeat myself".
>        Mark Twain
>
>> On May 4, 2014, at 16:45, "J. Forster" <jfor at quikus.com> wrote:
>>
>> eBay has far too many restriction already. PLEASE keep quiet about it.
>> The
>> risk is very small unless you lick the dials of your radios.
>>
>> IMO, it's incumbant on those who buy techno toys to know the risks. Many
>> use lethal high voltages or put out RF capable of burns. LASERs can
>> blind.
>> A soldering iron can burn. X-Acto knives can cut. Chemicals can poison.
>> Bicycles and skis can kill.
>>
>> You are not everyone's nanny.
>>
>> YMMV,
>>
>> -John
>>
>> =================
>>
>>
>>
>>> The recent discussion on Glowbugs about Pyranol capacitors and such
>>> reminded me of this. Some mil radios, such as TBX and TBY, have pretty
>>> good loads of radium paint on front panel and even on dials. I recall
>>> one
>>> article in E-R years back that advised NOT having the radio on, for
>>> example,
>>> a desk in front of you where you habitually spend time.
>>> Now, on eBay, I have NEVER seen any mention of the radium potential.
>>> Should there be? Would eBay ixnay the listing if it did mention radium?
>>> Is the 'right thing' to do, to mention the radium and the potential
>>> risk,
>>> and cautions?
>>> I can foresee myself listing a few TBX in the near term.
>>> Maybe eBay should be more concerned about this and less about a
>>> swastika, for example, on a military medal.
>>> -Hue
>>> ( posted to Glowbugs, milsurplus, armyradios. )
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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