[Milsurplus] Gibson Girl, more

[Robert Nickels]

I don't know how often these things turn  up on eBay but I spotted a 
Russian one last night and upon checking, found several others, 
including a couple made by  Skanti Marinetta that look unused, and one 
Polish one (search for "lifeboat radio").    They all transmit on 500, 
2182, and 8364 khz with tunable receivers and have an automatic morse 
alarm of some kind, with hand cranks for power.  The antenna appears to 
be a base-loaded whip operated against a counterpoise wire.   I can't 
tell from the vintage whether they would be solid-state or tube type, 
although I suspect the latter.

The presence of a microphone indicates that the Russian one has voice 
capability, and since it won't come up in search due to a typo in the 
name here is the link for it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Russian-Marine-Emergency-Crank-Ratio-Radiotelephone-/151180164640

These things look really cool but don't seem very attractive other than 
as a collectible, especially at the prices asked for most of them.  And 
who'd have thought an ebay search for "Gibson Girl" would turn up nearly 
3,000 hits?

73, Bob W9RAN