[Milsurplus] "Northern 252"

[Hubert Miller]

I was at the Puget Sound Antique Radio Association ( PSARA ) auction July 16 and as I expected, I had a lot of fun.
The radio I was interested in, the Northern Radio model below, was what I mostly went for.
I was the ONLY bidder and won at the reserve, a big $12, so how about that!
I have asked people to guess its year and like me, they guess 1930s. But when you lift open the top, you see miniature
7-pin tubes, such as the final, a 6AQ5. Also the size in real life is much smaller than the photo might persuade. It's about the
size of a Hallicrafters S-20, something like that. The left side behind the speaker has a Mallory Vibra-Pack supply. There are
5 crystal sockets but none installed. The receiver tunes 1150-3400 kHz, rather odd and interesting. The thing looks like it was
never used. Another oddity is that although the tubes would indicate postwar, the actual nameplate name is
"Northern Electric Co." which I have to assume was the soon to become, "Northern Radiotelephone" and then "Northern
Radio".  Remember, this is NOT the "Northern Radio" of the East Coast, which built TTY-related equipment.
Dave Stinson opined that this radio, with the National-type dial, would not stand up to marine service, like on a fish boat,
and I'd have to agree. So I am guessing it was intended for some kind of land service, like Forest Service or BLM ? Just a
guess! Or maybe it was a test model for marine service? I dunno! It's heavier than the small size would tell the eye, but it's
a neat little package and with a bit of tweaking might be fun on 80 meters.

There were some communications receivers at the auction plus numerous home radios. When I return home I'll post a list of
radios and realized prices from the auction for your delectation.
-Hue

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