[Milsurplus] BC-645 & my memories of G&G

[Hubert Miller]

Well, there was some price inflation later. Around 1964, at Pacific Surplus on First Avenue in Seattle - then "Skid Row", then a lot of flophouse
hotels, thrift stores, pawn shops, surplus stores, low budget music and bookstores,  now touristy gentrified -
you could get your VT-4C for $.35 or $.50   I thought I was the only one who had used them for forest war games, but at the PSARA swapmeet
August 20 2017 I talked with someone else who had expended them in the same way. The VT4C were good for  low velocity antipersonnel 
weapons with good spread. For against armored vehicles and such, small high vacuum tubes such as 6J6 were preferable and made a better pop, 
altho smaller spread. Who woulda thought ? Back then, suggesting the 211 tube would come back into favor would have been like predicting
a resurgence of spark transmitters.
-Hue 

-----Original Message-----
From: Verne Anderson [mailto:verneanderson at me.com] 
Sent: Monday, September 4, 2017 12:47 PM
To: Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com>
Cc: Military Surplus Mail List <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] BC-645 & my memories of G&G

How about VT-25/10Y & 211/VT-4C tubes for $.30 & 2.25 each.  G & G’s prices were on high side, maybe due to New York location.  
If only you could have had a crystal ball to predict the Audio Fools would pay mucho bucks today.  During 50’s & 60’s a VT-4C new could be had for 75 cents each from some surplus dealers.  Of course in those days most of us were either in Vietnam, school or a job earning $1.25/hr.  Gas was about $30/gal.  Never thought much about the future.

Verne
W6LPM

> On Sep 4, 2017, at 12:18 PM, Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com> wrote:
> 
> Some of those early prices were pretty unrealistic. The SCR-583, what 
> surplus hound was going to pay that ? Or the SCR-284, when other 
> places sold the radio alone, condition all the way from new to used, 
> for $15 - $50 ?  I think when you scale the money  up for today, the BC-645 was not really a bargain, especially when you saw what you got, and how ugly the conversions turned out, and how minimally useful. But the dealers had stacks and stacks of them to push out. I suppose it was a good bed for some UHF experiments, but less than an ideal "learning kit".
> -H
> 
>> If anyone is interested, I have a scanned copy of G & G Catalog No. 67 (Maybe from 1967?).  It is 7.7 MB pdf size; but may be able to reduce the size to make it easier to email to anyone.  
> 
> How about a BC-645 complete package for $26.95.  Radio Set SCR-583 complete for $575, SCR-284 set complete for $475.
> 
> The catalog has a lot of detail on each Mil sets for sale.  Great piece of history.
> 
> Verne
> W6LPM
> 
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