[Milsurplus] Schooled by Ebay

[Hubert Miller]

For Sale:  A very nice Mackay Model 3001A Ship's Low frequency receiver covering 15 to 650 kHZ.  This is a Maritime Qualified Low Frequency Receiver which met industry guidelines for 500 Khz emergency service up until that requirement was no longer used.  It sports an amber dial which is clearly visible to the operator but subdued in terms of candle power.  During the war, radios that were 24 x 7 operated and had any chance of being visible when the radio room door was opened, were given subdued or opaque dial lenses to protect the ship from German or Japanese spotters.....Aluminum case work and heavy MFP for mildew prevention makes it a restorer's holiday.

Shore radios like the nearly identical Model 128 Ax series had white bright dials.... Some say this is really "Very Low Frequency", I don't know; perhaps the area of 15 to 650 kHZ encompasses both bands.  These are very popular in Europe as that region is also used there for their broadcast band.  This gave European shipping many shore points to navigate by or to.  It also gave the Allies many additional "Emergency Signal" listeners who could report in a distress signal being sent.  Even school children could understand what SOS meant ("We are sinking") and soon learned a new one: "SSS" - "the cause of this distress is a submarine torpedoing us".

Gosh, the enemy was watching out for radio room dial lights too, besides listening for the receivers ! Broadcast listeners in Europe, even schoolchildren, keeping an ear out for SOS signals !
How soon we forget !
-H M