[Premium-Rx] Mason Eng Model A-2 Receiver

[David I. Emery]

yOn Mon, Aug 04, 2008 at 09:08:47PM -0500, William J. Newman wrote:

> >From the limited information I’ve been able to find these radios were
> manufactured in the mid 1960’s and only sold to government agencies.  All of
> the modules have hand printed dials for tuning and everything fits neatly in
> its own brief case.  I’m told that the price for the radio when it was
> manufactured was around $6,000 dollars.  

	These radios were very common in the 60s and 70s and on into the
80s in government agencies for TSCM (searching for bugs).  I suppose a
few were also used to receive the output of a bug as well...  but their
basic mission was searching for and identifying bugs and related
signals.. sweeping an area to see that is not bugged and safe for
classified conversations.

	You might try Jim Atkinson's TSCM.com site for more information
on this and related topics...  folks there and associated with the gmail
TSCM mailing list could probably tell you many war stories and much more
about the thing.

	By modern standards of course those radios are pretty primitive
compared to the various DC to daylight computer controlled receivers available
now (and actually smaller in size), so its value is largely as a historical
artifact and not a receiver competitive by modern standards.

-- 
  Dave Emery N1PRE/AE, die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in 
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."