Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:
[This Barlow Wadley XCR-30 (above)] appears in Episode 4 of The Looming Tower on Hulu. Shown sitting in a slum in Nairobi (or a location posing as Nairobi), tuned to what sounds like Radio Australia…
Great catch, Dan! If I ever find an XCR-30 in great shape, I think I’ll snag one. I’ve always loved their simple, all-business front panel and legendary–once benchmark–performance.
Of course, I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film!
I have a fully functional Barlow-Wadley XCR-30 sitting behind me in my lab at the University of Victoria – bought it from Ian McFarland of Radio Canada International.
I’d happily send it off to a younger radio enthusiast for future caretaking and use.
I check it against my signal generators occasionally – still crazy sensitive uniformly from one end of its range to the other.