Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil (W9IXX), who shares the following note posted on the Fair Radio Sales website:
After being in the surplus electronic military business over 50 years, I
have decided it’s time to retire and close the business. Fair Radio Sales
has over 30,000 sq ft of electronic parts and equipment that must go.
Over the next several months plan your visit to Fair Radio to stock up on electronic
parts, equipment, manuals, vacuum tubes and one of a kind items at
lower than hamfest prices. Buy an item, a pallet, or a truckload.
Come and make a deal. Cash and carry
Certainly the end of an era. I’ve bought a number of items from Fair Radio Sales over the years. If you live within driving distance and have vintage radio gear (especially military), you might consider a visit to stock up!
End of an era. My first purchase was back in the 70’s (a PRC-6 which I still have and a PRC-10). Since then, a PRS 7 mine detector, an AN/PIQ bull horn. Cool gadgets to experiment with.
When visiting Dayton Hamvention one of the airports used was often Detroit – so on the trip down I75 a detour was often made to Fair Radio.
Another bit of “Radio History” now just down to memories ……..
I visited Fair Radio once during mid 1990s and was astonished to see a MicroTel monitoring set that was advertised in AFCEA’s Signal magazine in the early 1970s. The set had been disassembled into several pieces and had the amazing range from 3kHz to 100 GHz. Only the TV demodulator was missing and it was capable of decoding any of the world’s known TV systems. Would have been a nice item for the Spy Museum in DC to collect instead of the ICOM R1000 on display!
As a kid (and radio nerd) growing up in Cincinnati in the 60’s, it wasn’t a bad drive up to Lima to visit radio utopia. Talk about a kid in a candy store! I bout many items over the years, 2-wqay radios, tuner box’s, assorted antenna parts, and some test equipment. The unique smells of the internals of a WWII radio bathed in their anti-corrosion paint was one that I can still remember to this day. It’s the little things that instill fond memories of the golden age of my radio hobby. I wish all of the owners and staff well in their retirement.
I will miss Fair Radio Sales. I got one of my R390As there, and sold two of them back to Fair Radio about 12 years ago at an Allen County Hamfest which Fair Radio hosted. Thank you Fair Radio for your business with the Hollow State community!!
A must stop on the way down to Dayton to pick up some items every year.
John VE3IPS
Remember the wall of R390s?
All the good ones are just about gone. Sorry to see this store go. I remember ordering my vacuum tubes and parts for my vintage radios .
All the good ones are just about gone. Sorry to see this store go. I remember ordering my vacuum tubes and parts for my vintage radios .
Wow. Another big name falls..