Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Robert Yowell, who writes:
Hi Tom – some years ago, you posted an article about the famous Kon-Tiki expedition and the use of the National NC-173 on board.
Well, today during my first-ever visit to Oslo, Norway, I stopped by the Kon-Tikki museum – devoted to the r expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl.
And sure enough, right there in the Kon-Tikki raft exhibit you can see the actual radio he used! In fact, the radio operator was a radio operator named Knut Haugland, who was also a radio operator for the Norwegian resistance during World War II. There is a photo in the museum of him operating the NC-173, which I am also including here.
If you are ever in Oslo, the museum is definitely worth a visit!
All the best,
Robert
What an exciting world that was, today the magic is gone.
It’s documentary is on YT
We were there a few years ago, Oslo has conveniently arranged a number of museums together on the small Bygdøy Peninsula, this and the amazing Viking Age Museum among them. Worth a visit.
My father, Robert Atkins, was a ham radio “traffic handler” for the Kon-Tiki expedition, helping to pass messages of the voyage’s progress to news media. He was always proud of this accomplishment, as well as serving a similar on-air role for the Gatti-Hallicrafters expedition to Africa in 1947-48.
Sadly, no one in my family remembers his call sign. He ceased all radio activity before I was born, and moved on to other interests.
Great post. Thanks. If you can’t make it to the museum Thor Heyerdahl’s KonTikki’s a great read.