Tag Archives: Dan Robinson

eBay find: Rack of classic receivers

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shared a link to this rack of classic cold war era receivers. The starting bid is $943.75 and there is no shipping cost as it’s local pickup only (no surprise there).

Here’s the description from eBay:

LOCAL PICK UP ONLY Paso Robles Ca. 93446. Good condition, rack of Communications and Amateur Radio receivers. Includes Hallicrafters R-46B loudspeaker, two each Hammarlund SP-600 JX-26 receivers with one frequency readout as shown above the top receiver, a National NC-300 receiver with calibrator accessory, and a Hallcrafters SX-101A receiver with calibrator accessory. The rack cabinet is included. All have normal wear for vintage electronics, worn with faded, chipped and rust spots. The SP-600 receivers (both) dial slips and may need repair. All units may need further repair, alignment, or refurbishing. Local pick up only, I can help loading into your vehicle. 70hi 22wide 20deep weights about 600 pounds

Click here to view on eBay.

I think this would be a great deal if all of the equipment was in working order. I suspect this seller hasn’t tested anything and is, most likely, not a radio enthusiast. I bet the reason the SP-600 dials are spinning freely is because the tuning lock is engaged on each unit–possibly a good sign that the previous owner took care of the equipment. All of it looks good (cosmetically) for its age.

If I were interested, I’d go by and check this out in person prior to bidding.

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This Sony ICF-6800W just sold for $919 US on eBay

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who followed this Sony ICF-6800W on eBay. Dan notes:

In my talk at the SWL Fest, I rated this receiver as among the best ever made for SWLing.

Dan believes the final price of $919.00 may be a record for the ICF-6800W on eBay. Click here to view the archived listing on eBay.

This is the thing about sites like eBay: the market price of any given item is the price it eventually fetches in auction. This Sony appears to be in superb shape and was being sold by a seasoned seller with a high approval rating. The collector behind the winning bid paid top dollar, but he felt it was a fair price to snag this rig.

Note of caution about eBay BuyItNow pricing

The ICF-6800W above was sold in an auction listing. There are times, however, when eBay sellers don’t have an item up for auction, rather they ask for fixed “BuyItNow” prices which are sometimes outrageous. For example, I see a lot of shortwave portables that are still in production being offered at three times the retail price. These sellers are hoping you didn’t do your homework prior to purchasing at a fixed price. We actually addressed this issue last year–check out our previous post:

An eBay caution: some sellers are out for a buck–or hundreds

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Radio World: Schenectady Shortwave Transmitters, 1941

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for sharing a link to the following article in Radio World:

The General Electric Co. was truly among America’s premier broadcasting companies.

In addition to developing much of early broadcast technology and building a trio of high-power AM stations in the early 1920s — WGY Schenectady, N.Y.; KOA Denver; and KGO Oakland, Calif. — GE was also the country’s pioneer shortwave broadcaster.

GE’s initial shortwave station, 2XI, first broadcast in 1923, and in 1924 it was used to relay WGY’s programs for to KOA and KGO for rebroadcast in the western U.S.

By 1925, there were two experimentally licensed shortwave stations in Schenectady: W2XAD and W2XAF. A third GE station in San Francisco, W6XBE, was added in 1939.

That was the year that the Federal Communications Commission allowed the country’s experimental shortwave stations to relicense as commercial operations, and these three GE stations received the call signs WGEA, WGEO and KGEI, respectively.

Continue reading the full article at Radio World.

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Part 2: SWLing Post shack photos

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Arie van Bezooijen’s (PE1AJ) shack photo

Several months ago, we conducted a shack photo contest sponsored by Universal Radio. I’m posting all of your excellent photos as time allows and putting them under the tag, shack photos.

The following is the second set of ten photos along with any notes that were included.

Click on images to enlarge and enjoy:

Rajesh Chandwani, VU2OEC

Notes:

?My radio shack has radio from two generations, that is, my father’s tube radio, viz., Murphy TAO 776 MARK II. My father, Mr. P. R. Chandwani, also a Shortwave Listener, purchased Murphy Radio in Summer of 1971.

I used to see him install wire antenna between to bamboo poles or mesh antenna in our room for shorwave signals. I love this old murphy radio. I carried on further the legacy of radio listening till 2005 and then got my Ham ticket. My radio shack also have state-of-the-art technology radios, like, Kenwood TS-590s and Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium. Overall, it is the love for radio, experience of years & years of listening works out. Even after becoming ham, I still indulge in Shortwave Listening, AM Bands and FM Dxing. It is a lot of fun. My 14 year old son, viz., Chittaranjan too some time takes interest in radio technology.

?73?
Rajesh Chandwani, VU2OEC
Gurgaon (Haryana)
INDIA

Moshe Ze’ev Zaharia

Notes:

I actually have two favorite listening posts, as seen in the following pictures:

In the first you can see the Ben-Gal Duet Stereo, Tube radio with record player. The Ben-Gal covers Shortwave in 3 overlap bands continues from about 2MHz up to about 23MHz, it has an RF stage and it is very sensitive. Above are (from left to right): the Sangean ATS909, Tecsun S2000, and Philips 90AL765.

In the second picture is the Ben-Gal Verdi. In contrast to the Duet Stereo, it lacks the RF stage, but 15 meters of wire as an antenna compensate for that. I like to lay down on the sofa, in the dark, spin the dial on this radio while gazing the green light of the EM84 tuning tube.

Best Regards,
Moshe Ze’ev Zaharia
Be’er Sheva
Israel

Elwood Downey, WB0OEW

Notes:

Main rig at this time is Elecraft KX3, both on-air and SWL. I also still have my Knight Kit Star Roamer I built in 1970 to which I added a BFO but it is not in the photo. Ham interests include antennas, building and digital modes. SWL interests include WX FAX, utility and military.

Thanks for a great website.

73, Elwood

Tucson Arizona

Gregory

Notes:

Here is my Tecsun PL-600. My other toys include UHF-walkie and RTL-SDR, and that’s it for now. I was laying in my mother-in-law’s garden, in evening twilight, and this very friendly stray cat came and jumped on me to listen 20m hams too.

Best regards,
Greg,

Yekaterinburg Russia

Dan Robinson

Dan Robinson sits in front of his “main stack” of receivers in his basement shack in Potomac, MD.

The former VOA correspondent currently runs, from top to bottom, a RFT EKD-515, McKay Dymek DR33-C6, JRC NRD-301A, Drake R7A/RV75, Eddystone 6200, JRC NRD-515. Just behind Dan, you find a Drake R8, SONY ICF-6800W, and a Kenwood R-2000, while not seen behind this veteran DX’er is a NRD-545. Dan notes that the receivers shown constitute only about half of his collection.

In his “back room” he has everything from a Panasonic RF-9000 and Grundig Sat 650, to an R-390A and JRC NRD-93.

David Self, K8SSN

Primary radio is a Flex 3000 and a secondary FT900. Location is Hamilton, Ohio.

Satyan, VU3MES

Notes:

Top is my ham radio equipment and bottom shelf is for my JRC NRD92 – 35 years young.

Art van Esch, VK4GO

Notes:

I am a ham since 1963 was born in The Netherlands, moving to Australia in 1980. I am active on the short wave bands.

Regards de Art VK4GO

Queensland, Australia

Anthony Bueron

Notes: Hello, my name is Anthony Bueron from the Philippines. Here is a photo of my shortwave radio. Thanks!

Francisc Grünberg, YO4PX

Notes:

My name is Francisc Grünberg, a radio ham with the call sign YO4PX. I live in Constanta, Romania. More about me and my ham radio activities and publications may be found on my QRZ.com page at https://www.qrz.com/db/yo4px

From there you may see that I was a short-wave listener for 17 years because of the discrimination of the former communist authorities, before obtaining my transmitter license in 1980.

I am a writer, a journalist and a professional certified and sworn translator for 4 languages. I am also my own webmaster at http://yo4px.blogspot.ro where more than 850 articles (translations and own writings) were published in the last 6 years.
A picture of me in my shack is attached.

The gear I am using is presented on my QRZ.com page.
My postal address is also there, but I repeat it:

Grünberg Francisc
Constanta, Romania

Again, many thanks to all who sent in their listening post photos. I absolutely love the variety!

Follow the tag Shack Photos for more!

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eBay Find: The RCA CRM-R6A communications receiver

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

[Check out this] rarely seen RCA receiver:

http://ebay.to/23NHtYv

Thanks for the tip, Dan!

I just checked Fred Osterman’s Shortwave Receivers Past and Present. It appears the CRM-R6A is a “double conversion super” with 16 tubes and typically weighs 92 lbs. They were manufactured in the US between 1965 – 1969 and cost $1795 when new. The CRM-R6A can be mounted in a rack, of course.

It’ll be interesting to see if someone meets the first bid amount of $750.

Regardless, that’s some serious heavy metal!

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Dan notes a Collins 51S-1 NOS that is near record price

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[See update below]

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

This NOS 51-S1 is headed for a record price for an Ebay sale. I have only seen one of these in this condition in my decades on Ebay. This is a rare rack version complete with box and original accessories. The preselector, also NOS, sold earlier today:

Click here to view on eBay.

I’ll watch this auction just to see how high the price goes. At time of posting, it was at $4,850 US (plus shipping):

UPDATE: The winning bid was $5,500 US plus $56.19 shipping:

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eBay Find: Barlow Wadley XCR-30 Receiver

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Barlow Wadley’s show up every now and then on Ebay, but infrequently with the original papers.

Rarely, one sees them with the original box. These are great representatives of SW radio history, though you have to take care to ask question of the seller.

This price appears to be quite high (roughly $490 US), especially for a radio without the FM band, which was added in later production runs:

Click here to view on eBay.

Thanks, Dan! Someone brought one of these to the SWL Fest some years ago and it attracted quite a crowd. I’ve never had one on the air, though–very curious how well they perform.

Are there any SWLing Post readers who own the Barlow Wadley XCR-30? Please comment!

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