Tag Archives: Radios in Movies

Can you identify this radio from the 1992 film, ‘Sneakers’–?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Emilio Ruiz, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

I’m sending you and The SWLing Post readers these screenshots from the cult
movie Sneakers; a great movie about incipient world of hacker security
(phreaking, hacking, cryptography, etc).

In a scene with Robert Redford and Dan Aykroyd, it looks like a radio communications receiver in the background, but i don’t know what brand is.

Could you help for identification?

Great job spotting that radio in the background! Readers: please comment if you can help Emilio identify this rig!

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A Panasonic RF-2200 in “The Walking Dead”

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Panasonic RF-2200

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs, who adds the following note to his recent radio sighting (of a Hallicrafters HT-32 Transmitter) in the series “The Walking Dead.”

Balázs notes that in the season nine finale, he spotted the previously mentioned HT-32 (see image below), in addition to the iconic Panasonic RF-2200 (see image above).

Hallicrafters HT-32 Transmitter

Honestly, I think both of these radios would serve you well in a post-apocalyptic world!

Turns out, The Walking Dead is filmed in Senoia, and Fayetteville, Georgia, USA and SWLing Post contributor, Steve Yothment, lives nearby. As the then president of his radio club, he was consulted last year about radio gear to use on The Walking Dead set. He tells us to look out for an HF amplifier and field strength meter in future episodes! How cool is that?!

I’ll add this post to our ever growing archive of radios in film!

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Balázs spots a Hallicrafters in “The Walking Dead”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Some radio fixing and a plan to create a radio connection between the survivor settlements in the latest (shocking) episode of The Walking Dead (S09E15):

Very cool, Balázs–thanks for sharing!

So can anyone name the model of the Hallicrafters rig on the table? Please comment!

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John spots a spark gap transmitter in Netflix series “Rebellion”

WWII Machine Shop Supervision film includes the Hammarlund Super Pro

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Colin Snow (KM6NTW), who notes that the following 1944 film “Maintaining Workers’ Interest” from the US Office of Education, features the Hammarlund Super Pro.

The video starts at the point in the film where the Super Pro is featured. To view the film from the beginning, click here.

https://vimeo.com/399908150

Click here to view on YouTube.

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Mark spots a self-powered radio in “The Division”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who shares the following:

I’ve recently got back into computer games after a gap of several years, and have recently discovered one called “The Division”.

The level of detail in the game is amazing, and the representation of parts of Manhattan compare very favourably with Google Street View.

Radios popup fairly regularly as props in houses and military bases, including this windup model shown in the image above.

Thanks for sharing, Mark! That’s impressive design detail for a game. Looks like a radio I’d consider purchasing. I’m very curious if it’s based on a real life design–if so, I’ve never seen it. Please comment if you can ID this radio.

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This NYC vintage vault is a source of electronics for movies and TV shows

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From “Fear of the Walking Dead”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Kevin and Stan who share the following article from Gizmodo. Stan notes:

You (and your readers) often comment on radios in movies and tv shows,
so I thought ya’ll might be interested in the following article:

“Where Movies Get Their Vintage Electronics”
https://gizmodo.com/where-movies-get-their-vintage-electronics-1832218560

Turns out, some come from an electronic waste recycling company in NYC,
which repairs and resells some of the waste they collect, puts the best
specimens in a museum/prop library for movies and TV show, and the rest
is recycled in an environmentally conscious way without ending up in a
landfill.

Fascinating! That vault looks amazing! I think it’s brilliant that set designers reach for vintage radios and I’m glad the vault has a ready supply!

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