Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rich Nowak, who kindly shares photos from the Orlando Hamcation Flea Market.
Click on each image to enlarge:
What an impressive amount of vintage radios! I’m planning to attend Hamcation next year (2020)–now I know I’ll need to bring my truck to haul back all of the boat anchors! 🙂
Thank you for sharing these, Rich!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Thomas, who shares the following reply to our recently post highlighting a number of novelty radios. Mike writes:
That is a nice collection of novelty radios. I have a few of them but tend to focus on early production transistors.
[Here is a] picture of my collection:
This is a large photo–click to open and zoom in.
Wow! What a remarkable collection, Mike! Thank you for sharing!
Last week, I picked up the first season DVDs for the TV science fiction series “V” at our local library. I somehow missed this series when it was first produced in 2009–however, I do remember clearly the original 1984 series.
In the second half of the first season, a small group of resistance fighters created a makeshift basement headquarters for their operations. In many of the scenes, the camera would pan over a table with a compter (or laptop) and two radios. Both rigs appear to be transceivers or transmitters. 
Can anyone ID these sets? Please comment!
I’ll add this post to our growing archive of radios in film.
If you’re a regular here on the SWLing Post, you’ve no doubt discovered that I’m a fan of vintage radios.
Lately, I’ve been attempting to let go of some of my vintage gear to give my favorite rigs proper shelf space and dedicated antenna time. To keep temptation at bay when I visit flea markets or hamfests (like Hamvention and the one in Shelby, NC) I now focus on WWII era radios; specifically “morale” radios that were used for troop entertainment. I’ve two morale sets: the Scott Marine Radio Model SLRM (technically, a commercial version of a Navy set) and the Minerva Tropic Master.
I purchased this Minerva set off of eBay a couple years ago. I got it for $50 or $60, if memory serves (the seller originally wanted $180 + shipping!). He claimed it worked, but after I asked him a few questions prior to making an offer and learned that “working” meant the speaker prodeced a noise and the backlight worked. I made a low offer and he accepted.
Last year, I took Minerva over to my buddy, mentor and boat anchor doctor, Charlie (W4MEC). Charlie discovered the radio had many issues and several poorly implemented repairs. Still, in a few short weeks, when parts arrived he brought the girl back to life.
With front cover closed.
The Tropic Master is a portable eight tube receiver that covers both the AM broadcast band and shortwave bands from 5.5-18 MHz. It can be powered by AC or DC. It was “tropicalized” to withstand extreme heat and humidity. The internal speaker produces mellow, full-fidelity audio and the volume can be increased to room-filling.
To give you a taste, this morning I tuned the Tropic Master to my in-house AM transmitter on 1570 kHz which was being fed audio from The UK 1940s Radio Station (my favorite Internet radio station). This particular clip features Jay Lawrence’s excellent show, From Stateside:
Click here to view on YouTube.
The Tropic Master is portable and even has a fold down handle on top of the chassis. Though substantial, it must be the lightest of all of my vintage metal chassis radios.
Tuning isn’t exactly precise, but it does the job and is a pleasure to use. It’s quite sensitive on both shortwave and mediumwave. Last night, she was tuned to the Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz–I probably listened to two hours of Greek music while her eight tubes warmed the shack.
Who could turn down a radio with this speaker grill?
If you ever find a Minerva Tropic Master at a flea market or hamfest, I say adopt one! It’s a beautiful receiver and like all good vintage radios has a story and history of its own.
Post readers: Any other Tropic Master owners out there or do you have a morale radio? Have you ever spotted a Tropic Master in the wild? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kim Elliott, who shares this link to a French company called a.bsolument who specializes in converting vintage valve radios into hi-fidelity Bluetooth-connected audio devices.
According to a.solument’s introduction video, they take vintage radios in disrepair, gut the insides and replace the components with modern hardware which includes Bluetooth 4.0 and aux-in capabilities:
While I LOVE vintage radios, I have conflicting feelings about this process.
I take pride in keeping my vintage gear in proper working order (through the help of a mentor). Something that simply cannot be replicated with digital hardware is the sound and warm fidelity of AM audio emanating from a valve classic. At home, I have the option of feeding all of my vintage gear Bluetooth and wireless connectivity via an AM transmitter. This allows me to play any digital content while preserving the original audio fidelity (and warming my radio room with those glowing tubes!).
With that said, I’m very much aware that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the average consumer to find a technician who can repair tube gear affordably. Indeed, some feel it’s impossible thus toss their family radio in the trash.
If a.bsolument is giving vintage beauties–that would otherwise be in a landfill–a new lease on life, then I’m all for it!
What do you think? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Max Youle, who writes:
I thought I would send you a link to my radio collection.
Many of these are unique to New Zealand, and could be of interest to your readers.
I saved many of these radios from being trashed, by searching junk sales and second hand stores, over a period of the last 25 years
Click her to view Max’s collection via DropBox.
Wow! That is an impressive collection of radios, Max. It’s interesting to see so many New Zealand brands–I’m glad you’ve rescued these!
Max’s collection is so large I couldn’t possibly share them all here on the SWLing Post, so I asked Max if he could tell us which models are his favorites. Max replied:
My favorite radios would be:
Barlow Wadley XCR-30
1. Barlow Wadley XCR-30 featured here before https://swling.com/blog/2016/02/maxs-barlow-wadley-receiver-is-a-keeper/
Philips D2999
2. Philips D2999 for its good looks, ease of use , sound from the two speakers 3″ and 7″ and sharp MW DX
Sanyo Transworld 17h-815
3. Sanyo Transworld 17h-815 A beautiful looking classic with lots of chrome and a good performer
National Panasonic R-021
4. National Panasonic R-021 because it was my first radio, and a fairly rare collectible (article at the bottom of page) http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/history/chronicle/1977.html
Its hard to choose a favorite, as every one of my radios has a story ,i.e where I found it, who gave it to me, how much I paid for it, how collectible it is, etc, etc!!
Yes indeed, Max! It is difficult to pick a favorite–especially from such a large collection.
Thanks again for taking the time to share these with us!
In response to our recent thread of posts about the Crosley WLW Model Super-Power Radio Receiver, I’d like to thank both Jonathan Marks and Mike Barraclough for sharing the following video by TNT Amusements on YouTube: