{"id":421,"date":"2009-11-06T13:14:16","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T13:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=421"},"modified":"2009-11-07T13:16:54","modified_gmt":"2009-11-07T13:16:54","slug":"lessons-from-military-surplus-radios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/lessons-from-military-surplus-radios\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons From Military Surplus Radios"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The AN-GRR-5 Military Shortwave Radio. (Photo source: Popular Science)<\/p><\/div>\n

Vin Marshall, of Popular Science, has written a great short article about lessons learned from military surplus radios:<\/p>\n

“Military surplus equipment is more than just cheap, weird and green. For me, it’s a design study in what happens when usability and ruggedness are given priority and production cost is forgotten. […] Leaving aside the cost issues, I like to look at these pieces of equipment as a design study: How to build something that will be easy to operate and will continue working in almost any conditions.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article on Pop Sci’s website<\/a>–be sure to check out the photo gallery, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vin Marshall, of Popular Science, has written a great short article about lessons learned from military surplus radios: “Military surplus equipment is more than just cheap, weird and green. For me, it’s a design study in what happens when usability and ruggedness are given priority and production cost is forgotten. […] Leaving aside the cost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[162,163,161],"class_list":["post-421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-military-radios","tag-popular-science","tag-vin-marshall"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-6N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57392,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/fair-radio-sales-is-closing\/","url_meta":{"origin":421,"position":0},"title":"Fair Radio Sales is closing","author":"Thomas","date":"August 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2019s time to retire and close the business. Fair Radio Sales has over 30,000 sq ft\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fair-radio-sales-welcome.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fair-radio-sales-welcome.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fair-radio-sales-welcome.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fair-radio-sales-welcome.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fair-radio-sales-welcome.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5455,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/video-r1155-radio-as-fitted-into-a-lancaster-bomber\/","url_meta":{"origin":421,"position":1},"title":"Video: R1155 Radio as fitted into a Lancaster Bomber","author":"Thomas","date":"January 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"If you like military radios as much as I do, you'll love this video of Andy's (GW0JXM) R1155 WWII era military HF receiver: Hat tip to my good friend, Mike, for sending this video!","rel":"","context":"In "Boat Anchors"","block_context":{"text":"Boat Anchors","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/boat-anchors-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6192,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/annual-infoage-radio-electronics-auction-april-27th-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":421,"position":2},"title":"Annual InfoAge Radio Electronics Auction, April 27th 2013","author":"Thomas","date":"April 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"If you live near Wall, New Jersey and love antique radios, this is the auction for you. Proceeds benefit InfoAge, the Radio Technology Museum and National Broadcasters Hall\u00a0of Fame. View the auction catalog by clicking here, full auction details below: (Source: NJARC Press Release) ANNUAL INFOAGE RADIO ELECTRONICS AUCTION Saturday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Boat Anchors"","block_context":{"text":"Boat Anchors","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/boat-anchors-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"This beautiful BC-654-A is just one of the antique radios up for auction.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/BC-654-A-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41195,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/restoration-of-a-usn-version-of-the-arc-5-command-set-receiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":421,"position":3},"title":"Restoration of a USN version of the ARC-5 command set receiver","author":"Thomas","date":"December 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Southgate ARC) Gregory Charvat N8ZRY\u00a0writes on Hackaday about an un-modified-since-WW2 surplus CBY-46104 receiver with dynamotor. He writes: I\u2019ve been told all my life about old-timey Army\/Navy surplus stores where you could buy buckets of FT-243 crystals, radio gear, gas masks, and even a Jeep boxed-up in a big wooden\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How To"","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ARC-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ARC-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ARC-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ARC-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30403,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/dan-spots-shortwave-radios-in-the-film-operation-chromite\/","url_meta":{"origin":421,"position":4},"title":"Dan spots shortwave radios in the film “Operation Chromite”","author":"Thomas","date":"January 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who writes: Operation Chromite (2016) is a South Korean film about the invasion of Inchon by UN forces in September, 1950. This film began streaming on Netflix in the USA on January 15, 2018 and is in the Korean and English languages.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Operation_Chromite_film_poster.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29202,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/ron-discovers-a-military-version-of-the-hallicrafters-s-39-on-ebay\/","url_meta":{"origin":421,"position":5},"title":"Ron discovers a military version of the Hallicrafters S-39 on eBay","author":"Thomas","date":"November 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who writes: Thought I had seen them all, but here is the military version of the S-38: Click here to view on eBay. Also an earlier version of the Echophone: Click here to view on eBay. I'm a huge fan of Hallicrafters radios--especially\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hallicrafters-S-39-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hallicrafters-S-39-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hallicrafters-S-39-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}