The Mississippi Historical Radio
and Broadcasting Society

Vol 6 #2 February 26, 1998

News Letter


Spring is just around the corner - and radio meets are popping out all over. The Capitol City Hamfest 1998 in Jackson was a nice meet - with many old radios on display and for sale - in addition to the two tables the club had. As usual - Bill Gerk did a good job getting arrangements made - and serving as the liaison between the two clubs. Probably the most interesting display (for us boat anchor nuts) was the display from the Airwing who are working towards getting several WWIIaircraft radios restored and working. They had a nice BC-348 - with matching transmitter - all in original (and very good) condition. Elsewhere - there were several old radios - more than a few boat anchors - and even some nice TransO's for sale. As the saying goes - "a good time was had by all." And while we're on that subject - apologies to all about the error in last month's Newsletter about the location - I got more than a few emails (and several calls) straightening me out - I hope no one actually went to the Coliseum! It was actually a few miles south at the Wahabi Shrine Temple - a very nice facility!

In a very nice conversation with John Terry a few days ago - he pointed out that our website address isn't real obvious here in the newsletter - that's why we've added the URL and other contact info to the bottom of the news letter. Thanks to John for both the suggestion and the great support and coverage we get in his magazine (Antique Radio Classified).

Speaking of the "Next Meet"...

The Mississippi Historical Radio & Broadcasting Society


is pleased to announce it's1998 Annual Member's Meeting Show and SwapMeet
To be held APRIL 11, 1998 8AM until...
At Meridian's beautiful Highland Park
We had the details in last month's newsletter - so we'll just hit the important stuff again here.

-- or if it's easier - just go to the museum's front page - and there is a link from there (it' s URL is now also always at the end of each Newsletter).

Radio Collecting Today


Last month we talked about what we suspected would become the "next hot item" in collecting - likely Television. It's interesting to note that TV's are now starting to show up on eBay! A Sony KV4000 with batter pack, etc. is currently for auction - complete will all the usual "Rare", etc. hype of being pitched to the collector community. There is another area that I think I may have missed. Test Equipment has long been part of the hobby - though generally as a functional item - put to use at it's intended purpose. But here lately - we're seeing more and more evidence of people collecting test equipment - as a "collectable" themselves. Most notably - high quality stuff in wooden cases. I used to be able to pick up Supreme stuff for not a lot of money - which I did quite a bit - because Supreme is Mississippi's "main"contribution to early radio. But here lately - Supreme equipment has started commanding a premium price - which has put several interesting items out of reach (course my reach never is very far!). Also - there seems to be some sort of "nostalgia" thing going with Heathkits - and to a lesser degree - Eico stuff. At the recent Jackson Hamfest - I bought an HP audio generator (204C) for $35. It was in good condition - good price. I spotted an Eico 950 Bridge and Capacitance tester - I zipped over figuring I could snipe it off cheap... boy was I surprised! They were asking more than twice what I paid for mine new -as a kit! I figured I'd let them "stew" for a while - then see if I could bargain a bit - when I went back a couple of hours later - it was gone. I asked about it - they indicated it didn't last but a few minutes and they noted they got their price as a couple of people were trying to buy it at the same time. So eBay isn't the only place prices can get a little high!
Just goes to show - that as has always been in this hobby - "hot" topics come and go - as people's interest gets peaked - and as the amount of things to collect gets smaller and smaller. Which brings us to the last "observation" - Boat anchors. There has always been a small - but dedicated group of boat anchor collectors. Most people didn't want to fool with the heavy beasts - and the amount of room they take. Prices have generally reflected that. There has always been the few "special" radios - that have always commanded stiff prices (the R390A is probably the best example of that) but most boat anchors - old military and ham equipment alike were very cheap compared to newer - lighter and smaller equipment. That too seems to be changing. I saw a BC-348 that had been chopped, drilled, and painted metallic blue (yuck!!!) and didn't work - and the guy was still asking $35 for it (no takers I saw - it was truly pitiful!). And equally high were old large Halicrafters, a really beat-up R392 and many other radios that in the past were almost to the point they would give it to you rather than drag it back home. Quite a change. But then that's what makes this hobby fun - you never know what's coming tomorrow!
Until next time - Happy Collecting!
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Calendar of Events
(Since this is an archive - the Calendar of events would be out of date - so has been deleted)

© 1998 The Mississippi Historical Radio and Broadcasting Society