Wwii heavy bomber radio gear

[AB1QI]

I have a partial set, some of it new (NOS in original box), WWII radio equipment that would have been used in Heavy bombers – B-17, B-24, etc. I would hate to see it all go to parts if it could benefit a restoration project of some sort.

We don’t have a value set on it, I’m just trying to do the best I can for my late father in law. He was assigned to the US Army Signal Corps during WWII but had a lifelong interest in all things electronic. It seems that he bought most of this just after the war.

The sad part is that the collection no longer has a transmitter. Based on the spare tubes (NOS), VT-4C, VT-25 we think he may have had a BC 191, but haven’t been able to locate it. What we do have is a very nice BC-348H receiver with the DM28C Dynamotor cleanly swapped out for a 110V power supply and more as listed below.

If you’re interested, or could pass this on to someone who is, we would appreciate it.

Photos are available

BC-348H (modified/dynamotor removed)		Used
Dynamotor DM-28-C (for BC-348 above)		Used
Dynamotor PE-73-C (for BC-375? transmitter; aircraft)		NOS – original box
BC-306-A antenna tuner (150-800 kHz; part of SCR-177)		NOS – original box
TU-5B Tuning Unit 1,500 to 3,000 kHz		NOS – original box
TU-7B Tuning Unit 4,500 to 6,200 kHz		NOS – original box
TU-8B Tuning Unit 6,200 to 7,700 kHz		NOS – original box
TU-9B Tuning Unit 7,700 to 10,000 kHz		NOS – original box
TU-26 Tuning Unit 200 to 500 kHz		NOS – original box
BC-221-AH signal generator		Fair
BC-221-J signal generator		Fair

Thanks!
Alan
AB1QI

[W9GB]

Alan -

This is a Technical forum for Boatanchores.
IF your intention is to SELL or Donate this equipment ---
Then this posting is better served in the On-Line Swapmeet Forums (Buy, Sell, Trade, Barter, Donate).

[WB2WIK]

I'd recommend finding a collector, and those are thinning out over the years.

All of this stuff -- ALL of it -- was available from surplus electronics shops after WW2 and into the early to mid-60s very inexpensively, with much of it "brand new" (meaning never used, still in original packing). I used to buy BC-348s, BC-221s and such for maybe $5 each on Radio Row in NYC -- they had hundreds of them, maybe thousands of them.

I'm sure they're worth more now, as "collectables." As recently as the mid-60s, they weren't collectable yet.

[K6JJR]

My older ham friends told me they gutted many WW2 sets for parts in the 1950's. Back then they were just surplus radios. Just like gutting an old computer would be now.

[WB2WIK]

My older ham friends told me they gutted many WW2 sets for parts in the 1950's. Back then they were just surplus radios. Just like gutting an old computer would be now.

They pretty much were just that. Old junk that could still be useful but whose usefulness was fading by the week.

For a while I had an SCR-522, which was originally an airborne VHF rig during WW2. It must have weighed 200 lbs and ran about 12 Watts once modified for operation on the two meter band. Got it "almost new" for about $25.

Today, I'd have to pay much more than that to get rid of it!

[K6JJR]

They pretty much were just that. Old junk that could still be useful but whose usefulness was fading by the week.

For a while I had an SCR-522, which was originally an airborne VHF rig during WW2. It must have weighed 200 lbs and ran about 12 Watts once modified for operation on the two meter band. Got it "almost new" for about $25.

Today, I'd have to pay much more than that to get rid of it!

If you have an ART-13 just taking up space I'll gladly drive down and haul it away..

[KC9UDX]

My older ham friends told me they gutted many WW2 sets for parts in the 1950's. Back then they were just surplus radios. Just like gutting an old computer would be now.

Save your 486s!!!

[N2EY]

I'd recommend finding a collector, and those are thinning out over the years.

All of this stuff -- ALL of it -- was available from surplus electronics shops after WW2 and into the early to mid-60s very inexpensively, with much of it "brand new" (meaning never used, still in original packing). I used to buy BC-348s, BC-221s and such for maybe $5 each on Radio Row in NYC -- they had hundreds of them, maybe thousands of them.

I'm sure they're worth more now, as "collectables." As recently as the mid-60s, they weren't collectable yet.

They weren't really collectible until about 1990. Then, a combination of rarity and quality caught up to them.

More than most gear, surplus has an enormous range of condition because hams typically hacked it up to get it working, yet examples survive which are still new in the original packing.

Truth be told, surplus wasn't all that cheap when you allow for inflation. $10 for a Command set was a fair price in the 1960s outside of the big cities with surplus outlets, but that $10 equates to $60-70 now. And you usually didn't get a power supply or manual with it.

What made surplus so appealing was that it was so much cheaper than manufactured or kit gear of the day.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[WA9SVD]

They weren't really collectible until about 1990. Then, a combination of rarity and quality caught up to them.

More than most gear, surplus has an enormous range of condition because hams typically hacked it up to get it working, yet examples survive which are still new in the original packing.

Truth be told, surplus wasn't all that cheap when you allow for inflation. $10 for a Command set was a fair price in the 1960s outside of the big cities with surplus outlets, but that $10 equates to $60-70 now. And you usually didn't get a power supply or manual with it.

What made surplus so appealing was that it was so much cheaper than manufactured or kit gear of the day.

73 de Jim, N2EY

The mil surplus material (not materiel!) was certainly "inexpensive." A Command receiver or transmitter for, say 40 Meters may have been $5-$10, but what other equipment was available for that price in the early to mid 60's? Sure,it required a supply (maybe another $10, unless yo were lucky enough to scavenge an old TV,) but for $25-$35 you had a station. WHAT commercial Amateur equipment was available for that price, with the "built-in" "MADE IN AMERICA" quality? Even kits cost more than that in those days. Back then, there was plenty of information on the modification of mil surplus equipment in the ham magazines, QST included, and "ham ingenuity" was able to fill in the rest.

[N2EY]

The mil surplus material (not materiel!) was certainly "inexpensive." A Command receiver or transmitter for, say 40 Meters may have been $5-$10, but what other equipment was available for that price in the early to mid 60's? Sure,it required a supply (maybe another $10, unless yo were lucky enough to scavenge an old TV,) but for $25-$35 you had a station.

Not really. You'd need the receiver, transmitter, power supplies (the receiver shouldn't be run at more than 250 volts B+, while the transmitter needed more), TR system, meters, tuning knob for the rx, modification parts, etc. And what you got was a single-band station that probably chirped, clicked and got into local TV sets unless it was seriously modified. And if you were a Novice, as most new hams were, you needed to be crystal controlled, which was another mod. And the info was in books that cost more $$.

This doesn't mean surplus couldn't be a bargain. But it took some doing.

For example, take a BC-453 receiver and put a crystal-controlled converter in front of it. (Most of the parts for the converter could be scavenged from a defunct AM BC radio, and if you found one with a transformer supply, even better!) 80 and 40 meters with the selectivity and tuning rate of much more expensive receivers.

OTOH, Command set transmitters were best used as part sources. They could be decent VFOs, once you got the General.

WHAT commercial Amateur equipment was available for that price, with the "built-in" "MADE IN AMERICA" quality? Even kits cost more than that in those days.

The Heathkit DX-20 cost $36 as a new kit in the late 1950s. Used, in the early 1960s, they could be had for $20-25. A used Johnson Adventurer was a bit more money. What you got was a complete CW transmitter with TVI-proofing, all 5 bands, and a clean signal, that could match almost any antenna without a tuner.

In those days practically all ham gear used by US hams was "MADE IN AMERICA" anyway.

Back then, there was plenty of information on the modification of mil surplus equipment in the ham magazines, QST included, and "ham ingenuity" was able to fill in the rest.

Actually the info was quite limited unless you bought books like the Surplus Conversion Manuals, which had schematics. Today is paradise by comparison; we can download all sorts of manuals and info for free.

But I think you missed my real point:

"Truth be told, surplus wasn't all that cheap when you allow for inflation. $10 for a Command set was a fair price in the 1960s outside of the big cities with surplus outlets, but that $10 equates to $60-70 now. And you usually didn't get a power supply or manual with it.

What made surplus so appealing was that it was so much cheaper than manufactured or kit gear of the day."

What I was getting at there is that there are hams today who expect to pay 1960s prices for surplus. They forget that $10 in 1962 was like $60-70 today.

And note the last sentence: "What made surplus so appealing was that it was so much cheaper than manufactured or kit gear of the day."

I know, I was there. Novice 1967, Tech and Advanced 1968, Extra 1970. Graduated high school 1972.

How many converted surplus rigs did you put on the air back then?

73 de Jim, N2EY