Friday, June 26, 2009

Old School Space Cadet

As in 1930s space-cadet-ery. Notice the pencil sharpener and typewriter are both "Comet" and the receiver's a "Sky Buddy." The bug key is a Vibroplex Blue Racer (possibly illegal in Texas) and the headphones on the desk are Trimm "Professionals." There's a real set of "Featherweight" headphones in the box under the shelf and that's a fountain pen on the station logbook -- which is itself a repro of the 1930s ARRL publication!

...Nobody believes me when I claim to commute from 1937, so I thought I'd better provide proof.

9 comments:

Frank W. James said...

The only thing missing is a movie poster of Buster Crabbe. :)

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Jeffro said...

You need a Duesey, a Caddie V-16, or a coffin nose Cord for that commute from 1937.

Roberta X said...

Jeffro: I'm reminded of the (late) Chief Engineer of Purdue's WBAA who, as far as I know, bought himself a fine new car just as soon as they became available after WWII and kept it maintained for his entire career. He retired some time in the later 1980s or early '90s, commuting in that same automobile.

Frank, I'm lookin' for one! :)

Turk Turon said...

Mighty nice hamshack there, "Sparks"!

Hey, that typewriter is in exquisite shape! What gives?

Ed Skinner said...

Hallicrafters? Wow, nice rig!
What's your skyhook?
de WB7UTR
k

Ken said...

If you can't find one of Jeffro's suggestions, I think a '37 stovebolt Chevy would do just fine.

Love the setup. Have you ever read any Ralph Milne Farley? If you (or any of your readers) haven't, I recommend The Radio Planet. Guy name of Myles Cabot, aka "The Radio Man," builds a himself a radio set, starting with ore and sand.

On Venus*.

*The locals call it Poros.

BobG said...

Over at my mother-in-law's place there are a few pieces of electronic test equipment that would look good in that collection; my late father-in-law had such things as vacuum tube testers and a lot of stuff with crank handles that I haven't had a chance to look over.

Drang said...

So, you're operating QTH for Field Day?

WV: brical. That thing is too brical for me to want to carry it.

Stranger said...

Nice setup, m'am, but you need an ACE R-9 TX to go with the bug. Along with a spare 76 oscillator and 6L6 metal finger burner final.

The R-9 was 15.75 W/T plus just under six bux for Railway Express. When RW was not on strike.

The modulator was available for about the same money but you had to have a "Class A" ticket to use it on 75.

With the upgrade requiring an essay at the FCC office, taking tests once a year, there weren't many phone ops.

A Doozy to commute. Nah. A '35 Indian four with a tub to haul packages or passengers would do nicely. Not a 36 or 37, unless you liked hot legs!

Stranger