First I was particularly impressed by the design of these transmitters and receivers. Later the interest in the complex technique developed. Only one glimpse into the insides of such an apparatus is enough to fall for it.

Some of these radios are easy to obtain, although they become rarer in the trade in the meantime, but their price is still affordable for the average wage-earner. Several inexpensive devices are still more important to me than a few expensive ones, you have more to tinker. When you repair these sets, advice and help of experienced OMs is however inevitable. You find these large green or silver boxes at Surplus shops, mostly however by private ads. Ads in Ham newspapers should be examined closely, particularly when you look for accessories!

First comes the adventure of finding and transporting these boatanchors (my heaviest radio set weighs 160 kg), then the adventure of reviving them- though they seldom are defect.
...So I had to learn among other things, to stir up potash solution for the batteries.
...For every Russian set there are completely other special cables with special plugs.
...Why are there so many HF standards for Russian sets?
...and this micro, which I have only once, is defective.
...And if a transceiver needs already 20 A by 24 V only when you receive and the power supply breaks down, then you improvise and are surprised the next day, why your car does not start without a battery...

Many such old timers do not run loudless like today's devices, they use built-in motors for tuning or changing channels, resulting in interesting noises. If the voltages are produced by a transformer, it always runs and gives a completely special radio feeling. Then you are glad to use headphones.

If after hours of tuning ( and cursing ) finally a QSO takes place, this means true happiness. This feeling cannot be described, you must experience it.

When the text-list of my collection grew too large, I changed to HTML to create a list in hypertext with links. This list grew to a documentation. I uploaded it to the WWW, and will be pleased for a reaction.

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