If my radio repair bench looks like what you would expect to see on board a WWII Navy battleship there is a good reason! Almost all my test
equipment is high quality, military surplus, tube type test gear I have restored myself. The only exception is a solid state frequency meter
calibrated to government national standards and an HP 200 mHz oscilloscope. Both are required for accurate calibration and signal
tracing of radios I repair. This room is actually the tack room in my 100+ year old barn that I have converted into my ham radio shack. Not shown in
the picture is about a half ton of old WWII military transmitters and receivers I have restored and use regularly on the ham bands. (All tube
type stuff, of course!). The top level of the barn is a storage area for hundreds of radios waiting to be restored. Also six file cabnets of Sam's
Photofacts for those tricky repairs. In the bottom of the barn is a complete wood cabinet restoration area and painting area and a compressor
for painting and blowing out dust and grime out of tuning capacitors, IF cans and chassis.
Retired from the high tech industry of 30 years with several technical degrees, what I realy like to do is to repair and restore
customer's antique and vintage radios and electronics from that fantastic, golden age of radio pioneered by my father's great generation! Given the
quality of the components, the wonderful workmanship, and knowing the kind of world news and music these radios brought into the homes of that
generation, makes my repair, restoration and sales service an honor to do!
I think a lot of you collectors out there might feel the same way! So, let's
"Hear them Play Again!"
John Hartman, NM1H
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