# Atalanta on Ebay



## Mayday (May 26, 2009)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTRA-RAR...ioTelevision_Telephony_SM&hash=item5af732576e

£500 with 4 days left.

John.


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## Ian Hay (May 26, 2013)

Mayday said:


> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTRA-RAR...ioTelevision_Telephony_SM&hash=item5af732576e
> 
> £500 with 4 days left.
> 
> John.



An Atalanta Now that has brought memories flooding back (Thumb)


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## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

There are TWO on eBay currently - The other one works and the asking price is £600

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marconi-A...io_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item5d4519ef5e


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## Tony Selman (Mar 8, 2006)

I have no real idea of the prices for Atalanta's, working or not, but they seem like pretty chunky prices to me. I have access to quite a lot of ex Marconi equipment that has been displaced after many years of use. Amongst these is what I presume is a non working Atalanta without it's outer metal case. It does not look in the prime of condition and I would be very surpassed if it powered on safely. It might however be of use to someone who wants spares or who has the desire to rebuild it and get it going again. It is available for a much lower price than being quoted on ebay and for a sensible donation to ROA funds. Contact me by PM if you are interested. Location is Kent and it will be expensive to pack and ship.
I have a list of available equipment if anyone wants a trip down memory lane. Some of it is extremely heavy and whilst not in Kent is located on the South coast.


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

Tony,
Any hooks on a Seaguard? From the elegance of the mechanical in this we ended with Ledex!
David V


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## Ian Beattie (Mar 28, 2013)

Dave V wash your mouth out !! Ledex indeed, wonderful, when working which was about 20% of the time they should and extremely annoying to work on

_________________

useeimbutunoseeim Bass


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## Paul Braxton (Jul 21, 2005)

I recently picked one up (an Atalanta), on the New Zealand equivalent of Ebay: TradeMe, for just NZ$250. It came fully operational, with, get this: an original tech manual!

I didn't have to go far to get it, either, only an hour or so's drive. The seller, an elderly Dutchman ham radio operator, had it sitting on the floor of his garage. He assured me it worked, though it had tripped his RCD mains when he plugged it in inside the house. When he (presumably) plugged it in in the garage, with its old fashioned fuse box, it worked fine. 

We lugged it out to my car and placed it reverently in the boot. Its 36kg was quite a strain on our backs by the time we had negotiated his long drive and then front garden. I'd forgotten what a heavy beast it is. He proudly boasted to me that he had carried it on his own when he acquired it from a friend.

When I got it home and looked through the manual I soon discovered the reason it had tripped his RCD: a couple of large capacitors in the filter unit strung across the mains input. The manual recommends removing these when the unit is operated on AC mains. It goes on to say that an earth will show up on the engine room switchboard with this equipment sometimes. Well I disconnected the two caps and it came to life, albeit very slowly, so slowly I thought it wasn't going to fire up.

It's sitting there now, a concrete reminder of those heady days; a sort of time traveller's artefact. I threw a hastily bodged bit of wire on the aerial input and picked up a CW station: HLF in Korea, sending a QSX tape on the HF frequencies. I was absolutely amazed to hear this. It worked very well on the MF frequencies, even with such a short aerial. I picked up lots of NDB Aero beacons from within a large radius of our site here outside Rotorua. Got as far as Whangarei and stations far to the south. God only knows what it may bring in when I get it properly rigged in my 'chartroom' at the back of the house, with a proper aerial and a purpose built table (which I'm at the moment building to support its massive weight). 

When I'm done I'll be able to sit in front of it, doing other work most of the time, but I guess I'll switch it on occasionally, just to hear that CW ident from distant HLF...

What a sad git, some might say. Not me! When it was up for sale for a week there wasn't another bid on it, not one! It was as though it was meant for me, especially as I never use the TradeMe website; I'd only gone on it for a quick browse for something to do one wet morning while eating my bowl of porridge. Just goes to show.

Now I'm looking for another old love of mine, an old flame called the Marconi "Apollo", a fine receiver in my book, and one I only ever sailed with a few times towards the end of my time at sea. It's out there somewhere, just waiting its time...

The only thing wrong with my Atalanta was a missing dial illumination lamp, a 4V screw in type bulb. There's two in series, so I've got no illumination at the moment, but I'll find one to fit.

Happy days..


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Varley said:


> Tony,
> Any hooks on a Seaguard? From the elegance of the mechanical in this we ended with Ledex!
> David V


Don't recall any Ledex motors in any receivers, except for the _Pennant_ which was intended to run in tandem with the _Crusader _transmitter.


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

No Ron, I was a bit off topic. I remember well the Pennant, 'though, it almost killed me. It had a totally enclosed crystal filter. Mine wouldn't work unless shocked (like me!)

David V


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

R651400 said:


> I don't think the Atalanta was recognised as a great performer and for some what appeared when new as simply putting the earlier Mercury and Electra receivers under one roof..


Hi, R651400, I disagree with you on this one. The Mercury/Electra combination was good. But they were unreliable. My memory of them is, going on watch, switch on, if no response, change vibrator. If they light up, sniff for burnt out de-coupling capacitors in anode ccts. If smoke/smell, trace and snip out same. Atalanta, switch on and leave it on. Over a number of years it never gave me a problem. A very good performer and very reliable.
Rgds D


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

duncs said:


> Atalanta, switch on and leave it on. Over a number of years it never gave me a problem. A very good performer and very reliable.
> Rgds D


Only sailed with _Atalanta _on a couple of ships but found it a good receiver and very reliable. The only problem I ever had with it was of my own making, resulting from my desire for ever longer antennas - both Rx and Tx. The excessive coupling between antennas proved too much for the front end of the _Atalanta _and used to result in the overheating of a small component (I think it was a choke) which desoldered fell off, sticking in a pool of solidified wax to the bottom cover of the receiver. 

Easy to find, stuck to the cover when it was removed (what a LOT of screws) and easy to solder back in place but the fault disabled the receiver in the meantime. That apart I never had any other receiver fault on either ship in over 2 years.

What I did not like about the _Atalanta _(which was not its fault!) was that in both cases it was accompanied by that waste of space, the _Alert _emergency receiver. For that reason I always preferred to sail with the _Mercury/Electra_ combination, providing two good MF receivers.


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## Tony Selman (Mar 8, 2006)

Malcolm, I might in time put the list on here but I want to see if we can dispose of the equipment through the radio community rather than through someone who might be screen scraping and will take the kit for profit rather than wanting to give it a good home. You will see a list of the kit as it stands when December QSO comes out. I have already received 4 messages via PM's so there is some interest.


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

Ron Stringer said:


> Only sailed with _Atalanta _on a couple of ships but found it a good receiver and very reliable. The only problem I ever had with it was of my own making, resulting from my desire for ever longer antennas - both Rx and Tx. The excessive coupling between antennas proved too much for the front end of the _Atalanta _and used to result in the overheating of a small component (I think it was a choke) which desoldered fell off, sticking in a pool of solidified wax to the bottom cover of the receiver.
> 
> Easy to find, stuck to the cover when it was removed (what a LOT of screws) and easy to solder back in place but the fault disabled the receiver in the meantime. That apart I never had any other receiver fault on either ship in over 2 years.
> 
> What I did not like about the _Atalanta _(which was not its fault!) was that in both cases it was accompanied by that waste of space, the _Alert _emergency receiver. For that reason I always preferred to sail with the _Mercury/Electra_ combination, providing two good MF receivers.


Ron, you went to sea a few years before me. The M/E combo was good, but, by my time, 71/72/73, the '46 vintage M/E's were clapped out. Re yr Atalanta, you could put a lamp in series into the rx aerial. This protected the front end and you could use a side swiper without de-sens. Better an Atalanta/Alert than a R50M/Alert combo. I'll still stick up for the Atalanta.
Rgds, Duncs


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

I have to say that I had no problems with the Atalanta - probably very fortunate. My technique was to switch it on and leave it on permanently. This stopped any instability and also it was in action immediately if necessary IE distress. It was only switched off if we were in port for extended periods. Then I would activate it 24 hrs before we sailed.

Hawkey01


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## Ian Beattie (Mar 28, 2013)

Sailed with mostly Atalanta and they were pretty good RX's only had one fault and as was stated mega screws managed to trace it to a wirewound resister and there were loads of spares but nothing remotely close Cape Town to Adelaide before I got the spare - thats when you find out the Alert was anything but !

___________________

useeimbutunoseeim Bass


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## GBXZ (Nov 4, 2008)

What was the original cost of the Atalanta ?


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## jimg0nxx (Sep 1, 2005)

In 1962 I seem to recollect the sum of £400, a lot of money then.
Jim


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## Ian Beattie (Mar 28, 2013)

Sailed with Shell tankers Gulf to Singapore with the odd stop for the jungle refinery in Sep(b)ang and we monitored Rogaland, Nordeich Portishead and Schevenigen every 4 hours on 4,6,8,12,16 and 22 as to the best to use data transfer (Serenia) this was 65/66 and we used Atalanta except for data which was sideband which might have been Pennant ? with ledex aerial connections - holy moly first tripper with three years working in a tools warehouse - cos macaroni wouldn't take any person without sea time --strike a chord peeps

_______________

useeimbutunoseeim Bass


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

jimg0nxx said:


> In 1962 I seem to recollect the sum of £400, a lot of money then.
> Jim


Don't know about prices (was in Technical Division, not Sales) but in 1967/68 I was told that the price of an Oceanspan VIIE (MF/HF reserve transmitter) was £675. A lot more metal than an Atalanta (but perhaps not as difficult to build) so £400 for a receiver some 5 years earlier does seem expensive.


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## johnvvc (Feb 8, 2008)

I saw the £600 Atalanta sitting on Ebay and emailed the guy and gently suggested that perhaps he was being ever so slightly optimistic with his asking price. He’d apparently had a couple of offers which he’d declined. He replied:-

_“In an unusual twist, we have just sold it today, full list price of £599. It is going to a props department (as does quite a lot of our obscure kit) at a large Hollywood Motion Picture studio, with it being used in filming tomorrow morning! I …”_

I’ll keep my big mouth shut next time (LOL)

I was surprised to see that a few Atalantas have been sold via Ebay lately, the last 3 (disregarding the £600 one!) selling for about £60 or £70. I seem to remember they covered up to ~28 mc/s so they miss out the 10 meter band. That wouldn't normally be a problem but propagation at the top end of h/f has been fantastic during the last few weeks.

I found it to be a good receiver, the only fault I had was a thermistor in the heater chain that went o/c. I fitted a wire-wound pot on a small bracket outside the receiver case and initially had it turned up to max resistance, slowly reducing the resistance as the receiver warmed up. It worked perfectly. Like others on here I only turned it off when in port.

Been playing around with SDR lately (software defined radio). How things have changed.


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

R651400 said:


> Duncs..
> I'm also surprised that years 1971/2/3 you consider the unsynthesised Atalanta as being a state of the art receiver..


Hi R651400,
Late 72/early 73(my memory's not too good), I got a retrofit Commandant and Nebula fitted; with a DC to 3phase alt., fitted outside radio room. This to replace 'Span Mercury/Electra. My first experience of synth. What bliss! (Anyone want a QSP?). Sailed with the Atalanta off and on for a few years afterwards. Maybe I was just unlucky and was sent to MIMCO's eldest.
Rgds, D


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

Hi, R651400,
I think you're a few years before my time, and I'm a bit lost with your radio gear. I sailed with a lot of gear, but, for the life of me, I cannot remember its/their names. The best gear I sailed with was Electrisk Bureau. (probably spelt wrong). This might have been re-badged gear. But Norski built(in Japan), I'd never seen before, or since, anything like it. D


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

I sailed with that Debeg wireless a few times. It was OK, but I did experience a thermister problem once, similar to that mentioned about the Atalanta elsewhere. The only problem I ever had with an Atalanta was a broken dial chord - that was a right headache.

The Elektrisk Bureau gear was supplied by Kelvin Hughes in the UK. It was pretty good equipment and KH were excellent to deal with. LOF had EB stuff on a few ships and I did a freelance trip through KH once - not sure now, maybe Esso Mersey.

John T


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

JT, not KH. Rx's ITT Mackay, I think. I can see the gear in my minds eye, but I'm buggered if I can remember its name/number. 2 rxs in front of me and a exiter. Dial in freq. and press button. Great stuff! Does it ring any bells?
D


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Yes Duncs, I sailed with the ITT gear too, but think that was actually from Sweden. Despite my puddled memory, I'm confident about KH rebadging Elektrisk Bureau gear. Synthesised receiver and transmitter with rotary switches to set frequency and very stable. Could be wrong of course, I was only there for the beer.

John T


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

JT, I think there was a lot of gear all re-badged. I sailed for a number of years with NERA gear. Were they related to KH? The Norski tanker wi EB gear I sailed on, I aint never seen anything like. 5 star accom. Norcontrol computer on the bridge, wi 2 satnavs etc., etc. I'm havering now. Can't remember all that was interfaced wi it. Time for a beer now. Bi


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## Ian Beattie (Mar 28, 2013)

Tankers never turned the gear off == hey I wasn't paying for the electricity -- not like now

_____________________

useeimbutunoseeim Bass


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

Why would anyone want an Atalanta ? It was this receiver that made one have to get on watch early to find the Area Station traffic list . As soon as the synth rx was invented one could turn up with a couple of seconds to go !

Happy Daze


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

An Atalanta would fit neatly into the hole in our kitchen which currently contains a broken microwave oven.

John T

PS Has anyone got an Oceanspan VII? I'm thinking of getting rid of the fridge.


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

JT you are one sad ex R/O.


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## holland25 (Nov 21, 2007)

Do they receive DAB+


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## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

holland25 said:


> Do they receive DAB+


Only if you think of Morse as an early form of digital transmission (Thumb)


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## duncs (Sep 8, 2008)

sparks69 said:


> Why would anyone want an Atalanta ? It was this receiver that made one have to get on watch early to find the Area Station traffic list . As soon as the synth rx was invented one could turn up with a couple of seconds to go !
> 
> Happy Daze


I disagree, If you left it switched on permanently, and if you had your calibration readings(I don't know if that is the correct term), for all your regular stations, it only took seconds to tune in.
You had a synth rx whilst the area scheme was still going? Lucky you!


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

GKA was fitted with CR300 receivers ( before my time) but these were replaced by Racal 1218 and I thought these were superb. They were superseded by another model . Having operated them in various guises for over twenty years I thought Racal receivers were excellent. At various times we were given new HF receivers to try and the one that everybody liked( but which was not chosen) was by Plessey. Fantastic HF receiver. At some stage we were given some American receivers to try ( Watkins or something similar). Real state of the art but probably very expensive so we didn't get them either....!
They had to be pretty tough to work at GKA as they were operated by everybody and were left on 24/7 365 days a year.

rgds
Graham Powell


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

R651400 said:


> The Atalanta if the same as the earlier Electra hf marine band tuning using the calibration dial was a doddle.
> Even the earlier GTZM CR300 was not too bad compared with some receivers.


I agree about the relative stability of the Atalanta receiver - kept a list of commonly-used HF stations and their working frequencies, with the dial log written (in pencil) alongside each frequency. Left the receiver switched on from joining to signing off the ship and never had any problem finding a station, even on 22MHz.

The recording of the dial log in pencil was a direct result of sailing on my first ship with the CR300, where the log setting differed with the temperature as the day went on. Having come on watch and found the Area traffic list, its frequency's log setting would be noted and corrected if necessary from the previous watch. So the record had to be easily altered, hence the pencil. 

The Atalanta's settings hardly varied but old habits die hard and I never kept anything other than a pencilled record.

I found both types of receiver easy to use and very reliable. The CR300 survived being filled to a depth above the valve tops during a sudden torrential downpour in LM or Beira, when I left the porthole open and only took remedial action when the 2nd mate sent a secunni down to my cabin to tell me that there was water running out of the radio room and down the stairway from the Bridge. After I tipped the water out and left the receiver in the sun for an hour or so, when I replaced the fuses and switched on it worked perfectly.


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## Ian Beattie (Mar 28, 2013)

For its day the Atalanta wasn't a bad Rx the vast majority never had a fault and if you left them on the were fairly stable but I also agree about the Plessey and Racal they were super quick to tune with the zero beat oscilator - changing bands was a done in millisecs - but I never had them at sea - and the later synth Racal was a real cracker.

_________________

useeimbutunoseeim Bass


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## Paul Marconi Eng (Nov 20, 2013)

Hi, first post on this forum from me!

I've been tracking anything to do with Atalantas for a while now. I'm an ex-Marconi design engineer (high power TV TX), but as a student apprentice we had an Atalanta in the Marconi Apprentice Association Radio and TV Club. I always liked it and loved the look of it - that was in the mid 1970s - but I've not really been into radio for long time. For decades I've been collecting and restoring broadcast TV equipment, and I do have an awful lot of operational Marconi broadcast TV gear, but something is dragging me back to the Atalanta and amateur radio . . .

Thus, I now have two Atalantas, one bought off ebay which worked first time and seems to be essentially in cal in terms of the published data, even though it hadn't been turned on in 30 years. It was one of the cheap ones that's been on there!

The second set came in a couple of weeks ago at the VMARS auction and that too was a snip and seems to also work well, although I've not tested it to the spec.

Now looking for an Oceanspan VI or VII - is that going to be a lost cause?

I still can't explain why after all these decades in TV I seem to be going into this! Marconi was a great company and most of my TV broadcast kit was made by them, so I guess it's only right to be after a full Marconi rig for radio. 

Being a ship's radio officer must have been a great job, but then it was pretty good at Marconi's too! The place had a great atmosphere and a history second to none. It was always said that Marconi's was really a precision metal working company that did it a bit of electronics on the side. Now, that's not really true (of course), but you always got value for money in the cabinets!

Happy days.

Paul M


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Watkins Johnson , that was it. They were superb but obviously very expensive.
I wasn't sure about the CR series as they were before my time.
I had one as an emergency RX on a tanker.
Some of the blokes bought them when they were scrapped ( same with the Racals). 
I sailed with those AEI receivers that shared a power supply so if you went over from MF to HF you had to keep re tuning as the set warmed up!.
On RML ships, the radio room was divided into MF and HF and the appropriate RX's had their own power supplies which was better. 
These AEI receivers never gave any bother for which I was truly thankful as I was not much good at fault finding!. Partly why I ended up at GKA, we had three or four permanent engineers to fix these things. regards to all
Graham Powell


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

Paul,

on behalf of the Moderating team welcome to SN. Glad you have already found your way to the Radio Room. 

Hawkey01


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## GW3OQK (Jun 10, 2010)

My £35 Atalanta is excellent and I use it for skeds on 80m.The Atalanta is not all hollow state technology for it has semiconductors, single plate selenium rectifiers no less. I would like to reorganise my vintage shack so as to get it at my left hand, though I have wondered could I learn to use paddle with my left instead. 
Andrew GW3OQK
http://www.qrz.com/db/GW3OQK


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## Paul Marconi Eng (Nov 20, 2013)

Thanks for the interesting replies so far! 

Fascinating that the Oceanspan is described as a Mk VI or Mk VII (Roman numerals). I've corrected many a TV camera person on the Marconi broadcast cameras - they are always Roman, never Arabic. Must have been some sort of Marconi convention. Pye cameras were always Arabic.

Interestingly, the only fault that I've had so far with my Atalantas was one of the single plate seleniums - the AGC rectifier. It had gone intermittent with the AGC line all over the place. A silicon diode seems to work quite well, but I did wonder whether the rather 'wooly' selenium characteristics contributed to the AGC law. Just a thought.

Interesting that there still might be Oceanspans out there, although their scrap metal value might have been just too much of a draw. Its namesake, the Marconi MkVII Colour Camera was made of cast and machined magnesium - now that really did have a value! 

I'm learning about the marine side of the company, but it's still early days.

Cheers,

Paul M


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

All of my few UK flag ships had Atalantas; that was also the main receiver in the 'Gear Room' at Plymouth when I did my ticket. I recall an examiner asking each of us to tune in a Brazilian station which was outside the range of the 22 Mc/s bandspread scale; he wanted to see if we knew to tune up 100 Kc/s and re-calibrate!

Until I went freelance I just accepted the receiver for what it was. Then I found the next field was indeed greener and met an R408 on my first Greek ship. That was followed by a plethora of Eddystone 830s: a valve ('tube') receiver that showed what Mimco could have done if they had put their collective minds to it. Rock solid, never drifted, tuned upper and lower sidebands to within less than 1Kc on an analogue scale, continuous coverage 300Kc/s to 30Mc/s. Niarchos had a warehouse full of them in Skaramanga and every ship had two.


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

At least the 'Model T' has a nice uncluttered front panel.

An 830 in 1960! It just shows, that receiver was 10 years ahead of its time.


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## Bill.B (Oct 19, 2013)

KH radio stations were Electromekano and we're very good. Sailed with many of them and it was nice being able to listen to a QSO with GKB and another ship and then be able to dial in the ship freq and get a turn when conditions were not very bright. Weak point of the Tx was the relays in the back which arced and burned and the front end of the Main receiver. The reserve Rx was a bit of a toy. It was a very compact station though. E.B, Elektrisk Bureau of Sweden made some nice equipment but was not used at KH when I was there 74-78
Bill B


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