memory lane

[Robert Nickels]

>And speaking of catalogs, how about
>WRL (World Radio Labs) ??  Weren't they in the mid-west somewhere ??


Sure were, (in the same sense that Harrison was in the east somewhere ;-))

3415 West Broadway, Council Bluffs, Iowa....don't ask me why I remember that
when I can't remember the phone numbers of people I work next to...

BIG tower outside the door - always thought I could feel the RF radiating
off those big Telrex beams....parts in the back, new gear up front, and a
special room for the W0GFQ guest shack, featuring (in my era) the latest
Galaxy line on their nifty little sloping top desk.   Oh, Collins,
Hallicrafters, National, Drake, Swan and the rest - also represented, and
often available for on-the-air testing.

Aisle upon aisle of electronic goodies...but the last two or three aisles
were the ones that captured my attention.  "Reconditioned Equipment"....aka
the good stuff a new novice could afford!  This section produced my HT-40
novice transmitter, and also the Ameco TX-62 and Johnson converter when my
Dad got his tech license.  Still have the original receipts, one signed by
Al McMillan who now runs the HI Manuals business.  This was the place where
you could gaze (and fiddle with) the great BA rigs that were traded-in on
those newfangled sideband rigs, of course it was well known that trades
against Galaxy rigs (which were built in the back of the building) brought
the sweetest deals.   This was the domain of the B&W, the Hammarlund, the
Globe King...in other words, the template for my basement-of-the-future!

Leo Meyerson, founder of WRL and manufacturer of Globe and Galaxy ham and CB
gear deserves a place in BA history right alongside Bill Halligan, Art
Collins, and other legends.  And Leo is still alive and well, the prime
mover behind the Wesern Heritage Museum in Omaha, which includes a large
display of vintage ham gear and WRL history.   Thanks Leo!

73, Bob W9RAN

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