So I found vintage electronics recycling business that just happens to have a military receiver model RDZ-1. I don’t know much else other than that about it, don’t know the condition it’s in, or even what a reasonable offer would be for it should it be in a condition worth attempting, not much I found online about it either.

So before I bother taking the long drive to the place, would this be a set worth pursuing at all? Does anyone here have much more information about it? What a reasonable offer would be should it be in a fair enough condition for more than parts.

http://archive.hnsa.org/doc/ecat/cat-0982.htm

It doesn't appear to be worth much other than its historical value. From 200 to 400 MHz crystal controlled. I wouldn't bother with it but it's up to you of course.

Ah shame, well I’ll try to find out what they’re wanting for it at least and see if they can give me a rough description of its condition. Might still be worth taking a look there anyway, if not for the radio then at least some other electronics they have there.

It could be an interesting source of parts. But it's heavy and uses lots of power and can only receive AM so there isn't much to listen to with it. I would give $5 and tear it apart just for fun.

I think it got mentioned in ham magazines in the early sixties. But even then it didn't have much use. One underused ham band in that range, and the main allocation a vague "military" . It was big and heavy, so even cheap it wasn't so appealing.

So the current owner just knows it hasn’t had power in over 30 years but it “worked” then. (Pointless I know since regardless of whether it did 30 years ago or not it must be recapped and serviced now), but they did mention there’s no rust or visible damage outside(except a missing knob) just heavily caked on dirt.


So main thing i need to figure out now is if this one was actually in service during ww2 or not, as that would be what determines whether I might go for it or not.

From what little I could gather this model seems to be a newer one made right after the war, but that was still vague.

It is mainly of value to someone who specifically collects military sets in the sub-category of those that can serve no current practical function. Other than that you could part it out but although it has some unique parts, other than the tubes it isn't likely you will find much use for the majority of what is in it.

I have seen one and it is a beautifully built piece of gear and has a 10 channel autotune circuit (using ovenized crystals) and comes from the era when "high tech" meant a lot of parts and in this case some of them big and heavy.

I would pass on it.

Rodger WQ9E

Probably not WW II. UHF AM (225 MHz - 400 MHz) was used, Korean War and after, for short range, ground-to-air tactical communications.

John

some information & photos here http://navy-radio.com/rcvr-ww2.htm

You might find a use for the power transformer, and possibly the meters, assuming they aren't sealed and can be taken apart so as to change the scale.

There's another similar receiver that does the same thing, AM from 200 - 400 MHz but with only, IIRC, 4 crystal-controlled channels, and half the rack height. Note that near the bottom of the pictures on that site, the RDZ is sitting on a roll-around pallet... I reckon because that was the only way one man could move it around

SteveH

FWIW, the RDZ contract (National) is dated 31 March 1944
The RDZ-1 contract (Admiral) is dated 5 June 1945
This 9/45 article on the RDZ in Electron magazine says it is going into large scale production, so that means it was introduced really really late in WW2.
http://www.navy-radio.com/rcvrs/ww2/rdz ... n-4509.pdf

The AN/URR-13 and later URR-35 were the real workhorses of Navy post-war UHF communications.
http://www.navy-radio.com/rcvr-uhf.htm
The URR-13 predecessor was the model RED, so UHF systems with URR-13 or URR-35 receivers plus model TED transmitter were commonly called TED/RED (used on up through the 1970s and maybe later)

If anyone has a photo of an actual RED, I'd really like to see it - it could be that the URR-13 was originally named RED but changed to the AN/ nomenclature before introduction.

I was really surprised that the US forces actually used UHF commo gear in WW II. As a former Marine, I keep wondering why? OTOH, we made tremendous advances in radar. We went from manually pointed VHF radar in 1939 to X band airborne intercept radar in 1945.

My 1944 vintage I-177B does have a socket for testing acorn tubes used in WW II radar and apparently some UHF communications.

John