First let me say that I m not a ham operator. Yet my love for collecting 50's 60's transmitters is a wonderful part of my life. Ef Johnson heathkit Collins ect ect ect. This all began in 1972. My brother was just getting into the 11 meter craze. He was 10 years old I 8. Two years later I myself enjoyed cb radio. Not to the level my brother was hooked. I was I guess you could say a weekend warrior. You couldnt walk past three homes in bensonhurst bk without seeing an antenna. Around 74-76 my brother met a kid named John. Although john was the same age as my brother about 14 he was a totally different animal. He was not that much interested in cb radio. Although john dabbled in cb which is how I believe he and my brother met. His interest was something I had not heard of up to that point. Amateur radio, ham radio, what was this? At that time I had no idea. John and my brother would hop the N train to China twn almost every weekend. My brother would come home and tell me stories about these stores that sold all types of military radios larger than cars, Huge amplifiers, and his storys captivated me. I had to see for myself. One saterday afternoon I tagged along. We slipped under the 17 ave side of the N train where the tollboth was unoccupied. I still remember the smell of NYC subway stations back then. It was urin mixed with the smell of the summer heated tar that was brushed on the railroad ties with the smell of a at that time 50+ year old subway system. The odd things people remember when thay get old, strange. Anyway we got off on canal st walked a few blocks got to a store on the Conner of canal that's when john and my brother lead me down what seemed to be about 15 steps through a door and BANG! There thay were 100"s if not 1000"s of transmitters receivers amps tubes the size of my head. items I had no idea what thay were or what thay were used for. All I knew was thay were beautiful. I didn't know why I just knew I would one day own something that looked just like them. After leaving that store we walked next door once more down the steps. The same thing wall to wall. We did every store on the block. One city block about 10 to 20 stores of surplus.well NYC hams what we're these stores who were the people selling these items? Where did thay get all these items? Who were their customers? Please help me solve this 40 yearold mystery. Thanks. P.S. my brother name was Vinnie and his friend John grew up to be WB2LFU. I remember other hams calling him WB2 little f_ _ k up. Thanks and I hope this story brings back some fond memories of your early radio daze.
