[Milsurplus] Vintage LF/MF Fun with my BC-453B

Thu Nov 20 14:25:18 EST 2025

My craziest find for my RAL was at a pawn shop in Carson City for 40
dollars.

It was a complete basket case by it's looks .Homes literally eaten through
the front panel ..green corrosion on everything that was exposed to salt
water atmosphere.

Broken meter faces..

I only bought it for parts that I would use for another fully restored one
I was going to buy .

Imagine my surprise when ,just for fun I hooked up Filament a B+volts

OMG ..it's got audio

I hooked it up to an antenna

It's receiving??

I started with the electronics ,many resistors way out of tolerance...but
most caps ok.

Switch decks disassembled and cleaned and repaired .

It received beautifully and as usual those audio filters made the cw notes
on 40m sound like a code practice oscillator

Then I did major work on the front panel and meters

A few spots needing bondo where salt water had eaten through some spots

The nameplates and lettering of the raised brass came out so much better
than I expected.

It's still a regular user at my WW2 USN operating position .

So,never underestimate the under appreciated RAL or RAK😃.

A check on YouTube will find others that look and work beautifully.

Here is mine.

https://youtu.be/-InMyifW5g0?si=lVTDilQDzgSaBDWs

Ron

NU6F

On Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 10:26 AM Thomas Adams <quixote2 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> *RAKs and RALs are still out there; it's strictly a matter of luck and
> perseverance to find one.*
>
>
>
> *I found that out in my quest to find an RBA; I finally located one at an
> estate sale.*
>
>
>
> *I've noted that prices tend to be more than reasonable with these old pre
> WW2; locally, I've*
>
> *seen them go for the asking. The current generation of hams just don't
> want to deal with the *
>
> *size **and weight of these old sets.*
>
>
>
> *One place to check that has been very fruitful is Craig's List; more than
> once I've seen estate*
>
> *clean outs full of radios popping up there. *
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Cromwell <wrcromwell at gmail.com>
> Sent: Nov 20, 2025 10:54 AM
> To: Facility <facility_406 at bruteforcedevelopment.com>
> Cc: <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Vintage LF/MF Fun with my BC-453B
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
>
>
> I have already mentioned using RAK and R23 but I am asking once again
> about the possibility of acquiring a RAL to go with my RAK. I have had some
> mention over the years but none have materialized. There were two offered
> within driving distance on eBay but when I offered to show up with cash
> those vanished. Scam likely.
>
>
>
> So does anybody have a RAL available. Shipping will be daunting but might
> be doable. Meanwhile whenever I attend a hamfest my first walkthrough is a
> focused search for a RAL. Maybe someday.
>
>
>
> 73,
>
>
>
> Bill KU8H
>
>
>
> > On Nov 20, 2025, at 11:16 AM, Facility 406 wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >>
>
> >> bands from 500 KC down than either of us imagined. The RAK tunes a bit
> higher than 600 KC, so DXing some broadcast stations was fun too. Who else
> has gone on an LF DXpedition, either a really remote location or even in a
> park? Has anyone ever heard an LF broadcast station from Europe?
>
> >
>
> > I've only dabbled, but, yeah, the spectrum is as full there, as anywhere
> else, but, like anywhere else, things have dropped off over the years.
> Heard one station from Nevada, France I think, wasn't trying, just noticed
> it was there. Iceland comes to mind, as well.
>
> >
>
> > If interested, I can forward some links to forums where LF, VLF, ULF
> things are discussed. A lot of chatter about some signals below 2Hz right
> now. Not radio broadcast, but there's stuff down to mHz, milli-Hertz, where
> it can take hours, days, weeks, even years, for one wavelength to pass. The
> longest I have looked, is a week.
>
> >
>
> > Back when LW broadcasts were more common, many radios had that band,
> like MW, SW, or FM. There are still personal transmitters out there that
> operate in that range, so people can do their own broadcasts from a
> computer, or MP3 player, to their household radio. I recently picked a unit
> up.
>
> >
>
> > Kurt
>
> > ______________________________________________________________
>
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