West Radio and Gilfer SWL Catalogs from the 1980's

[N8FNR]

These SWL equipment catalogs from the 1980's are a lot of fun to look at. I bought a Sony ICF-5900W and lot of other stuff from them Radio West back in the day.

https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/Miscellaneous/Radio%20West%20Catalog%201983.pdf

https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/Miscellaneous/Gilfer%20Catalog%201981.pdf

Zack N8FNR

 

[spongella]

I once visited Gilfer Shortwave back when they were in Park Ridge, NJ. I miss all the those stores that now only exist in memory. Thanks for the links Zack.

 

[GB46]

Lafayette Radio in Plainfield, NJ was a favorite hangout of mine during my teens. I too miss all those stores that now only exist in memory, but what I miss even more are all those shortwave broadcasters that now only exist in memory.

 

[ka3jjz]

That would be Radio West, not West Radio - no wonder it looked so strange!

There was a Lafayette store in Paramus on Route 17, too. And I met Perry and Jeanne (his wife) many times at his store, and even once at his home. My home was a 20 minute bike ride from the Gilfer office....Mike

 

[N8FNR]

Lafayette Radio in Plainfield, NJ was a favorite hangout of mine during my teens. I too miss all those stores that now only exist in memory, but what I miss even more are all those shortwave broadcasters that now only exist in memory.

I know. I got my first SWL rig, a Kenwood R-1000 in 1980 and had a blast with it at the peak of cycle 21. I remember losing a lot of sleep as I would stay up listening late into the night. Really regret not QSLing anyone as almost all of the big SW broadcasters are gone. It is now a long lost era. Sigh...

 

[GB46]

I know. I got my first SWL rig, a Kenwood R-1000 in 1980 and had a blast with it at the peak of cycle 21. I remember losing a lot of sleep as I would stay up listening late into the night. Really regret not QSLing anyone as almost all of the big SW broadcasters are gone. It is now a long lost era. Sigh...

I QSLed quite a few of them during the 80s, and still have the cards. Radio Peking even sent me a pennant along with the card, and Radio Moscow had a special QSL card to mark their 50th anniversary on the air. My first SWL experiences were a lot earlier than that, however.

 

[GB46]

There was a Lafayette store in Paramus on Route 17, too. And I met Perry and Jeanne (his wife) many times at his store, and even once at his home. My home was a 20 minute bike ride from the Gilfer office....Mike

I used to pour over the latest Allied Radio catalogs and drool over the stuff I couldn't afford. In 2000 I ordered a catalog from Allied Electronics, but they turned out to be a parts jobber unrelated to Allied Radio. They kept sending me a big, thick parts catalog every year until my postal address changed.

There used to be a Heathkit store in Vancouver. I think it finally closed in the late 1980s. They even carried kits for big color TVs.

 

[a29zuk]

I did a lot of DXing in the 70's using a Realistic DX-160. I would drool over the Barlow-Wadley XCR-30 in the Gilfer ads. Also over the Drake SPR-4 and DSR-2 along with the Yaesu FRG-7 in other ads. I finally bought a real nice SPR-4 about 6 years ago stocked full of crystals.

Those shortwave broadcasts were our internet back then!

Jim

 

[N8FNR]

I did a lot of DXing in the 70's using a Realistic DX-160. I would drool over the Barlow-Wadley XCR-30 in the Gilfer ads. Also over the Drake SPR-4 and DSR-2 along with the Yaesu FRG-7 in other ads. I finally bought a real nice SPR-4 about 6 years ago stocked full of crystals.

Those shortwave broadcasts were our internet back then!

Jim

I became a new fanatic and listened to the BBC, DW and RFI on a regular basis.