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Broadcast equipment, what to look for?

M

mibag6

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I'm going to an old radio station tomorrow to look at some old equipment which is no longer used, among which are a couple of incomplete turntables, at least one Gates and not sure about the other. The turntables were my main interest but I'm wondering if there might be other things I should be on the lookout for so if anyone has some familiarity with typical broadcast equipment I'd appreciate any recommendations. It's an AM station that has been around since 1959 so could be just about anything there.
Thanks
 
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Everyone's different, but I'd be looking for Rek-O-Kut turntables, tube monitor amps, the mixing boards in the studios and booths.....
 
just get the turntables no matter what they are, just about any true broadcast turntable is going to be worth a few bucks even if incomplete. get all the little bits and bobs they will give you with the deal. I bought three Russco turntables from a guy who owned radio stations and he threw in a few little boxes of extras. I sold off a couple of the shure tonearms he included and made all my money back for the turntables.

good luck
 
Even the cheaper Bogen B-52 turntables have value.

Back in 1966, we had a college organization that did a half hour documentary once a week on WXYZ, recorded Friday evening and aired late Sunday when no one was listening. They had a rack with 2 RCA tape decks and a device between them that could dial up the next source. So, 2 half hour tapes were loaded during the news, tones at the end of the tape would start the next tape, then the tone at the end of the second tape would cut to network news. Then they would load the next 2 half hour tapes.

Anyway, these RCA tape decks would make a Crown look like junk. The 3 motors looked to be about the size of an automotive starter motor and they could rewind a 10 inch reel in what seemed like less than a minute. There was a center off pot that would run the reel motors for cueing.

Even things that might not be of interest may still have good parts such as high quality slide pots, VU meters, vintage tubes, heavy duty connectors, etc.

Leave the antenna tower. It's rusted together and would be a real pain to move.
 
oh yeah , any reel to reel tape machines. When I made the deal on my russco turntables the man mentioned he also had some Studer reel to reel's. I passed...when I got home I googled Studer and realized what a monumental F up I had made. never could get back in touch with the guy, lesson learned.
 
If they have preamps for the turntables, those might be worth grabbing too. I have a Radio Systems solid state phono pre from a broadcast station, and it really does sound pretty good. Its fairly unassuming looking, just a black box with Radio Systems painted across the top, but its very well built inside. Has provisions for balanced or unbalanced output too, and gain controls.
 
A few years ago I had a similar experience. In addition to what has already been mentioned, I found lots of audio tubes in drawers and cabinets, scads of test equipment, and a couple of beat up Altec Valencias which work just fine. The possibilities were more than I could imagine in the brief time I had before the wrecking crew arrived.
 
So, I went and picked up these. They're actually in better shape than I was expecting, fairly complete except the Harris seems to be missing some mounting hardware for the motor assy. Both drive motors work, Woo Hoo! one section of the rotary switch on the preamp is broken and one knob is missing but I think I can deal with that.
 

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nice! that blue Gates looks awesome, give it a little tlc and mount it in a nice heavy plinth and you got yourself a nice turntable. Well done!
 
jeremyjustic said:
nice! that blue Gates looks awesome, give it a little tlc and mount it in a nice heavy plinth and you got yourself a nice turntable. Well done!
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With a Micro Trak wooden tone arm to boot! I've always liked the looks of those puppys.
I call score!
 
They also had 3 ITC tape decks, 1 Viking studio 96 tape deck and a couple of Marantz portable cassette decks. I don't know squat about tape decks but they certainly appeared to be substantial units.
Anybody know what kind of wood the tone arm is made of?
 
jeremyjustic said:
oh yeah , any reel to reel tape machines. When I made the deal on my russco turntables the man mentioned he also had some Studer reel to reel's. I passed...when I got home I googled Studer and realized what a monumental F up I had made. never could get back in touch with the guy, lesson learned.
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Ouch!


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