Say...curiosity is gnawing at me....
In all the 544's that seem to be coming and going, has anyone run across
serial number 544-00069 -- I think that was T-T's s/n format for the 544.
I bought that radio somewhere back around 1979 or 80, just after it came
out. Some 4 in Alabama had posted an ad in QST classifieds offering it, the
speaker/p.s., ammeter, remote VFO for $750. My then-wife thought I was
crazy to send him a cashier's check for that amount based solely on one
telephone conversation with the guy. I told her something to the effect:
It's okay. He's a ham.
Apparently, just after he bought the 544, et al, Drake came out with the TR7
(I think that's what it was--clear plastic bandswitch knob dial?) and he was
champing at the bit for it. The 544 had been on the air for 'only 30
minutes.'
It was perfect when I received it and it played for about 15 years before
(three years in a house in a subdivision with deed restrictions = 5 dipoles
in the attic = 187 countries = fun!)
I sold it a few years ago to a local retiree.
He's since moved north and I've often wondered if one of the 544's mentioned
might not be my old 544.
Curiously enough, when my dad passed away and I inherited his ham equipment,
one of the items he had was a T-T 2581, 2m handheld (He had seen mine and
liked it's simplicity and bought one a few weeks later). It's s/n is (still
have it and my original one) 00069, also.
73,
dale, kg5u
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