Dear Jackie,

On April 6, 1962 I bought a Lafayette HE-10 ($79.95) and its associated
speaker HE-11 ($7.95) along with a pair of Lafayette headphones
($1.49).

Being dissastisfied with those headphones, on July 27, 1962 I bought a
pair of Clevite Brush BA-200 headphones ($14.79) and headphone cushions
($0.73).

For over thirty-eight years, until I bought my Grundig Satellit 800 in
June of 2000, this was my primary shortwave receiver.

Except for a few tube replacements and a couple of full alignments
(just to make sure!) over the years, it has always operated as it did
when I first removed it from its box.

Now owning the aforementioned Grundig and an AOR AR7030 Plus
(factory-customized), I do not use the Lafayette much anymore. I ALWAYS
use it on April 6, its "birthday," (It'll be 44 this year.) but, aside
from reliability and its operation, which I LOVE - there's nothing like
heavy flywheel-weighted tuning knobs (TWO of them in fact), its overall
performance cannot compare to a modern receiver.

But I'll never sell it! It's really nice to "fire it up" and relive my
youth every once in a while.

Over the years I tried to replace it, most notably with a Radio Shack
DX-400 which I purchased in May 1984. But that set was not in the same
"ballpark" as the Lafayette, digital tuning and triple conversion
notwithstanding. Until I bought the Satellit 800 and then later the
AR7030, I had not found any radio which satisfied me the way that old
Lafayette did.

My first portable shortwave radio was a Hitachi KH-1108S which I
purchased on June 26, 1969. The only "servicing" this radio has had
over the years is battery replacement (4 alkaline D cells last about
three years!) and a thorough exterior cleaning which I did a couple of
years ago - it now looks like "new" (except for the leather case which
has hardened and cracked in places). I still use this radio, for local
MW boadcasts - rarely for SW or FM, daily.

Best,

Joe