"Dave Platt" wrote in message
...
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know next to nothing about
this topic, however, the radio is not for me. It's for my dad. He was very
active in radios from around WWII thru the 50s. His job and family came
first though, so I guess he had to let some of his hobbies go. Since he's
retired and doesn't get around as well as he used to, he's thinking about
getting back into radio.

I think he got "sticker shock" when he looked at a trade magazine
recently. I tried to tell him we aren't in the 50s anymore and he said
"Yea,
but dam they're high."

Based on articles, I've seen, the prices for a typical HF rig these
days isn't all that much different from the prices for rigs back in
the 1950s, once you adjust for inflation.


If you adjust for inflation, the rigs of today are dirt cheep.

A typical Johnson Viking would be around $ 300 and a receiver would be
around $ 150 to $ 200. That is around $ 450 to $ 500 in 1955. I was not
aroung those years, and don't know what the typical wages were, but they
probably were under $ 1.00 an hour. For around $ 1500 you can get an Icom
746 Pro that will do things only dreamed about in the 50's. I bought one in
March for $ 1400 after the rebate and free shipping with the matching power
supply. The Icom 706 is a lot less than that. There are several lowband
transceivers out now that are about half that . That would only be 4 to 5
times the cost of the 50's station. The wages now are probably 10 times
that or more.

To top it all off most have more money left over now to buy things than they
did in the 50's. I grew up then and many were lucky to have a used car
about 5 or 6 years old. Now lots have atleast two cars and not too many are
that old.