Malden, MA, Cortland St., NYC, Market St., SF, Anaheim, CA, St. Louis, MO and Burbank, CA. These locations share a common bond and that bond is Surplus Electronics locations. Sadly, only one location remains today supplying the needs of those seeking POP, (Parts of Pastimes).
Meshna Electronics was a mail order electronics store in Malden, MA where I bought my 1st ARC-5 for $3.50. Cortland St. in NYC of course was the home of Radio Row.
In June of 1967, I was discharged from the Navy and started my 1st civilian job right in downtown San Francisco just off of Market St.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered SF had a radio row just up the street from where I worked. I almost bought a NIB BC-348 receiver for $25. But shortly after arrival in SF, I discovered North Beach (I lived two blocks from there) and many of the topless dancers I soon discovered actually lived in my apartment complex. I never went back to look at the BC-348.
There remains but one of these giants of Electronic Surplus and that is in Burbank (Sunland) CA. The name should roll of your tongue like honey -- it's called Apex Surplus.
This is O'Scope Row
Need Some Wire!
Apex sells all sorts of surplus including rocket parts, Industrial Chambers, hardware (nuts & bolts) and of course electronics.
With a high degree of certainty blog readers have seen merchandise from Apex Surplus! That is because they supply the movie industry with props as that is a large part of their business. So that latest sci-fi movie you watched on Netflix that had a cockpit full of electronic panels all lit up --- yep Apex. Their website has a photo of the original Proton Packs as seen in Ghost Busters. I think I saw a brief passing image of Bill Murray lurking behind a spent rocket motor. See also if you can spot the pristine looking Hammarlund SP-600 Radio Receiver they have for rent as a prop.
So why is Apex today's subject? Well, my #3 son is coming for a visit this weekend and he is an ardent mechanical homebrewer and has visited Apex many times in the past.
He is always in search of mechanical assemblies and hardware found nowhere else. So, he is dragging me along on this trip and it will be a 1st time visit for me. I am visualizing a spent rocket motor in my front yard as an "Objet d'art".
Son, Nick, and I when we lived in St. Louis, would make a regular sojourn to Gateway Electronics and would spend hours rummaging through the bins looking for stepper motors, controller boards and mechanical assemblies. Today he uses those same parts in his day job.
Often times when I buy a birthday present for someone I wonder if it will hit the mark and is it appropriate. On his last birthday in March, I bought him a welder. It hit the mark! This was timed perfectly with a purchase he made for a well-seasoned metal lathe that lacked a mounting pedestal.
The welder was the tool he needed to build the pedestal base. The lathe he bought came from England and had all the accessories for cutting gears and threads. The pedestal base is now built and thus he is looking for stock/materials to build hardware on the lathe. That is the reason for the visit to Apex. He lives in the Bay Area and has a big truck -- it will go home full up with home cooked food and surplus.
Them that know can make things go.
73's
Pete N6QW
PS Confession Time. I hope to entice #3 son to make me some metallic 1.75" in diameter knobs with a knurled finish around the outside and finished off in black. That would look so cool on the Hybrid SSB Transceiver. So, one of the things I will be looking for is some aluminum stock big enough to fab the knobs. I was born at night... but not last night.