A 1940s era Sterling Siren Model “F” factory siren. This siren spent decades outside of a Long Island, NY firehouse, acting as a street clearing siren to allow fire engines to exit the station unimpeded during an emergency. It was decommissioned a few years ago and popped up on eBay, and I was able to get ahold of it for cheap as the seller didn’t know its worth. Model F sirens are very hard to find, as they haven’t been made since the 1960s, and the need for street clearing sirens has lessened. I believe there are less than a dozen left in service across North America.
Mine is in very good running shape, despite its age. I lubricated the bearings recently (brass sleeve bearings) and let the motor break in. It isn’t quite as loud as my Federal Sign & Signal Model “L” (built in the 1960s) but still packs a punch. I usually set them off with the city sirens every Monday. It does need cosmetic restoration, as the paint is badly weathered and the projector has some dents in it, but it won’t be hard to fix up.
It’s relatively common in small towns. Some towns with volunteer fire departments will have a siren they use both to call all available volunteer firefighters and to announce the need to shelter for a tornado. They used to sound it at noon every day and my wife (then girlfriend) used it as an alarm clock when she worked 2nd shift anytime she slept in too late
About 5 years ago they stopped sounding it at noon, and honestly I’m not sure when the last time i heard the sirens was since tornadic storms are becomes much less common here and the firefighters have become increasingly reliant on their radios instead. I kinda miss it. There’s a quaintness to just listening for the noon whistle to tell time
It’s very common even today for fire sirens to still be in use, as well as noon whistles. Unfortunately, people complain about the noise despite choosing to live near the fire department, and the sirens get shut off.
I have a 600w ham radio amplifier from the 60s. It’s a Heathkit SB-200
I’m very proud of it because I bought it in rough condition, and repaired it myself. Replaced all the leaky capacitors and did some other work in there. Now it runs like a dream! It was my first time working with tube gear. The voltages in these things is 2500 volts, that’ll kill you dead before you know what happened.
I also have an SB-220 that I got broken. I fixed it up but didn’t do a full rebuild on it. It’ll do 1200 watts, but I don’t need that much power so I haven’t used it much. It’s in storage. That one is from the late 60s early 70s.
My next oldest device is also ham radio gear, a Kenwood TS-530S from the 80s. There’s a lot of solid state stuff inside, plenty of transistors doing all the work. But the final output stage is still a good ole pair of tubes. I bought this in non working condition, and fixed it myself as well. Good fun!
Yeah, oldest electronic, or oldest thing? I have a set of fireproof bankers drawers with a functioning rotary lock from like 1917. Oldest electronic… Do speakers count? I have a set of Acoustalinear speakers hooked up to a sound system… Or my grandpa’s old neon sign from the 1950s (although it has some newer parts… Ballasts and what not do not last for ever). I also have some old electric tube transistors in an old radio I restored that have “made in West Germany” stamped on them… But those might be from the 90s… I am not sure.
A 1930’s Remington mechanical typewriter. My dad used it regularly until he passed away, it still works perfectly and I’ve got a whole box of ribbons for it.
Samsung S4 mini. Can’t believe it is the 3310 of the smartphone world, undestroyable. It’s just for streaming kids shows but I take care to bring new ROMs on it, actually android 13.
I have some railroad stock certificates from the late 19th century that I need to frame. They’re a few bucks on ebay and really freaking cool
In terms of electronics, I have some model trains from the 60s and 70s that are pretty worthless but keep going despite the abuse and lack of maintenance thanks to electric motors being so simple and easy to maintain. Other than that it’s probably a shoe in between my wife’s N64, PS2 and CRT TV, an old police scanner I got off ebay, or the early plasma TV that I got from my parents who got it from my aunt who got it with their house.
Quadrophonic 8-track player. I use it as an amplifier.
I also keep a copy of “Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk” by Meco loaded into it. It’s a disco/jazz fusion that’s truly horrible, but authentically 70s.
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