[KLQRP] Re: Authentic Paraset device - value?

[Gary O'Neil]

Greetings Erik;

    I can't authenticate whether this is an "original", or if it's one of 
it's many clones, but judging from the photo's it looks like it could be 
authentic or at least close for the vintage period. It's possible it could 
be a repackaged radio that was recovered from war surplus. I think it would 
be worth pulling off of Ebay or put an extraordinarily "reserve" on it and 
do some investigation before letting it go though. I am sure it's probably 
worth more than I would be willing to pay....  even as a clone, even though 
I'd dearly love to have one of them. :-)

    Your timing is perfect to ask this question though. Our club met 
Thursday night, and one of our members told me that he had the pleasure of 
talking with a person who new very much about it's history. Yours doesn't 
match the description of the original design, however, there were only a few 
made during WWII, and used by spies. The were often camouflaged as suitcases 
to avert detection while they traveled.

    Yours is housed in a wood box, and apparently without a cover, 
suggesting there was no deliberate attempt to conceal it's appearance or 
function. I would speculate that this is one of the many home-brew clones 
than have been built since. Even so, the clones are also sought after for 
nostalgic reasons. You wouldn't also happen to have the vibrator power 
supply that compliments this radio would you? If so, you will want to sell 
them together... which would also increase it's value. There also doesn't 
appear to be any manufacturer information on the radio, which challenges 
it's authenticity, but I have no insight to enable me to make a claim either 
way.

    I'll forward this to Bob Kellogg and see if he can direct you to 
somebody that can help you ascertain whether or not this is or isn't a 
Paraset clone. I'll also copy Johan Smet in Zevergem. I don't know how close 
he is to you, but he may be interested in helping you research this as well.

    We also have members in Belgium, and there is a group in Belgium that 
built these as a club project awhile back. Yours looks a bit weathered to be 
one of theirs, but it may be one of the models they used to develop the ones 
they built as a group.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Erik Evrard" <erik at evrard.net>
To: <jwhite001 at bellsouth.net>; <n3go at nc.rr.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 4:43 AM
Subject: Authentic Paraset device - value?


> Dear Sirs,
>
> Recently I found a radio transmitter in my attic - it used to belong
> to my father, and he got it from a radio amateur that he know in the
> 1940s-1950s.
>
> I had no idea what it was and put it for sale on Ebay last week. I
> noticed a lot of interest, so I started doing some research.
>
> I think I may have identified it, and it seems to be an authentic
> British PARASET devicem with serial number 2571. I googled more for
> this and found your website, which contained good explanations on
> what it is.
>
> I'm not interested in keeping it, but as there seem to be many people
> who collect this, I'm wondering if you could give me an idea of its
> real value. I put it for sale with an initial price of 10 euros (6
> pounds), which is probably very low.
>
> Attached are two pictures. The Ebay object code is 330087685654.
> Thanks for your feedback.
>
> Erik Evrard
> Ghent, Belgium
>
> Phone: 00 32 495 562 563
> E-mail: erik at evrard.net
>
>