Vintage Radio
Vintage radio enthusiasts contend that while modern, state-of-the-art, microprocessor based amateur radios are extremely good at what they are designed to do, they lack the aesthetic appeal and "soul" of amateur electronic gear from the vacuum tube era. Additionally, many find satisfaction in taking commercially-made amateur equipment from the 1930s - 1970s (affectionately called boat anchors by US/Canadian amateurs because of their relatively large size and weight) and carefully restoring it back to health.
The simple, roomy electrical and mechanical designs of boat anchor radios are more easily worked on, modified, and tinkered with than their modern Japanese counterparts. In an age where fixing a transceiver is accomplished by boxing it up to send to the manufacturer for a custom VLSI chip replacement, devotees think of boat anchors as "real radio". According to these hobbyists, a hot soldering iron is almost a requirement for operating a vintage station.
Other enthusiasts claim that boat anchors sound better than their silicon descendants, saying that the tube audio from vintage gear is "warmer" and more aesthetically pleasing than the audio produced by the typical modern transceiver. Some hobbyists see vintage radio operation as a valuable asset to help preserve the history and heritage of radio for future generations, and may assist in the restoration and operation of vintage radio equipment for historical exhibits, museums and museum ships.
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Reel to Reel Tape Recorders
The reel-to-reel format was used in the very earliest tape recorders, including the pioneering German Magnetophons of the 1930s. Originally, this format had no name, since all forms of magnetic tape recorders used it. The name arose only with the need to distinguish it from the several kinds of tape cartridges or cassettes which were introduced in the early 1960s.
Following the example set by Bing Crosby, high-speed reel-to-reel tape recorders rapidly became the main recording format used by audiophiles and professional recording studios until the late 1980s when digital audio recording techniques began to allow the use of other types of media
For home use, simpler reel-to-reel recorders were available, and a number of track formats and tape speeds were standardised to permit interoperability and prerecorded music. The first prerecorded Reel To Reel Tapes were introduced by RCA Victor Record Co. in 1954. Reel to reel was still popular through to the end of the 1970s, despite the ubiquitous cassette, mostly because of the superior quality of open reel recordings. Audiophiles are willing to accept the relative fiddliness of open reel tape to gain better quality reproduction. Reel-to-reel tape editing also gained cult-status when many used this technique on hit-singles in the 1980s.
