Mk128 Radio Value?
 

I have had this for a number of years and I am now thinking of selling it. I don't think that there are too many of them about,so I'm not too sure of its value. Any ideas would be welcome.
Peter.

Re: Mk128 Radio.
 

To my amazement they seem to go for several hundred quid, if some of the sales on eBay are anything to go by.

[You've at least got a complete setup there: I've only got the transmitter and receiver without the carrying-case or accessories]

Re: Mk128 Radio.
 

I only have the Transmitter, so I was bidding on a reciever a couple of months back and on its own made just short of £200

I was not the lucky bidder.

Cheers

Mike T

Re: Mk128 Radio.
 

Clandestine sets are something I've steered clear of, although I do have an example of the receiver from one of these. I wouldn't be surprised if such a complete system made more than £500.
Andy

Re: Mk128 Radio.
 

I have the receiver and no transmitter!

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

I have had it working but I haven't got many crystals,so operating was very much restricted.It has spent the last few years in a cupboard so I thought it time to pass it on.I had a chat to a fellow amateur and he said he knows of several people interested.I just needed to establish a fair price in order to sell it.

Thanks.Peter.

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Nice set-up Peter, versions in the carrying case are rare! Mine is in the haversack but sans accessories and I've seen a key go for 50 quid on ebay!

BTW, the 6 V inverters for the WS-18 that Nico makes are excellent for powering the SR128.

73

Roger/G3VKM

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

There's a nice one coming up in the VMARS January auction Roger. It looks to be complete. It will be interesting to see what that goes for.
Peter.

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Yes, I saw that Peter, it does look to be all there. They are quite good little sets even though the RF power is tiny. I'd really like a pukka key for my set and a headset but I won't hold my breath!

Have a good Xmas

73
Roger

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

In 1978 - 80, when I live in Rotherham, a firm called A.H Supplies at Darnall, Sheffield, sold both the receivers and transmitters for £8.00 each - £15.00 the pair. I bought a couple of the receivers, which were neat little things and performed well enough. He had a lot of them and as I recall, they didn't fly off the shelves. I don't think back then that there was as much interest is military stuff as now. I later sold them at Elvaston Castle rally for about a tenner each when I had a clear out.

I may be wrong - it's not an area that interests me, but I think they were post WWII - 1960s even, using B7G valves. Not clandestine, just rather cumbersome portable rigs for short range use. Unless my timing is out, I'm rather surprised that the military was still using valves long after transistors appeared on the scene.

If my memory serves me right, I think the RX covered 3.5 and 7 MHz, which. Made them useful and usable.

Amazing how things accumulate in value over time. I guess that once they're in the hands of collectors, few want to dispose of them, and perversely, the higher they go in value, the more that owners see them as an accumulating investment to be hung onto.

Sounds like if you stick it on e-bay, you'll be pleasantly surprised Peter. I can see someone or another blowing their Winter Fuel payment and Christmas bonus on it - nostalgia will always triumph over common sense!

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Heck David,I bought my receiver from Elvaston Castle rally!

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

I have a TX, RX and homebrew PSU.

No one seems to have any idea as to what these sets were used for.

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

I often see people selling them as spy sets on ebay,which they are not.

I once owned both the rx & tx sets & i spoke to a friend who worked for the MOD distributing & maintaining these sets back in the day.

He said a lot were issued to UK Embassies oversea's & would of been hidden in a specific place in case of an emergency,buried in the ground,etc,etc.

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

I think I have a magazine article about them somewhere. I think it mentioned it was seen in the film Ice Station Zebra.
Rob

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Wireless for the Warrior gives the date of introduction as 1957-58 but gives it as an estimate. It doesn't have much to say about it's use.

Cheers

Mike T

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Rob,

August/September 1998 Radio Bygones, according to an article by G0TJD on the VMARS site. I don't have that in PDF but may have it in hardcopy - somewhere!

BTW, I should have said Pietro Noto as the source of the solid-state inverter I use to power my 128. It is a WS18 model but with a 1.4v heater supply and it was supplied without the 4 pin Jones free socket which we had to supply/fit ourselves. I think we bought a batch of six amongst VMARS SR128 owners. Fits nicely in the side pockets of the haversack, along with a 6v DryFit or two.

Roger

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Amazingly, I found my copy of Radio Bygones for Aug/Sept 1998 very quickly. The article, also by G0TJD, quotes the set as being used by the SAS and other units during the Malaya Emergency in the 1950s and the SAS used it in Oman as a back-up set. The author mentions that the SR128 appeared in official Army equipment schedules as late as 1977.

Cheers

Roger/G3VKM

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Wasn't that the MK 123?

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

Roger, Dec. 1991 Short Wave Mag has it as well, almost a 2 page article. The film was "Where Eagles Dare". I have pdf of it. Also, BAMA or VMARS has some info.
Rob

Re: Mk128 Radio Value?
 

OK Rob, I found that OK, shame it doesn't give anything new about who used the set. I have a radio amateur friend "in the business" of mil comms and will ask him what he knows!

Cheers
Roger