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harlyworkr
06-14-2017, 06:26 PM
Hello everyone,
I have a Golden Eagle D104 and I thought it would be nice to follow the serial numbers and locations. I am curious as to how many are left and what the sequence of serial numbers are.

My Serial Number is: 03916 and I live in Kansas City

Description: 18 Carat GOLD PLATED version of the Classic D-104(TUG9) amplified stand. Only 10,000 NUMBERED microphones were made.

​The History of Astatic:
In 1930, two amateur radio operators, Creed M. Chorpening, W8WR (later W8MJM) and F.H. Woodworth, W8AHW began experimenting with different types of microphones for their "ham' stations. Their mutual friend, Charles Semple, worked for Brush Development Company where he had been experimenting with Rochelle salt crystals. Semple demonstrated some crystal pick-ups that Brush was working with, leading Chorpening and Woodworth to found The Astatic Microphone Laboratory, Inc. in Youngstown, Ohio in 1933. Semple was brought into the company as general manager to manufacture and market the company's model D-104 Crystal Microphone as well as other crystal microphones, crystal phonograph pickups and recording heads. In 1944, Astatic moved operations to Conneaut, Ohio and supplied microphones, pickups and crystal cartridges as well as hydrophone and Sonar devices to the military during World War II.
After World War II, Astatic Microphone Laboratory became The Astatic Corporation. Currently, the company is located in Solon, Ohio and offers microphones and audio accessories to various audio industries.The Amateur & CB product division of Astatic was sold to DAS Companies, a major mobile communications product distributor. DAS has since expanded the Astatic name to include many accessories including coaxial cables, meters and antennas. Astatic also currently manufactures bullet style microphones in a partnership with Hohner, which are extremely popular among harmonica players. The original Astatic model JT-30 is one of the most popular microphones for blues harp players. Today, the model is sold as the Hohner 1490 Blues Blaster.
D-104 microphonehttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Frontmic.jpg/220px-Frontmic.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frontmic.jpg)
Vintage D-104 microphone head


Introduced in 1933, the Astatic model D-104 became known for its high frequency response that contributed to better communications audio quality. Early D-104 mikes used a 1" thick case, a large ID tag, and holes for "ring & spring" mounts. The design was modified in April 1937 with smaller tags and reduced thickness. A black "grip" switch stand ("G" Stand) with a metal ID tag was manufactured in January 1938. A solid-state amplifier was incorporated into to the "G" stand in the 1960s. A US Bicentennial model D-104 was manufactured in 1976 featuring an eagle and shield design on the back plate, as well as a chrome base. There was also a gold (in color) version with the eagle on the back plate. There were other variations, but production ceased in 2001.The D-104 is often used by CB Radio hobbyists and vintage amateur radio enthusiasts as part of their operating activities.

halfwatt959
06-22-2017, 11:37 AM
Neat little history lesson. I have a silver eagle that "allegedly" is one of the final editions. Don't have the box but check the S.N. just for kicks. Is there a data base that may tell if it realy is a final Ed. or at least be able to know when manufactured and possibly where? For some reason I thought it was Coneaute [sure I misspelled it] OH.

exhibitedone
07-02-2017, 09:23 PM
I have 9 astatics but these are my favorite 3, an original D-104 on a T-UG8 stand,a 1977 Silver Eagle, and a black and gold Night Eagle no.2298https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170703/4dc9a46f3f0d03f575b6fbfa6b5545fd.jpg2284

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

KM4KGN
10-24-2017, 09:22 PM
My Golden Eagle is #05313. I tried to upload a couple of pictures but,despite being .jpg files, it keeps saying they are the incorrect format.

Anyway I keep reading on various sites that only 10,000 Bicentennial Golden Eagles were made...yet on Ebay I see a large number of Golden Eagles for sale with serial numbers well beyond 10,000. Were they not number sequentially 00001 - 10000?

Rperos0815
10-25-2017, 08:34 PM
Yes I've seen the serial number past 10,000 also I wonder why?

Leeinri
08-25-2019, 10:20 PM
I have serial number 06712 here in RI.

JesseJamesDallas
08-26-2019, 05:50 PM
They only made 10,000 at a time...Once done, then they made another 10,000!:300 (97):

STINGER
09-01-2020, 01:04 PM
My Golden Eagle Serial number is 20590. 2429

Cedar Mountain Radio
01-25-2021, 07:49 PM
My Golden Eagle Serial number is 20590. 2429

How well does that 450D work on AM?

Alabama Buckeye
08-06-2022, 12:52 AM
My Golden Eagle is #05313. I tried to upload a couple of pictures but,despite being .jpg files, it keeps saying they are the incorrect format.

Anyway I keep reading on various sites that only 10,000 Bicentennial Golden Eagles were made...yet on Ebay I see a large number of Golden Eagles for sale with serial numbers well beyond 10,000. Were they not number sequentially 00001 - 10000?

I've no idea whether the serial number has any relationship to a true count of a quantity produced. If so SN26162 would indicate there was a big demand for these microphones.

Aside: Whether truly needed or not I swapped out the virgin microphone element for three electret elements mounted in a triangular pattern, 20mm from center, into 2.875D x 0.25"W ABS disk; along with a voltage regulator for them.

Rick1356
01-08-2023, 01:23 PM
This is my Golden eagle [/SIZE]=CONFIG]2551