LTV G133F Receiver (Collins 51S-1)

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

I picked up this receiver some number of years ago, pre-Ebay, on rec.radio.swap. It's actually a Collins 51S-1 Receiver that had been repackaged by LTV. I have to admit, it looks VERY cool.

In addition to the strange knobs, LTV also added a plastic front panel, painted matte black, with engraved labels for the controls. LTV embedded lamps in the plastic, and when the receiver is on, the engraving actually lights up (as shown below). How cool is that?

Real Radios really do glow in the dark!

(I'm not exactly sure what the "AM BFO" control does (lower left-hand corner of the receiver) -- it's possible that this function doesn't even work on this receiver, as I've had no luck getting it to do anything. But what the heck -- the receiver is pretty darn cool anyway!)

By the way -- I'm not exactly sure what the receiver was used for. Someone mentioned that it was used on spy planes, but I don't know what the actual story really is...