The return route is still open, but I remember passing more than one interesting place on the way to Roswell including on I-20.
Today I checked out a few places in Albuquerque.
Jones Surplus Barn Inc
10921 Central Avenue Northeast
Albuquerque, NM 87123-2729
(505) 298-9295
This is an Army Store with bonus electronics items such as RT-68 items, some piece parts like switches, etc, . There are also a few hundred books, mostly eclectically related to military/politics/cold war, etc of the 50's-70's. There is a set of books there, something like "the 60's day by day" that tells what happened during the 60's. I am sure that would be useful for those that lived through it and now cannot remember it.
Items that interested me:
An aircraft application vane-axial fan for 400Hz , of about 12" diameter. It is sternly warned on the side of the unit that it is not to be used below 40,000 FT. It was $59.95, and had been obviously sitting in the bin for a decade. The fan blade assy is slightly bent (1mm or so) so you would not want to run it near full speed. I think at a lower speed (reduced Hz and voltage) it would be excellent and very interesting as a ventialtion fan. I pointed out it was bent, and tried to negotiate, they would have none of it. So I suppose it will be there for the forseeable future, as who would pay so much for a high speed fan with a bent hub?
There was also a big handheld light for signaling aircraft. About 10" diameter, two handed operation, twisting the front handle changes the light from red-white-green. 6-volt 50 watt lamp. This had some dents and two small holes poked in the case, and they wanted $45 which I thought was too much for it considering the problems, so I left it with a little regret.
The item I bought was a military transport case having 19" rack rails mounted inside. This was $65.
The next place was
Surplus City
10805 Central Avenue Northeast
Albuquerque, NM 87123-2727
(505) 292-7131
If you like electronics or chemistry this is the best place in Albuquerque. I found switches, vacuum tubes (304TL,HY-5430, 7213, VA-162, and a NL-1052A ignitron, etc), PRX CM300HA-24H brick transistors, small relays to large contactors, rackmounted TEK 485 scopes, "large" heatsinks, breakers all sizes, toroid coils, 4000 series ICs and old USA-made transistors, HP/TEK plugins, power resistors, oil diffusion pumps, Photomultipliers, a Rexon Scintilator with a CaF XTAL and Hamamatsu R1307 PMT, roughing pumps, 10 racks with "Sandia Labs" logo, all full w/ power supplies and static freq. converters, 5" square 2-wire klaxons for 6VDC and 12VAC, 10-50A "variacs", a 12" dia. 500 Ohm 1.25A dual rheostat (actually a power potentiometer) raw speakers in 2-3" round and 4-5" square, "Plastic Capacitors" 3-15KV for $5-10, Burroughs 122P224 Nixies were $4, Chemistry glassware and thermal mantles, military 18kBTU a/c units, Miller and Sureweld welders up to 400+ Amps, CO2 laser power supply, a 2.8uF 60KV cap, an X-ray tube and power suply, Dewars, and all the usual items of electronics. Also, ultrasonic transducers and laser levels. They also have some militay surplus and other clothing, nuts and bolts, etc. Out back there is a huge yard full of junque.
I bought some ultrasonic transducers and photomultipliers.
This will interest geiger counter fans:
I almost bought the scintillator, but went to the hotel and called the manufacturer about it first. It was then I found out it is sensitive only to the 17KeV X-rays from plutonium, and would not be useful to me. I was connected to the president of the company who is a physicist and he gave me quite an education. The reason for interest in scintilators is that sometimes radium dials and the like are found, as well as other items. It is a pain to have to sweep everything with a geiger counter. With a scintillator, the sensitivity is much better and counts will accrue 100X or more faster. This means you can be at a greater distance and still discover the material.
If the geiger counter has a sensitivity of 1x, then here are the sensitivities of various scntillation crystals when used with photomultiplier tubes:
100x NaI(Tl) Sodium iodide activated with thallium
125X CsI Cesium iodide
200X BGO Bismuth germanate
the above technology are way more costly than a geiger counter unless found surplus.
The last place was
Kaufman's West Army & Navy Gds
1660 Eubank Boulevard Northeast
Albuquerque, NM 87112-4115
(505) 293-3229
This is a regular army store plus a police goods store. The vast majority of the goods are new. The optics are mainly Leupold with prices to match.
