User avatar
Fearguy1234
Registered User
Registered User
Posts: 86
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:13 am
Real Name: Chessie System
YouTube Username: Chessie System

Civil Defense black box

Thu Nov 23, 2017 1:44 pm

Lately I have found a black, civil defense box in my high school, mounted in the wall inside a hallway to the gym. The box originally had a patch of the civil defense logo on the front, but had been taken off just recently so when you see the pictures, try to imagine a patch on the front. The box has a communications attachment built into the side, which means it could have been used as a radio, or something else. My high school is very old, built in the early 50s, so it obviously went through civil defense times, so I was wondering what it was used for. Any ideas? The pictures are turned over, so turn your head to the right to properly look at it.
Attachments
1121171115b.jpg
From a distance
1121171115b.jpg (3.43 MiB) Viewed 8852 times
1121171115a.jpg
Inside the box, looks to have been painted ov
1121171115a.jpg (4.7 MiB) Viewed 8852 times
1121171115.jpg
Looks to be some soRt of communication equipm
1121171115.jpg (3.34 MiB) Viewed 8852 times
1121171114.jpg
The box upclose
1121171114.jpg (2.9 MiB) Viewed 8852 times
Chessie System

User avatar
Unit of Civil Defense
Registered User
Registered User
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 3:11 am
Location: Topeka,Ks.

Re: Civil Defense black box

Fri Nov 24, 2017 4:06 am

It's obviously been gutted of what ever transceiver equipment may have been in place....the coax connector is a dead give away.
Was your high school a designated fall out shelter? Some, but not all, fall out shelters had 2-way radio equipment such as a gonset communicator which may have been too big to have been placed in this box.
Another possibility, and this is a stretch,.....
If your high school use to broadcast its home Basketball games on a local AM radio station, then the box would have been what the radio engineers would have used to tie the mics that the play by play announcers where using into a dedicated phone line back to the radio studio and the radio station back to the play by play announcers via their head phones.....basically a small transceiver that fit into that box...the coax connector that is pictured could have been for the head phones verses using a head phone jack(s) that are more susceptible to wear and tear than the coax connector. .
Rheems1 wrote: I petition that everyone who joins the board should have to put there age or year of birth in thier signature...32 here
....Lifes great, I'm 58

User avatar
Fearguy1234
Registered User
Registered User
Posts: 86
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:13 am
Real Name: Chessie System
YouTube Username: Chessie System

Re: Civil Defense black box

Fri Nov 24, 2017 12:52 pm

The box is right beside the gym in the hallway, so broadcasting is possible. The school is in the middle of nowhere with just trees and houses nearby, so I dont know about fallout shelters in it or nearby. I dont know how much history has been kept about civil defense in the school, or the county. I might ask a janitor about it, but I think it was some sort of warning equipment, but I dont know.
Chessie System

lilrags44
New User
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:45 pm
Real Name: Brandon

Re: Civil Defense black box

Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:10 pm

With any luck, you might be able to go to your city library and look thru a news paper archive. If you can, looks thru the beginning times of CD and see if your HS is mentioned. My library is funny; when they finally got tired of bring books up for me, they just took me down to the basement, and let me work beside a Microfiche machine. Funny thing, there was a CD water drum under the table ;)

User avatar
Fearguy1234
Registered User
Registered User
Posts: 86
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:13 am
Real Name: Chessie System
YouTube Username: Chessie System

Re: Civil Defense black box

Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:17 am

Thanks! Thinking about doing one of these days! 😂
Chessie System

nvanw27
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 1035
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:55 am
Real Name: Nik VW
YouTube Username: 301.3 Productions
Discord: nottimwakefield
Location: Kingsley, Michigan
Contact: Website Twitter

Re: Civil Defense black box

Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:40 pm

seen one of those somewhere before, but no idea where........
-Nik VW
3.6 roentgen - Not Great, not terrible.

jacob585
Registered User
Registered User
Posts: 667
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:43 pm
Real Name: Jacob Ulrich
YouTube Username: SouthMissouriSirens
Discord: MidMissouriSirens#9512
Location: Marshfield Missouri
Contact: Twitter YouTube

Re: Civil Defense black box

Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:31 pm

I do think it might be a old civil defense first aid kit but i dont think so
I'm Jacob Ulrich or MidMissouriSirens on youtube.

My Missouri Siren Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... 57595&z=10

User avatar
Chem_Boffin_6589
Registered User
Registered User
Posts: 931
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:52 pm
Real Name: Alfie Woolard
YouTube Username: Alfie Woolard
Discord: Alfie
Location: South East England, UK

Re: Civil Defense black box

Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:32 pm

jacob585 wrote:
Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:31 pm
I do think it might be a old civil defense first aid kit but i dont think so
It has a coaxial cable connector on it so I'd be very surprised if it were a first aid kit.
Alfie Woolard
Federal Signal MC know-it-all.
Installed, initiated and maintains school campus warning system.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGVVz ... 8BQ47VmdHg

Return to “Other Warning Systems - Indoor, Outdoor and Vehicular”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests