I rescued an HP-200A audio oscillator from the basement of a relative who’d passed away, thinking it looked interesting. Anyone know if it has any value? I’m guessing it’s nothing too special with a serial number of 30211.
Disney was Hewlett and Packard's first customer in 1939, or was at least among the very first. The 200A oscillators were used to calibrate theater sound hardware for presentations of 'Fantasia' (although https://www.hewlettpackardhistory.com/item/a-deal-with-disne... says the Disney versions were designated 200B.)
Does it look like the one in the photo on that site? Sounds like a very cool artifact. You can't always tell much from the serial number -- for example, notice that they started their model numbers with '200,' just to make the company look bigger and more reputable.
It does look a little newer than the oldest examples I've seen photos of, but it's hard to say what the range of possible production dates would have been. You might be able to find a date code on an electrolytic capacitor or some other internal component.
There are a few HP 200As listed on eBay in the $100-$300 range. Not sure if they're actually selling for that, though.