These three elements come together with the help of a blue screen located on the bathroom cabinet where the mirror should be. What appears to be a continuous shot is, in fact, two shots and one still plate. The original would match the other four knobs in size and general appearance. The unit in the movie appears to have had its volume knob (the leftmost of the five visible knobs) replaced with a larger, non-standard knob. Featuring frequency coverage of 540 kHz to 109 MHz, it was one of the earliest radios to include the ability to receive the FM Broadcast band along with AM Broadcast and shortwave bands. The lower of the two (black and silver in color) is one of the Hallicrafters SX-62 receiver series, manufactured from 1949 into the mid-1960s. A couple of older radios are shown behind Ellie's dad when he sits in the corner and gives her the clue of 'orange juice' for the location of Pensacola. However, it requires some practice and skill to fully exploit this capability.

Introduced in 1905 and still being manufactured, it is notable for having a clever weight-and-spring mechanism that allows the operator to send a string of 'dits' by pressing and holding the lever to the 'dit' side, rather than having to press it repeatedly, allowing for faster sending of code.

The Morse Code key visible on the table is a Vibroplex Semi-Automatic 'Bug' model. The radio is a Collins KWM-2A, generally regarded as the 'Cadillac' of ham radio transceivers of its day, with matching speaker to the right. The Arroways' amateur radio station that young Ellie uses is authentic and period-appropriate. Adolf Hitler's speech to open the Berlin Olympic Games (1936, almost unrecognizable). 'Over the Rainbow' from The Wizard of Oz (1939). Roosevelt's 'A Date Which Will Live in Infamy' speech (1941). Joseph McCarthy: 'Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?' (1950s). Brian Hyland's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini (1960). Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech (1963).

Neil Armstrong: 'One small step for a man.' (1969). Richard Nixon: 'I am not a crook.' (1973). R2-D2 whistling and beeping from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). A Taste of Honey's Boogie Oogie Oogie (1978). Crash Test Dummies's God Shuffled His Feet (1993). Third Eye Blind's Semi-Charmed Life (1997). From closest to farthest, the transmissions include: As the camera moves away from Earth, the transmissions become older, as the first transmissions would be further out into space. At the beginning, various television and radio transmissions are heard coming from Earth into outer space.

Blind Tasting by Angela Ford