model question 1970's

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joetnymedic

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so i am in the process of starting to aquire a 1973 fire truck. that said, the truck is pretty complete, except for the radios and possibly the siren/pa box. for GE, I'm thinking master 2's for motorola, I'm just not sure. any ideas? i'm thinking that it's also probably gonna be low band equipment. I'm planning a restore for parades and car shows so I want it as close as possible for anything I have to get
 

n5ims

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In the early 70s the Motorola radio of choice were the older Motrac (motrac) or newer Micor (Motorola® MICOR® Information Index). Lower end models included the Mocom 70 line. You probably have seen the Motrac heads on the TV shows of that day.

You can find them on eBay fairly easily:
Motrac motorola motrac | eBay
Micor motorola micor | eBay

I believe that the Master 2 wasn't from Motorola, but from GE (with the spelling of Mastr II). Info on them are here http://www.repeater-builder.com/rbtip/geindex.html

Those are also on eBay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ge+mastr+ii
 
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garys

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I don't think that the Mocom 70 was a lower end radio. The Mocom 35 definately was, though. IIRC the Mocom 70 was the first Motorola all solid state radio, while the Motrac was tube. They used the same accessories, so the only real indicator would be the labeling on the control heads.

The Micor radio was available in 1975 or so, but a 1973 fire engine could easily have been retrofitted with one.

There were a number of GE radios that might have been in use in 1973. Mastr or Mastr II are the most likely.

A lot of what radio you want to put into a fire engine depends on what you want the engine to represent. If you have a specific department in mind, then you might want to try to find out what radios they used back then.
 

archduke

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IIRC the Mocom 70 was the first Motorola all solid state radio, while the Motrac was tube. They used the same accessories, so the only real indicator would be the labeling on the control heads.

.


Don't forget the Motran. The Motran was a Motrac with transistors instead of tubes in the power amplifier. The Motrac and Motran had hot receivers. I think the Mocom 70 was essentially the same except it was targeted and priced for the commercial market while the Motrac and Motran were marketed to public safety.
 

engine3

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what are you getting for a truck ???

i've also been toying with the idea of putting one in the driveway
looked at a few so far but nothing really jumps out at me ....yet
 

izzyj4

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Joey, PM me when you get a chance, is it a local truck you are purchasing?
 

oldtimeradio

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GE Radio History

I really enjoyed this Link to GE Radio History.

GE MOBILE RADIO HISTORY

I worked for GE (MOM and POP Shops) (Started 1971) others including RCA and Motorola.
I remember repairing the junk in Hartford and Waterbury Fire Departments.

The good old days...

Enjoy the Link

OTR WA1DMX
 

joetnymedic

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ok guys well the idea of this exact truck crashed. the guy sent me some original pics and I had Pam at fire trucks plus take a look too. we both came up with 2K which was what the guy was asking. well I had him send me some more shots and that made me decide its a no go on this particular truck. the siren box and light controls are mia, the seat is shot there are wires and rot everywhere. the truck itself is solid but too much work for me right now in the condition i'm in too boot which isnt that far behind the truck. the guy is looking for 2K for the truck and its a 73 american lafrance. if anyone is interested, i can email you the ads and all the pics the guy sent me. the truck was originally from hampton, ct. after sitting down with the family, I've decided to wait until spring and put some more cash together with what I already have. there is a nice hahn i know of in north branford as well as a couple more. i'm thinking I can get something for around 5K and build it up from there. the bad thing about the ALF is, and I checked, even if I got the truck into perfect condition, it's only worth 5K. This truck just didn't talk to me. plus I really want a seagrave preferably 1960's vintage. we'll see what happens between now and then. I was rushing into things and I almost made a costly mistake. That's ok though I'll find something. This gives me time to buy a better truck. another thing now holding me back is that after I have my surgery, after I'm recovered enough I intend to move to florida. I was quite saddened to find that appearently there arent many shows down in fla. in the area I am planning to move to. That said, the docs are telling me I have to be up here for follow up stuff for 4-6 times a year and my son wants us to do summer vacation from school up here which means i can still do the muster if they still plan to do it as i've been told. if i am gonna spend the time and money to restore a truck, i want to show it, not just leave it locked up at my ex's place. so we'll see. thanks for the help. izzy, i'll drop you an email off board. manny has been following me thru this whole process

joe
 

MTACOP

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Must be something in the air or that time of year... I was looking at the two old NHFD trucks I think they're going to cut up, but way too far gone. Then I started looking for ambulances, but the wife gave me one of those looks.

Good luck Joe
 

joetnymedic

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actually i bought a P71 today up in Enfield today. used to be Putnams DWI car. I'm gonna bang around in that and give my truck a break for a little and put some money in it. This is like my 6th or 7th Vic. Not hooking it up. Not even inclined to. I may put a scanner in it but I'm even doubting that with all the wannabe's out there. I love the way the car handles and the overall responsiveness. Now I can save some money up till spring and get a much nicer truck. David wants me to get a Mack. So that's probably what I'm gonna buy and Izzy is gonna help me look around. I actually gave some thought on an old Caddy Lance but the ones I've come across were in real bad condition. nesting places, etc
 

Mork

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Radios

Joe

When I started in NYCEMS in '74 we had Micors. About a year later we got the Micor w/Modat. When I moved to S FL they used GE Master II's.

doc
 
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