RCA Personalfone 150 Info Needed

[CDMuseum]

I have a rather large collection of older two way radio gear and civil defense radiological equipment from the 1950's-60's. Just acquired a working RCA Personalfone 150 handheld radio and charger. Was looking for factual info on the unit for a description. I know it is a VHF high band with 5 channels. I would like to know what power range they were as well as manufacture period. I know that they were circa 1968 but little else. Can anyone add more?

 

[K9WG]

These were labeled under several names. I had a couple that were labeled WabCo. I had schematics at one time but they disappeared some time ago.

 

[petnrdx]

They were sold under RCA. REPCO, WABCO and ITEK that I know of.
2 watts on the handheld, and 5 or 10 watts on the "packset" that is based on the exact same RF board.
These radio used a series of plug in modules for the various components.
The USFS used a lot of them ( maybe thousands ).
The SO I worked for had several dozen.
I will look and see if I still have the manual.

 

[CDMuseum]

Many thanks! Having been around mostly GE and Motorola gear over the last several decades, the RCA had me stumped and Googling was no help. I try to be as historically accurate on the displayed items as I can be.

 

[petnrdx]

OK, took me awhile to find that manual.
They did make these in 2.2 watt and 4 watt.
Also made a 2.5 khz deviation narrowband model but the 5 khz was the common one.
one to five channel, carrier squelch or up to five PL tones.
And they came with options like external speaker mic, earphone, AA battery case, NICD or mercury battery.
The packset was internally the same radio, with a small added PA board with a plug in module for 10 watts out.
Not a bad radio for their day, but large.
We used them for decades.
And the packsets too.

 

[CDMuseum]

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to look that up. I am just amazed that this little gem still works so well after all this time. After a few charge/discharge cycles even the battery is livening up more. Just goes to show you can never tell what may turn up from some agency's closet. Great addition to the museum at any rate.