Orbie, this is the mystery to me. I posted about it a while back. I never seen one or heard of one until seeing one on the net. I didn't make the transition to 40 channel units and withdrew from repair and continued on with a career in land mobile and marine. I knew a lot of the service folks at PS becuase they were all amateurs and still keep in touch with the few still alive. Nobody remembers this unit. The company was in total disarray during that period and laid off a lot of people at both their plants here and they started to diversify into all kinds of stuff away from radio. Unfortunately the best source for info on this unit died seven years ago. SAMS didn't make photofact for it. None of the modification books or PLL chip resources mention this unit. It doesn't appear to be in any PS lists of any kind. There must have been very few made and probably a transition radio. Everybody was left scrambling to find a 40 channel lineup/sourcing almost last minute because of all the nonsense that was going on with the FCC. They had very little time to get their units to type approval and to market. This may have even been a 23 channel PLL unit. Several manufactures did that because there was a tacit understanding that whatever was approved, the radios could be later modified. We were told to hint that about Radio Shack's TRC-55 and a few of the radios they had that were 23 channel, but employed a PLL circuit. Sales came to a dead standstill because people didn't want to buy an radio that would be obsolete. The FCC didn't approve of the after-the-fact modifications. They had to be type accepted all over again and meet the newer standards. Many of those radios could be made 40 channels with the change of the binary or BCD switch switching through the appropriate count. Even though it wasn't approved, lot of 23 channel radios that were PLL were indeed modified later. Maybe that's the story with the /2. It still retains a rotary switch and in one Ebay auction, the guy mentioned it was a 39 channel radio. Was that a typographic error or unknowledgable seller or was it a 23 channel radio modified later? Can't rule out that possibility until someone can clarify just what this radio was. I'm eager to know.
I restored a Courier 40D for a guy. Had to make and refinish new end panels to replace the laminated ends and did a sandblasting and repaint on the top cover. I had to buy a junker Centurian PLL for parts off Ebay. The radios are the exact same radio except they lengthened the channel shaft and added a second BCD encoded switch that drove a two digit display. Very simple change to get a digital model on the market. Clock was dead in both units. Turns out a 4 digit, .36" LED clock module off Ebay for $7 mounted on perf board and brought the set switches out to the back panel pefectly replaced it. Also has temp in C and reads voltage, not sure, but I think it has other functions. That radio looked like a million dollars when finished with a digital clock to boot that looks like it was made for the radio. I think these can be retrofitted into TRC-457's and the reason why I asked someone on this board for measurements. Slight modification to a Simba's bezel and maybe a piece of red translucent plexiglass might digitize one like factory made.