Curious about a good source for "antique" CB walkie talkie information

[TheSpaceMann]

Check archived electronics magazines from the '60s and '70s here: ... www.WorldRadioHistory.com

 

[DaveC1964]

Oh yes still a lot out there on the internet, not sure what paper material they may have hanging around from the old days but actual service centers where the trucks or cars for that matter would pull in and get service like installations, tuning and new antennas, old shops like that probably would have a bunch of old stuff hanging around in the back room if the poster can find one nearby him.

I'm at the intersection of I 295, I-95, Route 1, and the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpike where there are a lot of truck stops and a lot of 18 wheelers and you will not find one that has CB antennas on it. Most of the CB service centers were located near or in the truck stops and they are all closed now. Channel 19 is quieter than Channel 9 used to be LOL.. the old psychotic who used to ramble on with profanity and gibberish stopped about a year ago, even the lot lizards don't use CB walkie talkies anymore

I wonder what truckers use to talk these days if not using CBs? Maybe they just don't and listen to something else such as music?

I guess the internet has made radio passe'. Why tune into a static-y radio when you can just go to Facebook or twitter or some such thing I guess.

I do miss the days of CB radio during the craze where you would tune in and knew the times when your buddies were on ( I went to a neighbor's with a CB, I was young and couldn't afford one an didn't drive yet). Back then a bunch would join in on the conversation. It was so crazy they had to go from 23 to 40 channels, now every one is just static.

 

[WB9YBM]

I wonder what truckers use to talk these days if not using CBs? Maybe they just don't and listen to something else such as music?

Especially those who drive for a company (i.e. not independents) use the "company channel" on business band, and to some extent also cell 'phones. Also with the advent of computers & the Internet, many also listen to resources on the Internet (PBS, college classes, etc.)

 

[trentbob]

Just wanted to tell you Dave you joined on Monday and this was your first thread and I have to say, very nice. For someone who started CB in the mid-60s as a kid I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

I remember my Lafayette he90. It had six Crystal controlled transmit channels and a rotary dial to tune all 23 channels. Tube radio with a heavy metal case and a hygain collinear 2 antenna. Loved my old walkie talkies. We would mount them on our Sting-Ray bicycles with the banana seat and high handlebars LOL

Also there were very strict rules then but we used the radios for Chit Chat which was forbidden but everybody did it.I was only about 12 so my dad had to apply for the license. He made the mistake of saying we only had one radio and they kicked it back, rejected it, you had to put down at least two units that would be talking to each other. Got my callsign KOG 0554 in 65. We also had a marine radio for our small boat but you did need a license then, WM6934.

I hope your thread has longevity... Bob.

 

[DaveC1964]

Just wanted to tell you Dave you joined on Monday and this was your first thread and I have to say, very nice. For someone who started CB in the mid-60s as a kid I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

I remember my Lafayette he90. It had six Crystal controlled transmit channels and a rotary dial to tune all 23 channels. Tube radio with a heavy metal case and a hygain collinear 2 antenna. Loved my old walkie talkies. We would mount them on our Sting-Ray bicycles with the banana seat and high handlebars LOL

Also there were very strict rules then but we used the radios for Chit Chat which was forbidden but everybody did it.I was only about 12 so my dad had to apply for the license. He made the mistake of saying we only had one radio and they kicked it back, rejected it, you had to put down at least two units that would be talking to each other. Got my callsign KOG 0554 in 65. We also had a marine radio for our small boat but you did need a license then, WM6934.

I hope your thread has longevity... Bob.

Yeah nostalgia gets more attractive as I get older I guess Ha. I wasn't rich as a kid so I only had a radio I could fish out of the garbage or find at a flea market. Thankfully I was handy with a soldering iron and had a basic knowledge of electronics so I could fix up the odd Trash Treasure I came across. Most of the time the fault was a loose wire or corroded battery terminal, I could handle that repair. My parents were not going to have any of me putting up a base station antenna on the house either so basically I was limited to WTs.

I came to this site after digging through the closet to find some ebay fodder for me to sell, and found that old TRC-209. I put some batteries in it and it seems to work although I can't pick up any traffic yet. According to that CB tricks site mentioned above you can tune/mod it to output at 8 watts but I am not going to mess with it. That is one nice thing with these old radios, you can tweak/repair with them. Discreet components rather than all in one custom ICs mean you can repair and tweak them. I wonder what the range is of something like this TRC 209 radio? The antenna is not real long but is still better than those rubber duck types, I can't see those getting much DX.

Do you know of a decent cheap SWR meter I could buy to test output strength and to see if it works at all?

 

[trentbob]

Yes the center loaded proprietary telescopic antenna that came with the Tandy radio corporations walkie talkies is it good antenna. As I was saying it was they're back of the set VHF low VHF High Scanner Antenna of the sixties. Fully extended for VHF low and collapsed to 15in for VHF High. I never liked the rubber duck CB antennas like you would find on maybe a cobra walkie-talkie.

I'm personally not aware of any swl meters available but I'm sure there's plenty of it out there on Amazon or Ebay for next to nothing. I know I have 2 TRC 40 channel walkie talkies in my garage in the Boneyard with all of the other radios I've collected over the decades. I always had CB in my car up until say the early 80s when it all went to pot. For a long time I did carry a 40 Channel 5 Watt CB portable under my seat.

If you do have any independent radio stores of which we do not have any more whatsoever, at one time in the Philly area we had a dozen or more radio stores for scanners, shortwave, CB and excetera but if you do have any shops within driving distance I'm sure they have boxes and boxes of things like swl meters just sitting in the back room you could pick up for 5 bucks. I'm sure you'll find one quickly on the internet also.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

Just wanted to tell you Dave you joined on Monday and this was your first thread and I have to say, very nice. For someone who started CB in the mid-60s as a kid I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

I remember my Lafayette he90. It had six Crystal controlled transmit channels and a rotary dial to tune all 23 channels. Tube radio with a heavy metal case and a hygain collinear 2 antenna. Loved my old walkie talkies. We would mount them on our Sting-Ray bicycles with the banana seat and high handlebars LOL

Also there were very strict rules then but we used the radios for Chit Chat which was forbidden but everybody did it.I was only about 12 so my dad had to apply for the license. He made the mistake of saying we only had one radio and they kicked it back, rejected it, you had to put down at least two units that would be talking to each other. Got my callsign KOG 0554 in 65. We also had a marine radio for our small boat but you did need a license then, WM6934.

I hope your thread has longevity... Bob.

My uncle had a HE-90 back in the Bronx NY in '65! I think his call started in KOD!

 

[trentbob]

Yep I very much wanted KMG but since my dad made the mistake of putting down we only had one radio and the application was rejected by the time we filled it out and said we had two radios and got approved I ended up with the beginning of KOG... 0554 just missed KMG by 500 licenses LOL that was in 1965.

 

[bill4long]

It's fun to reminiscence. Here ya go. I have to admit this was before my "time."

 

[trentbob]

Radio Shack Archer stuff was cool when I was a kid . Here's a favorite.

 

[highwayman1224]

Radio Shack Archer stuff was cool when I was a kid . Here's a favorite.View attachment 97178

They had a bike mounted walkie talkie that was mounted like that on the handlebars. Radio Shack was my addiction!

 

[DaveC1964]

Yes the center loaded proprietary telescopic antenna that came with the Tandy radio corporations walkie talkies is it good antenna. As I was saying it was they're back of the set VHF low VHF High Scanner Antenna of the sixties. Fully extended for VHF low and collapsed to 15in for VHF High. I never liked the rubber duck CB antennas like you would find on maybe a cobra walkie-talkie.

I'm personally not aware of any swl meters available but I'm sure there's plenty of it out there on Amazon or Ebay for next to nothing. I know I have 2 TRC 40 channel walkie talkies in my garage in the Boneyard with all of the other radios I've collected over the decades. I always had CB in my car up until say the early 80s when it all went to pot. For a long time I did carry a 40 Channel 5 Watt CB portable under my seat.

If you do have any independent radio stores of which we do not have any more whatsoever, at one time in the Philly area we had a dozen or more radio stores for scanners, shortwave, CB and excetera but if you do have any shops within driving distance I'm sure they have boxes and boxes of things like swl meters just sitting in the back room you could pick up for 5 bucks. I'm sure you'll find one quickly on the internet also.

I was looking on ebay for SWR meters and there are plenty. I don't know which ones are any good though. Many of them are crap but I don't know which ones. I was hoping some CB enthusiast here would know of a decent one from experience.

 

[WB9YBM]

Yes the center loaded proprietary telescopic antenna that came with the Tandy radio corporations walkie talkies is it good antenna. As I was saying it was they're back of the set VHF low VHF High Scanner Antenna of the sixties. Fully extended for VHF low and collapsed to 15in for VHF High. I never liked the rubber duck CB antennas like you would find on maybe a cobra walkie-talkie.

I found out that there are two antennas: the VHF HI / VHF LO feature on the antenna is the antenna meant only for receive but the look-alike antenna meant for CB (which, at one time, was available by special-order only) was designed with a coil that could handle transmit power (which the scanner version could not).

 

[trentbob]

Wow I just realized there was a typo on that post I made, darn auto spell. You've got me thinking and remembering and I think I can recall now. That VHF Hi-Lo that had the right angle mot pin built into it was made for the patrolman series like the pro 1 in the 60s, I owned several. They were made by GRE Japan and were very sturdy slide rule dial receivers. There was a bracket on the back of the receiver that high low antenna fit into. It was not rated for transmit.

The CB antennas were rated for transmit because fully extended they were perfectly tuned for 11 meters. We are only talkin 4 watts output, If you used it partially collapsed it could fry the radio. By design, collapsing it disengaged the center load like it did when you collapsed it for VHF High to make a 15 inch quarter wave antenna.

I didn't know that you could special order that antenna that was tuned for transmen but it makes sense as a replacement part if you broke the antenna.

Interesting that I'm remembering now two additional versions of that antenna that were non tx. They made a BNC scanner antenna for Portables which was the same exact high low Center loaded antenna but a straight mount. They also made a BNC not mot pin back of the set same version of the center loaded antenna that was permanently on a right angle.

It's amazing the kind of crap that you haven't thought about in so many years comes back to you LOL. Thanks.

 

[FPR1981]

After I graduated high school, I purchased a Realistic TRC-216. Don't know/remember whatever happened to it, but I purchased a TRC-231. The last time that I remmeber seeing my 231, was as I was driving down from ID to SoCal, in 2004. I had my 231 plugged in, wired up in our Neon, my CB was in our Grand Cherokee for the drive down before Christmas.

I actively use a TRC-216 in the car and at home, with the RCA to SO239 connector. I have a D-104 wired 5 pin DIN for it, and an echo mic. Run on my ground plane 50 feet in the air, people think I'm on a huge base.

 

[KEWB-N1EXA]

I was looking on ebay for SWR meters and there are plenty. I don't know which ones are any good though. Many of them are crap but I don't know which ones. I was hoping some CB enthusiast here would know of a decent one from experience.

I Use the CSE 2469 forward Relected power meter for CB and 10 Meters...I find these better than the cut and set style meters.
these are on ebay from $39-$55

Peter N1EXA

 

[DaveC1964]

I Use the CSE 2469 forward Relected power meter for CB and 10 Meters...I find these better than the cut and set style meters.
these are on ebay from $39-$55

Peter N1EXA

View attachment 98096

How would I connect a WT to this? I could get an adapter for the meter and connect it to the "Ext ant" jack on the WT but do I leave the antenna on the WT extended or would that give an improper reading? I think most of these meters are made to connect the meter to the CB, then the antenna to the meter itself so that it passes through the meter from the CB to the antenna. I can't really do that in this case because the antenna on a WT is built-in.

 

[KEWB-N1EXA]

How would I connect a WT to this? I could get an adapter for the meter and connect it to the "Ext ant" jack on the WT but do I leave the antenna on the WT extended or would that give an improper reading? I think most of these meters are made to connect the meter to the CB, then the antenna to the meter itself so that it passes through the meter from the CB to the antenna. I can't really do that in this case because the antenna on a WT is built-in.

For a Walkie Talkie that does not have the Small RCA Jack on the side for an antenna like the old TRC's had you need to switch over to A SWR
Meter that had a Field Strength Mode. It basically takes the power off the antenna and gives you a rough measurement of power radiated.
There are plenty of those on Ebay.
Note I would not think a 100-200Mw Space Patrol is going to really make a difference on the meter compared to a full size 4 watt HT.

As for the Adaptor if you do have the RCA jack you need a SO-234 to RCA aka Motorola . Then use your PL-259 connections to the meter then to a dummy load unless you have a usable antenna.



Peter N1EXA

 

[FPR1981]

I use an RCA to SO239 adapter in my handheld regularly. It comes in handy when I initially check the SWR on a large antenna before it goes up in the air. My old Radio Shack handheld is awesome. It's become my base station in a soft case many times, with the external antenna adapter and the 5 pin DIN microphone jack.

 

[DaveC1964]

For a Walkie Talkie that does not have the Small RCA Jack on the side for an antenna like the old TRC's had you need to switch over to A SWR
Meter that had a Field Strength Mode. It basically takes the power off the antenna and gives you a rough measurement of power radiated.
There are plenty of those on Ebay.
Note I would not think a 100-200Mw Space Patrol is going to really make a difference on the meter compared to a full size 4 watt HT.

As for the Adaptor if you do have the RCA jack you need a SO-234 to RCA aka Motorola . Then use your PL-259 connections to the meter then to a dummy load unless you have a usable antenna.

View attachment 98154

Peter N1EXA

Yes I do have the RCA jack. What I was wondering is if I connect the WT to the meter with an adapter like you show, would I then raise the built in antenna too or does an external antenna/load (which I don't have) need to be connected to the meter?