Policalarm PR-5?

[kc2asb]

Bought this old guy on Ebay 10+ years ago. It covers 152-162 MHz. The later mid 50's Policalarms in the plastic/bakelite cases seem more common, but I've never seen one in a wood case before. Any idea how old this one is? Late 40's / early 50's?

It has a solid aluminum rod for an antenna, which mounts to a screw terminal on the rear panel.

The construction is fairly primitive, almost home made. The dial is a paper-thin plastic, and the pointer appears to be heavy paper with a red line painted on.

 

[Quickcall]

Noice. Is it in working order?

 

[kc2asb]

Noice. Is it in working order?

It needs to be re-capped. It powers up, but just hums. Maybe one day I'll get to it.

 

[wtp]

i have a couple of other things in that state....someday.

 

[mmckenna]

Pretty cool radio.

Likely very wide band, 50KHz wide channels were used early on, so a 12.5KHz channel is probably going to be virtually inaudible on that radio. You might get enough audio out of it listening to VHF marine or NOAA weather radio.

Any idea how old this one is? Late 40's / early 50's?

MC vs. MHz puts it pre-1960 or so, but that's easy to see from the design. VHF band really didn't start getting widely used until the early 1950's, but it took a while to catch on, so maybe early to mid 1950's?

Would be interesting to see if there is anything inside that would narrow it down to a build date.

 

[N7OLQ]

This is from the 1952 Radio Shack catalog, and described as plastic (which I assume means bakelite). So yours may be older or possibly home made?. I couldn't find any evidence that this brand was available before 1952, but who knows.

 

[mmckenna]

View attachment 203016

Just on a side note.

$44 in 1952 equals around $550 today.

For VHF only.
Scanning meant how fast you could turn the knob and a bit of luck.

Average salary in 1952 = around $200/month. One quarter of the average monthly paycheck to afford that radio for the average Joe.
Average salary in 2026 = around $5300/month. One tenth of the average monthly paycheck to afford a pretty good scanner today.

Kids these days….

 

[kc2asb]

This is from the 1952 Radio Shack catalog, and described as plastic (which I assume means bakelite). So yours may be older or possibly home made?. I couldn't find any evidence that this brand was available before 1952, but who knows.
View attachment 203016

Great find! I've had the PR-9, which is the later version of the VHF-hi PR-8. It's construction quality was more refined compared to the one above. (I also had another PolicAlarm identical to the PR-8/9 in appearance, but it covered 72-86 MHz)

My PR-5 definitely appears to be commercially made.