What "Really Old" CB radio do you own? Here is mine!

[rooster 1]

I own a Royce 1-640 with 40ch mod with 40ch dial w a TUG-8 D-104
Also a Courier Gladiator 40PLL w/expander 1000 controlling the frequences.
I still remember my license from back when needed.
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[Punkin Head]

My old CB rigs are Messenger 2 (black face), Old Heath kit tube mobile radio only has like 5 or 10 channels, Pace 8155 base, and a Tram D201A.

Old ham rig is Henry Tempo One

[Pioneer621]

A lot of cool old radios out there, & many still perform fantastic. The only old amateur radio I have is an old Genave GTX-2 crystal type 2-meter radio. It is older for sure, I do not have a ham license so it does not get used; I believe it works, but the switches that change the crystals are dirty. Being that it uses crystals, it is limited if you do not have any active frequencies in there. A guy gave me that at a hamfest I went to in 2006, I don’t like taking stuff for free like that, but the guy insisted I take it & it set it on top of the pile of other junk I had in my hands, I tried to tell him no thanks as politely as I could, but he insisted I could have it for free, so I said thanks & I definitely appreciate it & went on my way. Maybe one day I will get my license & can play around with it more.

Anyway, Thanks for all the posts guys, definitely interesting looking over the older radios everyone has! Talk to you all later. Pioneer621

[Desert Fox]

I'm tinkering with a Browning Golden Eagle Mark 3 right now. This is probably the oldest radio I have. I'll try and get some pics of it for ya'll. It's a keeper for sure. I'm trying to get her running but she's having trouble. I think I may end up having to send her out to get worked on. Problem then is finding someone that won't screw it up.

That's some nice old rigs. I like the older rigs. They sound awesome!

If you wind up sending it out to be repaired, or know someone who is good with Golden Eagles, let me know

[super20dan]

i also have that same rca tube radio and it still works

[Alien Abductor]

oldest I have this messenger 250 from the 70s, mint condition works and works like a charm

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[Foxhunter]

Wow that Messenger 250 does look sweet. I guess now you'll be "workin' this old Johnson station" as the old popular saying goes----good to see you got it Alienabductor. You know myself and several other CBRT members here also hold them in good regard.


Pioneer621 I've got a few older CB radios and like many of them. It's good to see the threads keeping them alive.



Foxhunter 351 NJ

[Shatterhand]

oldest I have this messenger 250 from the 70s, mint condition works and works like a charm

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Cool. Here's a guy selling a working one on ebay. He's askin $49.99 or better [Please login or register to view this link]

[5pills]

mans, thats a nice radio right there...has all the rejection you;ll ever need when having high powered neighbours...i have 201, 201a, titan, titan 2, e27...

[Sporty Mike]

My oldest is a Peirce Simpson Tiger 40A with a dial tune.
It works great and seems to RX and TX as good as my Uniden pc68.

[909 wis]

I have a old sear base station (big tubes) and a old johnson base with the phone type mic. both still work of course

[4 cycle]

Johnson Messenger 223, 23 channel tube radio and a Johnson Messenger Viking 430, 40 channel solid state radio both from the 70 's I still use both of them they still look and work like new mainly I think because they were never screwed with inside accept for factory specs peak and tune or to test tubes in the 223.

[hobbieville]

Nothing ancient in the CB line, but mine go back to 1969 or so.

1st Generation US Tram D201
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Robyn "The Executive" T-240D
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EF Johnson Messenger Two Twenty-Three
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Browning MKIV
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Tram D60 w/Upper Channels
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Have other CB and HAM gear in storage for my retirement "dream" shack.

[4 cycle]

Nice radios "HOBBIEVILLE" .

[hobbieville]

Nice radios "HOBBIEVILLE" .

Thanks. I enjoy them.

[Pioneer621]

by Alien Abductor » November 03 2009
oldest I have this messenger 250 from the 70s, mint condition works and works like a charm

Very nice Messenger 250, super clean! Wish my old RCA I posted about was clean like that!

by Foxhunter » November 03 2009
Pioneer621 I've got a few older CB radios and like many of them. It's good to see the threads keeping them alive.

Yeah, I have some old ones around hear myself, I might have to get them out of where ever they’re hiding & get some pictures of them! I have nothing all that great when it comes to older radios, but older radios nonetheless. My first radio I ever owned was made in 1977 (which was several years older then me), so when I got into CB I started on old radios and such, they work and talk great, so I could never really complain. There are some great radios out there, older & new!

by hobbieville » November 28 2009
Nothing ancient in the CB line, but mine go back to 1969 or so.

hobbieville, very nice setup you got there, everything looks great, very clean unlike mine, which is always a mess!


Again, great to see all these old radios, fun looking at the pictures & even just reading what you all have!

[hobbieville]

Thanks, Pioneer....

Unfortunately, most of what I have weren't much to look at when I got them. The Johnson 223 for instance....it was disgusting. I put a lot of time and care into parts swapping and cleaning to get it on the air. Even so, it has four dead channels from a bad xtal I haven't had the time to replace from one of my spare channel selectors. Waiting for retirement when I can install an upper kit in it at the same time.

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This process is pretty much what anyone can expect to go through if they get infected with retrorigitis.

[Circuit Breaker]

The oldest radio I own is a like new Cobra 138XLR. It's very similar to the 148 in looks except that two of the controls are knobs instead of switches as they are on the 148. The chassis is a bit deeper and overall this thing is heavy because there's more metal and bigger components. It's also made in JAPAN.

[tx213]

I'm tinkering with a Browning Golden Eagle Mark 3 right now. This is probably the oldest radio I have. I'll try and get some pics of it for ya'll. It's a keeper for sure. I'm trying to get her running but she's having trouble. I think I may end up having to send her out to get worked on. Problem then is finding someone that won't screw it up.

That's some nice old rigs. I like the older rigs. They sound awesome!

If you wind up sending it out to be repaired, or know someone who is good with Golden Eagles, let me know

There is an old tech about 30 miles from me that is mostly retired but still does some work. He might do it. He has 7 Golden Eagles for sale in his shop last time I was by there 2 weeks ago. He has one he told me that he has still has the box for and it only has like 10 hours of use on it. I may buy it if he still has it when I get the money for it.
213

[Sporty Mike]

This week I got a Uniden Regency CR-185 at the thrift store for a song, it has a few lose solder joints on some wires, but it's clean and looks great. I hope to have it working soon, I love the big round meters on the old radios.

Searchin for treasure,

Mike

[Pioneer621]

Hobbieville,
Those look like two totally different radios, if that’s how it looks after you restored it, very good job! A lot of time went into that I bet.

Yeah, I have had some pretty disgusting radios myself, I’ve got some in such bad condition, you just wonder what they went through. It can be fun restoring the stuff though. I just got an old tube tester yesterday & have been working on it to get it functional & will probably eventually restore the whole thing as it is in bad shape, need to do some more recalibrating & hopefully I can get the bugs worked out of one of the potentiometers so I don’t have to replace it, but otherwise it appears to be working now, had a couple small problems, but it came to life pretty quick, maybe I will make a thread about that old thing!


Sporty Mike,
Sometimes stuff like that does pop up in thrift stores! I have not been to the local thrift stores in a while, use to go all the time, but have not had much extra cash to play with, but sometimes there are some great deals, sometimes not, but it is fun going as you never know what may be there!

I have seen a few different CB radios at our thrift stores, I don’t remember if I bought any or not, I know I passed on a couple, but don’t remember if I bought any. I do remember buying several old scanners (crystal type) as well as other old small receivers that covered a few bands, older, but they worked, I think I have them in the basement somewhere, have not used them in years.

Anyway, hope you get your Regency CR-185 up and running! I think I may have had one similar to that, I might still have it, not sure, I’ll have to look, I have had so many radios and stuff around here I can’t remember what all I have & have had, it has been a lot through the years.

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

This found it's way into my shack recently:

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CPI CP2000 Transceiver w/Matching Desk Mic
CPI BC2000 Base Console (Freq Counter/Clock/Antenna Tuner/Antenna Switch/Receive Preamp/Low Pass Filter
CPI Ranger Plus Receive Preamp

The desk mic (sitting on radio) works great, but I like the smooth, warm audio the Heil desk mic produces.

[Pioneer621]

This found it's way into my shack recently:

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CPI CP2000 Transceiver w/Matching Desk Mic
CPI BC2000 Base Console (Freq Counter/Clock/Antenna Tuner/Antenna Switch/Receive Preamp/Low Pass Filter
CPI Ranger Plus Receive Preamp

The desk mic (sitting on radio) works great, but I like the smooth, warm audio the Heil desk mic produces.

TwentyTwo-Zero,
That is a very nice looking setup as well! I always liked the look of those CPI setups, although I have never had one. The only piece of CPI equipment I have is an old wattmeter, I think the model is WM1000 (I don’t remember off the top of my head), there in bad shape & the modulation meter is shot, & there was a leaking transistor in them deflecting the meter most of the way up the scale as soon as they were powered on (there the active type & run off a 9-volt battery) I replaced the transistor & the average & peak power seem to work now, there is an op-amp still missing & maybe some other parts (I wonder what happened to these poor meters), so the SWR & modulation settings do not work, of course the mod meter id bad so it will never work unless I find a replacement, looks like a decent meter if it was not in such bad condition! It came with some other radios I bought a long time ago.

Again, cool looking setup, all the equipment there looks really nice!

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

I picked up a WM1000 meter recently, but it's in worse condition then as advertised. The meters have some light scratching and the top of the cabinet has a couple of holes drilled in it. If you ever decide you want to sell the meter you have (and the meter lenses/cabinet are in good shape) let me know - maybe I can combine parts from the two and make one decent meter...

[Pioneer621]

I picked up a WM1000 meter recently, but it's in worse condition then as advertised. The meters have some light scratching and the top of the cabinet has a couple of holes drilled in it. If you ever decide you want to sell the meter you have (and the meter lenses/cabinet are in good shape) let me know - maybe I can combine parts from the two and make one decent meter...

I will keep that in mind! I have debated on what to do with it actually, I kind of like it and want to keep it, but on the other hand I don’t know if I will ever get the parts to make it fully functional again, so I have really considered selling it, don’t know if I will or not, but if I do you will be the first one I offer it too.

Unfortunately, overall it is in pretty bad condition, (no holes drilled in the cover luckily) the whole thing is in rough shape, inside & out, maybe I will post a couple pictures of it. I think the meter lenses all have some scratches in them, but I may be able to buff them out & take out most of the scratches that are there. I am thinking yours may be in better shape then mine.

Cool looking meters though, I wish mine were in better shape & and the one meter was working, then I may have been able to repair them, but since the MOD meter movement is shot, I have not really messed with them other then stated in my other post. Again, I will keep you in mind if I decide to part with them.