Older CB radios
Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by Vampire, May 2, 2022.
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Vampire, rabbiporkchop and Another Canadian driver Thank this.
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For sure I would use an old 23CH unit for the road.
A 5-channel Johnson 'Messenger I' like this one was installed in my old van for a while in the late 70s. Mine has crystals for CH 9 and 19 and a couple others I forget which now. These are actually pretty decent rigs. It's been sitting on a shelf in the workshop for over 30 years now. Kinda glad I never got rid of it. Sometimes I think about using it as a dedicated channel 19 base rig. I'm located close to 4 truck stops.
Despite its simple circuits, it seemed to perform comparably with more modern CBs at the time. One catalog from 1971 says "JOHNSON MESSENGER I is a 10-tube 5-channel CB transceiver for AC or DC. Built-in noise limiter. This unit is known for its penetrating signal and faithful voice reproduction. Rugged over-powered quality components are used throughout."
It's a real battery hog. Mine is the 6 Volt unit instead of the 12 Volt, so it takes about 10-12 Amps to run it. Using an inverter it can be run on 110V so that means only 6 Amps from a 12 Volt system. A trick some people did to increase the power beyond 5 Watts was to change or bypass a resistor in the power supply. I got my doubts whether the modulator has enough reserve power to do a good job when the resistor's jumped. Screwdriver jockeys have been hacking up radios since day one.
Like the Messenger 123 in the previous post, no one ever tried to steal it, but today thieves are so low they'd break a window to get at an ashtray full of cigarette butts.
the manual's here for those who like to peruse nostalgic tech
https://www.cbtricks.com/radios/ef_johnson/messenger_1/index.htm.
Bunch of them online to look at. Not pushing it, just one of my favorite old units
E F Johnson Messenger One white face - Google Search
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Some of the ancient radios would no doubt be problematic.
I have a Realistic TRC 427 in my tractor..its gotta be pushing 40 years.. I paid $14 on eBay some years ago.Vampire and Another Canadian driver Thank this. -
Vampire and Another Canadian driver Thank this.
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Vampire and Another Canadian driver Thank this.
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I am running a 40 channel midland that I bought new in 1978 . Its been in every truck I have ran since 81 .
Vampire and Another Canadian driver Thank this. -
Vampire and Another Canadian driver Thank this.
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Vampire and Another Canadian driver Thank this.
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