Ham radio conversion

It's the best sideband radio I've ever owned. But its only as good as the technician that tuned it.
It doesn't drift at all regardless of temperature unlike any other radio I have ever owned.

 

As the radio rabbi said, they're rock solid ssb radios, thats the main reason. Loud n clear audio on both am and ssb. Great recieve too.
There are 2 versions of the prez wash. The original, and most saught after, has the ud858 pll chip. If it has a 4 pin mic jack, and 2 push button switches, its an original, and pretty rare. Only made those 1 yr.
The second gen will have a 5 pin mic jack, and 3 pb switches. They use the mb8719 pll. Same chip used in alot of popular radios in the 80'-90's, like the cobra 148 (side mic), uniden grants etc.
There is also a 3rd gen, the uniden label replaced the president label, and that is the only difference between the 2nd and 3rd gens. This is the one I have myself.
There is a ton of info about these radios on the web, and there lies a problem possibly. People like to hack and wack pack these radios. If the radio hasnt been fubar 'd too bad, Id get it back on the air.

 

The mic has 4 pins, but it is a 40 channel...I'm not sure what you mean by 2 or 3 push button switches though?....I have an older (mid 80's) cobra 148 that worked well for many many years and that was my truck radio after my 29 was stolen in '83, but that too quit working, not sure why....I once loaded spinach in so. colo and at night I was picking up Australia on the ssb..He was conversing with a guy from TX as I recall..I thought that was pretty cool....Not sure where to take them to have them looked at, not many shops around anymore.....

 

All the washingtons are 40 channel. Looking at the front of the radio, bottom right corner, there will be either 2 or 3 pb switches. S/rf-modulation--nb/anl---channel 9. The original version will not have a channel 9 switch. Also, the 1st gens use a relay for tx/rx switching, and does not require a mic to be plugged in to hear recieve audio.
As for a tech, i would ask around your local area first...

 

The Telex 66t is still manufactured in the United States in Nebraska and you can find them quite often for 5 or $10 on eBay if you look hard enough.

 

It has two, CB/PA & N/B....There's six dials, Vol/Sq/mike gain/RF gain/AM-USB-LSB/Clarifier...Somewhere around here I've also got an old 23 ch Kraco base & a 23 ch Realistic Navaho base....

 

Speaking of mics, have you seen what the Astatic Echo Max is selling for on Ebay? Unbelievable!!

 

unbelievably that some are getting $150 for a 20 year old mic. There are better or if you are serious with audio, you can always setup a rack and become a super radio station.

By the way, compared to newer mics, I would hold off on the EM and look at a few others. I had a Heil which had issues than I ran across this that answered why;
http://www.k3dav.com/heilicmmicrophone.htm

You should read through the site, pretty good info about mics.

 

Sometimes you get what you pay for. It was an excellent microphone and offered amazing fidelity if everything was adjusted correctly.

 

What I don't understand is why you would want fidelity with a communication microphone. To get the best communication one would want to limit the audio frequency range.

leon
kc0iv