Keying cb without mic

You killed the finals

 

What kind of radio?

 

Oldie's is not the word I would use..."Classic" would be better...Pending on which Sears model and condition, it could be worth some money.

 

You didn’t say, but I assumed you hooked up the antenna and still no transmit or receive? Normally it doesn’t hurt a 4 watt radio to transmit a few seconds without the antenna hooked up. But since this radio is probably close to 40 years old, the electrolytic capacitors are getting weak and couldn’t handle the RF signal not getting out to an antenna. Since you smelled something burning, it shouldn’t be too hard to pull off the top cover and see which component is toast.

 

Sears radios were Midland chassis I believe, take more than a quick key to smoke it.