Vintage SSB Base CBs vs New

It has been my experience that a recap can often resolve a majority of basket-case issues, and a recap is often a routine procedure around here, as most of these boys here prefer their classics.

The biggest problem with old radios is undoing all the bullshit mods and hacks that've been done to them over the years.

I have come to the conclusion vintage radios need a vintage tech, The guys that saw all of the problems when these radios were new. Thankfully there are still a few good vintage techs out there to help with the boat anchors we love.

Good thing I can desolder good and replace all the electrolytic capacitors. All the older SSB base radios like the 139 XLR and the 142 GTL of mine have had the capacitors replaced. Should outlast even me when its time to push daisies.

It isn't expected that everyone who is into radios should know how to service them, but in all honesty working on the old radios is much easier to do vs the newer ones. Yes, you do find that someone got their hands inside the radio and now you need to undo their hacks, but usually the ones I bought on eBay were clipped limiters. Some just needed for the solder to be reflowed and they came back to life (Those were all the PC66XL radios I got in, and that same exact area had many cold solder joints.)

Restoring classic cars isn't worth it. You almost never get the money out that you put in. Yet there's an entire industry around doing just that. Of course, you can't throw a classic car across the room if it pisses you off.

The question of recapping a solid-state CB is as much an issue of mileage as age. If it's a tube radio, there is no question. It's just too old.

40 year old capacitors that were never used usually check okay. But once it gets installed, the life you'll get won't be another 40 years. It will remember how old it is when the stresses of operation remind it how old it is. How soon? Nobody knows.

Mileage is a big deal. A radio that was run 24/7 will need to be recapped before a radio that was used for six months and then put on a shelf for the next 30 years or so.

Something we have seen over and over is the "toxic shelf visit". A CB base that was in daily use for a decade or more goes on the shelf as the "spare" when a newer, bigger radio takes its place. The new radio breaks down a few years down the road. The spare comes back off the shelf and works for three days. The failure turns out to be an electrolytic cap. This tends to be the first hint that it's time to re-cap.

Back in the day we would replace a short list of these caps in popular radios that were over 25 years old. The ones that fail first tend to be rated for six, ten or twelve Volts. Got in the habit of calling this the "Ten Volt Blues". That short list was drawn from the failures we see over and over, but most of them are rated below 16 Volts.

Our policy is to use replacements rated for at least 25 Volts. They nearly always fit in place of the original part. Capacitor technology has evolved the last three, four decades or more. A new part rated the same as a 1984 part but at a higher voltage is usually smaller.

Since there is no odometer in a radio to tell you the mileage. You can change just the parts that aren't performing and warn the customer he'll see more failures down the road, --OR-- just tell him the radio is old enough to need a refresh.

Any radio that has more failed electrolytics than you can count with one hand is a bigger risk. We tell the customer that as they fail one or three at a time it becomes a game of "electronic whack-a-mole". And I'll mention that we stand to sell a lot more labor fixing it a dozen times than fixing it once.

If it's your radio, and your labor, draw your own conclusions. Whack-a-mole is cheaper if your labor is free.

73

Replacing the caps on a quality old-school radio (Cobra 139XLR, 142GTL, President Washington, Madison, etc.,) is no big deal. And you'll end up with a base radio that will talk and receive with the best of them. There isn't much to choose from in new CB base radios these days. Forking out $400 - 600 dollars for a Galaxy 2547 is a little steep considering what you get: A brand new radio that drifts like a boat until it warms up ?? Sorry not for me.

- J.J. 399

JJ points out something I overlooked. A restored radio that was built better than the new models is a good deal if you value performance. Had a friend who would install an updated radio in DAK Mark X cabinets. His hearing was damaged in Vietnam serving as an artillery officer. Said he couldn't stand the sound and noise level of anything made by RCI. Would only install a Uniden-made 40-channel SSB radio, because they just sounded better to him.

I guess I'm not quite that choosy. So long as the radio has a "tone" control on it, anyway.

73

Amperex said:

Lots of new Galaxy on eBay for under $400

Click to expand...

Only one new 2547 on Ebay close to $400: $466 w/shipping . I don't call that "lots." Cheapest used one was $349 w/ ship, and it was pretty beat.

- J.J.399

I've gotten to the point where I'll go with one of the new mobiles from qixiang, a power supply and still be less money than most bases available.

In the end it's in the eye of the beholder, I tried the vintage thing and it isn't for me. The only vintage radio I own is a Uniden Grant from around the early 80's so it's probably due for a recap.

If your going to spend that kind of money on a cb radio base station. Pass it by and get this instead. The 2547 can't even compare! Been running this for 6 months with ZERO drift and 100 watts pep all day long.
(New board)

Just wish I could remember what year the name on the front of that Grant model shown above changed from "President" to "Uniden". Some time in the early to mid 1980s?

73