Ah the good old days

[Rick330man]

My first base antenna was the 1/2 wave omni-directional ground plane. It was a decent antenna, but I wanted better performance and purchased the .64 wave. The difference in performance was quite notable. The .64 was taken out of action when a lightning strike fried the tuning coil. By then, Radio Shack's CB antenna options had been significantly reduced and so I opted for the fiberglass 1/2 wave Crossbow (a Shakespeare Big Stick dyed in blue) to replace it. The latter lasted me about 40 years, but did not perform anywhere near as well as the .64.

 

[frankie-b]

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this is unbelievable. who in there right mind would

 

[nomadradio]

So, if we took the mid-1970s sale price of this kind of antenna and fed it into the inflation calculator, these prices might not look quite so extravagant.

Don't know how many outfits make the Starduster these days, but the last modern version I saw had too much plastic and not enough metal.

73

 

[Rwb]

So, if we took the mid-1970s sale price of this kind of antenna and fed it into the inflation calculator, these prices might not look quite so extravagant.

Don't know how many outfits make the Starduster these days, but the last modern version I saw had too much plastic and not enough metal.

73

i agree build a great item,cheep it up and it dont survive

 

[fourstringburn]

Here's another retail electronics store people younger than 45 may not know of, Lafayette Electronics otherwise known as "Laughing Idiot".

I remember them being more of an electronics parts store than Radio Shack was but they also sold many consumer electronics too.

The last one where I live closed on the early 80's.

 

[DelR]

Just a few years later -
View attachment 63250

I had that 3 element beam back in 1977, had JC Penney Pinto SSB 23 channel and a one tube kicker...with a D-104, of course

 

[DelR]

My 1st Base CB was a TRC-30A that my parents purchased me for Christmas when it was On Sale for just $99.99 & I connected it to my A/S M400 STARDUSTER that was in the pine tree in our side yard at around 90'.I added an Astatic D-104 which was my 1st ever & Today I currently own 45 D-104 desk microphones & no CB's just Amateur Radios.

There is a TRC-55 for sale on Goodwill online auctions right now for 9.99 with about $18 shipping if anyone interested. too bad its not SSB tho

 

[Smokinone]

Here's another retail electronics store people younger than 45 may not know of, Lafayette Electronics otherwise known as "Laughing Idiot".

I remember them being more of an electronics parts store than Radio Shack was but they also sold many consumer electronics too.

The last one where I live closed on the early 80's.

View attachment 69109

View attachment 69110

View attachment 69111

My first CB antenna was a twin gutter mount that I mounted on my 72 Ford van with a Sharp 23 channel. 1975
OH ya, I wanted to say it was a Lafayette antenna...I'm so forgetful.

 

[DelR]

In 1990, my 2nd setup was Cobra 89 with upper/lowers, D-104, Maco 300 gold face with receive, driven by JB-125 modulator, with Maco 4 element beam on 50' tower. Was TOO MUCH living in town, it had to go. Next was Galaxy 33 and groundplane...just doesn't compare!

 

[SuperLid]

They had component level parts that you could go put hands on and buy, it was great.
Parts boxes with voltage regulators, IC's , sockets , transistors, heat sinks.
Ya it was like a candy store back then.

The business model changed as people became disposable product consumers.

No user serviceable parts inside.

73
Jeff

In the 80's, they had commonly used CB repair parts on the wall. 1306, 1307, 2SC1096, BA521, TA7205, PLL's etc. Schematic was in the owner's manual. These days, you don't get a schematic with anything, not even a ham rig.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

The good old days are gone but not forgotten.

As a kid, my father would take me to the hardware store. We would look through all the drawers of nuts, bolts and screws. We could easily spend half a day in there, discussing what the different fasteners were used for. Sometimes we would have to take all the tubes out of the tv and take them in and put them on the tester. It was a mystery what the tubes actually did, and it still is not completely clear to me. Our analog electronic books in tech school mentioned tubes, and then dove right into transistors.

Ahhh, the good old days.....

 

[928bolo]

There is a TRC-55 for sale on Goodwill online auctions right now for 9.99 with about $18 shipping if anyone interested. too bad its not SSB tho

I had that radio when I was a teenager in the 1970's. Spent many nights talking to by buddies on Channel 22. CB radio was the Facebook equivalent of our time.

My dad was a ham and he let me put an antenna on his tower. First was a Super Scanner (3 phased dipoles). Not much directivity. Then we built our version of the PDL II. That worked great!

 

[AudioShockwav]

I cleaned the tread, it was way off topic.
Ham vers CB arguments never end well and this is why.
Back to the subject.

73
Jeff

 

[TM86]

Radio Shack near me had a lot of kits, but were getting into the TRS-80's big time. Had to go to a little mom and pop electronics store that was pretty much hidden in a neighborhood. I think it was a gas station at one point. I could get what I needed there any day but Sunday. Long gone now, and I have no idea what the name was.

But they did try to sell me a 1kW transmitter at one point. I think they were joking.

 

[Riverman]

I think I had all of these at one time or another. Usually hooked to a pair of rabbit ears perched on top of our house.