Back in the 1970's was there a clear line between amateur amps and cb amps?

[Onelasttime]

Since I did not get into the hobby until the 1990's I was wondering how the tube and solid state amp situation was back in the 1970's and early 1980's? Was the market less polarized than today or was it much the same?

Prior to web browsers even if you where on bulletin boards the flow of info and culture was not like it is today. When I lived in Georgia most of the amateur radio guys used CB solid state amps and tube amps. Only the truly elite had things like JRC, Tokyo High Power, Henry and the like especially for HF. Now the little 2m amps that was a different story. Prob. say 5 home brewed tube amps for every factory assembled name brand amp.

This was not a poor area Savanna, Richmond Hill, Hinesville area while not Atlanta or Columbus have plenty of money.

So when did the line in the sand really get drawn?

A lot of lies got told on air about what people where talking on both with CB'er's and amateur's. Mentoring at an electronic repair shop not only did you know who owned what but how often their gear was in the shop for repairs because they could not keep their hands out of the gear! Some people were regulars! Back then a lot of people came into the shop because in 1991 most people did not know where you could still find tubes from low end sweep tubes to high end and Svetlana tube access and catalogs where kept on the down low! Now your just one google search away from what ever you want!

Looking forward to hearing some history since I was not even born until 1970's! Thanks

 

[Hurricane145]

Not exactly sure what you are asking.
Around here in Seattle many "bootlegger" Cbers had old ham gear that had 11 meters already in it. Johnson Ranger, Viking Valiant, Heathkit DX-100 were most commonly used by a handful of CBers. Then the Yaesu FT-101 came out and the game changed. I worked in a ham/CB shop and I'd bet we sold more of the FT-101e and EE to CBers than hams. As the original FT-101 became popular some CBers figured out (and had the money) to add the correct crystal for CB to several different ham rigs. Some few with $$ even had Collins S Lines with the CB crystal added.
Now, anything goes!

As far as amplifiers were concerned, most all were tube amps for CB back then. They were supposedly made for those licensed for the CB Business Band which was above channel 23 as I recall. I guess they could legally be used up there by those licensed. There were all kinds of them. Most Base CB rigs were tube as well but that started to change somewhere around 1970 or so as I recall. Most were for base station use, plug into the wall. There were a few tube mobile linears. Kris and Lafayette had one. Heathkit had a ham radio mobile tube linear amp. I think it ran close to a kilowatt.
Now, anything goes!

Tube amps and solid state rigs didn't get along all that well since most tube amps didn't have any tuned input or at least that is the case with most ham gear at the time. Most CB amps were made as cheaply as possible so not the best designs were used.
Towards the mid 70s little mobile use CB amps were made with solid state components, often about 75 to 100 watts. They were about $100.

You can look up old 1970s Henshaw's CB catalogs and see a lot of the old cool gear that was offered back then.

Many CB tube amps used TV sweep tubes for finals. They were very plentiful and dirt cheap at the time. Now they are harder to find and may be expensive. They were easy to destroy in an amplifier if not run right or over-driven. They were used in a lot of ham transceivers as well.
A good book that has a LOT about the early days of CB radio in it.
I have a copy of it and it's a keeper!

A couple old tube CB amps that were really popular in the day:

 

[Blackcat630]

I have a copy Tomcats Big CB Handbook. Picked it up back in the early-mid 90s when I was a young teen. Read it front to back a few times.. great read for a young man getting his feet wet in radio with CB... I remember being particularly interested in his chapter on ssb explanation and "freebanding".. For a guy with a 23 channel royce and mag mount outside my window it made me desperate to improve my station. I just had to have an A99 with a ssb radio with "channels". I cut a lot of lawns and did odd jobs as a kid to make that a reality!

 

[357]

Most Ham amps for base had a real band switch (not palomar or d&a) and used tubes designed for RF. Most CB amps were mono band and used sweep tubes. There were a few exceptions like wawasee and mohawk. Mobile amps for ham had dedicated band pass sections for each band they had. CB mobile amps were mono band. A few ham amps used sweep tubes like the Amp Supply LA-1000A but they were bottom of the line