Larry's CB Shop - McKinney, TX

[Slowmover]

Speaking of Houston, anyone ever try T-Bone? Often mobile at the x64 Flying J, or from his nearby shop. A real cast of characters every evening on 19.

Have heard them nearly all from hundreds, even thousands of miles away with skip rolling.

T-Bone has an exceptionally good sounding rig.

 

[Redbeard U812]

Speaking of Houston, anyone ever try T-Bone? Often mobile at the x64 Flying J, or from his nearby shop. A real cast of characters every evening on 19.

Have heard them nearly all from hundreds, even thousands of miles away with skip rolling.

T-Bone has an exceptionally good sounding rig.

Is that the guy behind the chrome shop off Sheldon? Went there one time, nice guy. Didn't find what I wanted. Think it was some 8950 tubes, he tried to call around for me. He had a tube amp in his shack, not sure what it was, no covers, but big ass tubes, hooked up. He did try to sell me a basket case, but that little 100w tube type just wouldn't be the thing in my truck.

 

[2RT307]

Do they take mail ins?

I honestly don't know. You could call during business hours and ask him.

73,
Brett

 

[jessejamesdallas]

Mike Kilgore is who I take my stuff to also. He's not much up on working on the newer SMT radios, but can do some things with them...

Another shop in Dallas is Tim's CB Shack over off Lancaster RD just North of the Flying J on I-20...Don't think there's any truck parking tho, unless you can fine a place on a side rd....Tim's been around for years also and does good work.

Then there's "Ike's CB Shop" in Irving off Irving Blv. and Loop 12....He can re-wire Mic's pretty good... (not going any farther with this, but he can re-wire Mic's)

 

[skip searcher]

Mike Kilgore is who I take my stuff to also. He's not much up on working on the newer SMT radios, but can do some things with them...

Another shop in Dallas is Tim's CB Shack over off Lancaster RD just North of the Flying J on I-20...Don't think there's any truck parking tho, unless you can fine a place on a side rd....Tim's been around for years also and does good work.

Then there's "Ike's CB Shop" in Irving off Irving Blv. and Loop 12....He can re-wire Mic's pretty good... (not going any farther with this, but he can re-wire Mic's)

I wonder would he have a channel selector Knob for a Stryker 955

 

[jessejamesdallas]

I wonder would he have a channel selector Knob for a Stryker 955

doubtful...I would call Stryker...

 

[Slowmover]

Took a chance I could find

Larry’s CB

just ahead of a big truck delivery a few miles away. A phone call found him open for business and advice on where to park a 72’ rig.

It’s just east of 75 North Central Expressway & US-380
in McKinney, Texas (directly N of Dallas)

The shop is the door at the household addition.

A pleasure to visit with, and the stock is as generous as found in the Craigslist ad pictures.

Since 1990

Talked about my needs some (future mobile for this truck may be a 2950 Ranger; a ways off yet), and how McKinney has changed (I’m a native Dallasite)

I’ll be back.

.

 

[Slowmover]

And I was back two hours later.

Got to thinking about the Johnson 323 my Dad had in his 1975 28’ Silver Streak travel trailer (I have a 1989 35’). Still the best sounding radio I’ve ever heard.

Looking thru old stock at Larry’s, saw this for the second time, it stood out as I had walked in.

ROBYN GT-7C
AM/SSB 23-channel

Original mount bracket. OEM microphone with channel changer. (Slick).

The owner had been a customer and had passed. The widow brought it in with others.

Looks almost new. Hammertone case. Made in Japan.

Suddenly had to have it as we talked about refurbished old stock.

It hit me that if Dad had ever mounted a CB in one of his Cadillacs, it would have been something nice like this.

This radio would have been far beyond what I was able to afford in the early & middle 1970s.

Dad had a lifelong friend at Motorola who had set him up with one of the early IMTS radiotelephones circa 1962. So, . . short that friend who’d have insisted on one of those ultra-cool MoCats, this’ll do.

I went and made the delivery while the McKinney Magician did his thing. Didn’t need much and what it did need, he had in stock. So that felt lucky as well.

I recently picked up a MIDLAND thru-glass CB antenna. Something to make “a campground radio” work.

The Silver Streak Owners Club had rallies over the years up until the mid-1990s when production ceased. Whether this radio gets used or not, it was something that if missing would take away from the trailer.



There’ll be more of a radio rig to contend with some day in this trailer, but I’m thinking a better antenna is now “required” (ha!) for this uncharacteristic impulse purchase.

(Boy, this is thing is H-E-A-V-Y heavy).

.

 

[Slowmover]

Couldn’t resist. Sounds great. This is in the overhead compartment designed & wired for a CB in a 579 Peterbilt. (Speaker built-in to panel to left of pic).

Was at Clays Radio in San Antonio last week and had Robert put the Rig Expert on the 5’ Skipshooter out back (which Larry also sells).



Good enough to work. So Robert and I went on to the next checklist item.

Have a 53’ van behind me tonight. Parked between others. Antenna gets just up above the trailer from back of sleeper.

Asked for a radio check and got one IH35W which is “behind” me about 2.25 miles. Loud and clear.

I’m impressed.

I’m not the expert some of you all are — bear with me — but I wouldn’t have expected this radio to work this well.

Unless it was working VERY well.

I already know from previous radios in this location an idea of what to expect for performance.

So my thanks to Mr Hankey, and a thanks to those of you on this board who like to mess around with old radios thereby making it attractive to me.

And to that owner who took nice care of it.

(The channel changer goes, “ka-thunk” when it operates. Ha! Greetings from the 1970s!!).

“. . eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin’ “
.

 

[Riverman]

Cool radio. Nice setup. Works great. Sentimental value.
Can't beat that!

 

[sunbulls]

Love the old Robyns. I remember adding crystals to the switches on some of those back in the day.

 

[Handy Andy]

Nice job - love reading a story like this - breaks up the monotony of the day.

It looks it's found a good home - like it's meant to be there in that "nook".

I wonder if radios could talk, what they'd try to tell you...the one in the picture definetly looks like it wants to talk...

As you travel, I'm reminded of the Adage, "A Stranger Is Just A Friend You Haven't Met Yet..."

Perhaps an adaptation from an Irishman...


Or maybe it's just West Virginias way of saying 'Hello!

 

[nomadradio]

I remember that Robyn radio. No channel selector knob. The channel switch had a solenoid and ratchet mechanism that looked like it came out of an 8-track 'program change' mechanism. Would "CLUNK" up one channel at a time. Had to clunk it up 24 channels to go down one channel.

But it was high-tech state of the art in 1975.

73

 

[sunbulls]

The Royce 1-606 also had that solenoid and ratchet mechanism. Fortunately on the Royce, it had selector knob, but you had to disable the solenoid so you could go both directions. The really unique part about the Robyn was the BFO function. I copied that BFO circuit design and applied it to several other AM radios that I converted up into 10 meter CW portion. Some Robyn owners actually used that BFO to talk with SSB stations on 16 back when that was the active SSB channel.

 

[OldTech03]

I used the 606 to set up a radio for a Vet that took shrapnel in Nam and spent the rest of his life only being able to move his head back and forth. His father at the time and this was over 40 years ago ask me if there was a way to make it possible for him to use a radio as the only way he could is if someone keyed the mic and held it up for him. Well, I bought 30 feet of tower and 65 feet of coax a Royce 606 and fabricated a mechanism around his lift cage that would allow him to just turn his head to the right to talk and to the left to change channels with an amplified boom mic so he didn't have to talk very loud. I could not believe his reaction you would have thought that he suddenly was able to walk again the first time he transmitted and a trucker came back to him he looked at me with eyes I will never forget. He has since passed but Royce gave him a reason to smile for about 8 years before he passed and the best reason I had to like Royce this radio made it easy to help this warrior.