Mother Lode ...

[Klondike Mike]

Thought I would post here as well ... bigger audience. I came across a Mother Lode of CB gear yesterday. A local was selling a base radio on Kijiji and I thought it was extremely cheap. The radio pictured was sitting on top of another classic. It was posted for a couple of weeks by the time I discovered it. After discussing with the seller about the sale, I raised an eyebrow after hearing about other stuff as well. I scheduled a visit and pulled a few "C" notes from the ATM.

Here is a couple of photo's and a couple of video's of what I ended up with ...

Mother Lode ... Microphones - YouTube
Mother Lode ... CB Radio's - YouTube

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

holy snikies !!!
with the exception of a stoner and maybe a arf 1000 those are the best cb radios ever made

 

[VA3ES]

Nice haul! That small, unknown unit on top of the big power supply is a Glen Manufacturing digital VCO/VFO. All the info on that unit is here: Glen Manufacturing 326-G Digital VCO
Not sure which radio it goes with.

 

[Klondike Mike]

Nice haul! That small, unknown unit on top of the big power supply is a Glen Manufacturing digital VCO/VFO. All the info on that unit is here: Glen Manufacturing 326-G Digital VCO Not sure which radio it goes with.

Thanks Ed for the info. Thought so, but the markings on it were extremely vague as to what its function was.

 

[eagle1911]

Nice.. lovin' that Browning!

 

[VA3ES]

[...] the markings on it were extremely vague as to what its function was.

Yup. Back in those days, the FCC and our own "DoC" frowned on such "accessories". All manner of subterfuge was used to hide the actual intended use. Even the popular Siltronix VFO's were sold as a "receive" VFO, and the Siltronix transceiver was sold as a "CB receiver". Even today virtually all "export" and 10M radios are actually sold "under the table", since they are technically illegal when actually used as intended

In fact, back then I was absolutely fascinated by any "illegal" CB gear, and would eagerly collect as much info on them as possible. The idea that there existed a whole "underground" radio market intrigued and fascinated me. Of course back then I owned an FT-101B, so I could listen in to all this "underground" activity but I was fascinated that there were actual manufacturers building and selling such gear.

In fact, I still am, in a way, which is why I own so many different "10M" radios. In a weird way, I suppose I'm a "radio renegade". On the ham bands, I'm a big-time AM user, running all manner of "tall ships" and "heavy metal", (a big 2X 813 rig running 600W and two 1KW broadcast transmitters).

 

[WR0220]

Great score!

 

[Klondike Mike]

Got some details on a couple of the radios;

Colt Excaliber SSB
Mother Lode - Colt Excaliber SSB - YouTube


Cobra 2000
Mother Lode - Cobra 2000 - YouTube

 

[Klondike Mike]

Got some details on the other two radios; Nothing to show on the TRAM's until I get some power cords. For all interested parties, if you saw something you liked, send me a PM with an offer. No need to hoard all this gear, I can only use one radio at a time.

Texas Ranger TR 696F SSB
Mother Lode - Texas Ranger TR 696F SSB - YouTube

Browning MKIVa
Mother Lode - Browning MK4A - YouTube

 

[UnrealStunner]

The Motorola Microphone "White Desktop" is I believe is a :"AST878DM": or very close to that model number a Astatic 878 "DM" Desk Mic.

I had one till one day she took a dirt nap.

I would love it if you told me first if it is working and I would be a first to know if you ever let it go.

 

[Klondike Mike]

The Motorola Microphone "White Desktop" is I believe is a :"AST878DM": or very close to that model number a Astatic 878 "DM" Desk Mic. I would love it if you told me first if it is working and I would be a first to know if you ever let it go.

You are right. Astatic it is. For some reason "Motorola" popped out during the video shoot. Haven't really tested any of the mic's yet. The Astatic had a 4 pin connector on it. From memory I recall seeing it labeled underneath as a 1104 something or other. I'll have to take another look to confirm. I plugged in one of the brown 776's to the Browning and that's about it. I'll get around to them all sooner or later.

 

[TonyV225]

What is the mic on the far back right with the flexible goose neck??

 

[UnrealStunner]

What is the mic on the far back right with the flexible goose neck??

Looks to be a Mini Astatic or a Mini Shure Gooseneck.

 

[Klondike Mike]

Looks to be a Mini Astatic or a Mini Shure Gooseneck.

Haven't been able to confirm its identity yet. The graphics are all faded. I think I can make out the "A" used in the Astatic logo. I have not been able to locate any pictures mentioned by UnrealStunner to confirm either. Have not hooked it up for a test yet as well.

 

[UnrealStunner]

Haven't been able to confirm its identity yet. The graphics are all faded. I think I can make out the "A" used in the Astatic logo. I have not been able to locate any pictures mentioned by UnrealStunner to confirm either. Have not hooked it up for a test yet as well.

One way to tell is look at the circuit board it would say Astatic.

Kind of reminds me of the older model of the JCD-201M the newer 201M as pictured below is fantastic for SSB in fact it was made with that in mind runs on 4.5v "3 AAA Batteries"