Rarest cb / export you’ve owned

[unit_399]

Samson tube-type base station.
Made by Demco, they say.
73

My dad gave me his complete Demco Satellite model CB-1A 5-piece system: T110-A transmitter, R101-A receiver, VM-12-120 power modulator, M-10 SWR meter, R-102 speaker. (same as the SAMPSON that Nomad has). Dad bought it new in '65 (I think). I passed it on to my son. The funny thing about this rig is that it did not come with a microphone. My dad used an old E.F. Johnson desk mike. Real good talker with the modulator cranked up all the way.

- 399

 

[Eldorado828]

I have a CRT SS FORCE ONE. I do believe this is the only one of these in the United States. It was given to me by a former employer. They were doing inventory and came across this radio and the owner started raising hell. It was supposed to be sent back to the manufacturer as part of a laws suit.
It is AM/FM only and plays MP3's from a thumb drive. I hooked it up on the test bench but never connected it to an antenna.
It has ECHO built in, might be the reason I never used it.

My box does not have the Statue of Liberty on the box. CRT had been contacted to design and build this radio for a company here in the USA. They jumped the gun and sent about 500 to the USA.
499 were sent back.
I have no proof of the lawsuit but that is what I was told.

Tallman it looks like the short lived ranger rci-tlm1. I remember that radio was an odd one

 

[Pioneer621]

I guess the rarest I have is one of these RCA CRM-P2A-5. Not sure where it is at the moment, but it is a little rough looking. Operates on CB channel 15 if I recall. Have not played with it in years.

Looks like this:
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rca_marine_crm_p2a_5_ch_555518.html

 

[999]

The rarest export radio I have owned is a Galaxy Plus. I have seen pictures of them, but I have never seen another one, nor heard one one the air that I know of.
I know, it's just an older Galaxy export, but It's still it's own model.
The closest thing to it out there is the Voyage VR-9000.
The only difference besides the color, is the clarifier. The plus just has a coarse clarifier with the mic gain in the middle, where the VR-9000 has a coarse and fine clarifier.

I friend of mine had a ranger 2900 back in the day...again, the only one I have ever seen in person.

 

[Slowmover]

Can’t quite say I’ve been in the game thoroughly enough to qualify by the thread title.

But at this exact moment a rarity I own due more to its age thus likely scarcity is a circa 1976 ROBYN GT-7C very close in appearance to this:



And in the truck for a few hours:



Bought from Larry’s CB in McKinney, TX just north of Dallas.

Audio has a a mellow quality compared to the half-dozen modern radios I own.

Larry acquired it from the estate of the original owner, a long-time customer. Needed a crystal and a tweak.

It’s in my travel trailer as “the campground radio” (set up with a thru glass Midland antenna).

BFO, and channel changer on mike.

.

 

[xm49north7]

Can’t quite say I’ve been in the game thoroughly enough to qualify by the thread title.

But at this exact moment a rarity I own due more to its age thus likely scarcity is a circa 1976 ROBYN GT-7C very close in appearance to this:

View attachment 29327

And in the truck for a few hours:

View attachment 29328

Bought from Larry’s CB in McKinney, TX just north of Dallas.

Audio has a a mellow quality compared to the half-dozen modern radios I own.

Larry acquired it from the estate of the original owner, a long-time customer. Needed a crystal and a tweak.

It’s in my travel trailer as “the campground radio” (set up with a thru glass Midland antenna).

BFO, and channel changer on mike.

.

What a great looking radio. My biggest fear, is the chinese will start reproducing old style radios, I have no trouble passing up todays multi menu beep boxes, but but old style radios where a knob does one thing, man I would go broke. Like the , look, feel, and use of old style radios.

 

[357magnum]

Nothing special here , Still have the first radio I started with in the 1969/70 , TRC-9 Realistic 3 channel xtal . I had a Johnson 23 channel Tubed White Face , still trying to figure out why I sold it ? But when I did it was just & old CB Radio I no longer needed . Now ....

 

[w9cll]

For a short time, I had a Lafayette 2400 fm.

Not my picture...

 

[Hurricane145]

When did the export radios start showing up? Did they show up right when CB went to 40 channels from 23 or was it sometime later? Was there a company that is known as the first to come out with an "export" model?

 

[w9cll]

When did the export radios start showing up? Did they show up right when CB went to 40 channels from 23 or was it sometime later? Was there a company that is known as the first to come out with an "export" model?

I first heard about them in the mid 80's

 

[AudioShockwav]

Hey 357, I had a Trc-9 as well!
It had channels 3 , 9 and 11 in it.
My first Johnson tube cb was a black face with 8 crystal controlled channels and a switchable 23 channel receive.
Exports.
The guys across the pond had all the exports of course.
My first new in the box export was a President Lincoln back in the 80's produced by President Electronics of Belgium.
You did not see many of those.
It was a rare radio.
Back then a mobile radio that did 26 to 30 MHz was something.
My friend Tracy got a brand new Super Star 360FM that was sweet, it was like a cobra 148 on steroids.
I am not sure but I think he got it from Red Monkey Communications.
Export radios were back room hush hush stuff back then.
Uniden was the big player back then , and Cybernet as well.

73
Jeff

 

[w9cll]

Export radios were back room hush hush stuff back then.

You are correct, it was more like you had to know someone who knew someone. I remember talking to a guy on 27.605, he was out the east coast, he sent me a catalog of the expanded rigs he sold. They weren't called exports back then. There was another guy that ran a video store that sold "expanded" rigs out the back door. My friend picked up a Grant DX from him.

 

[w9cll]

Was there a company that is known as the first to come out with an "export" model?

Uniden and Cybernet were the big players as AS said.

 

[Robb]

A CPI mobile radio, two CPI base stations, and two ClearChannelCorp AR-3500's (one was the 100w model). Also a 360FM. Thaaaat's it . . .

 

[ExitThirteen]

I think one of the rarest radios I have owned was the old Cobra 29XLR Gold. I think those were handed out to distributors and shops that sold an "X" amount of units at the time. I think I still have it somewhere, if I can find it I'll post a pic.


~Cheers~