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What's your favorite 'vintage' CB rig?
- Thread starter N8YX
- Start date
What a long running thread! 
But I will bite.... I would have to say my Ranger AR3500 or my President HR2510, quite possibly my 1974 Cobra135 base with an extra band of 23 channels. I also have a Stalker FM9DX. But my favorite is an old Yaesu FT101EE that I bought from a CBer, never used as far as I know on the other HF bands till I got it!
73 mechanic
But I will bite.... I would have to say my Ranger AR3500 or my President HR2510, quite possibly my 1974 Cobra135 base with an extra band of 23 channels. I also have a Stalker FM9DX. But my favorite is an old Yaesu FT101EE that I bought from a CBer, never used as far as I know on the other HF bands till I got it!
73 mechanic
Adding to the GrantXL(Everything else is somewhat below the Grant's capabilities)
Uniden Washington Base
Cobra 2000GTL
Cobra 148GTL
SBE Console V
Tram D201A
Not in any particular order.
Uniden Washington Base
Cobra 2000GTL
Cobra 148GTL
SBE Console V
Tram D201A
Not in any particular order.
I like the Uniden Washington 5 pin and Cobra 148 gtl side mic both Philli made. So much that I just bought one of each from ebay. Both are mint and work perfect. sometimes I get lucky. Might have to get a 10da head or whole mic for the washington for SSB.
Well define vintage??? Sure I spoke on my Grandfathers CB back when 23 channels was the norm but did not get into the hobby myself until 1991. I went right from a RadioShack 40 channel AM only rig to an RCI2950 skipping most of the other stuff most people tried before ending up with an RCI or HR2510 etc...
That said I worked in worked in an electronic repair facility. So I had a hand in repairing all the Galaxy,Super Star, President, Cobra, Uniden, Tram, Browning radio's of that time frame a bit before. I like wise have owned a lot of CB gear since then.
If talking FCC type accepted CB's then I would have to go with Uniden Grant XL, Cobra 148 GTL, Palomar SSB 500 and 600 these all had huge audio on AM, rock solid SSB stability, great recieve and great sound quality on SSB! A lot of people will disagree with me but I think the Palomar SSB500 and 600 radio's where better then the Cobra 148 and Uniden Grant XL! Why? They where easier to modify for extra channels and I think they just sounded better on air. Obviously the 148GTL and Uniden Grant models sold a lot more units and a lot of other brands used this board in their base station then prob. any other board in the history of CB!
In fact I am getting ready to recap a mint Palomar SSB600 as a Christmas present to my oldest boy. He just got his drivers license and will be inheriting a 1995.5 Toyota Tacoma 4x4. You really need a big audio SSB radio for your first vehicle but especially a 4x4!!!
Another favorite of mine is the Uniden PC 122 and the RadioShack clones like the TRC-453. Seriously small footprint but still a 40 channel SSB radio. I have 3 of them one in my car, one as a parts radio and one that is NIB with warranty sticker still in place in it's box. Not an audio giant on AM or SSB but not bad either. Rock solid stability on SSB. LesComm makes an expansion board the replaces the stock PLL.
If you need a very small SSB radio it is hard to beat the Uniden PC122. I have known plenty of people that either added a speech compressor or power mic and a linear to make a rock solid base station or mobile setup! Do not cut limiter in this radio just modify it to allow a bit more modulation before the AMC clamps down. Do not try to get the dead key too low or get too much swing out of it. I have mine setup so it dead keys 3 watt's and swings to 12. I use an old ceramic element D104M6B. People always tell me that my radio sounds fantastic. The receive is not on par with the 148 and the AM audio is not as good as a 148 but it is less then 1/2 the size.
If we ignore the FCC type acceptance then the two greatest game changer's in the hobby would have to be the RCI 2950 and the HR2510 and it's clones!!!
I would love to have the 2950 that was stolen from me back but that said the President Lincoln I bought to replace it is almost as good!
That said I worked in worked in an electronic repair facility. So I had a hand in repairing all the Galaxy,Super Star, President, Cobra, Uniden, Tram, Browning radio's of that time frame a bit before. I like wise have owned a lot of CB gear since then.
If talking FCC type accepted CB's then I would have to go with Uniden Grant XL, Cobra 148 GTL, Palomar SSB 500 and 600 these all had huge audio on AM, rock solid SSB stability, great recieve and great sound quality on SSB! A lot of people will disagree with me but I think the Palomar SSB500 and 600 radio's where better then the Cobra 148 and Uniden Grant XL! Why? They where easier to modify for extra channels and I think they just sounded better on air. Obviously the 148GTL and Uniden Grant models sold a lot more units and a lot of other brands used this board in their base station then prob. any other board in the history of CB!
In fact I am getting ready to recap a mint Palomar SSB600 as a Christmas present to my oldest boy. He just got his drivers license and will be inheriting a 1995.5 Toyota Tacoma 4x4. You really need a big audio SSB radio for your first vehicle but especially a 4x4!!!
Another favorite of mine is the Uniden PC 122 and the RadioShack clones like the TRC-453. Seriously small footprint but still a 40 channel SSB radio. I have 3 of them one in my car, one as a parts radio and one that is NIB with warranty sticker still in place in it's box. Not an audio giant on AM or SSB but not bad either. Rock solid stability on SSB. LesComm makes an expansion board the replaces the stock PLL.
If you need a very small SSB radio it is hard to beat the Uniden PC122. I have known plenty of people that either added a speech compressor or power mic and a linear to make a rock solid base station or mobile setup! Do not cut limiter in this radio just modify it to allow a bit more modulation before the AMC clamps down. Do not try to get the dead key too low or get too much swing out of it. I have mine setup so it dead keys 3 watt's and swings to 12. I use an old ceramic element D104M6B. People always tell me that my radio sounds fantastic. The receive is not on par with the 148 and the AM audio is not as good as a 148 but it is less then 1/2 the size.
If we ignore the FCC type acceptance then the two greatest game changer's in the hobby would have to be the RCI 2950 and the HR2510 and it's clones!!!
I would love to have the 2950 that was stolen from me back but that said the President Lincoln I bought to replace it is almost as good!
Hi,
Happy thanksgiving !
I am an old Golden Screwdriver. I have had quite a few radios. The Keepers.
My favorite. CPI 2000 Base/Mobile
Developed issues a few weeks ago. No go finding a Tech sooo improving my skill sets. Might get it running in a few weeks.
Running it in my Car ARF 2001 now. Has a few issues. No free band.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pitbulls-CB-Repair-Shop/236853706487570
Have to get a bigger inverter for the car. 3rd Tram Diamond 201A with "digital vfo add on.
My Browning Mark 4A
My Connex 3300 ZX . Wish it had SSB LOL !
Cherokee AH 100 AM/SSB 25mc to 30mc. Talked skip with this on free band
with a 5 ft extension Ant. canabalised from an old midland walki T.
Hygain V with VFO. Yup I cut the yellow wire !
Well no luck tonight fixing two Galaxy 959s. Gong to figure out how to install
one of these China $10. frequency counters on the Hygain. Have two. Put the ARF
back on the shelf.
Honorable mention Tram Titan II with Collins filters. Should not have sold it.
Cobra 2000 , Cobra 142, 148 Mobile.Cherokee Base Dak 5, Super Satelite, Browning
Mark III, II and a few others I forgot. Oh still have the Cobra 135 base. hmmm 858
maybe tomorrow will plug it in !
73s
Happy thanksgiving !
I am an old Golden Screwdriver. I have had quite a few radios. The Keepers.
My favorite. CPI 2000 Base/Mobile
Developed issues a few weeks ago. No go finding a Tech sooo improving my skill sets. Might get it running in a few weeks.
Running it in my Car ARF 2001 now. Has a few issues. No free band.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pitbulls-CB-Repair-Shop/236853706487570
Have to get a bigger inverter for the car. 3rd Tram Diamond 201A with "digital vfo add on.
My Browning Mark 4A
My Connex 3300 ZX . Wish it had SSB LOL !
Cherokee AH 100 AM/SSB 25mc to 30mc. Talked skip with this on free band
with a 5 ft extension Ant. canabalised from an old midland walki T.
Hygain V with VFO. Yup I cut the yellow wire !
Well no luck tonight fixing two Galaxy 959s. Gong to figure out how to install
one of these China $10. frequency counters on the Hygain. Have two. Put the ARF
back on the shelf.
Honorable mention Tram Titan II with Collins filters. Should not have sold it.
Cobra 2000 , Cobra 142, 148 Mobile.Cherokee Base Dak 5, Super Satelite, Browning
Mark III, II and a few others I forgot. Oh still have the Cobra 135 base. hmmm 858
maybe tomorrow will plug it in !
73s
I use my DAK MARK X with the matching Black DAK Astatic D-104 more than any other that I own because it's my favorite.I like my Browning Golden Eagle MK III SSB with the Astatic Golden Eagle D-104 as well but working SSB on it or any channels above channel 23 is an issue.I have lots of other base radios but these are my favorites. Looking for a Browning Golden Eagle MK IVA as well but I'm NOT giving $1000 for ANY CB Radio in any condition in this lifetime. {:>)
2 cents.
FCC - old school Grant or filo 148
Euroexport- President Grant
10m/dx - Lincoln
Ham - Johnson Viking Ranger.
FCC - old school Grant or filo 148
Euroexport- President Grant
10m/dx - Lincoln
Ham - Johnson Viking Ranger.
