All about CB radio

[electronicskip]

I had a Stalker 9 unit back in the day and it was a lovely radio , much sought after by the CB fraternity.

I have a weakness for the whole Stalker/Teaberry range ,and one of my favourite models I own is a lovely little Stalker V1 am unit.

[Damo666]

I'm not sure which variant of the Stalker 9 it is, but it should be here in the next day or two so I'll report back and post an image or two.

With regards the Handheld's, he told me he almost bought every release from Tandy's, and he also told me some model numbers - but as I was out & about I didn't jot them down.

I can't see me walking the streets with one of the Handheld's unless visibility is zero (they're huge), otherwise I'd be a laughing stock.

[Damo666]

The parcel arrived earlier, and here's a summary of what's here; Harvard 410T, Harrier WT44 (looks same as Harvard 410T), 2 x Realistic TRC1002, Realistic TRC1001, 2 x Realistic TRC1008, Realistic TRC1010, Realistic TRC1007, Eurosonic ES200, Stalker 9.

The Stalker 9 is not the FDX variant as it doesn't have the full 40 UK channels, but it's in pretty much immaculate condition and appears untouched inside.

Out of all the Handheld's, the Harvard 410T (I'm sure I once had one of these) looks to be the same as the Harrier with different clothing. The TRC1001/1002 are ridiculously big, with the latter being only 1.5W and 2 channels.

[SiriusHardware]

Well, I used to think I was quite a fan of Tandy / Realistic CB handhelds, but where that old mate of yours is concerned I stand in the Shadow Of His Greatness.

The only one he doesn't seem to have bought is the one that I had but no longer have, the TRC-1005. The TRC-1007, Tandy's final full-spec handheld, is reasonably smart and neat, and not too outrageously big.

Tandy's mobile CB radios were very bland, but their full specification handhelds were out in a class of their own. I agree the TRC-1001 is huge, but there was a time when I literally did not go anywhere without mine, much the way people are with their mobile phones now.

As to the other ones, the main reason the 1.5W TRC1002s have to be so big is for the same reason that the TRC-1001 is... AA size rechargable batteries at the time measured their mAH ratings in the hundreds (600mAH would have been typical), so in order to keep current consumption down on TX a high power supply voltage (12V) was adopted - as it happens 12V was also a handy supply voltage so that the unit could be used in vehicles as well, but when used portable you needed (12V divided by 1.2V) = 10 AA size rechargeable batteries, and they all had to go somewhere.

If you put batteries in the TRC1002s and take them out and about you'll be surprised by how well they work. As mentioned earlier, my (single) example is currently on the amateur 10 metre band, but I'm thinking of returning it to its original configuration.

The little TRC1008s are obviously of little practical use now - what you would have used those for originally, you could now do much more conveniently with a pair of half-watt UHF PMR446 radios - but - a lot of people seem to collect the smaller CB handhelds now and I don't think you'd have any trouble finding a buyer for them, especially as a pair. As a matter of interest what channel are they on, do you know? 14? 30?

Although not the UK specific version of the Stalker 9, the version you have there is still one of the most fondly remembered radios from that period, just as electronicskip suggested. I have the diagram for the 9F but I'm not sure if it is the original one, as per yours, or the 'British' variant with the UK channels already included. I'll have a hunt around.

[Damo666]

Hi Sirius,

Yes, out of all the Handheld's, excluding the TRC1008s that use PP3 batteries, all of them use 10 x AA Nickel rechargeable cells - but the TRC1007 & ES200 are the most compact.

The TRC1008s are on channel 30, but since there's no squelch feature they're not very practical to have on standby due to the hash/noise. They also have poor selectivity, with various channels all audible on channel 30.

The TRC1002s at first look like they're crystalled for 2 channels, but only one actually is - UK 27/81 channel 20. I wouldn't mind knowing the type of crystal they use, as I would probably get one cut for channel 19 for bedtime listening.

Upto now, it has to be said - my favourite's are the TRC1001 & the Harvard 410T.
The TRC101O is also nice, but I've heard no activity on the CEPT band. I'm guessing the TRC101O was about the last release from Tandy's, and a quick peep through gaps in the battery compartment shows a little SMT as opposed to discrete components like the others use.

I've just been Googling around and the newer stuff like the Midland Alan 42 & Lafayette, etc' doesn't appeal to me at all compared to the aforementioned.

They don't make them like this anymore!

By the way - the Pama GX19 is still working wonders.

[SiriusHardware]

There is a UK company called QSL (Quartslab, with an 's', not a 'z', as you might expect) who will make custom crystals for radios like the TRC-1002 on request.

I'm pretty sure that was who made the crystals to put mine on 29Mhz. If you drop them an email and tell them the radio make, model and required channel frequency they will quote you a price and delivery date.

If they need more info I can scan the circuit diagram from my user manual - they may be able to work out the required crystal parameters from that. You may have to show them (send them an image of) the type / shape as well - I can't remember if they were plug-in or wire ended types in the TRC-1002.

As a rough ballpark figure you may be looking at £12 - £20 per pair of crystals which is probably more than you were hoping, although the price will decrease the more you get made.

Other crystal providers exist, of course.

I agree the apparent lack of a squelch on the 1008s would make them pretty unbearable to use. If they have two crystals (one RX, one TX) you could possibly put the crystals from those into the empty channels on the 1002s, but that would depend on both radios having the same crystal frequency formula. In some FM handhelds the TX crystal runs at 1/2 of the TX frequency and is doubled, in some it runs at 1/3 of the TX frequency and is trebled. I personally wouldn't break up something which is old and still works, but you could just 'borrow' the crystals from the 1008s for a while.

I actually missed the TRC1010 when I first read your parcel post, I didn't realise that they had ever made a CEPT handheld for the UK market.

Put it away for now and get it out again from mid-May onwards, the start of the summer Sporadic 'E' season. There will be days when you'll hear stuff rolling in from all over Europe during the daylight hours from then until about the end of August.

Ref: the GX19, it would be good if (once you can get into it) you could take a photo of the fault before you fix it and update your other thread about that, as I noticed at least one other web instance of someone saying they had display segment problems on a '19 - obviously a weakness in them, as you suggested.

[Damo666]

Ah, yes, I remember Quartslab from back in the days of McKnights when they used to advertise in various magazines. I have a few Handheld's here now, so I think I'll scrap the idea of ordering an Xtal specifically for channel 19 for the TRC1002 and just use one of the others to monitor the frequency.

I set my Stalker 9 up tonight & it's working really well, with the only issue being that the S meter is near enough an "all or nothing" affair; Signals all appear to be S1 to S3, and anything above that bungees upto +30s - there doesn't seem to be an in between if that makes sense?
It's no big issue.

The internals haven't been got at, and aside from a conversion on one of the switches to turn high band into UK 27/81 it's not been touched or tinkered with. It's a really nice piece of kit.

I'm awaiting some box spanners from China and one of those lens removers as was suggested, so it could be a good couple of weeks until I get the GX19 missing/flickering segment dilemma sorted - but I'll be sure to return & post my progress on the thread that yourself, Jeremy & others kindly assisted me in.

[Andrew B]

I still have a Stalker 9, a Ham Major and a Superstar 360, all in working order. CB seems as dead a 2M around here.

[SiriusHardware]

Originally Posted by Damo666

Signals all appear to be S1 to S3, and anything above that bungees upto +30s - there doesn't seem to be an in between if that makes sense?
It's no big issue.

That exact behaviour is typical of many FM-only CB/27/81 models, typically those made by Maxon which used the MC3357 FM IF IC, due to the way in which the meter signal was derived.

However, I wouldn't have thought it was normal for a Uniden chassis like the Stalker 9.

It sounds as though the receiver AGC may possibly not be working, so all incoming signals are being amplified flat-out. Or it may just be completely normal behaviour for that model. Maybe Andrew B, who also has one, can advise.

Unfortunately my experience with Uniden chassis is quite limited: Jeremy's definitely your man for that one.

[G0HZU_JMR]

I haven't seen inside a Stalker 9 for 30 years or so but the radio design is quite similar to the mk1 Cobra148GTL-DX in many places. It's a different board of course but there are lots of similarities.

On the mk1 148 the s meter was well known for 'needing a sledgehammer' to move it on a standard radio. Some people turned up the s meter trimpot inside the radio and this gave symptoms like yours. The S meter would either move slightly or race across into the red.

It's a long time ago but there were various fudges to improve on this on the mk1 148. Some involved increasing the receiver gain but one simpler one was to replace one or both of the two diodes in series with the s meter trimmer pot with 1N60 diodes and readjust the s meter trimmer for best performance. Presumably you need to use diodes that don't leak much so maybe select on test the least leaky 1N60 diodes you can find? But you would have to turn down the s meter pot or it may appear even worse if you just replace a diode or two. Worth a try I guess?

I didn't like the looks of the Stalker 9 but it was probably the most reliable SSB radio out of all of them in terms of producing nice and clear SSB audio on transmit.

[Damo666]

Hi Jeremy,

Apart from the modification on the NB/ANL switch to get the UK 27/81 on high band (switches a Ceramic Capacitor in to add 6.25Khz), I'm told this is untouched. It doesn't look like it's ever had a component change or anything. A look at all the Variable Resistors shows none of them fully turned.

Thanks for the tip on using 1N60s. I'll try it within the next few days.

[Techman]

Originally Posted by Damo666

(switches a Ceramic Capacitor in to add 6.25Khz), A look at all the Variable Resistors shows none of them fully turned.

That's strange, a capacitor added usually drops it by three and three quarters rather than ups it by six and a quarter.

You can never tell whether a rig's been 'got-at' just by looking. The pots could have been 'twiddled' to death but won't necessarily be stuck hard at one end of their range. However, your set's probably never been touched other than that 'kc adjustment' on that switch.

[Techman]

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Unfortunately my experience with Uniden chassis is quite limited: Jeremy's definitely your man for that one.

Same here! I'm a Cybernet man through and through. I like that punchy outgoing audio, although I do agree about what has been said with regards to the 'tone' on receive. However, have you ever listened to the receive on a Tristar 777 ? One of the nicest sounding radios on receive, I think.

[SiriusHardware]

I owned a 777 from new, and agree that the receiver sounded nice - however, I found the 125 chassis receiver performance in terms of strong signal / adjacent channel rejection to be quite poor, especially compared to the 121 chassis.

I loaned it for a while to a friend who owned a radio with a 121 chassis and he said he just wouldn't be able to live with the receiver on the 777.

Of course both of us were using large 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave vertical aerials in very urban environments - used in its intended mobile environment or away from towns, the 777 was probably OK.

[colly0410]

I had a CB in the early 80's & had problems of blocking & bleed through from nearby CB'ers. Everyone nearby used some kind of vertical aerial & someone used a burner & blocked everyone else out. I made a horizontal polarised aerial in the loft & mounted it end on to the burner bloke. It worked; it reduced all the locals by 2 or 3 S-points & I could even receive even when burner bloke was transmitting, other locals with vertical aerials couldn't. Funny thing was the horizontal aerial hardly made any difference to more distant signals except those end on, & that didn't really matter as one way was a pit tip & t'other way open countryside. Afraid I used it to try & meet girls as I was single at the time, wasn't very successful though..

[Andrew B]

I can certainly take some foto's of the inside of the rigs, if anyone would like pictures, Best on a PM because my camera (DSLR) takes good hi-res pictures but the files are quite *large*.

[G0HZU_JMR]

Originally Posted by Damo666

Thanks for the tip on using 1N60s. I'll try it within the next few days.

I can't remember how much difference it makes but if it was my radio I'd leave it as stock

I have several mk1 Cobra 148 GTL-DX radios here two of them are in very nice original condition (boxed) with no mods/changes anywhere and I think the lazy s meter is part of the charm.
I've got another one I converted to the 40m band and I left the s meter as standard on that one too.

I've got quite a few mk2 Cobra 148GTL-DX radios here as well including two original ones (boxed) that look even better than the mk1 radios. These are both standard too. I do still have my original mk2 148 that I bought as a student in about 1982 and this is very heavily modded. I learned a lot about PLLs and receiver and transmitter design from playing with that radio. It's a bit tatty inside and out but it still works well.

[SiriusHardware]

Originally Posted by colly0410

I made a horizontal polarised aerial in the loft & mounted it end on to the burner bloke. It worked; it reduced all the locals by 2 or 3 S-points & I could even receive even when burner bloke was transmitting, other locals with vertical aerials couldn't.

When I had my first revival of interest in CB (around 1992-1993) I was more interested in DX than in working around the doors so I only used a horizontal half-wave running from gutter height to the back garden fence, with a matching network at the gutter end. It worked well for its intended purpose, since most of what I was interested in was coming down from the sky.

Originally Posted by colly0410

Afraid I used it to try & meet girls as I was single at the time, wasn't very successful though..

I have, from time to time, been told I have a good voice for radio but unfortunately I have neither the personality nor the looks to match, so it didn't work too well for me either.

[colly0410]

All the CB mags said "you MUST use a vertical aerial!" I could see why they said that if you wanted omni-directional working & best signal from other vertical pol breakers, but I broke the rules & got away with it. I just used about 18 feet of mains flex I had kicking about..

[SiriusHardware]

I used something called an 'Allgon' (All Gone?) which was a black bobbin with a few feet of coax terminated in a PL259 plug coming out of one side and ~ 18ft of flexible insulated wire coming out of the other side, with a loop or hook on the end of the wire.

Inside the bobbin was a printed circuit board with a 'printed' coil as the matching network to make the 18ft half wave exhibit the necessary 50R impedance. This rather flimsy coil limited the maximum power to 10W, which wasn't a problem for the way I used it.

The coax and the flexible wire could each be wrapped around their respective halves of the bobbin so the whole thing could be packed away into a fist-sized lump.

It was, in effect, a portable / fold away version of the commonly used generic half-wave vertical aerial (GP27, etc). You were meant to attach a long length of string to the loop on the far end of the 18ft wire, attach a tennis ball or an apple to that, fire it over a handy tree branch with a catapult and then haul the antenna up to its full vertical height. But as I said, I used it horizontally to good effect.