My son would like to find the correct radio(s) used for communication in the logging industry in the early 1970s. He has a 1971 International 4x4 pickup that belonged to the owner of a logging company, it has dual antenna mounts on the roof but the radio(s) are gone. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
That sounds fun. So, maybe a CB and a VHF? . Since the 40 channel CB didn’t hit the market until 77, I would go on EBay and look for a 23 channel Sears Road Talker, a Radio Shack Realistic TRC-425. There are more options, but these were super popular and relatively easy to find. That would be a good start. For the “big radio” a Motorola Mocom 70 would probably be period correct. Plus, they look cool. It would be difficult to find one that worked. The caps have probably dried up by now. But, radio shops do restore them and they tweak the elements and change crystals. You could probably get one to work on the LAD channels. But that will be pricy.
Thank you Coaldust, those are great suggestions! My son and I just looked at all of those online, really like that Mocom 70. It will be awhile until the truck is restored but we are trying to find everything we want for it in the meantime. I will let you know which radio we choose. Thanks again!
Keep us updated on the father/son project.
In the late 80's where I worked had a bunch of 70's trucks. No cell phones yet, so two way radios was the ticket. The company had a huge base station with a antenna on the city water tower, repeater at the office, and the trucks were set up with GE two way radios. The good radio's were set up with a mic and the little box under the dash. And the big transmitter box behind the seat. The transmitter box was the size of a small briefcase. The latter units were just a under dash box a little bit bigger than a CB. We could hear the office/ base at over 70 miles. The trucks could get 50 or so if you were up on a hill (with the big transmitter- the little CB sized ones weren't as powerful). What you didn't want to do, was try to broadcast/ leave the radio on with the truck not running. At the end of the day you would have a dead battery, and no radio to get someone to come help. Our units looked like these. Little box under the dash. Speaker also under the dash or under/ behind the seat. And the big transmitter box behind the seat.
What you also didn't want to do, was admit to the office, whatever way, or what you had screwed up. The radio's broadcasted to all the different crews out on the other 5 jobsites that they may be at, as well as on a speaker at the office with who knows how many customers there. If you did have to fess up on the radio, everyone knew about it. "Unit 6 to base" This is Base- Go ahead unit 6 "Yeah, I think we're lost- we can't find farmer Jones's old farm site" Base to unit 6- what's your current 20? "Unit 6 to base- yeah if we knew where we were, we wouldn't be lost"
The big box at the water tower was the size of a fridge. It looked something like the one in this picture on the right.
If you want to cruise ebay/ online- look for GE Mastr series.
Anybody remember the old Teaberry "T-Charlie One" 23 channel CB radio?? I still have one in the box of outdated junk in storage(apparently I don't throw much away, lol) I might be perfect for the vintage truck
That reminded me of when my dad phoned home from a logging camp he was in years ago. He was using a satellite phone and the first thing he said was "watch what you say, everyone is listening".
I've seen those Teaberry radios on ebay. I don't know how popular they were up here but thanks anyway for the suggestion.
Thanks crane operator. We will be checking out everything that is mentioned.
I don’t remember those. I was just reading about them and radio enthusiasts like them for the sound and clarity. They hold their price well on EBay. I’ve been on a radio kick lately.
That was probably the marine operator. I remember making those calls from various camps while trying to order parts. I don’t recall how that technology worked. The homeguard wives would listen to that stuff intently. For the rumor mill.
If I remember correctly that camp my dad was at was in Jervis Inlet 1980. I remember the company name was either Routh or Roush. Funny story about the "homeguard wives".
Pardon Our Interruption...
I was looking at that one. Need to wait for the Canada Post strike to end.
Albeit from 1976-7, this cb radio was quite the performer for my dad and I.
Midland was one of the first CB radio manufacturers in the USA and was very popular. The used one I bought late 1976 or early 1977 was a 23 channel I believe. Should still be lots of them around. Used to be able to turn the old radios up and get some real power (range) out of them, but then you were walking on everyone else. Not a big deal in wide open spaces like your logging example but unappreciated in high population areas.
Those GE-s were a good radio and comparable to or better than anything Motorola built. Sometimes referred to as a trunk mount (trunk or behind the seat), these radios initially used vacuum tubes, then progressed to solid state. Your GE is a solid state. The little box under the dash that the microphone is wired to is the control head. The big box in your other post is a rack cabinet which contains the base station, power supply and more. Before the cell phone, there was the radio phone or car phone which used a trunk mount radio like the GE in your photo, but the control head looked like a telephone. When cell phones came out, they wrecked all this stuff. Radios here in the USA went digital and the frequencies they used were repurposed by the FCC. All neat stuff that enhance vintage vehicles of their period.
The '77 White Freightliner I drove in the late 80s had a Midland 40 CB in it along with a 1967 road map of British Columbia. I just had a look on ebay, there are a lot of Midland 23 radios on there. Thanks for mentioning them.
Here's a mobile/ base station Big T. The guy I drove for in 73 gave it to me. He lived in Nara Visa and it was his home unit.