Is this a HAM radio?

As I was coming home today I stopped at a garage sale and found this.

s1144.photobucket.com...



The lady told me it was a CB, I have never saw a CB with a TV, so for 20 bucks I took it home with me hoping it is a HAM radio!

Problem is I know NOTHING about HAM radios.

I brought it in and plugged it in started playing with it, the radio plays local stations.. TV has nothing but black and white squares.. And the transceiver is trying to pick up a few stations..

So my other question is.. What sort of attena do I need to hook this baby up?

It doesn't look like a HAM radio to me. It actually looks like someone kit bashed a computer of sort. HAM radios don't have the screen.

Here's the embed:



You should really make the picture much larger. It's kind of hard to see anything because of its small size.

VERY cool if it all works. That looks like an old CB before they went 40 channels and someone put a stereo? and TV... Almost like the go-boxes I have seen built for truckers in slip-seat trucks.

The age of the gear makes it really cool....if it powers up and works. I'd guess there may be a linear amplifier hiding in there somewhere too..... check switch labels and know what they do.

Actually, this is what a HAM radio looks like:

reply to post by EvilSadamClone


Thanks for the embed.. I took the picture with my phone I could use my camera now that I have a photo bucket account!

Thanks for the advice!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


It all seems to be working! It has a power supply in it and once it was charged it started to make noise!

I will take some pictures of the inside in a few mins and try to make them larger.
.

reply to post by tvtexan


CUTE

Nope. Definitely not a ham radio. It looks more like a crude home entertainment system.

This is what the average ham radio setup looks like:

reply to post by lightmere


Looks like you have a CB radio which someone has modded a case for, then added a TV and a standard radio receiver for broadcast channels. An all in one hack if you will.

Nice work, it's probably been an all in one solution for someone's outhouse/garden shed or something.

Well at least it was only 20 bucks and not a whole lot more!

The radio sounds pretty good I must admit. LOL!

No point in me adding any more picts if its just a CB

Thanks for all your help ATS!

Originally posted by Grifter81
reply to post by lightmere

 

Looks like you have a CB radio which someone has modded a case for, then added a TV and a standard radio receiver for broadcast channels. An all in one hack if you will.

Nice work, it's probably been an all in one solution for someone's outhouse/garden shed or something.

very much agreed
its a home built entertainment system
cb radio and the tv is 80s
tbh i love it

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You want to buy it?

Haha! Kidding!

Originally posted by davesmart

Originally posted by Grifter81
reply to post by lightmere

 

Looks like you have a CB radio which someone has modded a case for, then added a TV and a standard radio receiver for broadcast channels. An all in one hack if you will.

Nice work, it's probably been an all in one solution for someone's outhouse/garden shed or something.

very much agreed
its a home built entertainment system
cb radio and the tv is 80s
tbh i love it

Two beat me to it - it's a frankenstein and an awesome one at that.

Originally posted by davesmart

Originally posted by Grifter81
reply to post by lightmere

 

Looks like you have a CB radio which someone has modded a case for, then added a TV and a standard radio receiver for broadcast channels. An all in one hack if you will.

Nice work, it's probably been an all in one solution for someone's outhouse/garden shed or something.

very much agreed
its a home built entertainment system
cb radio and the tv is 80s
tbh i love it

It's good isn't it! I'm a bit of an electrical hobbyist/retro tech repair/restoration freak myself. I love hacks like these.

Originally posted by lightmere
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

You want to buy it?

Haha! Kidding!

If I saw that on Ebay, KNEW it worked and had money. Oh yes... I'd buy it without hesitation for at least twice what you paid. I wouldn't go nuts about it....but those OLD CB's aren't that common that I've seen in working condition.

I'd consider it a collectors item. Again....it's the age and working condition. Nice find!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Well I may just put it on Ebay then.. I will give you the heads up before I do.

Or put it in my office, I cant believe how good the sound is for such an antique!

For fun do you know what sort of attena I would need to use the CB and TV?

Originally posted by lightmere
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

Well I may just put it on Ebay then.. I will give you the heads up before I do.

Or put it in my office, I cant believe how good the sound is for such an antique!

For fun do you know what sort of attena I would need to use the CB and TV?

Any aerial would do for either. There should be a standard antenna fitting on the CB, the radio is another story. An antenna is basically anything you can get up in the air that would pick up signal, and can be fabricated easily with junk parts. Aluminum is your best choice. Old TV antennas that you may have seen on people's homes work great.

If you get a large enough antenna and enough power, you could knock out RF/OTA TV signals for your neighbors back in the day. Life's boring on a rural farm out in the middle of nowhere. =]

There are much more compact options too.. Just google it. =]

Originally posted by lightmere
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

Well I may just put it on Ebay then.. I will give you the heads up before I do.

Or put it in my office, I cant believe how good the sound is for such an antique!

For fun do you know what sort of attena I would need to use the CB and TV?

Well as another poster said, they should be standard connections. Someone went to a lot of work to build the box, so the antenna connections should be easy to find. The big threaded one should be the CB Coax, the little threaded one for the TV (or even screw terminals?) and the plug in, for the AM radio?

Personally, I'd just find the connectors, take a picture with your camera and then take the image down to Walmart and ask them for what connects to the ones in the picture. Really, I mean you can learn all about it when it's working and you have something to play with right? That or the same thing in Radio Shack would be my ideas for getting the leads to use it.

Originally posted by TinkerHaus

Originally posted by lightmere
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

Well I may just put it on Ebay then.. I will give you the heads up before I do.

Or put it in my office, I cant believe how good the sound is for such an antique!

For fun do you know what sort of attena I would need to use the CB and TV?

Any aerial would do for either. There should be a standard antenna fitting on the CB, the radio is another story. An antenna is basically anything you can get up in the air that would pick up signal, and can be fabricated easily with junk parts. Aluminum is your best choice. Old TV antennas that you may have seen on people's homes work great.

If you get a large enough antenna and enough power, you could knock out RF/OTA TV signals for your neighbors back in the day. Life's boring on a rural farm out in the middle of nowhere. =]

There are much more compact options too.. Just google it. =]

edit on 4-8-2012 by TinkerHaus because: (no reason given)

No No No Any old aerial won't do for the CB ! you will need a CB antenna and 50 Ohm coaxial cable , pretty simple stuff to do, just do an internet search for how to set up a cb station, failure to connect the correct antenna system will result in you ruining your CB when you try and transmit.

Have fun good buddy

Thanks for all your help with this! One of the reasons I love ATS is that it has such knowledgeable individuals, and most people are willing to help out if they know the answers.

Thanks again ATS. I stared every ones post just cause I can!