Ssb handheld cb

[ShadowDelaware]

Were there any ssb handheld cb radios ever made?

 

[brandon7861]

Midland 13-778, Cherokee AH-100, Magnum 1012, Albrecht AE-2990, Titan Road Pro, Eagle Spitfire 454 and a couple more, but some of them are the same radio with a different name.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Yes, the Magnum 1012 ( no longer produced) and the Albrecht AE2990.
You can still find the Albrecht for sale but they command a price.
There are a couple fb groups about these radios , antennas, amps, all made to complement the handhelds.
See examples below.

73
Jeff

 

[AudioShockwav]

 

[ShadowDelaware]

All of those are awesome. I was sitting here and had the thought I wanted one, but had no luck with a basic Google search.

 

[ShadowDelaware]

View attachment 68220View attachment 68221

That is a serious antenna on there

 

[ShadowDelaware]

View attachment 68220View attachment 68221

How do the batteries hold up on the Albrecht AE2990?

 

[AudioShockwav]

There are guys out there that add higher capacity batteries or run dc adapters and a storage battery.
This is popular in the EU where guys go work portable often,they fabricate mounts like the one above and use long loaded telescopic whips.
You would have to drop $350 US or so to find one but the Albrecht radios do pop up in a search online from time to time, usually in the UK.
The old MX27 is a am handheld from back in the 11 ham band days.


73
Jeff

 

[ShadowDelaware]

There are guys out there that add higher capacity batteries or run dc adapters and a storage battery.
This is popular in the EU where guys go work portable often,they fabricate mounts like the one above and use long loaded telescopic whips.
You would have to drop $350 US or so to find one but the Albrecht radios do pop up in a search online from time to time, usually in the UK.
The old MX27 is a am handheld from back in the 11 ham band days.


73
Jeff

I am definitely keeping my eyes open for a decent deal on one. I have to throw a few more dollars in the radio jar first though.

 

[BC Coyote]

I've heard very mixed reviews about the reliability of some of these sideband handhelds over the years......

Even when new they didn't have a fantastic reputation. Many of them such as the old Cherokee ones are getting kinda long in the tooth age wise as well, and are starting to have issues with caps etc.
I've heard positive things about the Albrecht ones and that's the route I would go if I was looking for such a thing.

In my 40 years on 11 meters I have never talked to somebody using one of those sideband handhelds, although I did talk to a guy on a backpack radio once !

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

There was a rumor that a new SSB handheld was coming out soon. Can't remember where I read it, maybe just wishful thinking.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I've heard very mixed reviews about the reliability of some of these sideband handhelds over the years......

Even when new they didn't have a fantastic reputation. Many of them such as the old Cherokee ones are getting kinda long in the tooth age wise as well, and are starting to have issues with caps etc.
I've heard positive things about the Albrecht ones and that's the route I would go if I was looking for such a thing.

In my 40 years on 11 meters I have never talked to somebody using one of those sideband handhelds, although I did talk to a guy on a backpack radio once !

I have made contacts with Bill, happy hammer from the Forum here, he was using a Cherokee HH.
He was in Cole City IL I was in central CA on my base station.
For all intents and proposes they are just another radio and if you use a adapter and hook them to a base antenna they work great.
Lots of op's use portable rigs like the FT 817 with whip antennas to work qrp on many bands.
Somewhere here on the forum is a video of Bill using his 817 with the Miracle whip antenna making contacts qrp.
Mother Nature is a awesome equalizer.

 

[OldModel]

I had an old Radio Shack, with the plug-in crystals. I would guess about 50 years ago. It took lots of AA batteries and weighed about 5 pounds.

 

[SuperLid]

I've heard very mixed reviews about the reliability of some of these sideband handhelds over the years......

Even when new they didn't have a fantastic reputation. Many of them such as the old Cherokee ones are getting kinda long in the tooth age wise as well, and are starting to have issues with caps etc.
I've heard positive things about the Albrecht ones and that's the route I would go if I was looking for such a thing.

In my 40 years on 11 meters I have never talked to somebody using one of those sideband handhelds, although I did talk to a guy on a backpack radio once !

I have the Magnum 1012. I hate it... I have a Mizuho MX-28S and love it, but it is limited. I also have FT-817 but, I use it mostly for RX, RFI hunting.

 

[BC Coyote]

I had an old Radio Shack, with the plug-in crystals. I would guess about 50 years ago. It took lots of 9-volt batteries and weighed about 5 pounds.

I had a pair of those when I was about 11 or 12 years old. On a good day it might have had about a 1/2 mile range. I remember spending my pocket money on batteries and having them last just a few hours, and that was it for radio fun for that week!
As I could barely afford to keep batteries in one of them, I let my friend have the other one at his house a few blocks away (he bought the batteries for that one). Occasionally we actually managed to make contact with them and thought that was the coolest thing ever LOL.......