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New to CB radios, trying to find a kit to build a 8 pill linear amp.

Kevin Huddleston

New Member
Nov 28, 2020
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My father has been into radios for a few years now, and we are looking for a kit to build a 8 pill linear amp for his cb. I don't know much about radios, but I do perform micro soldering repairs on laptops, phones, ect. He wants a 8 pill linear for his radio, but due to the price of the guy who puts them together it's out of his reach unless I am able to build him one. Where do I start on finding the plans, a materials list ect. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
 

ICA Manufacturing has most of what you need. I haven't bought any pill amp stuff in years but back then you didn't save much by building it. Builders save by buying in bulk. If you make some mistakes and have to buy more stuff you'll end up spending more. There used to be free amp plans floating around this forum.
 
ICA Manufacturing has most of what you need. I haven't bought any pill amp stuff in years but back then you didn't save much by building it. Builders save by buying in bulk. If you make some mistakes and have to buy more stuff you'll end up spending more. There used to be free amp plans floating around this forum.


I went to their website and didn't see any kits.
 
Yea there's a guy who lives close to my father who buys the kits, builds and sells them with the Toshiba pills, and he's charging like 500 bucks to build a 6 pill.

You couldn't buy 6 real Toshiba transistors for $500 a few years ago and I know they are insanely expensive now. Something is fishy about that. Ill bet he's using the knockoff Toshiba look alikes from Ebay. RFparts is the only place you're getting a genuine Toshiba 2879 from.

Edit: Im not seeing them at RFparts. Maybe they're all gone. I assume you know they haven't been manufactured in years and CBers blow through them like smokes.
 
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You couldn't buy 6 real Toshiba transistors for $500 a few years ago and I know they are insanely expensive now. Something is fishy about that. Ill bet he's using the knockoff Toshiba look alikes from Ebay. RFparts is the only place you're getting a genuine Toshiba 2879 from.

Edit: Im not seeing them at RFparts. Maybe they're all gone. I assume you know they haven't been manufactured in years and CBers blow through them like smokes.


I do micro repairs on phones laptops ect, I know next to nothing about cb radios, I'm just trying to help my father. Now these transistor amps, are they comparable or better?
 
I do micro repairs on phones laptops ect, I know next to nothing about cb radios, I'm just trying to help my father. Now these transistor amps, are they comparable or better?

We're talking about the same thing. The transistors in these amps are round and white like a big aspirin. Pill is CB slang for a transistor. Usually a Toshiba 2sc2879.

The last time I looked at a genuine Toshiba 2879 they were nearly $200 a piece. There are some counterfeits out there that look like the real deal. I just wanted to make sure you knew that and didn't fall for a scam. If it says Toshiba on it and didn't come from rfparts.com I would assume it's a fake.
 
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We're talking about the same thing. The transistors in these amps are round and white like a big aspirin. Pill is CB slang for a transistor. Usually a Toshiba 2sc2879.

The last time I looked at a genuine Toshiba 2879 they were nearly $200 a piece. There are some counterfeits out there that look like the real deal. I just wanted to make sure you knew that and didn't fall for a scam.


Ahh OK, so it's the old style of transistor before FETs and MOSFET? Or something along those lines? He showed me one that the guy built for him awhile back that had 6 of those Toshiba pills, but who knows if they are real or not.
 

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