Johnson Mouse-enger 250

[saturated]

Hello everyone hope things are going well

I thought I would see if you guys thought I could get this Johnson Messenger 250 going.



Fortunately most of the damage seems to be on the top of the case it's a shame this seems like good stuff because this sucker is heavy and I have the mic for it as well.



It refuses to power on and the fuse is good

Opening up this unit shows evidence that someone modified or deleted and or added some parts for what reason idk







Where the two big diodes? are it looks like they uh...yeah idk here's a close up




If you think it's worth it he effort I can get a Sam's for it and try to scare up the missing components.

I have not tried to check the transformer or power supply as of yet so I apologize honestly I got nothin at the moment

I just remembered I have a 13.8 V realistic power supply I can try on it.

 

[saturated]

Whoops sorry I guess it does power on

The lamp above the meter does illuminate just barely discernable




Hope is growing

 

[Cable Guy]

Maybe all it needs is a recap and clean. If you decide to repair it, see if @danmcclain has a Sam's in his thread....

D

Post in thread 'Sams PhotoFacts Collection'

Apr 5, 2026

Hello and Happy Easter!

I have a few General Electric 3-5813B radios that may need some TLC. Sam's Photofact 235 has it. If you have Sams 235 and when you are able to, can you please scan the alignment as well as the schematic. (I am curious to look over the audio amplifier to see if it falls the same fate like you discovered on your GE radio.) Also, this one says its doing a 5 watt AM carrier! Would like to back it off.

You have a better understanding of the schematics, so please feel free to have a look and see if in fact its that way. Thank you so much.

• doffo

Anyways, keep us posted and good luck.

 

[saturated]

Yes sir thanks y'all have a great weekend

 

[Night Stalker10]

At least it's decent looking on the inside for its age. These were real audio monsters with a Johnson base power mic. I believe there was a mod you had to do inside to open up the audio.

 

[sunbulls]

I have Sam’s 60 for the Johnson Messenger 250, but give me a few weeks to post. I usually take that time to enhance the manual and splice the schematic together. Meanwhile, CB tricks has the complete manufactures version, and a small service bulletin component change that will improve the tone quality from the speaker.

 

[saturated]

Yes sir thanks wow that is very generous of you i definitely appreciate it

However I went ahead and ordered one from eBay it's otw seems like certain issues tend to be a little scarce.

I think I know the answer to this question but I'll go ahead and ask
....I guess I can forget about finding any axial capacitors ?

Also (I know I should have asked first ) I bought some old carbon comp resistors then later reading sometimes they don't hold up so well.

Oh well only one thing to do...just check em when they get here.

Before joining this excellent community I thought hell what's a resistor any old one will work

Also since this thread got bumped I wanted to take time out and say I imagine that the brain trust here accumulated their hard earned knowledge through a lot of hard work blood sweat tears (and smoke) and many still work in this field professionally $$ so I very much respect confidentiality and strive to use discretion when welcoming advice and suggestions

Also thanks to anyone willing to help I don't want you to expend additional effort but I'm only suggesting if you think you recognize a problem maybe drop a hint (instead of "yep change Q302") like maybe point in a direction and say hey ya might wanna be looking in this section so I have to get off my rear end and do some work (and learn something)

 

[Cable Guy]

I guess I can forget about finding any axial capacitors ?

You can, but expect to pay, sites like antiqueradiosupply come to mind, but I think they changed names. See..

Electrolytic | Capacitors | Amplified Parts

Browse products from the Electrolytic category - listing products sorted by popular, page 1

www.amplifiedparts.com

Also (I know I should have asked first ) I bought some old carbon comp resistors then later reading sometimes they don't hold up so well.

I usually opt for the metal foil high tolerance resistors, very close to the price of carbon.

Oh well only one thing to do...just check em when they get here.

Before joining this excellent community I thought hell what's a resistor any old one will work

Also since this thread got bumped I wanted to take time out and say I imagine that the brain trust here accumulated their hard earned knowledge through a lot of hard work blood sweat tears (and smoke) and many still work in this field professionally $$ so I very much respect confidentiality and strive to use discretion when welcoming advice and suggestions

You're already supporting the site financially, the only other thing I can think of is dive into this community and better yourself. Then you can chime in and help others like yourself.

 

[danmcclain]

I have Sam’s 60 for the Johnson Messenger 250, but give me a few weeks to post. I usually take that time to enhance the manual and splice the schematic together. Meanwhile, CB tricks has the complete manufactures version, and a small service bulletin component change that will improve the tone quality from the speaker.

Here is the info from sams cb-60 for johnson messenger 250... Dan

 

[sunbulls]

This is an example of what I do whenever I replace those Axial caps. I usually measure the distance between the mounting holes to approximate the lead bends before mounting the cap vertically. There should be plenty of room to mount those smaller caps vertically in your base. That is not always the case in some early mobiles where the speaker often gets in the way. If there is not enough room for a large cap, mount the Radial cap horizontally, but that usually requires extra lead length with slip over lead protection. In either instance, I always hot glue any large caps to the board to keep them stable.

So far I finished the schematic. It will be easier to read and follow on a wide screen monitor if you have one.

 

[saturated]

Hey guys how's it going

Being a noob I still forget things and I remembered today

WHY DONT YOU TRY IT ON THE EXTERNAL DC POWER......DUMMY



So I did. I was a bit befuddled by a single blade sticking out the back. Oh well onward through the fog aye matey

So incredibly I located a female spade connector that fit and crimped it on

I was scratching my head why not a place to connect ground

I rationalized that well if I connect pos voltage it will find its way to ground hell that's its job

And....it didn't work



So I looked again for a place to connect ground and said well hell I'll just make my own



And with that we came alive (party)



Unfortunately there is not a peep of sound
The only sound I get is if I key the mic when I let go I get a decent pop.



I next tried the PA it did not work.

However when I connect an external speaker it works good

And still no receive sound with external speaker.

I have an antenna connected and I exercised squelch and channel select so idk.

I know there's probably some work to do of course but I'm glad I had enough snap to try some things and get some evidence before doing surgery

So I'm pretty stoked thanks for listening