[BC] Firebottle rigs (WAS:WRBC Jackson, MS)

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 06/01/2006 12:29:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
dpuopolo at usa.net writes:

>I had  Johnson Messinger 1 CB radio. Five channels with ten crystals. Lots 
>of glowing fire bottles. They were originally designed to be 20-25 watt 
radios
>for the 27 MHz business band and if you knew what power resistors to jump 
>and the other circuit mods to do...well, I'm not admittin' NOTHIN'! <g>

I have something similar- I don't know the model number, but it is a Johnson 
Messenger. I don't think there's any way it could do more than 6-7 watts, just 
going by the size of the final tube. It was in pretty sad shape... I ended up 
gutting the TX stages, x-tal deck, doing some rewiring, and converting it 
into a 75meter AM receiver. It works rather nicely in that mode. I've put some 
pics of it up on my WEBsite, if anyone's curious.

www.mymorninglight.org/ham/6146.htm
(it's about 1/2 way down the page)

Other than having to be a lot more careful with the high voltages involved, 
sometimes these old tube rigs are easier to work on & troubleshoot than their 
modern counterparts. Their circuitry is a whole lot simpler, too! Eventually, I 
hope to get that old RCA 1Kw box working as our backup here at WFIF.

Willie...