Let's Look At An EF Johnson Messenger 223 Vintage CB Tube Radio

[@PTTM2006]

My brother had the same tube tester ( I tested all the tubes he salvaged so I clearly remember ) and I had the same SWR power meter you have hooked to his Citizen 40 channel base CB radio You just brought me back 41 years, thanks

[@stevemccoy8138]

Hi, I'm going to get a 223 soon, I've had Johnson's since 73. I still like them, Great video ! Thank You

[@philipacovington]

That TRC-217 handheld is one of the best walkie-talkies Radio Shack sold. The "range boost" side panels make a great difference!

[@northdakotaham1752]

Nice job cleaning up that old rig Larry. Never had any EFJ equipment but it looks to have been very solid made. Seen some of their commercial equipment around. Heavy duty stuff!

[@vonzigle]

Brings back fond memories! N6CD

[@VintageGearMan]

Hey Larry, call me crazy but I just bought this radio within the hour. I already have the Johnson mike, so good there. Seller stated the unit hums so, I see a re-cap job right off the bat. I have the same tube tester you have. It's a good one. My only fear are the crystals. Hope they are still good. The radio has zero rust and looks brand new. Wish me luck.

[@RadioHamGuy]

Yes, the crystals pretty much the only thing that could be a problem but other than that you should be good to go with a cap replacement, I am sure that will solve the hum problem and maybe some other problems. Congrats on being the new owner! That is great to hear and hopefully you can bring it back to a good life.

[@skycarl]

Nice job on that Larry. Bet you had fun on that one. 73 Carl

[@MrLohatoolvebyte]

WOW! I used to have a Messenger 1 back in the 60s. I loved that radio.

[@lawrencejensen1240]

3 channels?

[@philb7617]

Hi Larry, nice enjoyable video. Not too long, just right. I grew up with one of these, the older series with a red keying/ mod light and a meter mvt zero hole in the front panel. Later I acquired an H version in mint condition and went to town modding it. Bought another desk mic and stole the emblem from the grill which I centered on the speaker grill, added 1" tall rubber feet to the existing front to give it upward tilt, testors green paint on the light bulbs for soft green lighting, replaced the rect tube with diodes, added a fan behind the transformer, moved the mic jack behind the rig and added a 12 position crystal rotary switch w/a matching knob, punched a hole in the chassis for an additional modulator tube, and had quite a potent rig back in '76; 12w @ 24w pep on a bird-adjusted Palomar 500 meter. Fun stuff. I still have it in near mint condition, along with another I picked up in like new condition. They are keepers! 73

[@RadioHamGuy]

Phil B That is great, sounds like you put a lot of time into the radio there! I was kind of wondering about when the red keying light come into play if that was in the early versions or later versions, was not clear on that but figured it must have been the early ones since I had the latest with the H. Wonder why they got rid of the mod light, not sure on that, I would think they would have kept that but don't have the info on the reason I guess.

[@1OFGODSOWN]

All of those mods just KILLED any Collector value forever to a person like me.I don't want any radio that has any mods period.Leave them bone stock & they are Perfect for me & so many others.Also no matter how much you adjust a Palomar 500 wattmeter it will NEVER read PEP without a true PEP Circuit being added & then I would not trust that Feel Good Meter.I have owned them & they SUCK big time.

[@davescbradiorepair8195]

Yes those johnson tube radios are very well built. My uncle also worked for johnson back in the day and i have been collecting and servicing them for years myself and have dozens of the messenger 1 and 2 plus the 223 still new in their original boxes as well as many super nice lightly used ones along with hundreds of nos parts, new front bezels, tubes, crystals etc. I have even converted a couple of the messenger 1 radios to a 40 channel PLL radio. I also have alot of the Robyn green 123B and the famous yellow 40 channel tube radios in nos and used condition.

[@RadioHamGuy]

Wow, that is very cool Dave, that is great you have those parts and the Johnson radios in original boxes. That is great to hear. Also great to hear that your uncle worked there too. It was a great company to work for with a lot of great people. Keep up the good work there!

[@VintageGearMan]

Oh, hooked up a Cobra powered mic to this radio and was told the audio quality was not very good so staying with the Silver Eagle Plus mic.

[@VintageGearMan]

One more thing, (my radio) this is the H series radio. Don't know if the earlier 223 models are the same internal mic jack wiring configuration. I had to use Sam's Photofact #23 to read the correct schematics for this particular radio. These are great sounding tube radios if they are working right.

[@shango066]

I love Johnson CBs, got my start in radio with a 123 I got at a garage sale. All the crystals are going bad in my Johnson CBs, the rest of the radio are solid

[@RadioHamGuy]

+shango066 They sure were a well built radio! Thanks for the post..73

[@adventureguy4119]

+RadioHamGuy I touched a tube after the radio was off and got the crap shocked out of me why is this!

[@1OFGODSOWN]

If you got shocked it should NOT have been from touching the tube since you would have been touching just glass.I'm guessing that you touched something else with high voltage in it such as a capacitor that had not bled off.

[@vimmeh]

Great video Larry, that's a nice bit of restoration work there too. This is the first valve (tube) CB radio I've seen. It's nice to see some old school engineering work, none of the SMD stuff we see nowadays. Keep up the great work. 73's Col.

[@RadioHamGuy]

colin campbell Thanks Colin, these are a great work of art in my eyes, I am sure they took much longer to build with all the soldering by hand required at that time!

[@VintageGearMan]

Update, well folks my 223 is working great except for the built in meter of which I hear this is a common problem. I got lucky on this radio. All crystals are excellent etc. Getting super great reports on the transmit audio quality with a D-104 Silver Eagle Plus mic. How did I do this? You have to have an original Johnson messenger mic end ( for the radio ) and then wire it to a pigtail adapter for a 4 pin for a D-104 mic. The internal 223 radio plug is as follows: (1) Audio/White, (2) Receive/Speaker - Red, (3) Transmit - Black, (4) Shield-Ground, (5) no connect. If you cannot find an original 223 mic end I guess a guy could change the 223 internal radio mic jack to a 4 pin. Hope this helps someone.

[@RadioHamGuy]

Hi VintageGearMan and thanks for all the great information you have added here. You are very lucky on having the crystals all working as that can be a problem over time. Great to hear that the D-104 mic is working well. I do have one of those mics in the shack here but have not tried one on this radio so thanks for the information on the mic wiring, I am sure this will be of help to some. 73 and have fun with radio!

[@rickymcdaniel6708]

I would like to see what your method is for cleaning radios. I Have a E.F. Johnson messenger 2 blackface that needs cleaning and you did a good job at it. So could you do a cleaning video?

[@dw8840]

Very nice. I think the mic makes all the difference.

[@chatrkat]

Great radio! I had one back in the day.

[@Normie-c7s]

Great video. What is your favorite cleaning solution?

[@robertmeyer4744]

I have the same tube radio. still works all new HV caps re tuned only issue is I got a few bad xtals. I do have 250 23ch transistor cb. and I got matching RF tube amp. I think johnson use the same box on most everything.

[@CT1JRZ]

Great job...Very good...

[@VintageGearMan]

Thinking about getting one of these 223's. How much is too much for one in say the same shape ( priced with a mic or without ) of the one in this video. I am pretty much a Royce guy but it looks like a fun radio to use and I love old tube stuff. My CB amp is an Apollo 100X-2 Amateur Linear and I am getting excellent power out of it. ( it has been modded years back by a super great CB amp builder ) Get great reviews contact wise on the Royce base stations with this Apollo amp. Would be really cool to run an all tube set up with the 223 and Apollo I am thinking. I find myself stumbling across your videos pretty often. Thanks for uploading them.

[@VintageGearMan]

Also Larry, what is your secret other than the tooth brush to get the chassis so clean? Windex or something else. Can't wait to bring this radio back! Thanks ahead of time.

[@RadioHamGuy]

I think I did use some Windex, I use that a lot and maybe just some soapy water, that is about it though, nothing special here. Good luck!

[@orange70383]

Those always had very clear audio.

[@projectponderer]

I have a cb just like this one. It is in mint shape, no mic. What would the average value be? Thanks.

[@bulldogbrower6732]

Always loved the Johnson radios. They cost a little more than the other radios in the 60s and 70s. However they seemed able to stand up. Would you do a video on the Tone Alert system that was unique to the Johnson line. It was ahead of its time, and still unmatched today with amateur and CB transceivers.

[@RadioHamGuy]

I know what you mean about the tone alert system, I was going to do a video at one time on that because I had 2 brand new units to plug into the back of some of the CB's and when I started searching for them they were no where to be found and I still can't remember what might have happened to them. I picked them up at a hamfest probably back in the 80's or so but somehow they seemed to have been lost here over the years. Maybe they will show up someday but I have the feeling I might have traded them with someone at some point for something else since I had no use for them at the time.

[@juststeve7665]

@@RadioHamGuy I have one....

[@nordland2235]

The meter has backward modulation when you speak into the mic?

[@Bminger34]

Are you still working on radio’s? I have a Johnson 223 I would like to have looked at. Where if you are still working on the radios can I get a hold of you.

[@RadioHamGuy]

Very sorry but I am not due to eyesight issues I now have. Best of luck with the radio and hope you can find someone to work on it for you.

[@CoatedSofty]

Nice old johnson you have there, but what really caught my eye is the clegg fm-88, or is it a fm-28 on your shelf. I have an fm-88 sitting in the shack, but it does not transmit or receive and I guess the problem lies in the local unit. i'm waiting on my 500mhz frequency counter to arrive to verify it. 73's from sweden

[@RadioHamGuy]

CoatedSofty Yes, that is the 28 I have there, that was my very first 2 meter radio when I got licensed in 1977. It still works fine to this day other than having to replace the S-meter once or twice and dial lamps. I may do a video on that sometime. I also have a Midland 13-510A which is basically the same radio internally.

[@VintageGearMan]

Also do you like the sound of this radio? Does it have pretty good intelligible sound receiving wise?

[@joereeser3810]

Hi great video. I just picked up a 223 today (2-26-21). It powers up a seems to transmit but sounds warbley and seems that it's only receiving on only a few channels. It's very dusty probably more than seen in your video initially. I have yet to test the tubes and the caps appear to be all original. Any insight as to why only certain channels appear to be receiving. I plan to clean the chassis and the switch contacts on the channel selector. Thank You.

[@RadioHamGuy]

Yes, hopefully cleaning all the contacts on the switches might bring back those missing channels but if not, if memory serves me correct, they used a scheme to were one crystal would mix with another and serve about 4 channels per crystal, if there are 6 crystals, some of those might be bad since each crystal would not serve all channels.

[@juststeve7665]

I've always been a Johnson fan.... still have several.... A Viking I, a Viking II, White face and a 223... and a few others. LOL I'm a hoarder and a Ham. Bad combo.

[@tonystephen6312]

amazing when it sprung back into life - 73 G0EBP

[@cindylawrence1515]

You know, I would like it if one knowledgeable repair guy would do a serious real world critique of comparative CB radios as to what circuit designs transmit great and how well they receive. Complete with hard statis like adjacent channel rejection and audio quality on RX PEP on Tx. Also, what are the most reliable repair free radios? And....what are the best "modifications "some people" can do to a particular radio. Especially the super classics 👍 like the Browning or SONAR or Poly Com....

[@buzzsah]

Wow, lol. That brings back a few and a Turner mic. Another Wow, B&K lol.

[@kn4tskpw440]

Hello Larry nice video, I have the 223 and the 124-m both have meter problem great built I agree do you no where I can get meter? Thank in advance...

[@RadioHamGuy]

+Philip Watson Hi Phillip, the only place I know of is on ebay. There are no places selling new meters for them so you just have to try to find a parts radio of the same kind I guess, sorry I can't help you out more with that.

[@VintageGearMan]

Is it possible to bake crystals at said degrees to get the moisture out of them, and would they work again? I have done this with 1/4" reel to reel tape and it does work for awhile. Just wondering.

[@jeffalessi]

Radio Ham Guy, How many versions or revisions of the 223 are there?

[@phroto1]

I have a Johnson messenger 223. I bought a desk mic for it but there is a problem and need a schematic for the desk mic

[@thestonerguy5276]

I have a few 223's on the shelf and I've noticed that one of them looks like your friends "H" revision, another one has a light with red cap on the faceplate, and yet another has the light + a hole for S-meter adjustment. It's something I've casually wondered about, and seeing the "H" has neither do you know why they removed them? (and thanks for your video, it had some good info) 👍

[@RadioHamGuy]

Good question, I am not sure, maybe someone else can comment on that.

[@charlespolk2111]

Looking for tech to refurbish 223 Johnson and 124-m Johnson. Can you help?

[@nordland2235]

How do you adjust the modulation on the 223?

[@butterbean4195]

Hey just got a NICE 223 i need the tune-up points for watts and modulation? thanks. oh and my Y-12 channels 12,13,14,15 is out do you have a spare crystal? thanks

[@RadioHamGuy]

That is great! Hopefully someone can answer that for you, my eyesight is bad right now due to cateracts and some other issues and I don't have the diagram but good luck in finding that information! 73 Sorry I am not able to help you right now.

[@cmritchie04]

@RadioHamGuy when you worked for E.F. Johnson where the bosses and management TOXIC like what bosses are like in todays work place settings.

[@RadioHamGuy]

I was lucky and my boss was very good and we got along well and worked well together. EFJ was a good place to work at that time anyhow.

[@zooyawk4526]

I'm fairly sure you're to young to have been working at EF Johnson during the days of the Valiant's, rangers, 500 ect ect ect. But you must've gainrd some knowledge about that particular time period from some workers who may have been ready to retire. I would love for you to share your stories/knowledge about what was going on at EF Johnson during the 50's 60's. Enjoyed the clip. 73's

[@RadioHamGuy]

Yes, I worked there in the 80's so was after that period like you say but Edgar Johnson was still alive and retired but would come through the plant often to see how things were going and visit, he was a very nice man.

[@RadioHamGuy]

And thanks for the idea, I will keep that in mind in the future, there were some good stories I guess.

[@Nordland796]

I wanted one of these radios for a long time and bought one off ebay....I plugged it in and turned it on and it started smoking...I unplugged it and put it outside becuz it stunk.....wish I would have got a nice one like yours....$115 down the drain.

[@amselectronicservices905]

Nordland796 next time you buy vintage tube gear, make sure it actually has a fuse and not just a piece of metal to jump the connection. Also check that the fuse hasn't been bypassed.

[@UDX-21]

cool-- I didn't know about the meaning of the model number.

[@davidmacphee3549]

it's SWEET!

[@crazybobdj]

I think that they eliminated the modulation light as a cost saving measure?

[@RadioHamGuy]

That very well could be.

[@keithclark3079]

Strap it and run a turner mic, has a nice sounding bass audio

[@radioguy19510]

When were you at E.F. Johnson?

[@RadioHamGuy]

I worked there from about 1984 to 1990.

[@radioguy19510]

@@RadioHamGuy I probably talked to you a time or two. I worked for Tri-State Communications and Western Communications in Rapid City, SD then.

[@umajunkcollector]

I had one about 20 years ago, no sideband, nice rig otherwise. Don

[@timspur7203]

is it possible to wire a superstar stock mic to the 223?The original mike cord is brittle and unusable.

[@RadioHamGuy]

I would think that would work if you had the wiring diagram of the mic and of the radio. I don't have that information however, maybe someone else can help with that.

[@1fanger]

Thanks Larry.

[@whatillo]

Hi like to know if that Johnson is plate modulation?

[@spaceflight1019]

Afaik, it is. Any tube transmitter whose final tube's B+ voltage is provided by the audio output transformer is considered to be plate modulated.

[@1112223333111]

nice old set

[@ProjectGRX]

nice video :) I'm selling a clean one now

[@raybennett8399]

great vid!!do you know if you know of one for sale in good shape.I watch a show on tube cbs OLD TUBE RADIO show .the 223 is a good starter radio.thxs a bunch

[@RadioHamGuy]

Thanks for the post, Old Tube is a great net and show, I try to get on there and watch and be in the chat when I can. I do not know of one for sale off hand but check ebay, they show up there a lot. 73...Larry

[@raybennett8399]

thanks for the come back.or maybe the mesenger 1 white face.I seen a couple of messanger 1 s on ebay but missing a power cord.I did see 1 223 not tx on odd # channels.what do you think thans again for the come back .Larry Ray

[@RadioHamGuy]

I don't remember how the crystal scheme was in those radios off hand but it could be a bad crystal, that is the most common thing when some of the channels are not working in many radios.

[@saltgoatshaker8844]

Do you know we’re to find antennas for this model?

[@RadioHamGuy]

Basically any CB radio antenna will work with this radio. They can be found online these days for a base station radio by doing a search for CB radio base station antennas.

[@spaceflight1019]

@@RadioHamGuy , the trick is finding a period-correct antenna. There are Henshaws catalogs from 1970 and 1972 1/2 online but the best investment would be a Hy-Gain Penetrator. They were first sold in 1972, along with the Starduster. I use a roof-rescue Antenna Specialist Super Magnum, first-generation with one-piece solid aluminum radials. They, along with the CLR2, date back to 1964. I bought a 223 at a hamfest and after a retube and alignment it still performs well. They are far superior to the Messenger 250. In the 1970 catalog it was $224.95 but 2 1/2 years later it was $199.00.

[@bb38313]

.Ran a whiteface in the 70's as a base. Had it suped up to 20 watt out put instead of 4

[@richardarland8894]

GOOD OVERVIW!

[@TREEHUGGAH1]

nice.

[@ib1rcnut]

When you work on these old radios you have to keep one hand in your pocket. Lol

[@sheilamoore6255]

Johnson was always behind other CB manufacturers when it came to technology. When other companies had been selling sets with all 23 channels as standard equipment, JOHNSON was still trying (desperately!) to peddle old 5 and 10 channel base AND mobile radios. The Messenger 223 (as in the video) was nothing more than an old school Messenger 2 (Black Face Johnson!) turned sideways, with a quickly installed crystal synthesizer board making it into a 23 channel radio with an outrageous price tag. While other companies (like Lafayette, etc.) sold radios with superior DUAL CONVERSION RECEIVERS standard, JOHNSON continued using SINGLE CONVERSION RECEIVERS continuing their poor receiver performance record, like constant BLEEDOVER, SPLATTER, NOISE, etc. Even when Johnson FINALLY started selling SOLID STATE cb radios (mostly all mobiles!) they still used SINGLE CONVERSION RECEIVE with the crappy bleed over and lack of sensitivity Johnson was INFAMOUS for. I've owned several of them so I KNOW all of this is true! They were JUNK compared to many other CB radios of their day, including the MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE Lafayette models.

[@stevemccoy8138]

Made in America by Americans !🇺🇸

[@VintageGearMan]

Man I hope my crystals are gonna be ok.

[@ronalddaub7965]

Is it possible to build a circuit make a old radio single side band?. I know anything is possible but has anyone ever thought of doing it

[@spaceflight1019]

It's not worth the time and effort to do that, especially for a 23 channel set.

[@whatmakesittick1829]

Could I contact you via e-mail? Im having some problems with a Messenger 124 that I cant trace down, and would love to pick your brain about it, if you don't mind.

[@1OFGODSOWN]

Good Old 23 channel AM only CB Base.

[@ortizramon]

I just got one of them about a week ago for my cb collection on ebay

[@keithclark3079]

Yeah turned sideways in the chassis

[@lacey397]

i have one nice radio .

[@entrebulon9574]

I've enjoyed mine over the years. Best meter ever made! I modded the meter circuit with a VR across the S-meter as a shunt allowing me to pull back the meter's top end reading while retaining a very close reading to factory between S0 & S9, after which it begins to tighten up logarithmically, showing me when someone is right out front with a reading just at the far end of the 30-over block, unless they have an amplifier on, then it almost pegs. I also added a 2nd modulator tube & a fan some years back. I had to replace the 12BW4 with diodes to prevent too much filament current draw with the 11th tube added. Added more overall power & swing but not really any louder. 12w to 24w pep on old Palomar 500 meter. Any idea how to convert to Plate modulation? myrf64 at gmail

[@ib1rcnut]

I know this has been a while. I have an old 223 with a switch sticking out of the right side near the tuner. It has several positions that make channels 1,2,3,4 channels above 23. I can't remember which ones. I have a messenger 1 that I installed the crystal selector from a messenger 2. Now it has 10 channels. I wish I could find modification books on these old messenger's. I dont know what draws me to these radios.

[@khroe]

Microphonium huh, if you're channeling Henry Yellar you need to call it E. F. Junkston.

[@SLAMTRON]

Sucks to be you.

[@teknowil]

LOL, I cant think of any army commo guy that likes the ef johnson LMR