Realistic Navaho TRC-457 AM/SSB CB restoration.

[@SailBeforeSunset]

Great update. I just pulled my 457 out of the attic so that I could go through it. After 30 years of being an EE and about five years of collecting, I've decided to get back into CB for nostalgia's sake. Although I've also been a Ham for years, there is something really great about those early CB years when the old Pro Niner and my liner were connected to a beam. Late nights and lots of contacts!

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mikes radio repar your utube videos are awesome

[@Vietnam_Vet_67]

Looks like they used Radio Shack contact cleaner with lubricant in it to clean it. I also had this radio and the TRC-458. Used a double pole six position switch on the rear. And did a DigiScan for the freqs. Another great video... Thanks

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mikes radio repar you are good at restoring vintage cbs radios and shortwave

[@qrplife]

I'm a ham and have no issue using a CB - radio is radio. And LIDs are LIDs no matter what band or mode.

[@BoB4jjjjs]

There are more Radio Hams use CB than will ever admit to it. Good for you for saying you use CB. There is nothing wrong with CB if it were not for some idiots that have no idea how to behave!

[@TechAddictAttic]

@@BoB4jjjjs I, too am a ham. It's sad, but apparently there are quite a few hams as well who don't know how to behave. And apparently it's always been that way, according to some reports I've seen. Semi-related, I was SWLing in the 8 MHz range on a webSDR (the frequency I was listening to may have been an SDR image but if it was accurate it was in the maritime band) and there were two guys dropping f-bombs back and forth discussing the kids they worked with at a recent summer camp. They never gave a callsign or handle so I have no idea who they were or whether they were hams but regardless they weren't legal. I'm not easily offended by peoples' language or behaviors in person but when you're essentially broadcasting and don't know WHO your audience is....

[@BoB4jjjjs]

@@TechAddictAttic Yeah, I know, same with some on CB, they forget they are broadcasting for anyone to listen. But you will always get them and they will never change. it appears I am the minority these days with power, I use legal power or less if I can, but some are using 200 Watts ans some can't say w sentence without swearing. I use bad language and so do most, but give it a break! What are Ofcom doing these days, I remember when CB first came on the go AM days, there were quite a few busted for it. Now they are getting away with high power, swearing, abusive and threatening behaviour over the air, keying the mic and playing music, I have heard it on the Ham bands these days. They blame the CB culture, but I don't think it is. Ham Radio can be a bit stuffy with some thinking that someone that is happy to be on CB shouldn't be on Ham Radio, but that is just selfish and narrow minded. I don't know how you stop idiots being on the air if Ofcom do nothing about it. It will become an open war like Italy where they are now starting to use stupid amounts of power. One boasted about using 1KW of RF power, well I hope he takes hold of his antenna when transmitting as that is just bullying you way onto the air. Now they are quick to say someone is bad on the air and one I listened to was fine when he started, but some Hams criticised him for being on a repeater and talking to his mate about music. Well, if he wants to talk about music that's fine. Instead of jumping in and telling him to get off and give it a break and putting in nasty comments, maybe they could have pointed out that others might want to use it. Educated him on how to use it, but no they didn't do that, they started the comments, maybe they just didn't like what he was saying and using the repeater all the time, but you have to turn them to your way of thinking slowly, I have been through it on CB. No one talks to a guy because he is a bit of, shall me say stupid or a bit dense, or so it appears. I had one that used to key the mic, play music and hurl abuse at people, no one talked to him. I don't know if they knew him or not, I was new to the area. However, one day he was asking to talk to someone so I went back and talked to him for a while, it was not easy to talk to him, but I persisted. I was on the CB for about half an hour with him and at the end he thanked me for talking to him. I asked why he thanked me, he said no one would normally talk to him, so I went back to him and told him that if he wanted to break into a conversation, to try a few times and wait, just try each time they stop talking, they will eventually hear you and let you in, if they hear you and ignore you, they will get fed up of you trying and let you in, when you do get in be patient and don't abuse the privilege of getting to talk to them. He asked a few more questions and then said thanks and went away. I heard him later trying to get into a conversation and they ignored him. He came back to me a few days later and said he still couldn't get in, I told him to try the other tactic, wait until they finish, then try to talk to one of them before they go. It took him a while but he got into a few conversations, just because he waited and tried at the end, it didn't always work for him. I heard him talking to a mate of his who had come onto CB a few weeks later and my name got mentioned, I heard him say "Oh he is (can't remember the term he used) but it meant OK. Don't bother him, the is alright. Wait, follow me down and I will have a word with him." I had to rush back to the channel I was on and call my mate who was on the channel, he appeared with his mate and called in between overs,, I ignored him a couple of times then acknowledged him and let him in, he said he was just popping in to say hi and that his mate was with him and could I hear him, so I listened, his mate was a poor signal but I could make him out, so I had a word with his mate and went back to him again. He said cheers mate and they went back to the channel they were on before, I followed him back and I heard him say "That bloke is top notch mate, don't ever bother him. If I hear you playing music over him I come over and see you" to which I was amazed, it only took an hour out of my life to turn him around from being a nuance to being someone that a lot of people would talk to. Now after that the CBs got so cheap that everyone and his dogs flees were on the CB. I was out of town, but in there it was hopeless, most of them were being a pest because others wouldn't talk to them, so they played music instead. But you get my point, if you shut people out they will turn on you and that is what I see happening on Ham Radio today! Someone that does not appear to fit in comes on and people ignore them, that will set them against others. It they are ignored, or they are a bit to overly keen, they need to be guided, not wound up so as they become a nuance to everyone. I have seen it happen on CB and now because of a bit of interest it is starting to happen there. It a shame human nature is the way it is, but it is, I treat everyone as an equal, I try to talk to everyone that wants to talk and I don't ignore them. I will try to do the same on Ham Radio (if I get there, the reason I say that is I had cancer and it affected how I think, simple things like remembering resistor Colour Codes just escape me. I tried to say that the Ham test should be that if someone can answer a question (even if they have to look it up or go away to work it out) is what it should be all about, it is proving that you have the capability of doing just that and that you are not going to take a stab in the dark or guess, but he didn't like that idea. Old way and old thinking. But I will get there with my low power. I am not really interested in getting a FULL licence, an Intermediate licence will do me, I am not interested in using high power, just a max of 50 watts if ever needed maybe 100 Watts, most of my usage will be in the 10watt zone, I just like a challenge. Not really interested in 2 mtrs, 70cms sort of interest me, but microwaves is where it is at and HF, 28MHZ or lower interest me, but getting permission for aerials here is a bit of a problem, it is a new estate and there are no tall trees and not allowed to attach wires to the building! It should be interesting. I got into Costa Rica on SSB with a 4 watt set the other day. I wasn't even sure where it was, I thought it was North of South America somewhere, I ended up talking to a plantation owner and his chargehand. There was very little else going on, two French stations, couldn't get them, two Italians, well one was using a 1KW so wasn't interested in him. Looked around and very faintly at the back of the box I heard two voices, so I waited and waited and they slowly came up, so I took a chance (I thought they were Spanish stations) and just said "Break" and there was a second of silence, then the stronger of the two answered. I said I was in Scotland and he thought I was joking, but he realised I wasn't and he told me he was talking to his chargehand and asked him if he could hear me, he could, but fr me he was very low in the noise, so the Base Station asked how I was coming into the guy in the field, I was a low but readable signal, on the other hand I was a 5/5 on the owners set. I got about a minute to two minutes before the signal faded, but we were able to say goodbye just as it dropped. Now that for me is what I like to do. Anyway, if you got this far you are doing very well and I have bored the pants off you. Ha ha ha. Thanks for the reply.

[@TechAddictAttic]

@@BoB4jjjjs funny, I had a ten thousand character reply to your comment but for some reason it didn't get posted when I hit "send" a week or two ago. I'd retype it but I've already lost an hour on it fighting to get five uninterrupted minutes (life) to put the words together coherently. We agree on many points though.

[@BoB4jjjjs]

@@TechAddictAttic I have my thoughts and it will be hard for anyone to change it, but I do listen to other opinions and do think about what they say to me. I have always been a bit tech minded and one day I was in the pub and the TV had red blue and green lines round the objects in the picture and I was listening to all the comments about it in the pub. I just said it was the convergence of the Red Green and Blue and was needing set up. Well everyone laughed and said I knew nothing about it (little did they know I had been changing boards on Philips G8 TVs), setting them up and selling them to pensioners that couldn't afford new TVs and they usually worked for at least another five years before they gave a bit of bother. They were all told the TV would last maybe a couple of years and to start saving for a new one and if it broke down in the first six months I would fix it, if I could, but only if I could. As I say most lasted over five years, this is more than their designed life, which was 8 years, at least that is when they started failing, call me a cynic! I just didn't like putting my hands near the high voltage, but these were the last easy worked on TVs, they grew black things with legs after that. Anyway, everyone thought I was daft and that I had no idea what I was talking about. The landlord spent money on everyone else;s ideas that it was the aerial and it was the aerial plug, or the socket it was plugged into and the coax was faulty. In the end he called a TV engineer, yes there still was a few left. He came in about and said "It's the convergence that is off, I will need to take it away to set it up" but it was going to cost more than he thought the TV was worth. I did offer to do it for nothing at the start, but I didn't offer again when he found out I was right all along. I had given my mate back the cross-hatch signal generator by this time anyway, not that I would have done it then anyway. I used to fix all the blown up CBs as well, but if it was not legal, do not take it to me, and it left with 4 watts on the head. I don't fix anything now, just for myself. I tried to reverse engineer a power supply I had today, but the PCB was rotten and all the tracks came off it and the wires started breaking off, I hate these single strand wires, it was a 10 amp 13.8v one so I was wanting to save it. It blew up one night and there was a big flash and the top almost came off it, one of the electrolytic capacitors blew up, they can't half pack those with paper, there was yards of it and tin foil, it was some explosion. It has sat in the shed for 20 to 30 years and rotted away. Not I need a 10 amp 13.8v power supply. I am disabled these days so getting into Maplin before it closed was not easy and I missed the bargains, I might have got one there. No boot sales just now either or garage sales. I am so reluctant to buy a new one, I don't have the money as everything I get goes towards the house. I don't think she would be to pleased if a big linier power supply turns up at the door. I have got a small one, but you can hear it labouring under the strain of the CB. I am having a bad day, I turned the computer on in the Man Cave and it just sat bleeping, so I think after a few checks that the hard drive has failed after 6 years of sitting idol. Anyway, I am digressing again. Thanks for the reply. I sold the TVs for £10, wasn't worth the bother, but I got them for £40 and made another £40 on them all, I think I had around 18 of them before I robbed Peter to pay Paul.

[@williamcolvin3609]

I am glad you covered the one for all replacement - because I could not find the old transistors and ordered the one for all and have not gotten around to installing them.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

People do some crazy stuff when it comes to driver and final replacement. Often penny wise and pound foolish especially if they are doing it to sell on ebay or low level repair as in not at the level of Mike! I am sure at some point Mike I might ask Mike to do something and he will tell me "No"! You know what? I like the fact that Mike will tell me and anyone else "No"!!! I can not stand people that will build a splatter box because " That is what the customer asked for!". I do not like being told know but I do like people that have a back bone of their own and have standards they will not cross I can respect that even if I do not like it! LOL

[@terryjohnson5925]

If you are having a problem with setting the voltage on the Radio internal power supply to 13.8V make sure you take out the brown ceramic .1 cap (104) brown ceramic soldered in and connected between the Base and collector on 2SC1618 (TR401) That disc cap has a high failure rate, which in turn shorts out that transistor between the collector and base, also change out (C304) 25Volt 3300u with a 35v/3300uf.this fixed my problem.

[@scottlee1211]

Nice repair Mike, once again!!! Enjoy your videos...keep'em coming!!!

[@pontiacreddz4021]

I have my ticket got into Radio starting with Cb radio and still love to relax and talk on cb radio. Have three of these 457's and Mike you gonna get them all when I can afford to send love your work

[@stevemccoy8138]

Hi Mike , Really like your videos I'm learning all kinds of things. Thank you 🎙️

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mikes radio repar the owner vintage Realistic Navaho trc-457 AM/SSB 40 channel CB radio is awesome

[@williamcolvin3609]

I guess you have noticed I try to watch all your videos on the older radios - you just cannot beat the receive on the older radios. I purchased a President Washington off E-bay for $49.95 plus $31.90 for shipping has the 3 switches on the end converted for Extra channel and the shipper did not package it well so all the knobs and mic jack got pushed into the panel and the fuse holder was destroyed during shipping so having to find parts to fix the damage.

[@elonlovesyou]

I have the 490 and need to dial down the am/Ssb output. I cannot find the location of the pots that needs to be adjusted. Any ideas?

[@sandymeister9422]

I just picked on up got it powering up. Each meter does not work I can hear but can’t get out and the clock don’t work

[@frankc1430]

I have the same situation with some stuff that spilt on a board and I was thinking about using electrical contact cleaner and some compressed air. Is that the wrong thing to do? Is contact cleaner too harsh for the board?

[@Radionut]

How was the clock modified to display military time? Does anyone know or could give me some info on where to find the info. I just acquired one myself at TRC 457. Love it love it so far

[@mikesradiorepair]

Have you tried flipping the 12 hour / 24 hour switch on the radio? It's on the back.

[@deebru8354]

I have an excellent condition trc-458. Is there anyway you could replace all the capacitors for me and if yes, what would be the price?

[@phreaktor]

Is it worth it to re-cap this unit with Nichcon KZ Muse audio grade caps? How much of a difference in audio quality does it make? Also, where can I find a replacement 12V harness and lead? I was thinking about designing one in CAD and 3D printing it.

[@Michigan_Tactical]

I love these radios. I have a trc458. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the 5 pin din connectors.

[@kustom94]

Hi I have the same base and I would like to repair it and make modifications where can I contact you I’m on texas

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mikes radio repar iam thinking about getting hand held am/SSB 40 channel CB radio

[@larrylacroixve3oei489]

Hi Mike. Really enjoyed this video. I have a mint TRC-457 also and want to re-cap it with quality caps. Where or who did you get the re-cap kit from? Thanks and keep up the great job!

[@k.c.lejeune6613]

Digikey is where you want to get caps from, that's where Mike gets his.

[@knowles217]

the problem what happened if a final maker went out of business on TRC 457 what to do

[@spoton2958]

I have this radio and only clock comes on when i plug it in

[@jaytorres4546]

I also have the same problem any updates thank in advance

[@brendavance8439]

I do to my channel specter won light up but other lights work

[@theloveofpainting342]

what is the value of that tantalum cap??

[@gh778jk]

Oh piffle.... we all started out on CB....I had CB from the age of eleven to the age of 14 (the youngest age you could do the HAM exam, back in the day) And I still have a multi-mode, on the radio-bench... just to monitor the 11 meter band... Paddy

[@KevinModz65]

I have one of these that I would like restore d. How do I get In touch with you

[@Justplast]

Mike use wax and grease remover its the best no acetone. Will not damage. I have used this product for over 5yrs A1

[@Kennynva]

I use the liquid electrical tape(for that white wire)...maybe not the best way...but in some places it works good..

[@buckaroobonsi555]

When I find wires like that in a radio for my own use that is second hand I cover up the bare spots with what ever I have on hand ruber cement, hot glue, finger nail polish. It has to be really bad or in a bad location likely to short for me to pop one end off and get the shrink tubing out. Since I only work on my own gear and only do small repairs I just do not have enough shrink tubing on hand or in enough sizes. I am talking about low voltage low current stuff obviously. What I hate is when people do a terrible job soldering in a new part huge globs of solder and cold solder joints etc...You see it on final replacements all the time 10X more solder than what is needed and the leads are not even touching the pads on the PCB.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

I have a small square of not sure if it is silicone or ptfe but I wrap it around wires if I am afraid of hitting them with soldering iron and pull back on them. It keeps me from burning the wires and melting the insulation.

[@Kennynva]

I see.....I put a cloth everytime Im soldering around the speaker...just in case I slip, or a ball of solder hits it...

[@williamcolvin3609]

Low power mod works really good for small amps - like the RM Italy KL-200P.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

I have no experience operating an RM amp. Do they have problems with 4 watts input with some swing?

[@williamcolvin3609]

I usually like watching my RF Output on the SWR - Power meter,that way you can see the dead key and watch the output swing. I like mine to dead key about 80 watts and the rest is swing. They only draw about 5 watts and set to low dead-key input and low SWR they easily put out 100 watts and run cool. They are building it with 4 mosfets and it is called a KP203P the P is for pre-amp - I personally like the one pill 1446 KL200P simple circuit not really anything to go wrong and it is fused inside the unit and bottom cover just slides out. They are great little amps I have been running mine for many years with no problems at all.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

I am running a tuned input Skywave250 amp kit. It is narrow band width 26Mhz-28Mhz but a single MRF454 does 200 watts rms with 6 watts input at 14.4V and no harmonics to speak of from a practical stand point. Because it does not use transformer coupling like 99.99% of transistorized hf amps it is super efficient. Tuned input though does not allow you to do push-pull like you do with transformer coupled designs, it is very narrow in bandwidth but the efficiency is out of sight and with out all that padding and lack of efficiency you do not need crazy input power to drive it! The amp has thermal protection, constant reversed polarity protection, swr protection and the AB bias is controlled by transistor which is low impedance and tracks with temperature. I also have 2 and 4 transistor units but those are transformer coupled and not as impressive! Tellstar Electronics is the company I bought my PCB's and Kits from! When ever he does a revision to the board he sells off the older revision boards and I snatched them up from ebay. Brian is the owners name and he he designs some really good stuff! No pre-amp and to be honest I prefer it that way!

[@williamcolvin3609]

If you are ever interested in any of the RM Italy circuits - they have all the Pdf information on their sight.

[@williamcolvin3609]

RM Italy KL 200P Linear Amplifier $75.00 Newegg.com with Free shipping and sometimes they run a sale of 2 for $112.00 - $118.00 right now their sale is 2 of the KL203 Amps for $103.98 you cannot beat the size and price.

[@knowles217]

how much watts of this TRC-457 are in stock

[@k.c.lejeune6613]

It's an AM SSB cb radio so 4 watts and about 12 watts SB

[@lochinvar00465]

I remember back in the day hearing about so many that claimed boosting power on a barefoot rig. Even the few that actually could boost a bit above spec, the effort really isn't doing any good. Considering that doubling the power results in only +3 db, that translates as a minimal improvement at the receiver. A better result is obtained if you use a better antenna. There was one antenna, a big 5 element beam(a real monster that required a tower and rotator) that had +15db gain. That would make your 4W look like over 100W while keeping your finals safe.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

A lot of radio's out of the box have 3 watts carrier with very little swing. So often times it was easy to get some more out and a lot more swing with out doing any harm. Nothing wrong with 4 watts carrier swinging to 16 watts compared to 2-3 watts, no swing and often under 80% modulation with a lot of units having 65% modulation. I think SSB is another area where often you can get a bit more out with out harming the unit . FM deviation also usually set far lower than it needs to be. The problem comes when people start doing NPC mods, HiFi mod's, super swing where you have a 1 watt carrier swinging to 19-24 watts in class C with a final ratted for 16W and application data for 10-14 watts in class AB.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

Better antenna is always a plus. When I was growing up people with base stations with antenna 30 feet to 50 feet up never had more than 100 watt amplifier and they seldom used them. usually it was 2 tv sweep tubes or a 2 transistor amplifier. I was just a kid and a guy taught me the saying of "Height makes might!" with regard to rf antenna's. Ground losses on a car are insane and you can never run an antenna that would actual have any gain at 27Mhz on the trunk or roof of a car. Bumper's are all plastic now on cars and trucks so that rules them out. I am going to a 108" whip because it is about as good as it get's on a mobile.

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mikes radio repar my hobbies are painting pictures 🖼 and listening to shortwave and ssb I have 5 shortwave receivers and I am thinking about getting my ham license

[@williamcolvin3609]

You work on these old radios on a regular basis - where no you find the replacement ring type nuts and the PROPER Tool to use on them>

[@mikesradiorepair]

William Colvin Have my own machine shop so I made my own set of spanner sockets to fit all the different size round knurled nuts with slots. They still make the nuts. Most suppliers carry them.

[@williamcolvin3609]

I was looking at a Radio Trim and Antenna Tool Set but it does not really give the sizes of the sockets - it looks like it should cover most of the sizes. I hate where people try using needle noses or center punch to try to get them out - they just destroy the threads. By the way did you put that export Teaberry XX back together an sell it?

[@williamcolvin3609]

Bought a fifty dollar set of radio and antenna trim sockets - and not the first one is the right size. I s there any way I could pay you to make me a set of sockets to fit all the nuts on the radio. Thank you very much.

[@nordland2235]

I got 3 of those radios....they look nice....but do not work very well.

[@michaelchambers7691]

I'd wash the PCB clean with DI water.

[@gixerags6392]

Looks like a Jack Daniels and coke spill to me ..classic green cola gak

[@buckaroobonsi555]

Well base stations for CB normally have very little headroom int he power supply area. The transformer, voltage regulator, caps and diodes are barely able to handle the stock output. That is why units that had AC/DC power options where often better off with an external power supply if you where going to increase power output. On top of that you have to really increase power output to make much difference in the real world in terms of reliable propagation distance. When you exceed 4:1 power ratio and more than 100% modulation it never helps even if it looks good on a meter. Does not matter if it is barefoot or amplified you end up with a splatter box that even if it sounds good locally just will not talk around the corner. Same thing goes for people after low freq. audio it never does any good it always shortens the distance you can talk relative to power output because low freq. sound good but hurt efficiency and intelligibility! It is also silly to put a higher wattage lower hfe SSB final in an AM only radio. A lot of those lower power driver and finals have hfe minimums of like 50 and a max of 150 where the 2SC1969 for instance has an hfe rating of something like 16. Even worse people installing non-rf specific mosfet's usually motor control or voltage regulating fet's with no gain at 27Mhz and 13.8 volts in place of a various bjt high gain finals in pursuit of more watts! It would be a different story if they fet's designed for RF us at 12V-15V that had some gain at 27Mhz. That is why they do not last and blow up at swr's a higher than 1.5:1 especially when the gate voltage is set to produce max power output! It is never good to chase after excessive watts, audio bandwidth or modulation!

[@Kuleaze]

Hey Mike, I sent you an email in the hopes you could go through and clean my 10 Meter Radio and amp. I've been looking for someone who others recommend and your name came up more than once. Can you help me? I sent you the email this evening (Nov 30, 2017.)