If you have a classic car with a stock stereo, you know the quandry. Put up with crappy sound or upgrade and lose the originality & value of the vehicle. Barry Fone repairs and upgrades factory car stereos. He specializes in 8-track players. Being a former top level avionics tech, he really knows his stuff.… Read More »
If you’re in the Orlando area this week, don’t forget about the biannual hamfest and swap meet at the University of Central Florida. This event has been happening for as long as I can remember. The UCF Tailgate is a great opportunity to buy, sell, and trade electronics equipment of all types. Ham radios, old… Read More »
When I was at KKEZ in Fort Dodge, Iowa, we did an annual promotion called “The 94 Days of Summer.” It coincided with our dial position (94.5) and our moniker (Z94.) Start date was exactly 93 days before Labor Day, making Labor Day the 94th and final day of summer. Other stations held similar events.… Read More »
As I write this, I am listening to the final hours of PLJ. At 7:00PM local time, this institution of New York radio will fall silent. Over the past 48 years, it has been known under many different monikers to millions of listeners: 95 WPLJ, 95.5 WPLJ, WPLJ 95.5, Power 95, and of course, “Mojo… Read More »
The Florida Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday will be held May 31-June 6, 2019. This tax free weekend gives you the chance to save money on a variety of hurricane and storm preparedness supplies. Of special interest to us here at Drew’s Radio Site is the provision applying to radios and batteries. According to the… Read More »
Looking for something to listen to this holiday weekend? Check out Rewound Radio’s “WABC Rewound 2019”, now through Memorial Day. Enjoy original Musicradio 77 WABC Shows with everything that was included when they aired the first time: the DJ’s, the commercials, the jingles, AND the music! Allan Sniffen and his friends did a GREAT job… Read More »
On Friday, May 21, 1999, I performed my final radio show. When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I never thought this day would come. I lived, ate, and breathed radio. I wanted to be one of those guys who never retired, who literally spoke his final words behind a live microphone. Industries… Read More »
When I was a kid, holiday weekends meant special radio programs! Not syndicated shows, but genuine, live and locally-produced specials. In Minneapolis, KDWB had “The Memorial Day 500 Countdown.” This was an obvious play on the Indy 500 which also took place over Memorial Day Weekend. Starting at 3:00PM on Friday, KDWB would count down… Read More »
How many of you worked at an automated station which utilized the old Carousel system? The one with music on reels and the spots on rotating “wheels” of carts. These were common in the 1970s and 80s. Most began their lives when an established AM station built a new FM. The FM usually ran a… Read More »
The best CB base antennas were manufactured in the 1970s and early 80s. Reason? They were made out of metal. In the early 1980s (1984, I believe), the Consumer Products Safety Commission began requiring that omnidirectional antennas meet certain standards. This was due to the large number of people who had been electrocuted while installing… Read More »
My friend Kathy found this and sent it to me on Facebook. If you just so happened to live in the western Minneapolis suburbs and were active on CB radio during the late 1970s and early 80s, you probably heard her. Kathy’s handle was “Tonka Teddy Bear.” She had a base station and could usually… Read More »
Back in the pre-40 channel days, Dynascan’s Cobra 29 was quite possibly the best AM mobile CB radio you could buy. This radio was extremely well made. Audio was very strong, courtesy of Cobra’s exclusive DynaMike. The Cobra 29 was a very nice looking radio with plenty of knobs, bells & whistles. Power/volume, DynaMike, squelch,… Read More »
The Cobra 85 was Dynascan’s entry-level 23 channel base station. This is a very simple CB radio with only 3 controls: power/volume, squelch, and channel selector. It features a large S/RF meter and standard 4 pin Cobra microphone connector. Though simple, the Cobra 85 was also a good performer, priced right at $150-160 in the… Read More »
This is the Dynascan Cobra CAM 89 base station. It looks like a Cobra 139, but doesn’t have SSB (single sideband.) Basically, it’s a Cobra 29 with the addition of a built-in power supply. That’s not a bad thing since the 29 was a great performer. When 40 channel CB radios became legal in 1977,… Read More »
The mighty Cobra 135! This deluxe base station was top of the Dynascan line in 1975 with a price to match ($400-450.) Features AM/SSB, digital clock and alarm, plus everything else that was available on a CB radio in the mid-1970s. Strangely enough, when 40 channel radios were introduced on January 1, 1977, there was… Read More »
This Cobra 138 is the upscale cousin of Dynascan’s most excellent Cobra 29. These two CB radios are very similar with one important difference: the 138 adds upper and lower sideband capabilities. Appearance and performance are both excellent. This was one of the “Classic Cobras” that made this brand so successful back in the 1970s.
The Dynascan Cobra 139 base station is a 23 channel AM/SSB radio with plenty of features. It was considered to be the next best thing to it’s big brother, the Cobra 135. Shown here with the optional Cobra DynaMike Plus amplified desk microphone. Upgraded to 40 channels in 1977, it’s successor was the Cobra 139XLR.
This is a Dynascan Cobra 139XLR with the addition of a Digi-Scan 400. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, this was considered the ultimate in CB frequency expansion capabilities. Sure, you could buy a Siltronix VFO, but now, you could digitally select the frequency of your choice! At the time, this Digi-Scan was cutting… Read More »
Cobra’s 142GTL was a successor to the Cobra 139XLR. Styling was nearly identical but the electronics were much more sophisticated. Dynascan’s 142 used an advanced PLL which allowed it to be more ‘capable’ of frequency modifications. I used a Cobra 142GTL as my main base station from 1982 until 1984. It was great radio with… Read More »
The Cobra 1000GTL is basically a Cobra 2000GTL without sideband. “Why was this radio ever made” would be a logical question here. Since these radios were fairly expensive, it didn’t make sense to shell out that kind of money and not have USB/LSB capability. It sure looked nice, though. Performance was solid, as you would… Read More »