Radio Question

Jean-Marc Dugas

PCS Member
I am trying to decide what I should have for radios in my 54XL, keeping with what could have been there while it was in service. In my early EMS days, we carried two mobile radios in our ambulances, the "Hospital" radio and our Dispatch radio. I know that some also had CB radios on their ambulances.

In looking closely at the pictures of the car when it was in service I can see 3 antennas. The long whip low band antenna at the back, the VHF antenna between the top beacons, and a CB antenna between the two siren speakers.

Does anyone have pictures of the radio set-up in these cars? I am curious as to what make/models would have been used back in the early - mid 70 and how they would have been stacked in the cab of the cars.

Thanks,Driver Side.jpg76xl 044 active service 2.JPG
 
Thankee for the Secode identification.

Secode manufactured for everybody but Motorola because Motorola had their own complete package based on Motrac up to 100 watts VHF.

The Secode add on unit was built for either MTS or later IMTS service with options to fit the carrier the radio would interface to. It appears to have entered market in 1964. Reading the specs it appears to have been designed to equal Motorola's TLD 1100 radio phone sets.

The dial sent a series of tone pulses that were converted to line pulses at the base station where radio interfaced to wired phone from the local carrier.

Just as a point of reference IMTS service cost 37¢ per air minute, in 1980. Some real heavy duty brawls got rolling when the base station had a hangup fail and dialing 1 didn't force hangup. I got to know the head man at Rochester Tel Mobil real well back then.
Roaming service back then involved knowing where the phone was. You had a tower book to look up the carrier in that area so you could dial 11 digits to access the tower, then you dialed 7 more to connect to the phone. Rates for foreign tower access could crumple a man's knees when the bill came.
 
Thankee for the Secode identification.

Secode manufactured for everybody but Motorola because Motorola had their own complete package based on Motrac up to 100 watts VHF.

The Secode add on unit was built for either MTS or later IMTS service with options to fit the carrier the radio would interface to. It appears to have entered market in 1964. Reading the specs it appears to have been designed to equal Motorola's TLD 1100 radio phone sets.

The dial sent a series of tone pulses that were converted to line pulses at the base station where radio interfaced to wired phone from the local carrier.

Just as a point of reference IMTS service cost 37¢ per air minute, in 1980. Some real heavy duty brawls got rolling when the base station had a hangup fail and dialing 1 didn't force hangup. I got to know the head man at Rochester Tel Mobil real well back then.
Roaming service back then involved knowing where the phone was. You had a tower book to look up the carrier in that area so you could dial 11 digits to access the tower, then you dialed 7 more to connect to the phone. Rates for foreign tower access could crumple a man's knees when the bill came.
Thanks Walter. I learned something new!
 
Bear in mind you're a North of Line A guy, a major PITA to me on many occasions, and the reason I walked on eggshells to license 330 watt base stations.

In the days when RF power was miles the 1939 Treaty to protect Canada from evil RF was a major concern with the FCC. Those regulators lost their minds when they learned there were times during Solar cycles when Coburg On was dispatching for Rochester and Toronto was backstopping Buffalo. The FCC guys had to drink for a month when they learned there was no rule against it.

Twas fun back before screens and keyboards replaced men.
 
Thanks to David H I now have a dialer to start working on the radio set-up. This evening I mocked-up the home made console that held the GE radio, the Secode dialer and the Johnston CB radio. Good first kick at the can, but definitively not there yet.

Mock-up 01.jpgMock-up 02.jpgMock-up 03.jpg
 
The Motorola Mocat CB radio was the unit that was originally used in all the Police, Fire, and ambulance vehicles that had Motorola equipment installed in them. The simple reason, if Motorola was the 2-way radio of choice of the department, the local Motorola dealer also installed the CB radios. I remember that our ambulances in New Jersey had the Motorola Mocat 23-channel units installed in the early 1960s and when the 40-channel units came into favor they were upgraded by the Motorola dealer. Back then, CB radios were the everyman communication at home and business. Motorola Mocat 23 channel.jpg You can still find used Motorola Mocat radios on eBay, and occasionally even an NOS unit will come up for sale.
 
Back at it today.

Finalize the template for the final product using thick posterboard.
Mock-up 04.jpg
Then went to get dome 18G sheet metal at Princess Auto to start the project.
Radio Station 00.jpg

A few hours later....
Radio Station 01.jpgRadio Station 02.jpg

Still some work to do, but we are getting closer to the original set-up.
Radio Station 03.jpgRadio Station 04.jpgRadio Station 05.jpg
 
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