Wow, nice old rig. Lafayette was where my dad got our first CB radio (an old Publicom I 23 channel rig) and it sparked an interest in radio for me for years to come. Probably why I got into ham radio as well :) I love those old radios.
Yup, my HE20c is pretty much shelf candy. I think it suffers from some bad rocks too. The T/R relay probably is stuck. My first transceiver was a HE50c in the late 60s, when you had to have an FCC CB license. And it was my very first climb on the roof to install a grond plane on the chimmaly straps. Mine put out a wopping 8 watts. My buddy down the street had a Comstat 25. My best friend had a Regency Imperial, and he sold me his Lafayete when he got the Regency. I have both in my shack, the Regency is restored. Don
+umajunkcollector Yes, I am not going to put any more time into it for now anyhow. Just a nice radio to look at as part of the collection here. I remember when you needed the CB license back in the day. My dads call sign was KNF-2531 and when I got mine later on it was KBX-2324. Funny how you don't forget. Sounds great on the Regency also! 73 for now, going 10-7.
Yes those are cool radios. I have been servicing and collecting them for years and have 6 of them NOS as well as over 400 NOS other radios still in their boxesas well as hundreds of NOS crystals and misc parts
Back in the 70's, when CB was popular, my friend had that Lafayette radio (or a similar Lafayette model). I remember it was a pretty robust radio back then... Better than my Midland I had back then. :)
+Pete Ciallella Thanks for the post Pete, yes, I think those radios were really built with quality in mind back then. With the technology they had available, they made the best equipment possible at the time and it still shows when I look over this vintage gear, built like a tank. 73...Larry
The HE20 is from around 1962-63. I recently got my Olson RA-530 (same era) working which is kind of similar to your radio. Mine wasn't transmitting, problem was in the selector switch for the crystal bank - the contact inside was broken. Mine also has the spot switch which I think was used mainly on radios that had a tunable receive but individual transmit crystals.
Very cool addition to your great radio collection. It has that look that takes a lot of us back in time when they were the norm. Thanks for sharing Larry. 73 Carl
Brings back loads of fond memories. Was my first experience on the air when I was about 13-14 in 1964 or '65; was SWL before that. I bugged my parents to buy me an HE20C. CB and SWL were huge incentives for me to study electronics and go in to electronic communications. It ushered me in to a 30 year career job and then a pretty nice early retirement. All that bc of a gift SW receiver and a Lafayette CB...and a little work on my part. This is what kids my age did in the early 60s. BTW the cap above the TR relay is not original. 73
An older cousin inspired the bug to bite me. She lived in a little house perched up on a hill outside of Philadelphia and I'd visit her on weekends and stay longer in summertime. The walls of her house were almost completely plastered with QSL cards, and her HE20C had a prominent place right in her living room. She had modified the rig with a Tx crystal socket on top in front of the access door, and had a small soft wooden board with enough extra Tx crystals stuck in to it to make up all 23 channels. She had a big station wagon e/w an HE20C and long whip antenna on the bumper, and her mom and other family nearby used CB to comm. on a regular bases too. I remember her firing up the mobile while we were at a DI movie and her voice resonated through every speaker throughout the whole place LOL. And she could talk back to her mom from my home in Philly about 20 miles away with no problem. CB in those days (before the Truckers adopted it) was kind of like Ham radio...a place where new friends were cultivated, and technical info was shared. 73
I love the look. It is great they put so much thought into looks back in the day. I to would never really use such a vintage CB so you're making the best decision not spending the time and money on a restoration. 73 buddy.
+Todd Harrison (ToddFun) Thanks Todd! Yes, not worth doing much with but it will look nice on the shelf with all the other vintage gear I guess back in the backroom radio museum I have going on,ha. Hope you are doing fine, been watching all of your excellent videos. 73
+Todd Harrison (ToddFun) Oh, and also notice that nice VOM in the background on the shelf, I use that meter you gave me all the time, it sure works great for me on the test bench, so just another thank you for that!! It has been put to good use here Todd.
+RadioHamGuy Glad to help. If I remember I got a few of those VOM's free when I bought some other gear from a University. I have one left that I use myself some times just cause it is fun to use old gear sometimes.
Nice vid - glad to see you back! I like these vids because I hit pause when you go inside the radio and try to make my own assessment before you do to see how I match up against a pro :-) 73 my friend
Another one to add to the shelf the way it looks! Fun to look at those old radios and even fire one up once in awhile. Any idea what year that was manufactured? Still has tubes! It doesn't look that old from the front.
+North Dakota Ham (KB0BRY) Hi Kevin, this one was made somewhere between 1962-1965, I couldn't find any date code but that is when this model was manufactured from what I seen in the old adds.
+RadioHamGuy ....ok Larry, Well, I used to really enjoy looking at those old catalogs...but I don't think I have one quite that old. Kind of odd that it has two serial numbers.
I'm thinking about hunting down an old radioshack 23 channel base station for another guitar project just for the helluv it. It shouldn't be a problem I see them on ebay for 20 bucks or less.
+Moby Dave Hi Moby Dave, yes, I would think they could be had very low cost on ebay, but sometimes they go for more than you would think also but good luck in finding something for the guitar project! Sounds interesting.
Long time subscriber here Larry. I've learned so much from your channel. Every video of yours is so well shot, edited and fun. I wonder, is it difficult to take an old 23 channel tube radio like a Robyn and convert it to 40 channels? I've heard of adding a VFO, but is that the same as a frequency expander' kit that some people use to have 40 channel radios access more channels? Thanks for all that you do!
+Radical Ham Well thank you so much and glad you enjoy and that the videos are of use. It could be done but these days just wouldn't be worth the cost since there are so many 40 channel radios to be had at a very low cost, it just wouldn't be worth the time and effort. I used to convert CB radios for use on the 10 meter ham band back in the 70's and 80's and that was fun to do. Still have one of them around that works. Thanks again and 73.
+RadioHamGuy Appreciate the reply and looking forward as always to your videos including those tuning around the bands during Halloween and the holidays!
Hi Joe, sorry, I don't have a copy of a manual for that, I did some searching online and could not come up with anything either except for a manual site that looks like it would cost 25 dollars. Maybe someone else can post here and help you out.
+de N5XTC I was interested in radio since 7 yrs old, got into CB in the 70's, then got my ham license in 1977 at age 13, then took electronics classes in high school, then 2 year vocational class after high school, then got job as tech at E.F. Johnson for several years, then at a Motorola two way radio shop for 20 yrs. To sum it up best I can I guess, but radio is fun for me as you can tell maybe! I learned the most from other hams however. Thanks for asking and glad you enjoyed the video, 73!
+HAMRADIOJOE Hope to have more videos again soon, got kind of busy with other priorities for a while but hopefully can get some more cranked out here again!
the S meter tells me the RX is not working. 6 black beauties and the multi-section electrolytic.; not hard at all. some of these have a lot of those exploding oil filled mini- electrolytics... so this is an easy job.
It has just been a display radio on the shelf yet, I don't really intend on using it so it is mainly just for my display but I may get around to it someday but it is not a priority I guess.
