[Motorola] awful radios

[Eric Lemmon]

Tom,

Funny you should mention the GE TPL (Transistorized Progress Line) and the
GE Pacer- the first two commercial-grade radios I owned!  I started with a
Pacer front-mount radio on the old MTS mobile telephone system, with a
Secode mechanical stepper-decoder mounted in a box on the side, and a
handset pocket on the front.  The TPL was a trunk-mount, two-channel radio
that I had on 2m.  This was in the late 60's, and I bought both radios used
and in pretty beat-up shape.

For those younger readers who haven't a clue about these radios, the Pacer
was an all-tube radio with one or two channels.  It had crystals mounted in
ovens, and a transistorized power supply.  It put out about 10 or 12 watts.
The TPL was completely transistorized except for the final PA, which was a
6883 tube.  The 6883 is identical to a 6146, but with a 12 volt filament.
The crystals were not in ovens, but had to be "precision" grade and used
on-board compensation.  As I recall, the TPL started losing power after 30
seconds or so of transmit time.  It put out about 25 to 30 watts.

Now I look back and wonder, what was I thinking?  Those radios were rude and
crude, but they worked!

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY


-----Original Message-----
From: motorola-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:motorola-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Tom B
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 3:19 PM
To: Discussion of equipment manufactured by Motorola
Subject: [Motorola] awful radios


>That might be a topic for another discussion...What is the most awful two
>way radio ever made?

My vote would be for the GE TPL or Pacer.

Tom Bryan
N3AJA