I was just reading @ED GEiN's post on portable communications. It caused me to reminisce a bit. I hadn't thought about this particular rig in ages, until now. Anyway... Back, many moons ago, I purchased a new Kenwood TM-731A, dual band (2m / 70cm) mobile transceiver. I installed it in my Jeep and used it for both repeater (in town) and trail (simplex) communications. Often, while in a mall or elsewhere, I would use it for cross band repeating. It sure was a good rig. Anyone here have rigs in the past they owned, and still remember fondly today?
Too many! My old Maxtrac Motorola VHF is one of the favorites, still doing the job in the shack after 30 years.
I had an OLD Motorola D43AAB in the Pig ('55 Dodge PowerWagon Panel Truck)... 60 Watt Tx and Twin Receivers (One for Simplex and One for Repeater) drew 20 Amps on Tx, and 6 Amps on Receive... Great Radio for it's time... had 146.76 S&D, and 146.945 S&D... I paid dearly for the Rocks and Ovens to populate that Rig...
LOL. 6 amps on receive. Man, that was a transceiver! I remember my first 12vdc two-tube linear amplifier. Tubes, yep. I had it mounted in, of all things, a 1977 (I think it was?) Honda CVCC Civic. The only thing I can remember about it was, it had two tubes and could warm the entire car, without using the heater, in winter time. My mother had given me that car when she bought a new one. Can't remember the year I got the car. I remember having it just before I went away to college, for sure. So, that would have been '84 - 85? Anyway, that amp would dim everything when it was keyed.