At about the same time the return of sun spots began to improve 10
meter propagation in the late 1970's, the FCC expanded the Citizens
Band from 23 channels to 40, and proclaimed that after a certain date
in 1977, only 40 channel units could be sold.

This resulted in a flood of the remaining 23 channel rigs hitting the
market at almost give-away prices, including some very nice SSB
models.

It also resulted in a frenzy of "10 meter conversion" articles in
almost every ham magazine of the day, with 73 magazine being the clear
leader in this content.

Bob Heil even got in on the act, with a conversion handbook, which
included instructions for converting a particular HiGain rig over to
10 meter FM.

Of course, the 40 channel units weren't safe from a 10 meter
conversion for very long either.

I have a Sharp 40 channel AM only CB rig circa 1979 or maybe 1980 that
someone converted to 10 meters long ago. When I acquired it in 1997,
my first contact while using it was with a station in Hawaii, who was
also running a converted Sears Road Talker.

About an hour ago, I fired that old Sharp rig up for the first time in
at least 10
years, and had a 15 minute contact with W7QQQ in Arizona. Jack was
only
using a dipole at 12 feet above ground, but could still hear my 3.5
watt carrier and associated audio above the noise.

At 8:00 PM tonight, I made a second contact with Dennis, KB6GFD, in
Fresno. He said my signal peaked at S9 just before we signed.

So if you ever had one of these converted CB rigs for either AM or
SSB, look under the bed, in the attic, the basement, or anywhere else
these old boxes tend to hide, dust them off, power them up, and make a
"little big noise" on 10 meters. Operating them is still as much fun
as it ever was!

Mike Duke, K5XU
American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs

PS

For my next radio junky fix, I'll be trying out the 1965 vintage
Lafayette HA410 that I acquired a few months ago.

That model is a plate modulated tube rig for 10 meters with a 2E26
final, which is good for about 10 watts of carrier output.





Mike Duke, K5XU
American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs