Hand held portable CB radio

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Toepopper
Patriot ⭐ Construction, Shelter
Patriot ⭐ Construction, Shelter
Posts: 1229
Joined: 16 Aug 2007 12:03
Location: Southwest Oregon

Hand held portable CB radio

Post by Toepopper »

I have an old 1983 Radio Shack model TRC-212 portable 40 channel CB radio that I keep in my B.O.B. for emergency communications use should I have to head for the hills. Today I retrieved it from my bag to use as a test radio to check the reception of a base CB in my shop. When I turned on the portable nothing happened and it occured to me that I haven't checked or changed the batteries lately. I removed the outer carrying case but the battery compartment lid would not come open because, as it turned out, the batteries had swollen and leaked and were corroded in place and jamming the cover. I had to disassemble the entire radio to get at the batteries and it took me 2 hours to remove them. White battery corrosion was packed into the compartment like glue so I put some baking soda on it to neutralize it and finally had to use a pair of needle nosed pliers to remove the old rotting batteries. What a mess. I used a toothbrush and a small knife blade to scrape out all the corrosion and cleaned up the contacts and springs along with the interior of the battery box with a bore brush and patch and managed to get it clean and free of corrosion. I soaked the metal parts in Break Free to prevent any further corrosion and to preserve the metal. And to add insult to injury I did not have enough spare batteries on hand to replace the bad ones. So had I needed this radio in a SHTF scenario I would be out of luck due to forgetfullness and failure to stay on top of basic maintenance of my gear. The radio is sitting next to the wood stove now so the Break Free can dry overnight and tomorrow I will buy a supply of new batteries and see if it still works. Sometimes I am so braindead I wonder how I have managed to live this long.
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SS5R

Re: Hand held portable CB radio

Post by SS5R »

I used to have one of those but unfortunately it was in my truck when my truck was stolen back in 1989. You can get a battery replacement holder at Radio Shack for about $2.00 it will take a little soldering but it can be replaced if the old one doesn’t work after cleaning.
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