I found the receiver end of a loco maybe gp9 in good condition. The hand held unit cord and connector dont know if it works on the side of the tracks for cnr on the handle. Worth anything or good to just keep? rambo1…
If it’s just the handset, it’s probably broken anyhow, which may be why you found it. Odds are there’s a heavy duty connector on the end to connect to standard railroad radios.
To add a little to what Larry ( tree68) said: When Radio sets were first installed on Railroad applications, particularly on Cabooses and locomotives. the instrument that allowed the Operations person ( Engineer or Conductor, ) to use the radio was an almost ‘standard telephone’ handset. It hung on the instrument just like the handset on a regular telephone of the time. And was similarly used. Many of the pictures of the time would show the railroader holding like a microphone and speaking into the speaker.
thats exactly what it is with the large connector on one end. worth anything? rambo1 can’t it be repaired?
I am sure it can be repaired, but why? There is usually just a speaker/microphone and maybe a ‘push to talk’ switch in the handle - No real electronics.
Jim
You have an artifact; put it on the shelf with the rest of your collection.
Not worth repairing, and no longer “standard” equipment anyway.
We still use them.
We do too, but the new radios have the regular mic…we’re just too cheap to buy the new mics when the hand set breaks, which is not that common anyway.
Even our new power still gets the phone-type mics. Actually, we didn’t use to have the extra mics until a few years ago.
As of January 1, 2013, railroad radios must be “narrow-band”, which as I understand has to do with the tendency of a radio to bleed over from its assigned frequency into other frequencies nearby. By mandating narrow band across the spectrum I believe the FCC freed up frequencies for cell phone carriers and the like. A lot of the old radios with the telephone style handset are not capable of narrow-band transmissions and therefore can no longer be used. Check out this link, at the bottom of the page, for what the team restoring SP 9010 had to do to make the radio look cosmetically like a 60’s radio while being capable of narrow-band transmissions.
Narrowbanding in the railroad band means that there will be another hundred (more or less) railroad channels, in between the existing channels.
At first blush, it appears that the problem with SP9010 was that it didn’t have a “standard” railroad radio in it. The the restorers were faced with “updating” an obsolete conventional radio chassis with guts from a narrow-band capable radio.
There are radios on the market that resemble the old Motorola and GE locomotive radios. Not exact, but close enough to serve the purpose.
I rarely use the handset on our locomotive, be it a phone handset or a “regular” radio mic. I just use the PTT button on the front of the radio and the built in mic. It’s always in the same place and I don’t have to be worried about reaching for a handset or finding the hanger if I’m otherwise occupied.
A lot easier to use a microphone (or handset) when switching. Especially when the radio is in the overhead above and slightly to the left of the engineer. Not only do you have to reach the PTT button, but almost have to yell when repeating the trainman’s instruction. I, as do almost every other road T&E crewmember, carry a spare microphone just in case the engine doesn’t have one. (
Is it safe to assume that this is where the additional frequencies PTC requires are coming from?
The new radio they used looks like some that are used in our contract vans and company vehicles. Those types aren’t the same as on the locomotives. A microphone for those don’t have the kind of connection that allows them to attach to locomotive radios and vice versa for locomotive mics/handsets.
Jeff
Actually, no - I don’t think they are. It appears PTC will be in the 220 MHz range, while regular railroad comms are 160-161 MHz.
Thanks, Tree. I’m not a radio expert.
I’m only marginally so, but that still often puts me “above” the folks around me…
Been dealing with radios for a good many years.