Navaho realistic am/ssb trc 458

Nice light used trc458 am/ssb very rair Realistic Navaho TRC-458 AM/SSB CB Radio Review When you mention the brand name “Realistic” or “Radio Shack” when discussing CB radios, most people will assume you’re talking about some small, cheap and crappy CB. In the last 20 years Radio Shack’s contribution to the CB world has been to flood the market with compact mobile CB radios that just plain suck. But prior to marketing the compact radios they used to make some base radios that could definitely hold their own. The TRC-458 was a prime example of a quality Realistic CB radio. I picked up ones of these at a local garage sale for $35. The radio had an channel box attached to the top and was minus a power cord. I soldered a power cord to the radio and it powered up and everything on it was in working order. The radio had a stock mike on it so I attached my antenna and gave a shout for a radio check. The locals came back and said it sounded great…clear and loud they told me, great audio and right on frequency on SSB. I was very pleased. This radio wasn’t really a “Realistic” though, inside it had Uniden parts and that’s the reason it performs so well and is a sought after radio. It used the Uniden 858 chassis and was modifiable for extra channels. These radios were produced for a couple of years in the late 70’s. If you like SSB base radios that keep it simple than the 458 is a great choice. It has the following features – Volume Squelch RF Gain Clarifier Mode switch (AM, LSB, USB) ANL Switch NB Switch PA Switch Phones Jack Channel Selection Knob This radio is very user friendly with a nice big knob to change channels, simple LED display, and a large meter. The radio has a rectangular design and a solid case – the one I bought looked used and abused but still worked perfectly. I noticed right away when using this radio that it had a great receiver, picking up far away stations very easily. The clarifier has great movement and tunes easily. The particular radio I had been modded at some point as it had a special box on top that expanded the frequency range and it also was fitted with a fine tuning clarifier that offered very precise tuning on SSB. The modulation and swing on this radio was impressive, easily posting better output numbers than my Uniden Madison. SSB was peaking around 22 watts and AM would swing a solid 15 watts. Modulation with the stock microphone was very good. I had no doubt that this radio had been tuned previously for output and modulation. The NB and ANL work okay on this radio but didn’t cut out a whole lot of static, but the receiver was pretty quiet to start with so it wasn’t a huge issue. I really didn’t run into any problems with this radio but there were a couple of things I disliked. The relay inside is quite noisy and made a noticeable click each time I keyed the radio. People on the receiving end said they could hear the switch for a short bit as I keyed up, but said it made a “neat” and distinctive sound. Possibly a little cleaning of the relay would sort this out. The radio styling on this radio in my opinion is more suited to a submarine or boat. It never seemed to look as esthetically pleasing as a Uniden Madison