As I recall the range of those 49MHz cordless phones WAS nearly 200ft, but WHY the tremendous overkill I don't know. My guess is to add to the base number of as I recall 4 frequencies, to step on the neighbors if they couldn't find a clear channel. Sitting at the apex of an umbrella so to speak on the second floor and the neighborhood being jammed up with kiddie phones (no adults) I heard them doing exactly that. My scanner having been tuned and tested with a sensitivity of <.1uV@20dB down (full quieting) I'm sure gave me a distinct advantage.
"Car Phones" is an interesting description, in the 1950s RCA's line of VHF 2 way radios was branded Car Fone. I acquired 2 40W Hi Band mobiles and a 2 channel 60W Hi Band base in trade for some other junk, it was a bitch converting to 2M but I managed. At the time Motorola mics had a 1 transistor preamp and dynamic element in the standard size capsule that replaced earlier carbon elements that the RCA units used. I built a Shure "Radar O'Riley" or Green Hornet Phase II mic around it and used it on the RCA base unit bristling with tubes and an interesting push-pull 6146 final. The Shure body being a desk mic and the transmitter having plenty of gain it was operated at a comfortable arm's length and "Studio A" being anechoic I got many unsolicited "great audio" reports. It only goes to show the old saying "90% of the shack is on the roof" is only half of it, the other half is "90% of the rig is in your hand". It goes for CW too, a glass fist is awfully hard to copy.
I remember most of the Johnson Messenger line rather well including the one made to look like a mobile phone that came about because I didn't patent my handset concept. What I remember better is their line of 1950s Vikings that found their way to CB, with 11M on the band switch they needed no modification. My motley crew (not Motley Crue) became the AM Gangstas of CB thanks to my modifications to the speech amp. The beauty of the beast was/is by replacing the 47k first audio grid resistor that was also the mic load resistor to 10-12m an Astatic D-104 flattened out and extended the frequency response to a surprisingly close match to some recording/broadcast mics.
"Remember 22A, the channel switch position?"
I remember it well, first on the Lafayette Comstat that later had 22A and 22B. Then the Feral Cookie Company caught wind of it, later models had a slot cut out of the selector switch. No problem, with some brass shim stock and careful soldering the gap was bridged. The evolution of the PL9 PLL chip led me to replacing the channel selector rotary switch with a 3 position lever switch (some techs used thumb wheels) and opened it up to 250 up and 250 down centered on channel 14. Of course the rigs didn't have sufficient bandwidth for 500 channels, but freeband above and below the legal 40 channels was born.
CB holds an important position in my radio life that began in 1957 with an All American 5 table radio at night and unfortunately ended when I found myself in a no antennas situation. It was an experimenter band for me and my friends who went on to Amateur Radio. It was also the most fun band, we did "AM Gangsta shit" you just cant do on Amateur Radio unless you want a Rileygram like the WA1HLR testicling letter that went down in INFAMY........
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