This is Realistic's TRC-152, which was the newer PLL version of the older crystal synthesized, and identical looking TRC-52. The '52 and '152 were a departure from the Radio Shack norm, as these were more "Cobra-like" Uniden made radios (The Cobra 77X had the identical chassis). The TRC-152 used a Uniden uPD-858 PLL chip to generate the 23 channels. At the time that this radio was made, the manufacturers must have all been gearing up for the anticipated CB channel expansion, and were floating these new PLL designs, which could be made for both the existing, or any expansion band plan, by the simple change of the channel selector switch. Indeed, the later 40 channel version (The TRC-452), was virtually identical to the '152 with the exception of the channel switch and a wider bandwidth VCO block in the PLL section.

Feature wise, the TRC-152 was about average for an AM-only mobile. It included standard features such as Volume, Squelch, a large "S" meter, ANL and PA switches, and a modulation indicator. Also included was an R.F. gain control, which made this radio a good choice for signal hunting activities. Transmit audio was strong and clean, and the receiver's adjacent channel rejection was a bit better than average for a typical 23 channel radio.

I owned 2 of these radios over the years. The first one I received in the summer of 1977 from "Dr Love",  a Channel 20 member. It had been the unfortunate victim of a lightning strike. Having had experience with lightning damage before, I figured that this would be no big deal, requiring only a few parts to bring it back to life. Boy was I ever wrong! I mean, this radio REALLY got hit by the lightning. Every ground connection from the PC board to the chassis was vaporized. Practically every transistor on the main board was cooked as well. Had the PLL module not been working as well, this radio would have been a trash bin candidate.  But since I was desperate to get my hands on a PLL radio at the time, I put a Herculean effort into finding all the bad parts and replacing them. Most of the replacement parts came from other junk radios, and not all of the transistors were exact replacements. Despite these difficulties however, I managed breathe life into "Frankenradio", and it was once again "alive" and working.  Once the radio was transmitting and receiving again, I could proceed to experiment with the PLL and expanding frequency range. In its stock form, the radio could move from a few channels below Channel 1, up to 27.535. Since this was originally a 23 channel radio, it had a limited range VCO block installed. When I would replace it some time later with the 40 channel version, that frequency range would increase up to 27.935, and even further below Channel 1. I would then use this radio anytime I needed to go "far" out of band, as it was the only PLL radio I had for a while.

The second TRC-152  I picked up came from (I think) a hamfest. Rather than modifying the heck out of this radio, I instead simply swapped the 23 channel selector with a 40 channel switch scavenged from a junk Midland which also had a Uniden upd-858 PLL, and voila!, instant 40 channel radio. I used this radio in my car for a few years, until the car was sold. The radio then took an unusual path. I lent it to my girlfriend, to use in her car, where it was stolen one night. Then one day, some time later, the radio reappeared as a repair candidate from a local truck driver.  Since there weren't too many TRC-152's around which were 40 channel,  the specifics of the mod allowed me to confirm that this was indeed my stolen radio come home to roost. The guy who "owned" it told me a story about some guy he knew needing money who then sold him the radio for cheap, and told me to keep it if it was indeed stolen. In retrospect, I think the trucker was on the level for 2 reasons. The first was that he had only the radio, minus my pristine Turner JM+2 mike, which was on it when it was stolen.  Secondly, I doubt if he would have been dumb enough to take the radio back to the same place that it was stolen from when it needed service.  In any case, I sold the radio as part of my "inventory reduction" following my marriage in 1984.