This is the Realistic (Radio Shack) TRC-25. This was a 100mW, 2 channel super heterodyne walkie-talkie. This unit was equipped with a side mounted Volume control with a window indicator that showed volume level, a two channel rocker style selector switch, a "call signal" switch, a battery meter, and a separate mike and speaker. A telescopic 3' antenna was also standard, and it was powered from a single 9V battery.  Plug-in crystals for channel 11 were included from the factory and you could add an additional channel. This radio's superhet receiver worked well for a 100 mW walkie-talkie, and was certainly orders of magnitude better than a super regenerative type. Transmit range was also decent for a 100 mW radio, often able to reach its advertised "1 mile" range.  This radio sold during the early 70's, from around 1972 to about 1975.

This unit was popular with a few of the locals, like Uncle Albert, Nighthawk, Inchy and Jimmy, who were just getting their feet wet in the CB hobby in 1973 and '74. This was a also a "step up" for Uncle Albert, who upgraded to this radio after first starting out with an Archer "Space Patrol" channel 14 special.  Using his TRC-25, Inchy was able to make contact with the rest of us at a distance very close to 1 mile, which seemed unbelievable back then, when most 100 mW walkie-talkies barely made 1/2 mile.

Back