Hey, I found a factory (lower dash mounted AM/FM/CB radio) volvo 40 channel CB radio today in the junkyard, with mic attachment dash slot (goes next to the defrost switch), and antenna base. I had never heard of anything about this radio before, and I cant find ANYTHING about it online, or in any of my 80's era volvo accessory books (maybe it was a 70's thing?) can anyone give me any info on this radio? thanks

How interesting, never would have thought Volvo would have offered such a thing. Seems out of character somehow.

It will almost certainly destroy the audio amplifier final stage of the radio if the output leads are shorted together, or attached to a speaker with an impedance that is too low. For example, if the system is supposed to have an 8-ohm speaker do not put a 4-ohm speaker on it (or run the 4-ohm speaker at very low volume). Leaving the audio output open, i.e. no speaker, should not harm anything. Since the late 70's, standard solid state audio output circuits are practically immune to anything except a short (output leads tied together through low resistance = high current = dead output transistors).

The output section of a radio transmitter is a different animal. The whole output stage, including the external antenna on the vehicle is a resonant circuit. Changing any piece of the resonant circuit will change the electrical impedance of the resonant circuit. At the very least, if there is a missmatch, the transmitted signal will be off power and probably off frequency. The resonant circuit provides a frequency dependent impedance that controls the maximum amount of current the circuit draws. It is possible for a radio transmitter output stage to become so unbalanced that it draws enough current to destroy the last amplifier stage.

The receive section of the radio is separate from the transmit section everywhere except at the point where the antenna enters the radio case. There will be circuitry there that separates the input signal from the output signal.

Good luck with the new toy.

91_240

Myth: you cannot turn a cb radio on without the ant.

Truth: You can turn on a cb Radio with out an ant. AS LONG AS YOU DON'T KEY THE MICROPHONE(push to talk button).

The reason: most cb radios (197?-current) are solid state trans-ceivers. The cb has to have a PROPERLY MATCHED antennea, to work properly and not fry the finals. The finals are diode like components in the cb. The antennea HAS to be matched/tuned, to the cb to Transmit, but not to receive. It gets pretty complicated to explain, but basicly if the ant. is not tuned to the cb, and it's used to transmit, for too long(ie: a coat hanger, standard car ant.), the Standing Wave Ratio(SWR) will be too high and burn up the cb(yes the finals can and sometimes will smoke), both transmitting and receiving. And just because it's a cb antennea, does not mean it is matched/tuned for your radio.

Long story short, if you don't have the proper Antennea, Don't key the microphone. You'll still be able to listen to it, it will receive, and you can turn it on. Any CB shop(check at truck stops) can get you set up with a proper Antennea match.

As far as the Am/Fm part it functions as normal thru the Cb antennea/coat hanger/twist tie...........
--
Dan D. '85 245 DL 'Puff the Magic Wagon' , '93 945 .
Delanisdjd*at*msn.com

Honestly, it seems to be something that would be in the truck line. I can imagine someone took a truck radio and put it in a car. Volvo trucks have to have a stock CB. I don't know either way.

Um, don't run it without an antenna... not good for it.

I'm a proud CBer with a 70s Realistic. It shouts and listens through a K-40 antenna which is worth getting.

Just checked the pins on my mic - 5 pin, not six (thought you might want to know). There used to be lots of the Realistics around.

You should be able to find a mic online, a truck shop, or at a big city radio shop.

--
__Stef -- 81 DL wagon B21A SU carb M46 314000km

Yeah I had a magnetic mount antenna on it when I fired it up, just no speaker and no mic, so no worries there. I looked on it after I posted, you are right it is a 5 pin, the "6th" was the slot to make sure you have it in the right way ;-) Thanks for the info on the mic, should be a lot easier to find one if it doesnt have to be from Volvo.

It's really NOT a good idea to power up a radio with out speakers attached.

Even if the mic plug isn't standard, it should be pretty easy to rig up the proper mic attachment if you have a meter and can figure out which wires do what.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"

oh really, the speaker as well? I had known about the antenna, but needed the speaker is new to me, thanks for the info! it was only on for a second, just wanted to make sure it turned on, and made sure the channel selector worked, but I won't turn it on again until I have everything attached. oh, and what exactly happens when either the speakers or the antenna arnt attached and you turn it on, I've always just known not to with the antenna, but dont knwo why...

-Art

It's somewhat of a complicated answer, in regards to not wanting to run the radio with no speakers attached. I'm not so sure when it comes to the antenna though (since I haven't done much dissecting of CB radios. I've run plenty of AM/FM radios with no antennas attached.)

With the speakers, it has to do with the amp in the radio, the expected load from the speakers, and Ohms law. Basically, it goes something like this:

With no speakers attached, you'll have infinite resistance on the amp output (where there should be SOME resistance, or load). Since electricity will follow the path of least resistance, the current from that amp will flow back to the base part of the circuit, and with no load to drain the current, that part of the circuit can blow.

It can also quickly wear out capacitors on the amp as they attempt to compensate for the non-existent load. This is if the amp in the radio doesn't have open circuit protection. Lots of amps do, but it's better to be safe then sorry.

There is more to it then that, but that's the really rough version.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"

I don't have enough theory to back this up, just experience.

When I was in high school in the eighties, I had an electronics class. The instructor told us that you should not run a tube amplifier with no speaker load but that it would not hurt a solid state amp. I've tested dozens of home and car stereos with no speakers, or only one channel attached with no ill effects. Perhaps they were "protected" as you say but I haven't blown one up yet.

Also I don't think it hurts a CB radio to try and receive with no antenna, it's when you try to transmit antenna-less that causes problems.

--
Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

I've been lucky enough to have fried a couple of amps my self (albeit in rather old transistor radios), so I know that damage can be caused.

Although, in order to do damage, you have to turn the volume up rather high (which was a mistake on my part). Usually there won't be any damage if you keep the volume down all the way. It's still not good for the amp however, and I'd rather take the time to hook up a couple of crappy speakers then have to go through and replace all the capacitors on the amp.

It is true as you said that you shouldn't run a tube amp with out a load as well.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"

Actually, Volvo did offer a CB for it's 240s. I use to have a catalog that listed it as a possible add on accessory.

I know the instruction manual for my '80 245 shows the CB as one of the possible radios that could be equipped on the car.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"

I wish I could give you some info but I just realized that in our '82 244DL it had the exact same radio with the mic port installed by all the rocker switches. I even recall seeing the "Volvo Microphone" in the glove box. However, this was quite a long time ago and at the ripe old age of 14 I failed to recognize the importance of such a "rare" item. Alas, the brick has been in the bone yard for a long time...

Best,
Adam
--
'92 244GL silver-metallic, 150k, Enem V15 cam, Bilstein HDs, IPD sways, upper+lower braces, Cherry-Turbo strut brace, 240 OEM rear spoiler, 15' Dracos, E-codes w/side repeaters, Cowl covers paint-matched, Magnaflow 2.5' mandrel SS exhaust w/Unitek header

My son had the add on Volvo CB radio in his 87 760. Car and radio are long gone, but I've just come across the radio manual if anyone wants one....

Hi Michael Major,

A google image search turns up some usefulness .....

Though this is for 240. 700? I'm confused.

See here, in Russia, appears someone wants one, also, there:

https://www.drive2.ru/l/3897966/

Volvo 245 Panamericano › Бортжурнал › Volvo 240 Factory AM FM CB radio

(Translated Russian)

I stumbled in the internet for photos of the device. I was impressed with the idea and is now very looking for this thing. On any ebeyah and other things there ((((
If someone overlooked or who know about the model or batch number of this device, it will be interesting to hear something. Because even Pindos not particularly vkurse and few have seen.
OE numbers:

remote 283782-1 (headset?)
direct-fit am / fm 283770-6 (tape recorder itself)
antenna (am / fm / cb) 1129073-1 (a combined antenna)
antenna (cb only) 1128509-5 (pure CB antenna)











I also found an expired U.S. eBay auction for the same here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volvo-240-Rare-CB-Radio-/161898040942

In Trenton, New Jersey, United States.

Click the small image of the Volvo 240 CB Radio to see the full listing, if expired, as you see here:



To go here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volvo-240-Rare-CB-Radio-/161898040942?nma=true&si=NlDne4oqAqgE04a%252FFWDFlUSxjzw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

"Breaker, breaker
This is a rare OEM CB radio setup. These were used in the police car editions of early Volvo 240's.
Original box is gone but this setup looks like it may have never been used. Head unit, microphone, handset & wiring. Everything pictured. No antennae.
I purchased this last year & intended to put this in my '83 Turbo but went with an aftermarket stereo unit instead. This really needs to be installed and used.
10-4"

To see these images:









With an eBay account, perhaps you can contact the person listing the auction?

Something this old, with the power transmitter built in, probably needs some component restore. Maybe not.

How Uncle Art does it:


'Cause everyone needs an Uncle Art!

Internet Volvo 240 Copy and Paster MacDuff.
--
Give your brickboard.com a big thumbs up! Way up! - Roger Ebert.

I checked my '83 Volvo Accessory Catalog and came up with no listing for the radio but 2 listings for antennas. (antennae?) The CB Mast Antenna is PN 1128508-5 and the Combination AM/FM/CB Power Antenna is PN 1129938-5.
I have heard that the CB radio was a factory accessory (U.S. only) but have never seen one. One clue, the CB band went from 16 to 40 channels in the early to mid 70's, I think. Did you find the microphone?

Very nice find.

Skip
'93 850GLT
'83 242TI Flathood

This particular model has a built-in PA function as well as CB.

Thanks for the part numbers, and no, no mic to be found :-( and its not a standard mic eitehr, it looks like it would have 6 male prongs on it. I'm hoping maybe a dealer might have one in some back shelf... you know.. way, way back there (one can always hope) maybe they'll have an antenna too (Itll give me a reason to call them again and bug them about old cars at least) This CB goes from 1-40, so it must be from later than the mid 70's. I think I know how it hook it up, seems pretty easy, and when I give it juice it scrolls through the channels and lights up as it should. Just wanted to know more about this radio, I saw it in one of the 240s and it caught me by surprise (I almost missed it!), I hadn't ever heard of it before. And to think people mock me for going ot the junkyard, Ive personally always loved them :-) Again thanks for the info!

-Art
'84 245DL

You have there a rather rare radio.

I've been looking for one my self to throw into my '76 for when I get it running.

What kind of info do you want? If you need to know how to hook it up or how to test it, I can tell you all of that. I don't know the exact specs of it in terms of output or anything.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"