What equipment are these for: radio mic holder, and power connector

[MN9C1]

As the title states, I am wondering what old school audible equipment used to be in my 1988 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 Fire Department car.

All I have to go off of is the mic clip, which strangely has wires going to it, and a bracket for either a radio, or siren, and a power connector.

I’m hoping one of the experts here can shed some light! I just recently picked this car up and would love to find the gear that was originally in the car.

When I get a chance, I will also grab some pictures of the evidence of a light bar and start a new thread, as this car appears to have had one as well.

 

[bpollard]

back in the mid 80s up, we used GE "Phoenix" radios. The mic bracket has a switch which enabled "Channel Guard" on the radio, when the mic was clipped in the bracket. They had two wires coming from the mic clip to the radio, looks identical to yours. Here is a picture of the radios that i grabbed from the internet




It's likely that other radio brands used a similar setup. I am about 50% confident that i have one of the radios in my shop somewhere. If you want it and pay the shipping costs its yours.

We also had Federal PA-300s for sirens in the exact same model of Chevy Caprices.

Bob

 

[MN9C1]

Thanks for chiming in Bob. I did a little search on that radio, and found an installation manual listed on eBay. The photos aren’t ideal, but I was able to see this picture in the manual, showing the mounting bracket, which appears to be exactly the same as the one in this car!

Let me know if you have the radio, I’d love to take you up on that offer!

On another note, how popular were the PA-300s? At least right now, I haven’t seen any clues within the car pointing to any siren, or any lights other than maybe a light bar.

Hopefully by Friday I will be near the car (in storage) to take a better look.

Noah

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

On another note, how popular were the PA-300s?

Literally EVERYWHERE.. and still found in use now! I'd venture an uneducated guess that it might have been one of the most popular sirens ever. Some the Carson sirens might beat it though.

 

[NPS Ranger]

As the title states, I am wondering what old school audible equipment used to be in my 1988 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 Fire Department car.

All I have to go off of is the mic clip, which strangely has wires going to it, and a bracket for either a radio, or siren, and a power connector.

I’m hoping one of the experts here can shed some light! I just recently picked this car up and would love to find the gear that was originally in the car.

This was common back in the day, the mic clip was grounded and when the mic was in the clip, PL decode was enabled and you would only hear calls from your own agency using that PL. When you picked up the mic, PL was disabled and you got CSQ (carrier squelch) so you would hear any other non-agency transmissions as well, theoretically this allowed you to hear that the channel was busy and avoid transmitting over someone from another agency speaking on the channel. It got annoying cause sometimes you wanted the mic in your lap or close by and it would give you long periods of open squelch if there was noise on the channel.

 

[shues]

The siamese wire tells me that the mic hanger probably contains a switch, similar to the Motorola TLN4416A/HLN4024B. In the style I have used, the switch is closed when the mic is hung up and open when the mic is in hand. I have put this style of switched mic hanger in line with a scanner's external speaker to ensure the scanner audio is cut off before transmitting on the radio.

 

[Wailer]

On another note, how popular were the PA-300s? At least right now, I haven’t seen any clues within the car pointing to any siren, or any lights other than maybe a light bar.

The PA300 was introduced in 1983, and by 1988 a lot of emergency vehicles had them. If you want to put one in that car I'd recommend looking for a silver face or early black face unit with the slow rising wail tone.

 

[MN9C1]

Thank you for the replies everyone! I apologize for the long wait for my reply. I’ve been busy with school and starting a new internship, but I am determined to get this car running and driving well, and in turn, getting at least similar equipment back in the car! Previously I mentioned not seeing any evidence of a siren or any other equipment, but when I was near the car this last weekend, I did notice on the lower dash near the glovebox there is a set of 4 holes drilled in a rectangular pattern. I should have grabbed a picture, but did not get a chance to do so.

On another note, the car is running and driving well, with its steering column tightened up, correctly inflated tires, and slightly advanced timing.

 

[RyanZ71]

you were just 1 year short of being able to get the fuel injected engines. Do you have the 5.7 or 5.0 in that 88 box car?

 

[MN9C1]

5.7 in this one. While the TBI would have made for a cleaner engine bay, and better electronics, I am happy to at least have an 87+ for the roller cam and updated heads. I don’t know if the computer controlled quadrajet will stay forever, but who knows, maybe a standard quadrajet will take its place in the future, or holley’s quadrajet style TBI.

 

[SoloRTP]

This was common back in the day, the mic clip was grounded and when the mic was in the clip, PL decode was enabled and you would only hear calls from your own agency using that PL. When you picked up the mic, PL was disabled and you got CSQ (carrier squelch) so you would hear any other non-agency transmissions as well, theoretically this allowed you to hear that the channel was busy and avoid transmitting over someone from another agency speaking on the channel. It got annoying cause sometimes you wanted the mic in your lap or close by and it would give you long periods of open squelch if there was noise on the channel.

Some of the mic clips had a slide switch that would toggle the PL, allowing you to monitor while the mic was in the clip.

 

[CHIEFOPS]

The siamese wire tells me that the mic hanger probably contains a switch, similar to the Motorola TLN4416A/HLN4024B. In the style I have used, the switch is closed when the mic is hung up and open when the mic is in hand. I have put this style of switched mic hanger in line with a scanner's external speaker to ensure the scanner audio is cut off before transmitting on the radio.

That's an interesting application I've never considered, great idea

 

[MN9C1]

I figured I’d update this thread since it has been a while. I haven’t collected any equipment yet, but I have since gotten the car registered and running and driving nice while being completely stock. Since then I’ve been doing a transmission and axle swap on my 1986 F250. I did take both vehicles to an 80s show and they got quite a bit of attention. When working on the caprice, I also found some wiring behind the grille that was most likely for the siren speaker. I added some of the most recent pictures I have of the car from this Fall.

 

[kitn1mcc]

Saw it on facebook the other day. Show them how they did the warning light switch's . i think it may have had an edge 9000

 

[MN9C1]

Sure!

 

[Lt.214]

In my area at the time this body style was popular, the 54in Federal Streethawk was a popular option for the roof. I feel it looked good on that size car in my opinion. For that period of rotating bars, the Streethawk put out great warning power. Of course, several other overhead bars were used to include whelen edge, federal aerodynic and many different versions of Code 3 light bars. I've attached a pic of a Streethawk equipped Caprice for reference.

Chris

 

[MN9C1]

Did any light bars of the day come with any black plastic pieces? From the pictures I’ve seen, most either drill through the roof, or clamp to the drip rails. My car has a few small holes in the drip rail, potentially for wiring or a more permanent drip rail installation.

The reason I ask about the plastic pieces is they came with the car. I know it’s tough to know what I’m getting at without a picture. I’m wondering because they seem like the type of thing that would be sandwiched between the roof and a light bar.

 

[MN9C1]

I tried searching for what I’m trying to explain, but came up empty.

I have 2 of them. About 1/2” thick, maybe 8” or so Length and Width. Shell like in shape (if that makes any sense). There are also small indentations in them, where I would guess the light bar would have nubs to keep them in place. The bar would be held down by the drip rail mounts.

 

[Lt.214]

So first, most light bars used some sort of "anchor screws" in conjunction with the hang on style clamps. By this I mean the lightbar had adjustable width feet to accommodate different size vehicles (some made medium and short sized bars as well). Then a bolt ran between the lightbar straps and the sliding feet assembly to secure it to the vehicle. Some had plastic covers to conceal the mounting feet/hardware for a more clean appearance. Those were typically newer bars but your car could have went through an upgrade or two in lighting during its service.
Without seeing the parts you describe it's hard to tell. Routing of the cable for the bar went one of a couple ways. Many times a hole was cut in the roof near the location it existed the bar and ran through the interior of the vehicle to make the appropriate connections for power and selecting the desired functions of the bar(as labeled on the dash).

Another way, a less popular way, was to run the cable for the bar externally, usually down the front post or frame if you will, of windshield and under the hood to make the connections. This was not a method I preferred but the agency/owner of the vehicle dictates specific ways to do installs on occasion. Sometimes the owner doesn't want holes in the roof but the trunk is ok. If you are able to get pics of the items you reference, we may be able to better identify what they went to

I hope this helps. Chris .

 

[kitn1mcc]

Did any light bars of the day come with any black plastic pieces? From the pictures I’ve seen, most either drill through the roof, or clamp to the drip rails. My car has a few small holes in the drip rail, potentially for wiring or a more permanent drip rail installation.

The reason I ask about the plastic pieces is they came with the car. I know it’s tough to know what I’m getting at without a picture. I’m wondering because they seem like the type of thing that would be sandwiched between the roof and a light bar.

yes they did the edge

 

[MN9C1]

Ok, I was finally able to get to the car and get some pictures of those (hopefully what they are) mounting pieces. I also grabbed a few pictures of the 4 holes located at passenger side drip rail. I did not see any holes on the driver side, but it’s possible when the car was repainted (likely years ago) that the paint is covering them.

The hole spacing is as follows:
Rear to front
hole 4 to hole 3 - 4 7/8” OC
hole 3 to hole 2 - 4 3/8 OC
hole 2 to hole 1 - 4 7/8 OC

also notice the black spacer pieces have 3 dimples per, likely where a nub on something else somewhat locks it into place.

Sorry for the poor photos, it’s cold here in MN so I’m not out in my garage longer than I have to be right now haha.

 

[MN9C1]

Bump. Are the not likely to have anything to do with likely equipment? They were in the glove box…

 

[MN9C1]

I decided to make a new post on the light bar questions in hopes of bringing in more members. I also was able to get in contact with my state’s fire engine club, and was able to snag a silver face PA300 and dynamax MS100 speaker! Looking forward to installing in the future. Hopefully I can find a pheonix GE radio eventually as well.