Comcraft CTR-144 & CST-50

I was able to put together a little bit of information on Comcraft, but, as you can see, it is not the definitive work on the subject.

The Comcraft CTR-144 is a 2-meter, AM/FM, crystal-controlled transceiver with 12 watts input power and separate tuning for receive and transmit via built-in VFO and that VFO is stable enough to work repeaters. It tunes from 144-148 MHz. bringing in MARS and CAP.

The CTR-144 is said to be an up-to-date Communicator. The unit works off 117 VAC and 12 VDC, don’t forget your optional CBP-12 battery pack.

The receiver gets its selectivity and rejection of images by a clever system of IF management. The first local oscillator is at 65 MHz and is crystal controlled. This doubles to 130 and the output is in the 14 -18 MHz range which is tuned by the first IF. The second local oscillator drops the IF to 2 MHz and then the signal is channeled in to either an FM or AM detector.

The 65 MHz oscillator is used by the transmitter to beat the 7 -9 MHz vfo up to 72-74 MHz. This is then doubled to the output frequency. 8 MHz crystals type FT-243 may also be used. All this, in 1972, for $459.95.

The Comcraft CST-50 is a historical VHF FM transceiver and an AM receiver using FM slope to cover the transmission. It is a triple conversion unit with 40.7, 10.7, and 2.5 MHz IFs respectively. It was among the earliest synthesized VHF FM transceivers made in the USA.

It was manufactured in 1976 by Comcraft, Inc., located at P.O. Box 266, Goleta, California, 93017.

The CST-50 is notable for its dual-band capability. Covering MARS, CAP and CD frequencies from 142-149.995 MHz and 220-225 MHz bands, with a minimum of 25 watts.

It was originally priced at $869.95 upon release. The CST-50 also has a rear plug for 12 Volts DC, a tone burst, tone coded squelch and autopatch.

Despite its significance, the exact number of Comcraft CST-50 units produced is not specified in the provided sources, but it is mentioned that there were fewer than fifty (50) CST-50’s product.

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