I had one of these sets back in the 1980s. I have no idea why I bought it really, as I always thought them slightly pointless. I don’t remember ever using it and I imagine that I soon traded it in at ‘Truck King’ in Garston, which was my CB shop of choice back in the day.
The Maxcom 7E ‘Alert’ is one of a rash of semi-handheld rigs marketed during the 1980s as emergency transceivers. The 7E came, as several did, in plastic carry cases containing the radio (itself in a ‘leatherette’ holder), a small mag mount antenna and a power cable, with a cigarette lighter-style connector. The antenna could also be connected to a socket on top of the radio, making it a true, if rather bulky handheld. The idea behind the Alert was that people would carry these in the boot of the car and, should they break down or experience some other emergency, quickly and easily use the radio to summon assistance. It was a perfectly reasonable idea but, I wonder whether many were used for that purpose. Certainly, 40 years later, there are many available on the used market so, presumably sales were healthy.
I now have a pair of these sets in my collection, both in as new condition and in their original boxes and inserts but, both missing their mag-mount antennas. Both are in full working working order. The inserts include application forms for a CB licence (now, no longer required) and the original guarantee cards. If anyone has a Maxcom 7E magmount antenna available, please let me know, as it would be good to get these back to ‘complete’ as well as ‘nearly new’.
