| Author |
Message |
    
Drifter_8291
Junior Member
Username: Drifter_8291
Post Number: 12
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 9:16 pm: | 
|
Was just wondering what everyones first CB was. and what year started? and any other radio interest besides CB.. ..................................
.......................................
Well I had been around CB since the middle 70s my father had one and also my brother had one I was only around 9 at the time so I didn't get to talk.....Years later divorced parents and also no one in the family into CB anymore I got My very first CB in 1986 one that I had found in a run down mobile home...It was a Pace 23 channel mobile ( I forgot what model) Had it in my car for about 2 months it worked so so .. My next radio is the one that I consider my first real radio , it was a AM Cobra 1000 base ..it preformed really well on my 5/8s ground plane, the next radio I got was about a year later and it was my first sideband..it was a President Washington with extra channels and unlocked clarifier..since then I have had many others that have come and gone.. Grant XL, Cobra 148 GTL, Cobra 29, Cobra 29 (Soundtracker WHICH I TOTALLY HATED AND WILL NEVER DARKEN MY DOOR EVER AGAIN LOL) Cobra 25, HR2510, SBC Console V , And Old Tube Courier 23 channel, Teaberry Mobil (forgot model), Cherokee 1000, and at least 6 or more that I have forgotten ....Since being bitten by the bug my interest has never really faded...what a great hobby..My current Radio Is back to a Cobra 148 GTL which I like a lot..My other interest is Shortwave, Had about 8 of those so far lol...current is a Sangean ATS - 909... I have also had a few scanners but am not really that much interested in scanning at the moment....
.............
So lets hear what ya had and got? |
Road_warrior
Intermediate Member
Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 181
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 11:12 pm: |
|
First started CB in 1976. First Base was a 23 ch. Midland,AM only. Then, bought a Cobra 139 SSB
Base. Then, came an Uniden Washington, Uniden Madison, Galaxy Saturn Base and the one i have now, a Ranger 2995dx Base./ For Mics i owned a
D-104,Turner +3, Turner Super Side Kick, Sadelta,
Road Devil, Silver Salute Mic./Antennas were:
Starduster, Sigma 5/8, Big Stick, Super Big Stick,
Astroplane, Penetrator, A-99, Maco V 5/8, Imax 2000, I-10k, S.E. Lightning 4+ Beam./ SWR Meter
PDC 600 & a smaller SWR meter for mobile use.
|
Bc910
Intermediate Member
Username: Bc910
Post Number: 190
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 11:25 pm: |
|
OK
Well somewhere around 1986 or so my dad and his friend had CB's at home and in their cars. They always kind of interested me but I wasn't able to use them since I was about 6 or so. Dad didn't let me 
Any way Christmas of 1994 I got a $50.00 dollar check from my grandfather and along with some other money I had saved and so on. I dragged my happy little but to Radio Shack (where else is a Christmas newbie gonna go?). I picked up a 40 channel hand held and was addicted the second batteries were in it, even though I only got out when I climbed to the roof and could only talk to 1 or 2 people
Any way one of those people happened to be your average back yard tech, as most of us are, but of coarse at the time I didn't know that and I thought he was a CB GOD or something 
I got my first "base" CB from him; it was a Lafayette 11 channel "base" that needed a power supply. A base that needs a power supply? Any way, being 15 years old and new to the hobby, dumb and inventive I have used anything and everything as power supplies and antennas. I finally found out that an AC adaptor is not a good power supply and I learned how to make a di-pole antenna, I WAS REALY GETTING OUT NOW!!!! By now I was probably on my tenth radio, having blown up or traded away most of them. Somewhere around '96 I got my first base antenna, a 1/4 wave ground plane!!!! That's when I learned that the antenna is 99% of your station. As time went on I have had more radios than I can count and more antennas then I even want to count!
Some of the radios that I can remember are:
Cobra 25, 19, 29, 148, 142, uniden PC66, 76, grant, Radio shack (almost all ) Galaxy 99V, Magnum S9, President Washington, grant, Lincoln, teddy r, Emperor 5010.
That's just some of them and there have been multiples of many! I've owned d104 desk mics, hand mics, turner super sidekick, +2B, realistic power mic, shure mics, etc. Also Wilson 1000, 5000, lil'will, radio shack antennas, etc.
The kicker is my dad sold all his equipment to a local cb'er somewhere around '92 before I even had a clue, and years later I found out who he sold it to and I had known him for a few months, I asked him if he would sell any on it, you know, for sentimental sake. ARRRRGH!!!!
Well here I am almost 10 years later with my simple mobile setup and that's it!!!! But hey, I have my Ham ticket now! I also have now moved to a completely dead CB area with no traffic what so ever except truckers
Oh well There’s the story!
BC
|
Bob_p
Advanced Member
Username: Bob_p
Post Number: 501
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 11:26 pm: |
|
My Uncle was a Ham going back to the 1950's. I was a kid then, but thought his talking all over the world was great.
I bought my first CB in about 1976. I was part of a group that would take our dirt bikes out to the desert here in Southern California and everyone had a radio in their truck. The first radio I bought was a Pace 145 and I put a turner m+3 mic on it. About 1977 I bought a Royce 40 channel SSB radio an Astatic 1104-C and a Sigma 5/8ths wave ground plane antenna. I had a ball with that rig. But in the late 70's I had to move and sold all of my gear and didn't get back into radio until recently. But that 40 channel SSB was great back then. I believe it was 32 through 40 that where set as SSB channels and they where un-crowded and wide open.
These days I'm trying to get a General Ham ticket, and am looking into which HF rig I might get.
|
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 1769
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 11:47 pm: |
|
Nice Drifter
Myself i started playing with radios about 1955 when my older brother built a crystal set and i got to hear things in earphones ..... i was hooked AND STILL AM ( member of xtal radio socity ) and to this day build them.. In 1958 i got my first Shortwave a Hallicrafters s-38e and by 1960 when DAD got the first cb set i was collecting shortwave qsl cards from around the world. By 1963 i was in electronics school and deep into radio got licensed ( NOVICE ),( FIRST CLASS RADIO TELEPHONE ) and by 1966 had a new tech class ham call wb2zkt which i held untill i moved here in 1972. I still have the 2 nd cb set bought in 1963 a HE-15b which im tring to restore to full working order ..... right now its on a back burner. Im right now using a gtant LT its a fine radio ..... its going to remain here for a long time. Time is my problem just not enough of it so many radios so little time ..... |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 1769
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 6:55 am: |
|
 |
oklahobo (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 10:41 am: |
|
1st radio== a great big general electric, about like the dak 9 and 10 models, but only had 2 chrystal sockets, one for recieve and one for transmitt.. had a great big box of those old big chrystals!! the year= late 1958
thehobo
274150 am
monitor ch. |
Dexter30
New member
Username: Dexter30
Post Number: 3
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 8:48 pm: |
|
First radio was a tram D-80 with several extra switches on it. Best radio I've ever owned. I started back in 92. Same year I graduated high school. |
Wendy
Member
Username: Wendy
Post Number: 80
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 9:46 pm: |
|
My first radio was a 40 channel AM Royce with a dipole antenna. My first mobile radio was a little realistic great radio too. I had been around radios most all my life. My step-dad retired trucker had a cobra 2000 then later got into ham radio. I really got into it and got my own radio in 1987.
Wendy
Wendy |
Dogfacedsoldier
New member
Username: Dogfacedsoldier
Post Number: 9
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 4:50 am: |
|
my first base was a TRC-440 navjo (dont think its spelled right) been into the hame/CB thing since late 80'now i got bot 10 radios round the house lol |
Cbat
New member
Username: Cbat
Post Number: 6
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 3:05 am: |
|
First radio Sonar Mod. E for mobile, Courier 23 later on for a base. Also had a courier M12. 3 element Clear beam. The year was 1963. Lots of radios since then. Chipmunk |
Mike0228
Junior Member
Username: Mike0228
Post Number: 12
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 1:38 pm: |
|
First radio was a used Globe President 8. 8 channel with a tunable receiver back in '66 or '67. I forget exactly. Then I really stepped up to a used 10 channel tunable receiver Johnson Messenger II. Still have that radio and it still works. Used a Turner +2 on it and later a +3. First antenna was a Lafayette Range Boost II till a good friend gave me a 4 element beam. What a difference that made to be able to peak a station you wanted to talk to. Those were a the great days of coffeebreaks (remember those?) and 15 or 20 guys showing up to help raise that new antenna.
Mac |
Yankee
Intermediate Member
Username: Yankee
Post Number: 330
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 2:41 am: |
|
I got my start in 1963, I've had so many radios it's hard to remember which one was first. But the first one that ment anything was the Lafayette HB-222 then came the Courier 23, Sonar FS-23, Courier Royale.
Then came a long line of sideband radios starting with I think the Midland 13-898B,then the 40 channel days started with the Cobra 139 XLR, 138 XLR, Cobra 142 GTL 2 of them, Cobra 2000 GTL, several Cobra 148 GTLs,RCA 14-T302, Teaberry Stalker XV, Ranger 2950, Uniden HR-2510, Bowman 950. Then some of the radios from the beginning years which I forgot about, Browning Mark 2, Browning R-2700 receiver with the S-9 transmitter. And now the radios that are now in my shack and mobile, ICOM IC735, Kenwood TS-440, Uniden Grant XL, Cobra 138 XLR, UPD-858 President Washington, Radio Shack Realistic TRC-449, Radio Shack Realistic Navajo TRC-457, Cherokee CBS-1000.
Through out the past almost 42 years on the air there have been a few other radios that I don't even remember the names of that have been lost from memory another possible 10 or so radios. A long line of Astatic D-104s have come thru my shack, Silver Eagles, Night Eagle, several TUG-8s. Just about every good Turner microphone has come this way. The antennas have been the PDL-2, Antenna Specialists Scanner, Big Stick, Antron-99, IMAX-2000, Super Magnum, CLR-2, The Italian 3 element beam, plus a few others. Over the years I have tried several different types of mobile antennas, the one I now have on my car is the K-40 Trucker and without a doubt the best mobile antenna I've had in all the years I've ran a mobile, I've tried just about every type of mobile antenna from the sticks to the steel whip, Heliwhip Broad Stick, 4 foot Fire Stick, open coil type by Antron.
73, Carl CEF-357 |
Kilowatt
Intermediate Member
Username: Kilowatt
Post Number: 101
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 8:19 am: |
|
Back in 1982, my first CB was a 40 channel "Truetone" (Midland Clone) AM-only mobile. I hooked it up in my Dad's LTD Ford, added a JB 75 that a neighbor gave me, and it worked GREAT!
I really lucked-out on my second radio set-up. My dad bought me a Gemtronics GTX 2300 (with extras), Black Cat wattmeter, JB 150 and MaCo 300 "signal-enhancer!" All for $50.00 from a deceased family member's estate. Yes, his family asked $50.00 for all this stuff as they hated CB! I learned about the ability of capacitors to store voltage while cleaning the Maco :-O
I hooked up an old Moonraker on a cheap tower, and I was in business! Can you say "Worked All TVs" award. Man, I was there! I could actually come in over my neighbor's stereo spekers when they were UNHOOKED and proped up in a corner! He was a CBer too,though, and thought that this was "cool!"
Ahhh, memories! |
Patzerozero
Intermediate Member
Username: Patzerozero
Post Number: 221
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 10:50 pm: |
|
i can still come over my neighbors' rca stereo tv speakers when it's unplugged, worse with my 40w swing S9 than my 150w ar3500, but even with my 14w grant xl. all with the limiters intact. oh well.
1st radio given to me in '73 or so, can't remember what it was, but had 6 or 8 channels and you had to flip a lever to talk, then back to receive. 2yrs later bought a sears ssb 23ch ac/dc base/mobile. by early '76 it had a slider and a switchbox with 4 extra xtals, i think .365 thru .495 or something like that and 4 ch below 1 somewhere. when 40 ch radios came, got a 23 ch pace ssb mobile, used, hooked up to 2 batteries and charger, it would get ch 24 and A channels by holding channel selector 1/2 way between 3 and 4, etc. also modded w/ slider, xtal box, etc. then came my yaesu ft101e at end of '76, switched xtals to cover 26.5-28. a maco y-quad went up, and came down in one of the blizzards of '78, so i home-made a 3 element quad, a few weeks before maco came out with the comet. about late '79 added a maco amp that did over 800watts, my qsl card from way back then proclaimed NY's #1 DXer-i was one of the bigger guns, locally at least on ch 6 at the time. i still have the yaesu and the sears! also still have a 23+ssb courier i got in '76 and a johnson viking 4740 from '79 or '80.
from '78-'82 or so, i bought, sold and/or traded every cb out there. d201a, golden eagle mkIVa, dak x, robyn ssb, and probably 35 or 40 other bases and mobiles. wish i still had many of them! only kept the yaesu because nobody could use it so i couldn't sell it. kept sears for sentimental reasons. johnson sat in a truck in backyard for 10 years...
today, 101e, icom 735, ar 3500, S9, delta force, grant xl, lt, 148, 148fgtl, 25, 29, 76, 78, ss120, ss240, ss3900, jackson, and if i dig thru the shelves, i know there's more, then there's the amps, the mics,.....
SICK,SICK,SICK-all of us, i mean you! |
Mikefromms
Intermediate Member
Username: Mikefromms
Post Number: 288
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 7:27 pm: |
|
My first cb (not walkie talkie) was a Boman mobile. The thing was muffled when you tried to talk. I knew nothing about radio then. Man, I wish I knew then what little bit I know now!
mikefromms |
Mikefromms
Intermediate Member
Username: Mikefromms
Post Number: 289
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 7:29 pm: |
|
Oh, I started back in 1976. I used to sneak out and talk on my mobile that was in my Dad's car all night on Friday nights. I would go to be just before he and Mom got out of bed. Pretty sneaky, huh? It was nice to stretch the coax on over in the whee hours of the morning. Back then, talking 20 miles mobile to base was an accomplishment!
Mikefromms |
Sk1
New member
Username: Sk1
Post Number: 8
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 10:55 am: |
|
Hi all my first CB was a six ch. Robyn got started in 1975 then bought a 23 ch Tram XL which I just got back about a year ago. used to talk to Canada alot back then skip from mid Missouri.
Mike |
BoGator (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 12:26 am: |
|
My first CB was a White Face Johnson,it was tube type,base or mobile (remember the 12 volt vibrators ?)it was 5 Channel.... the year was 1958...I was 14 years old and I talked skip all over the world with that radio....anyone that you could hear,you could get back to ! Barefoot...no linear,no super antennas,no power mikes,no swing kits,no super mods.....barefoot ! |
Superdave
New member
Username: Superdave
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 1:54 pm: |
|
My first was a Realistic hand-held 3 Channel when I was about 11 years old. If you wanted different channels you could open it up and swap crystals and start talking, ha ! ha ! |
Radioman123
New member
Username: Radioman123
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 6:02 pm: |
|
It was either late 71 or early 72 (I remember it was winter putting up the supermag antenna). The radio was a Citifone SS. The first mobile was a Robyn XL one that came with a antenna with a "firefly" on the end of it..Good times |
Operator_651
New member
Username: Operator_651
Post Number: 3
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 12:29 am: |
|
I started in 1971 with a Globe 3 channel. Then I got a Lafyette HB-333 on which I talked my 1st skip from Pa all the way to downtown N.Y.C. Then I got a Gonset tunable and I talked to someone in Ontario Calif. Then, I got a TRC24 from radio Shack with the battery pack to make it into a mobile walkie talkie type radio.(anyone know where I could get that battery pack again. It held 8 "D" batteries had a telescoping antenna and a meter built in it?) It was made for the TRC-24 23 channel Radio Shack CB. It also had a power supply for the house too. So you could use it on the base,in your auto or while on foot while out in the boonies!! Would like to get that outfit again. Then Came the Sears roadtalker 40 with extras put in. Then I had a Navaho as well. Then came the Commanche (Siltronix 1011D) Then, I got a yaesu 101 TS430 S by Kenwood and now a President Washington and a Yaesu FT-757 GX (good for shortwave listening) My antenna is an antron 99. That sums up my Radio career. I was a radioman in the Navy too. |
Bluegrass
Intermediate Member
Username: Bluegrass
Post Number: 136
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 8:59 am: |
|
My first cb was a RadioShack TRC-444 mobile that i got in december 1996 but i was only 9 at the time and just used it as a toy and i went thru about 10 cb's that way until october 2002 when i got interested in using the radio so my grandmother got me an swr meter so i could tune a firestik 5 foot antenna on a mag mount that i had got a few years earlier and i went to the garage and put the antenna up on an old light fixture in there and hooked it to an old realistic trc-441 base and i got it tuned and started calling for base stations until one anwsered me and the rest is history.Now i have a Texas Ranger base and an I-Max99 antenna,i'm well known on the local channels and am the president of a local cb club and a member of two others and i'm getting ready to get my ham license. |
Chainsawiowa
Junior Member
Username: Chainsawiowa
Post Number: 10
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 9:13 am: |
|
Started in 1976, Had a Midland Mobile 13-??? and a Hustler Trunk Lip Antenna in a 73 Impala. Got my first Base a Cobra Cam-89 with a Super Penetrator Antenna about 40 feet in the sky. Those are the good old days, There was a net on just about every channel back then with a coffee break just about every Friday Night at some local restaurant. My handle was "Fooseball Kid" KACN8580 where my call #'s thru the FCC, about 40 of us ran channel 10 and most of us were kids in Junior High and High school. It was kind off like I-mimg on the computer now a days !! |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2202
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 9:35 am: |
|
This is oldest photo of my stations I built that star roamer from a kit as well as the AM broadcaster box. The S-38E was givin to me on my 9th birthday ( 1958 ) and by this time i was a avid SWL and just getting my first ham license.
Just a few month later i started electronics school. |
Truckerdon
New member
Username: Truckerdon
Post Number: 7
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 10:48 am: |
|
My first radio as a Johnson Messenger 1. 5 Channel. Chrystal control transmit and receive. My licence number XM 43 2478. That was way back in the 1960. As Bogator mentioned. We could talk to station mobile to mobile from where I lived in to Toronto Ontario area to Guys that lived in Rochester,NY. That was NO NO, but we did it any ways. Got a few letters from the Department of Communitcations. TO stop it. Skip we didn't need kickers. When it was quite I could talk to station just above the noise level. They been 200 plus miles away. Now with 40 watts am. I can't be heard across the street.
We would be on channel 11, and we would leave to go to another channel and talk. Now people will talk right over you. |
Mikefromms
Intermediate Member
Username: Mikefromms
Post Number: 441
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 11:44 am: |
|
Chainsawiowa, your experience sounds so much like mine, expect you had much better equipment. We must be around the same age because of the time frame you mention. Yes, I remember those day. People on locally 23 hours a day! Clubs, coffeebreaks....in my hometown the club ran channel 10 and there was a sign up on both ends of town for years advertizing the cb club and the channel. Lot's of the old timers are gone now. I sure made a lot of friends on that old Boman cb. I don't think I had a resonant base station antenna until the 80's!
mikefromms |
Hotwire
Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 52
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 12:01 pm: |
|
Started in 1979, my first radio was a handheld 1 channel from radio shack, still own it somewhere. Eight years later at age 12 I upgraded to an old 23 channel Cobra 29. I used a Shakespear Big Stick and the Texas Star V-Mod. Also used a JB 12 amp later on. I was the only 12 year old to this day with such a good setup that I know of. For a 12 year old thats good! I even made a girlfriend from talking on the radio! Its funny but I had more maturity as a young boy than some of the adults with much bigger radios. I gained very much respect from the operators in Indianapolis. Made my first DX contact at age 14. So here I am now, many radios later and hundreds of DX contacts I consider myself to be very sesoned,professional and comfortable communicating on radios to others.I enjoy nothing more than good conversing and good will to all mankind. We should get our kids into this because this hobby is fading away do to video games,plug and play,and just the rudness of people.I thank my father for pointing the way, he is a very good man.
Da Hotwire CEF491
Franklin,Indiana |
Bc910
Intermediate Member
Username: Bc910
Post Number: 284
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 1:52 am: |
|
HMMMMM?
I KNOW I was much more mature than most people on the air when I first got on....
Smarter than a lot.....
and cockier than allmost all!
Therefor most people didn't respect me, more like despised me, took me many years to gain respect, for that matter many years for most to gain mine.
BC |
Terry
New member
Username: Terry
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 3:28 am: |
|
I got into CBs in the early 70's – back when they were at their popularity peak.
My first radio was a 5 crystal base/mobile radio from the 50's or 60’s – it belonged to my grandfather.
Moved up to a 23 channel JC Penny's mobile running on a DC power supply, a d-104, and a ground plane antenna.
Last radio in the 70's was a Tram d201. Belonged to my aunt and uncle -- they “upgraded”. LOL!
Still have all of them in my parent’s garage or attic! Haven’t seen them in YEARS!! I was out of CBs by 1979 when I went into the military.
THOSE WERE THE DAYS!
|
Hotwire
Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 57
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 12:31 pm: |
|
Ahh yes I was only 4 years old but those were the days. I know how ya feel Bc910. Somebody who spends alot of money on there radio sometimes cant stand to hear a kid on it. To this day if I hear a child on the air waves I am very polite and dont try to talk over his or her head. I let them know if they are polite and use courtesy that they are more than welcome to join me in my hobby. We must teach our children this hobby or when we are old farts there wont be much radio talk anymore. You can make a big impression on a kid and I want to be remembered as a very good role model. |
Usa2112
New member
Username: Usa2112
Post Number: 4
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 2:06 pm: |
|
My first radio was Realistic Navaho Base for my 8th grade graduation in 1976.A big stick about 35' and a stock Rat Shack mic.Then came the D104 (silver eagle)within about 6 months.
In 1978 I worked in a CB shop installing CB's Cell Phones(they weighed about 100lbs back then and mounted in the trunk!!!)Thats about when I really got into it.Bought my first 148 GTL at that shop and had an engineer,who happened to own the cb shop,who worked for dynascan corp and actually helped engenner and design the 148,show me how to mod that baby to the max(extras,with crystals and chip mods,and switches on the sides that looked like factory installed,we had all the right tools).
Lets see some time after that I
bought a TR-Bander Beam,then Moonraker 4,then a Moonraker 6.Got fed up with the beams rotating and stuck a Super Penetrator on 45' of Rohn 25.(Rohn provided a cool escape to the top of the house where I could look over the trees and whatch Jets taking off at Midway airport)Added a Palomar Skipper 300 with it's shiney crome top and it's 8950's providing mellow lighting in the shack.
Installed my own version of Dial-A-Watt in that 148 and could turn it down to key 1-watt and swing 12-15.Drive that into the Palomar and I was keying 25 watts swinging to around 400.I was gettin radio checks at 100-200 miles from many a yaesu rig wondering what the heck I was runnin.
Then this lil hottie moved in next door and CB was replaced with 4 kids a house and 20,000 memories. |
Terry
New member
Username: Terry
Post Number: 4
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 3:53 pm: |
|
Hotwire,
I completely agree! I was part of a group of teenagers and younger that hung out on Ch. 10 - it was commonly referred to as the "kiddie channel"!! I think we all related and had great friendships (since we all lived within 30-40 miles of each other). I remember there were many older radio operators that enjoyed talking to us and it really got me involved in the hobby. For the most part, they were great role models and everyone interacted with the breaks and a lot of money was raised to help less fortunate people!
Terry
|
Patzerozero
Intermediate Member
Username: Patzerozero
Post Number: 448
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 10:47 pm: |
|
ch 14 was our kiddie channel back in '74,75,76.
then i got my yaesu & graduated to ch 6 at age 14.
|
Lowpowerhal
Intermediate Member
Username: Lowpowerhal
Post Number: 397
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 11:49 pm: |
|
Now i feel real old, started with radios in early 1960's and got caught up in cb at the time heathkit radio, had fun on it. some of the big time opps was on channel 24 yep channel 24. that was a no no. but i had channel 1 and 13 and i belive 20.had fun though, lot of coffee breaks and met freinds thats lasts a life time. Thats why im on this forum to meet and make new freinds and keep cb going.
Hal
73 |
Hotwire
Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 63
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:19 am: |
|
Wow Patzerozero!! Channel 6 at age 14? Impressive my friend!!!
Yeah Terry I remember those coffee breaks my dad attended and I tagged along. Great people back then. I'm with Lowpowerhal, I'm here to make a friend or two and for the most part to gain more edumucation. lol |
Patzerozero
Intermediate Member
Username: Patzerozero
Post Number: 452
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 11:43 am: |
|
yaesu ft101e, 4 tube maco high drive 1kw, & homemade 3 element quad. at age 14 in 1976. yup, yup, yup. & my father told the neighbor, at least he ain't hanging out on the street corner! fortunately though 99% of nighttime QSO's were pointed west & closest house was 1000' away & they never complained about tvi. only pointed east at neighbor 75' away during daytime for european & africa dx. |
Supertech1
Junior Member
Username: Supertech1
Post Number: 24
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:22 pm: |
|
sears roadtalker 40 on a rs ps(5 amp), 1975. 3/4 wave radio shack antenna. no amp.100 ft rg58 coax. that set-up talked! all stock, local contacts up to 15 miles at night. skip contacts in the day was spars at best. one thing to mention here...those radio shack antennas were darn good for what they were--the 3/4 wave especially. wish they didn't stop making them. |
Terry
New member
Username: Terry
Post Number: 6
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 12:32 am: |
|
hal,
I remember ch. 24! LOL!!! |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2224
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 4:37 am: |
|
or 22 A,B |
Funtimebob
Intermediate Member
Username: Funtimebob
Post Number: 142
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2005 - 11:13 pm: |
|
New trc-55 back in the early 70's. Archer .64 wave antenna, any body remember the old .64 wave?? wish i could find one. thinking about the wolf radio .64 I came across on the web. never seen a gamma match used on a ground plane before, realistic desk mike......later moved on to a TRC-490, D-104,.... |
Airplane1
Intermediate Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 299
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 - 7:55 am: |
|
1975-76 around 14-15 years old I saved up and got a small sears road talker mobile and matching sears power supply and nailed a mobile antenna from radio shack to the peak of my dads house. soon after that I got interrested in girls and packed it away untill now, lots of girls later i`m back into CBs. |
Nwleadfoot
New member
Username: Nwleadfoot
Post Number: 8
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 12:34 pm: |
|
I got my first radio back around 1987 or something like that. It was a Cobra 19Plus. I didn't really care for it, cause it never stayed on the last channel, lol. I then got a Realistic 40 channel, *thinking TRC-425*, it had a channel 9 scan. My first base station was either a Cobra 139 or an SBE. I had both, but can't recall which was first. My first experience with "extra channels", was a Cobra 142GTL, that a good friend who I was staying with at the time had. I'd loveeeeeeeeeed to get on it and talk "skip". I've had numerous radios since then, including a Sears Roadtalker base, that had slide controls, rather than knobs. Possibly my fav. radio has been either an RCI 2950 or a Magnum Delta Force. Other "radio-type" interests include scanners. |
Crackerjack
Intermediate Member
Username: Crackerjack
Post Number: 297
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 3:33 pm: |
|
Mine was the USS Guavina, an old WW-II Desil Submarine on which we used to tune the Radio Shack into the CB channels during the night watch, and talk to truckers on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coast roads of Virginia and Maryland.
Ah, the "Old Navy"....... Those were the days, 1966. So you might say I had a 5-KW AM CB. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2493
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 4:59 pm: |
|
Hummmmmm ? which radio covered that? i know on the tanks some of the AN/GRC3 went down to 20 mhz and the rt-70 covered 52 mhz i made some 6 meter contacts on one. Also the R-390 and R-392 covered cb ..... now thats a receiver got one! |
Carls86fiero
New member
Username: Carls86fiero
Post Number: 9
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 6:55 pm: |
|
My first (radio) was a pair of walkie talkies...Radioshacks "SPACEPATROL's"
chanel 14....11 years old then |
Snowfire
Member
Username: Snowfire
Post Number: 77
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 10:20 pm: |
|
My first radio was a Midland, don't rember the model. It was real small though.worked great. Had a cobra 29 that shot it's last watt, then got a galaxy 33 and numerous galaxy's. Right now have Galaxy 33, 99, Ranger 2970, 6300f150, and last but not least my base Ranger 2985.
And I also have a Uniden 73xl. |
Hotwire
Intermediate Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 303
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005 - 9:25 am: |
|
I remember the Space Patrols. Found a place that has a pair still new in the box. Gotta be at least 30 years old. Think I may buy them just for sentiment. |
Scrapiron63
Advanced Member
Username: Scrapiron63
Post Number: 835
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005 - 12:40 pm: |
|
Talk about Space Patrols, I've got a couple still in the original package but they were used some. My father-in-law bought these sometimes back when my kids were growing up in the 1960s-70s. He had a big pond on his place and I suppose was gonna try to keep up with the kids by radio. One of them had a problem pretty soon, and they were put back in the package and sit in a closet untill we cleaned out their place after my in-laws died several years ago. The one still works, listened to it on my scanner, the other one just has a buzz. They are on 49.860, 70 mw power. Here's some pictures.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/SP2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/SP.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/SP1.jpg |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2499
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005 - 1:58 pm: |
|
Yep remember 49.86 well ....... |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2501
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005 - 3:22 pm: |
|
I built a basestation in the 70's with the receiver / transmitter roof mounted and a remote control volum/speaker / mike box in the shack
Even with that low power you could work some dx ..... there were lots of people on in thoes days ..... but its totaly dead now. |
Carls86fiero
Junior Member
Username: Carls86fiero
Post Number: 10
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005 - 11:50 pm: |
|
My space patrols looked different than yours. mine where black with chrome grills on the front and about 4 inches tall and 3 inches wide...at least if my memory serves me right. |
Carls86fiero
Junior Member
Username: Carls86fiero
Post Number: 12
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 12:13 am: |
|
this is it, i think it will work now, sorry
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/cnhuntus/arch.jpg |
Scrapiron63
Advanced Member
Username: Scrapiron63
Post Number: 837
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 9:07 am: |
|
Carls86fiero, looks like you've got the deluxe models, mine are the plain jane type. |
Hotwire
Intermediate Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 313
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 9:56 am: |
|
Mine were the plain grey sets also. Bruce you said you worked some DX on the same freqs as the space patrols? I always wondered about that. Can you here things on that freq today at all? I also noticed they are pretty close to the cordless telephone frequencys. Wonder if its ever possible to hear a skipping signal on my cordles phone? Probably to low of wattage? Then again my friend accidently made a contact from here in Indy to Georgia with a stock Uniden Pro 510. Maybe doing 4 watts. Truely amazing indeed. |
Carls86fiero
Junior Member
Username: Carls86fiero
Post Number: 13
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 9:57 am: |
|
yeah, but i dont have them anymore...thinking about it i was closer to 8 years old when i got them...2 years later i wanted to see what made the work inside, so i went in....needless to say my Dad was not impressed with my thinking.. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2507
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 12:24 pm: |
|
Hotwire ..
In the 1970's 49.86 was a hot frequency like FRS is today. Many experimenters built there own stations most using a 6 meter receiving converter and a home made transmitter roof mounted and fed with a control cable which carried the converter output down and power and audio up. The FCC allowed you to do this the basic rule was the antenna must be less that 39 inches and the power was restricted to 100 mw ( or 15000 uv at 3 meters ). Now you have to understand when 6 meters is open even 100 mw will go THOUSANDS of miles and in the late 70 the band was open sometimes VERY OPEN. Now I HAVE HEARD CORDLESS PHONES ON SKIP the 46 mhz base stations can be heard quite well when the band is wide open .... here in tampabay you can hear places like ohio on a very good day if your scanner is on a outside antenna....... right now conditions are POOPY ...... thats tech type talk. if you want to lissen to phones the bases are on 46 mhz but be aware some states it's illeagal ...... florida being one of them as on the early 90's. |
Indiana375
Junior Member
Username: Indiana375
Post Number: 22
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 12:28 pm: |
|
My first radio was a Midland mobile. I bought it to monitor 19 on my way to and from college. This was about 1995, I believe. 
|
Scrapiron63
Advanced Member
Username: Scrapiron63
Post Number: 839
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 12:31 pm: |
|
Since we're talking about old radios, here's a pretty rare one i've got. It's a early 70's model I believe, Johnson Messenger 124-M. It's all solid state, 23 channel crystal. It was unique in that it has two monitor channels, you can put whatever crystal/channel you wanted to monitor. It's got good keyup and swing for an old Johnson, about 5 watts, swing to 12-15. And it's built like a tank, all steel. These things were high priced compared to today's radios.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/124-m.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/124-rear.jpg
Here's a mobile from that period, these are not very rare, but one in this condition is.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/123A.jpg
And since i've got my new mobile rig installed, here I am going to town. 
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Familystuff/Town.jpg |
Carls86fiero
Junior Member
Username: Carls86fiero
Post Number: 14
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 6:25 pm: |
|
I liked the last pic.....cool |
Ibacbfreq
Junior Member
Username: Ibacbfreq
Post Number: 26
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 - 9:48 am: |
|
My first radio[other than hand held] was a midland SSB 23 ch. It was a standard looking mobile 'cept it had a built in power supply that made the back two times the size as the front. I saw this thing in the storage locker of the apartment manager,he got it after it was left in an apartment. I fixed a lot of windows to earn that thing. five yrs later I sold all 35 of my radio's to my uncle for $100 so I could feed my family, last year he gave them all back to me. These are some of the radios I have:
2 CPI 2000 with 1 bc2000
5 CPI 300-400 + 1 digicom100
4 Cobra 2000
4 slant face sears base-moble SSB
3 142's 2 139's
10 rs TRC's: 1 449 3 457's 2 57's 3 47's and 1 48
that is the top 5% of the colection. 73's |
Hotwire
Intermediate Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 316
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 - 10:49 am: |
|
My goodness!! You really are acbfreq!!lol The old Realistic radio shacks were really good radios. The ones that I have say Uniden on the inside. Dont know to much about the RS radios that actually say Radio Shack on them? |
Ibacbfreq
Junior Member
Username: Ibacbfreq
Post Number: 27
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 8:21 am: |
|
Hotwire: The TRC 47 And 48 have the best [not the loudest]audio of those I listed 'cept for the CPI'S |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2516
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 10:53 am: |
|
Trc-47 hummmmmm
Yep we all know 23's are better and more powerfull this rumor still goes on after 25 years. You want a good radio there are lots of them out there ..... Yep they are 40 ch but i will not hold that against them. NO TRUTH to the old 23's were better just like some old HAM radios they grow better as the years go on .... Now where did i put my CB-1 and thoes 6 and 2 meter lunch boxes ...... DANG MOONBOUNCE contest is comming and I need to be ready! |
Hotwire
Intermediate Member
Username: Hotwire
Post Number: 322
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 1:11 pm: |
|
My favorite Realistic is my TRC 30A Navoho 23 channel but I converted to have 40 with a few extras. Used a couple on off switches in the back. Sounds really good with a D 104 and a little better with the RS desk mic. Cant turn the D104 up only a qaurter turn or I get feedback. Big base station sound and does so good barefoot I never use more wattage. I just like to keep it hooked up to play once in a while. Now I really get a kick out of my old Courrier Ranger tube base. Just remarkable to have fun with. Such a rich sounding reciever. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2518
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 1:42 pm: |
|
Hotwire ....
When i moved i junked 45, 23 ch radios 2 were TRC-30's mint that i had since 75 but after 15 years of sitting in my garage like the rest they went to the dump ...... sorry |
Ibacbfreq
Junior Member
Username: Ibacbfreq
Post Number: 30
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 4:55 pm: |
|
Bruce:I have no idea how you got from my post that I think 23's are better and more powerfull than any other. I even said in my post that they were"[not the loudest]". You have responded to better than 50% of my post's and have been condesending with most of your responces. I think you asume things about me, with no basis for those asumptions.[other than my spelling LOL] So I thought I would set you straght, 98% of the time I do not transmit on the CB40 with anything other than type accepted gear. I do not tx on ham bands that I am not ticketed for. Thank you for reading all of my post's and have a nice day |
Ibacbfreq
Junior Member
Username: Ibacbfreq
Post Number: 31
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 5:05 pm: |
|
Hotwire: The rich tone on both TX-RX is what I was talking 'bout! I also like the idea of talking on gear that some others would just throw away, and sounding good doing it. 73's |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2521
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 7:23 pm: |
|
My comment was on the radio and the fact these 23's just keep comming up .... not on you. OVER AND OVER here you will see " 23's were banned because they were too good"
I will NEVER comment on others spelling ..... i live in a glass house when it comes to spelling. As for receivers depending on the radio it's about even only because no one tries to build a cb with the latest designs while in 1975 the 23's were close to state of the art .... in their day. The FCC increased the spects for transmitters and even the cheepest one today by law is cleaner that most 23's. PERSONLY i think the ban is stupid it's real intension was to get rid of the 23's as used sets and allow a clean market for the new 40's ...... that law went into effect on Jan 1 1978........ First time i ever saw a intire service outlawed..... hopefully the last. |
Crackerjack
Intermediate Member
Username: Crackerjack
Post Number: 337
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 9:16 pm: |
|
Spelling? LOL....
I can't see the screen and keypad well enough to worry about it. With one eye, the keys are NOT where the appear to be. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 2522
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 10:45 pm: |
|
SPELLING AN'T MY BEST SUBJECT |
Starface
Junior Member
Username: Starface
Post Number: 34
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 3:30 am: |
|
I was 15 years old when I got my first CB radio. It was Christmas, 1975, and I had been bugging my parents for months to buy me one that I could use at home in Auburndale, Florida. My Mom, bless her heart, knew nothing of CB's, and bought me what would be considered the ‘bare bones minimum' unit; a Midland 23-channel AM radio with a stock mike, a 12-volt power supply, and a Radio Shack 1/4 wave ground plane. But at the time, I thought it was a Cadillac.
I first went on the air Christmas day. Immediately, I found out where the local CB operators hung out, and commenced to chatter away, calling people, and not using proper CB etiquette. I disrupted conversations, used truckers lingo all the time ----- something that was not appreciated by most of the locals, and I ---- well ---- simply talked too much. I was a 15-year old, royal pain in the butt. And in the beginning, it hurt me in establishing a relationship with these people.
Fortunately, a lot of other people got CB radios at Christmas. Thankfully, they were adults, and after a few days, I began to listen how they were struggling with this new (to them) communications medium. I also noticed that some of the locals who initially shunned me and refused to speak more than a few words, would respond to the others. So, for the first time, I began to emulate the adults, and calmed down a bit.
Among the first people I ‘talked' to were actually the ones who became some of my best friends.
All these guys were new to CB, and we bonded not so much as friends, but as greenhorn CB ers
As I spent more and more time on my radio, I learned that CB in Polk County was very well structured. Every small town had their own channel where the locals would congregate. In Polk County(Auburndale), that was Channel-21.
And then later in years when 40 channels came out is now 34.
For the first six months of the my CB career, I only knew of 23-channels, and AM. Then, the FCC opened channels 24-40. And I also learned about a thing called single sideband, and a device called a ‘footwarmer.' I actually thought that folks had this big, hot box down on the floor by their feet. It was around this time that I learned my best friend in high school was a SSB operator, and a DXer with a ‘footwarmer.'
I also began to attend ‘coffee breaks' sponsored by the local REACT unit. My Best Friend and I would ride our bike's to these events, and I'd meet some of the people I heard on the radio. It was an absolute blast to do this, and I had a ball. I was able to meet some of the most popular CBers in the region. And to me, some of those guys were like heroes. I accorded them the respect they deserved. In return, they appreciated, and finally accepted me.
Those meetings also got me invitations to visit their homes and see their radio equipment, which, by that time, I was taking great interest in. My best friend had a 100-watt amplifier that was a homemade deal that looked absolutely horrible ---- a "deathtrap" he called it, since all the electronics and high-power capacitors were all in the open.
Around this time, I met Hoppy, My friend and I cruised up to his house in Winter Haven. There, I was introduced to an entire new world of CB. I was introduced to a Siltronix 1011D. ‘Wow' was the only thing I could utter. It was the most beautiful piece of equipment I had seen in my life. I must have asked 200 questions about that radio. Finally, I talked him in to letting me talk on it. There was no DX running that day, so he tuned it to Channel-21, the ‘Polk County Channel,' and I made contacts with several people I knew. These people knew right away I wasn't talking from my base station with that 1/4 wave ground plane. This time, I was pinning their s-meters. I felt proud. And it did nothing but whet my appetite for more.
At the time, one of the biggest, most popular CB operators in the entire county. I can't recall his name, but his handle is one I will never forget; it was ‘Black Smoke.' As a young, impressionable CBer, I had heard ‘Black Smoke' on Channel-6 for months. But because so many other stations tried to contact him, I never made it, even though he had the equipment to hear me. One day, I finally made contact with him, and thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. The day before, I had heard him say that he had just erected twin Wilson Super Lasers. I mentioned to him that I would love to see them. To my surprise, he invited me to stop by one weekend, and to just "come and knock on my door.
That next weekend, I went for a little ride. I had a general idea where he lived, but were not 100% sure. But, I was 100% sure when I came to a clearing, and there, next to his brick ranch house, was a section of commercial broadcast tower 36-feet into the air.
On each side was duel, 16-element Super Lasers. The mast sat upon a rotator that was the size of a 20-gallon garbage can (it was a military rotor).
I stopped, and as he invited me to do, I knocked on his door. I introduced myself, stuck out my hand, and he shook it. His warm smile and friendly attitude made me feel instantly welcome.
There, I went to his radio room to what must have been the most unassuming radio station I ever saw.
I had visions of walking into this room with equipment from wall-to-wall.
I was aghast when I was led to a small section of his radio room where, sitting atop an old milk crate, was a Cobra 40-channel AM mobile radio with a stock mike, and no cover. Next to it, on the floor, was a 2000-watt linear amplifier. Next to the linear, on the floor, was a single SWR/Power meter and the rotor control. He told me he had just sold a brand new Browning Golden Eagle Mark IV because "It was just too much for just talking around town." It was odd, I thought, that he got rid of a Cadillac radio because it was "too much," yet he probably had $5000 invested in those beams, the tower (he said he paid $3000 for the tower from some antenna company in Washington, DC that dismantled an old AM broadcast tower) and the rotor.
Black Smoke never talked SSB. And he had absolutely no interest in DX. All this power, and those two SuperLasers on that tower, were there just so that he could talk to his friends and keep in touch with his work crews (he owned a construction company) in the area. He cursed DXers that operated on Channel 6, his monitor channel. Sometimes, he said, he would crank up his amplifier, and turn his beams towards Washington, DC where he would whistle country songs for a few minutes and, quoting here, "drive them boys batty."
That summer, I worked some odd jobs to buy me a bigger and better radio and antenna.
I picked up my new Cobra 139 and a Hy-Gain Super Penetrator 5/8 wave antenna, and brought it home. I got both for less than $200 ----- a bargain on the radio because it was a 23-channel, and with the new 40-channels opening up, it was at a discount price. Later, I bought a switchkit that a friend of mine installed, giving me the 40-channels with some ‘slide' capability. It was then that I left the AM bands for the excitement of SSB.
With my new SSB rig, I naturally spent most of the time working --- or, should I say ---- trying to work --- DX. I was still barefoot. And I was only using a ground plane. Oh, I made some contacts, but they were few and far between. I was at a distinct disadvantage. But that was my fault because I was working bands that were open to other CBers, and I was getting trounced in all the QRM. Later that summer, my friend Jim sold me his homebrew linear amplifier for $80. It was a 100-watt affair that would have killed you had you brushed the top where all the capacitors and the coils were. It was a pain the butt to operate, too. Just before you keyed your mike, you had to flip a switch on the unit to energize the plates on the two 6JE6 tubes. But I didn't care at the time. I had ‘heat' now, and I used it to increase my QSL card collection, which rapidly grew from a modest dozen, to over 400 by the end of the summer. Two walls in my bedroom were ---- much to the chagrin of my parents ---- covered with cards. I was spending about $20 a week in postage alone. And when the propagation extended to Europe, those bills doubled.
By the time I turned 16,I was organizing my own ‘coffee breaks,' where the locals could get together for some fun and pleasant conversation.
My first year as a CBer was one of the happiest times of my life. For a 15-year old boy who was failing in school, it greatly elevated my self esteem, and taught me some valuable lessons that would stay with me for the rest of my life. With my status as a CBer elevated, it helped keep my behavior in-check, and motivated me to be more courteous and professional in my on-air conduct. As that improved, so did my status and the respect that was shown to me by the Cber's. It laid the foundation for what awaited me the following year.
CEF#476
Starface
Auburndale, Florida
|
Mkyhmltn
New member
Username: Mkyhmltn
Post Number: 5
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 3:40 am: |
|
First radio? Hmm, Well the first radio i remember having is a cobra 32XLR that i got from a freind back in 87. I put it in a 68 chevy truck with a 4' firestick, boy do I miss that radio. Then I moved up to a Cobra 142GTL with a 5/8 wave on a 36' pushup with a 10' pole on top. went through multiple mobile radio's untill now I am on my 3rd an 4th Emperor TS5010's one in my mobile and one on the shelf in the closet. At least until I get back to the states when I hope to get a base est up again. |
Scooterman
New member
Username: Scooterman
Post Number: 1
Registered: 3-2012
| | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 3:12 am: |
|
First radio was a Johnson messenger III in 1969 with a 102" S.S. whip. We used handles back then because licenses were expensive somewhat difficult to get. We formed volunteer search and rescue service just so we could have the radios. Other interest include archery, hunting and fishing for food gathering, and motorcycles. |
|
