so what is YOUR story?

[K8YS]

bare the soul time; I was a CB'er, actually, we were called "HF'ers". Back on 1975 or so, there were a bunch of us that were all SSB'ers and would go to 27.355 to practice code. Today, 27.355 is a legal channel, back then it was not. Luckily, I was out of town when the FCC swept in and caught a bunch of the guys.. funny thing is, they are all hams now.

I got my ham license in 1977 and I think that I can count the number of times that I have actually - intentionally, listened to CB on one hand.

The way I see it, when you move to the better neighborhood, you leave the junk car on blocks and the fridge on the front porch behind.

I would bet that anyone licensed since 1974 had been a CBer before they got interested in ham radio.


http://www.k8ys.us/images/churchsign.jpg

[kc2orw]

Never was a ________ but love the artwork :lol:

[kd6nig]

CB from about age 14ish to age 19.

Where I lived in Northern California, CB channel 21 was the one me and a good portion of my buddies ran. Instead of sitting on the phone, we had a party line of sorts going on 21 every evening. Ran Radio Shack CB's-one in my bedroom on a power supply with the infamous "mag mount on a metal plate" out the window and up on the roof. The other one in the car with a magmount R/S, later replaced by a nice, massive Wilson 1000. My Ford Escort looks like a radio controlled car with it on the top (of course!).

Senior Year of high school the Ham living behind me introduces me to 2m and me and 2 of my friends go for our licenses. It supplements the CB-Most of the group is still on 21. When I'm out driving around, 21 is on. I graduate, head to the Bay Area for tech school, and hear what CB really is. The remote control car look goes away within 6 months.

I still have to this day the R/S radio I ran in my car. It no longer transmits, but I have it here hooked to an old antenna and turn it on 17 on occasion. Still receives the madness fine.

Oh, and I never owned a leeneyar, though I did have a friend (who incidentally I convinced to go ham pretty easily) who had a small one. I would be lying if I said I never talked on his setup. Met him towards the end, in the Bay Area.

When I pulled my CB in favor of a 2m Alinco mobile, he sold his station to a fellow CB'r to get his mobile setup and a HT. Except for listening now on the Yaesu and the old R/S, no more participation on 11M. Haven't transmitted on there since I graduated tech school in 1994-actually, even before that... Dang. Thats been a long time.

I'm sure if I had to pick up the microphone and "talk the talk" I probably still could. I mean, to a ham op, a lot of the things CB'rs say is quite annoying, but there are some people who still get out there, have some booze (I assume) and can just rattle stuff off that, sometimes, you just have to laugh at. At least its staying on 11m.

I don't regret leaving though. But if you like conflict, its still the place to be, I suppose. I'm glad to be where there is at least some semblance of order. But I still listen on occasion-I won't lie. I'm still shocked to this day about some of the topics people discuss on CB. I found out in High School that it wasn't the hard way-was talking to my buddy one night about this girl I liked in school. Imagine the shades of red I turned when he got a phone call from her friend-telling him that they were monitoring the entire conversation on her dad's setup! OOPS. I've heard much worse, thankfully. And at least up there, except for us, at night it was quiet (and semi-private, since not a bunch of people had CB's up there). During the day, it was ok for car to car, but conditions always allowed for "skipland" to be S-8, so the squelch was way up during the day (and the one in my room was turned off till nightfall, usually).

Oh, and we played "rabbit" when we were in High School too. You know, hide and seek with CB's. You ask for deadkeys, see what the meter says, use it to track the person down. 30 minute time limit, one hint given with 5 minutes left. The person who finds the rabbit is the rabbit next, if the rabbit isn't found, they get to rehide.

Played that almost every Friday night after work. The cops knew we did this and as long as we drove legal, were cool with it. Only one friend ever got stopped-by the local CHP officer because he took off out of the parking lot with his lights off-DOH! Other than that, was fun, better than being out doing other stupid stuff like I see nowadays. Was a small town though-wouldn't even think about it in a major city :)

At that age and with my cash flow....it was perfect. Especially being up there and away from the noisy city. Perfect teenager partyline. I had fun, I'll admit. When I found out the reality of it.....it stopped being fun and I abandoned it for the better side of things. I still listen though, for entertainment sometimes, but mostly as a reminder-I don't regret my departure on the transmit side one bit.

Oh, and I know you'll ask, I was the "Viper" in the "Blue Bullet Mobile." (Blue Ford Escort)

[N2RJ]

Never was a ________ but love the artwork :lol:

http://www.churchsigngenerator.com


Never was a hobbyist CBer.

We did have CB's but we used them for their intended purpose.

My uncle was a hobbyist CBer, though.

[kc2orw]

Never was a ________ but love the artwork :lol:

http://www.churchsigngenerator.com


Cool 8) fun stuff :o

[rot]

I am a victim of a busted condom.
My dad payed dearly with lost tools and stuff that could be taken apart.
I loved springs in clocks
And the OM showed me many.
Never could get them things to work right.
So...
Here I am.
rot

[N2RJ]

I am a victim of a busted condom.
My dad payed dearly with lost tools and stuff that could be taken apart.
I loved springs in clocks
And the OM showed me many.
Never could get them things to work right.
So...
Here I am.
rot

Lucky you, at least your OM cared to show you stuff!!

I love my dad, but I wish he was more there for me in my teenage years...

[w3sy]

My brother got me interested in CB in 1968. He dropped out within months, but I carried on. We were all pretty legal back then -- 5 watts, 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off.... Stayed on the "station-to-station" channels... used callsigns. Only thing we stretched a tad was the forbidden "hobby use" (that is, ragchewing). Some of the locals got pink slips when the FCC came to town. Not me, though.

I met a couple CB'ers who were hams, and they got me interested in hamming. Got my Novice in 1970 and that was that.

Oh, I tried to use CB in the car in the 70's and again in the 80's when I was too cheap to buy a two meter CB rig. But I was put off by the inability to get road directions or assistance of any kind from the 11 meter lids.

Typical scenario:

Me: "Break one-nine. I have a motorist who is off to the side of the road, out of gas. Can anyone make a phone call for me?"

Unknown lid at 20 over S9: "HOW ABOUT YA, MISTER SNUFFSKEETA! MERCY, HOW ABOUT THAT SNUFFSKEETA ONE TIME, MMMBREAK MMMBREAK MMMMM BROKE! YOU GOT THE ONE CANNONBALL TRYIN' FOR YA ONE TIME BREAKBROKE!"

Another:

Me: "Break one nine for local directions. Does highway 9 go to highway 15?"

Unknown lid: "Get the #@$% outta there, ya cotton pickin' &@$$#"

I've always agreed that there are LOTS of intellegent CB'ers who are courteous, skilled operators -- but you never hear them because the lids drown them out. HAW!

[kc7jty]

I still am a CBer.

[K8YS]

I still am a CBer.

I have a serious question for you..

WHY ARE YOU STILL PLAYING AROUND ON THE CHILDRENS BAND?

No, serioulsy, you have a ham ticket, I've not looked at your license class, but it is NOT that difficult to upgrade. Hell, the FCC give the questions and the answers to all of thier exams, the next logical step will be to allow "open book tests".

As a VE, I see some realllllllyyyyyyy STUPID, box of rocks, you need to lead them to dinner 'cause they are too stooopid to find it on thier own, types getting General and Amateur Extra class licenses.

Why be limited to under 500KHz of bandwidth with all the noise pollution when you can have MegaHertz of spectrum.

Why be limited to A3 and A3J with there are some really neat methods of communications, I am 90% PSK, 3% RTTY and whenever is left over is CW, FM on UHF, or backpack radio.

Gear is cheap these days, you can pick up a good used Drake TR4 with power supply for about $230.00 - OK so it is ham bands only, pre-WARC, but they are still stable enough to run PSK31... no, they cannot be "freebanded" or modified for CB - although, I have see that one done before, but that is a different story.

If it is that friends are not on ham radio, well, get out there and help them get a license - unless they are real losers and the (amateur) world would be better off if they are not heard or seen.



http://usera.imagecave.com/k8ys/speakyenglish.jpg

[n4aud]

I was never a CB'er. My old man had one that came with a combo am/fm/8 track/cb in a '79 Scout. I never owned one until I became a ham. Got it for 5 bucks, simply out of curiosity. Listened a couple of times, and there it sits in the junk box. It works perfectly, but I have no interest in what I've heard on that thing. I've been hoping someone like my son or brother would mention they'd like to have one. I'd fix them right up!

[n4aud]

While I'm on the subject...
The IDEA of CB is a good one... common person can have a radio for local communications, open to anyone, meet people and have fun. The problem is in the reality, and at least around here the scumbags rule and regular people can't use the CB for it's intended purpose and damn sure don't want one if they have kids around...unless they don't care what kind of language their kids are exposed to, in which case I guess it's fine.
If there were SOME enforcement, CB could be a LOT better. Without it, it sucks.

[K8YS]

While I'm on the subject...
The IDEA of CB is a good one... common person can have a radio for local communications, open to anyone, meet people and have fun. The problem is in the reality, and at least around here the scumbags rule and regular people can't use the CB for it's intended purpose and damn sure don't want one if they have kids around...unless they don't care what kind of language their kids are exposed to, in which case I guess it's fine.
If there were SOME enforcement, CB could be a LOT better. Without it, it sucks.


I agree! The idea of personal communications is - well, it is AMERICAN.

I've been places where the masses are forbidden access to personal communications, they also do not allow civilian air either, but every Chinaman has a cell phone stuck in the ear. I guess that they do not have judges blocking monitoring.

[kc7jty]

I still am a CBer.

I have a serious question for you..

WHY ARE YOU STILL PLAYING AROUND ON THE CHILDRENS BAND?

No, serioulsy, you have a ham ticket, I've not looked at your license class, but it is NOT that difficult to upgrade. Hell, the FCC give the questions and the answers to all of thier exams, the next logical step will be to allow "open book tests".

As a VE, I see some realllllllyyyyyyy STUPID, box of rocks, you need to lead them to dinner 'cause they are too stooopid to find it on thier own, types getting General and Amateur Extra class licenses.

Why be limited to under 500KHz of bandwidth with all the noise pollution when you can have MegaHertz of spectrum.

Why be limited to A3 and A3J with there are some really neat methods of communications, I am 90% PSK, 3% RTTY and whenever is left over is CW, FM on UHF, or backpack radio.

Gear is cheap these days, you can pick up a good used Drake TR4 with power supply for about $230.00 - OK so it is ham bands only, pre-WARC, but they are still stable enough to run PSK31... no, they cannot be "freebanded" or modified for CB - although, I have see that one done before, but that is a different story.

If it is that friends are not on ham radio, well, get out there and help them get a license - unless they are real losers and the (amateur) world would be better off if they are not heard or seen.



http://usera.imagecave.com/k8ys/speakyenglish.jpg
I forgive you for you don't know me. If you did you'd either ignore me or be very careful of your replies.
I don't allow the status quo to regulate my velocity through life. I call all the shots and with great joy poke back at those who take things way too seriously.
I learned at a very early age I possess a unique ability to piss everybody off by simply being myself, and I love it.
my current CB handle is "radio free dogpatch".

[AK7V]

Here's my radio odyssey so far, from naive illegal CBer to Amateur Extra: :D

Neither of my parents were interested in anything technical or electronic. I always was, and spent a lot of time tinkering with computers, Radio Shack electronics kits, shortwave radio, etc. We had a neighbor who was a freebander -- had a 300w CB amp, a small tower, etc. When he learned I was into electronics (I was probably 12 or 13 at the time), he gave me an old CB radio with SSB capability and a mag-mount antenna. I brought it with us on family car trips and chatted with whomever would entertain a kid. I remember once talking to someone in Idaho from northern California - I was amazed. I also heard people in Florida. Very cool. The neighbor moved away but first gave me an amp and I used it with the mag mount sitting on the floor in my bedroom - no ground plane. I got bit by the mic constantly and made very few contacts. I guess I sorta, kinda had a freeband Elmer for a while. :)

We had a family friend who was a ham. He and I were talking about radio and he explained that what I had been doing was illegal, and that I should get into _real_ radio and become a ham. He told me about contacts around the world, Morse code, etc. I was fascinated. He lent me a Heathkit SB-102 and he and my dad put a 40m inverted vee up on the roof. He didn't give me a key or mic, but I wasn't going to break the law anyway - I was a "good kid" and put the CB stuff away immediately.

I listened to the radio pretty often, but got busy with school, music, work, girls, etc. and didn't get around to taking a ham test until I was 17 (I was prompted by the Northridge earthquake, which effected our family pretty strongly). I took the NCT test, passed (KE6MHV), and bought a Kenwood TH-79A as my first rig. "Now You're Talking" was my study guide -- provided by our family friend, along with the ARRL Handbook and Antenna book. Very generous gifts.

I left for college and played around with the HT a bit on the W8UM repeater. After my first semester of freshman year, I got very ill and had to go home. I was bored to tears so I decided to do what I had wanted to do for a while -- learn Morse code and get on that nice HF radio sitting in my room. So I spent about a month practicing code with tapes, on-air listening, and SuperMorse. I read the ARRL Handbook and tried to read the Antenna Handbook (it was mostly beyond my patience at the time). I had the help and encouragement of another Elmer I met that summer while playing with local Packet BBSes. I passed the 13wpm (figured I'd try all tests that session - 20 [failed], 13 [passed], and would have taken 5 if needed) and got my General class license. I operated CW on 40m every night for a month, re-read parts of the Handbook so that I felt comfortable taking the monster test- Advanced - and then went back to the VE. I figured I'd take the 20wpm test, too, since I was there, and I passed it. I passed the Advanced theory and the VE suggested I take the Extra (since I was there, of course). So I took the Extra theory exam and passed it as well. So I walked out an Amateur Extra (AC6XA) and feeling on top of the world, despite being pumped full of annoying medications and only a couple months out of major surgery.

I operated a ton that summer, including Field Day with a club as their CW op, but when I went back to school, I stopped. I got back on the air during summer breaks when home, but as time went on I came home less, parents took down the radio, etc. etc. Was QRT for several years until deciding to get back into it as a QRPer a few years ago. Been QRT the last year and maybe further into the future because of more school, finances, QTH limitations, etc. I try to play with MorseRunner software now and then to keep my CW copying relatively up-to-snuff.

I look forward to getting back on the air and doing more CW rag chews, DXing, and contests.

So that's the short version. :lol:

[W4KLB]

:D started my cb in 71/kgp6192 yes a call sign fcc supplyed.. started with a white face johnson , earned money by building rf amps and selling them no 11 meters, all amature stuff
used the money to down pay a house and by a browning eagle mk3 12 am 25 ssb leagle for year. still have it in atic, went to SE aisia stoped my radeo carer till this march had back surgery, budy who had buged me for years said good study this gave me a tec book took test that weekend pased took gen 2 weeks later will take xtra when i get the money. oh by the way i am a cetified radio tec radar endorsed, never used ..factory authorized tv teck retired medicaly
in july 75 , i'm 100% disabled / so i spend to much time on the radio..
have a icom ic-735 repaired lightnig, ic 229, moble repaired finals, alinco dr599 wating on 2 meter parts uhf working ok. all my antenas i built my self, ps i have a vibroplexkey#260028
originaly owned by N0N8 and then W4BPI, possom # 3321

7 3

[kc7jty]

my call was kavv 8007, freeby thanks to Lady Bird.

[K8YS]

I forgive you for you don't know me. If you did you'd either ignore me or be very careful of your replies.
I don't allow the status quo to regulate my velocity through life. I call all the shots and with great joy poke back at those who take things way too seriously.
I learned at a very early age I possess a unique ability to piss everybody off by simply being myself, and I love it.
my current CB handle is "radio free dogpatch".

Oh, I get it now, you are one of those guys that someone will drive 1500 miles to physically confront.

[kc7jty]

Oh, I get it now, you are one of those guys that someone will drive 1500 miles to physically confront.
Looks like there is a bit of CB in you to have a thought like that.

Are you banned on the zedster? Whadja do p in the oats?

My Story:

Became WN0RXE in January, 1976. This began my radio career.
WB0RXE in August, 1976,
KY0J in May, 1983,
WB5L in July, 1986,
N9XR in December, 2000.

Like many others I started out on 11 meters when I was about 10 years old in 1974. Got my ham ticket in very early 1978 when I was 13 and the rest is history.

[w3sy]

I still am a CBer.

I have a serious question for you..

WHY ARE YOU STILL PLAYING AROUND ON THE CHILDRENS BAND?

No, serioulsy, you have a ham ticket, I've not looked at your license class, but it is NOT that difficult to upgrade. Hell, the FCC give the questions and the answers to all of thier exams, the next logical step will be to allow "open book tests".

As a VE, I see some realllllllyyyyyyy STUPID, box of rocks, you need to lead them to dinner 'cause they are too stooopid to find it on thier own, types getting General and Amateur Extra class licenses.

Why be limited to under 500KHz of bandwidth with all the noise pollution when you can have MegaHertz of spectrum.

Why be limited to A3 and A3J with there are some really neat methods of communications, I am 90% PSK, 3% RTTY and whenever is left over is CW, FM on UHF, or backpack radio.

Gear is cheap these days, you can pick up a good used Drake TR4 with power supply for about $230.00 - OK so it is ham bands only, pre-WARC, but they are still stable enough to run PSK31... no, they cannot be "freebanded" or modified for CB - although, I have see that one done before, but that is a different story.

If it is that friends are not on ham radio, well, get out there and help them get a license - unless they are real losers and the (amateur) world would be better off if they are not heard or seen.



http://usera.imagecave.com/k8ys/speakyenglish.jpg

Sounds like what I've been preaching for umpteen gazillion years, dood. Problem is that CB'ers got their NCT, got on 2 meter FM repeaters, and said "What the $#!t is this??" And most of the 2 meter repeaters around here are deadsville except for morning and evening drive time. No damn wonder so many newboids still think CB is better.

Well, now that the code requirement is gone, at least all the "differently code enabled" can get on HF by just taking another written test or two. No more effin' excuses. And you are right -- PSK, SSB, SSTV, DX... it's all out there on HF. It's there for the taking.

[w3sy]

my call was kavv 8007, freeby thanks to Lady Bird.

I was KBV7758 (actually my father was the licensee -- you had to be of age!) and later KAKZ8710.

[K8YS]

my call was kavv 8007, freeby thanks to Lady Bird.

I was KBV7758 (actually my father was the licensee -- you had to be of age!) and later KAKZ8710.

KDO2824 - 1972
My GMRS was KAE6564

[N3ATS]

Okay here goes...

When I was a kid my friend had a pair of 49 MHz talkies (that weren't worth a good shite), and we used to play with them, playing army. I musta been around 8 years old.

So...

In 1984 (or thereabouts), my father bought me two Radio Shack 3 channel, 1 watt CB walkie talkies for my birthday. They were crystallized radios and I had Channels 9, 14, and 19 in them.

Fast forward to 1988, I was a Freshman in H.S. and a kid to the rear of me had a shortwave receiver and a couple of CB's. We would set up skeds to yack back and forth after school. I was still using the radio's my dad bought me. I went to his place a few times to listen to the receiver, but lost interest in that soon.

Fast forward to 1993. I was out of school and another dude I went to school with had a Cobra 142 GTL base station in his room. I helped him put up a Big Stik antenna and we would yack back and forth. He gave me a R.S. CB to put in my car and he had the exact same model in his truck. Darn good little radios they were. 40 channel, straight AM.

I loved radio. I befriended some local CB'ers, mostly old folks who would yack on 17 or 27 at night. "Shaky" gave me my first 5/8 wave ground plane with about 75' of RG-8. I bought a 3 channel Sears SSB radio from him. It was a mobile but it also plugged into AC. So I had my first base station.

Things were great until...

Mark, aka "Wizard", showed my his HR2510 and his LDO 100W (two MRF455s) amp in his truck.

He had "extra" channels, he could go from 26.000 - 29.700, and would often go "somewhere else" to talk to people when he wanted privacy. Well I wasn't to be outdone, so Santa brought me one for Christmas in 1993. Next came the Antron 99 and the Pyramid PS26K power supply. I had a lot of fun, but mostly stayed on the regular 40 with the exception of the "A" (RC) channels from time to time. I also bought Mark's 100W amp after he bought a Texas Star DX667V (650 watts).

As things progressed I eventually bought a RCI2950 and put it in my car, a Galaxy 88, and I had a P.O.S. Royce 40 channel AM base that I gave to a friend of mine just so we could talk.

The same kid who gave me my first AM mobile was also a member of the fire company and he talked me into joining. That REALLY set me off because I was amazed listening to the dispatchers. One thing led to another and I applied for and got the job as a County Fire, Police, and EMS dispatcher. This was 1994.

Eventually I moved out of my parents house into a trailer with a buddy of mine. I bought the other guys 142GTL, and this is when things got ugly. I wanted to be loud on the CB, so I removed the ALC circuit from every radio I had, used an amplified microphone, AND the LDO 100 watt amp that I bought from Mark. I used it ALL the time, even to talk local from a hill with my Antron 99.

I pissed A LOT of people off with that setup! I didn't realize how annoying I was with it. I was tearing up CB QSOs on the entire regular 40 band. After a local old fart plugged my ears with his Gizmotchy beam pointed at my house and an open mic, I finally got the message. If you can't hear, you can't play radio!

I played CB for while then gave it up for several years while I learned that getting drunk was far more fun!

It's now 2000, and I bought my own house. A new Antron 99 went up and the HR2510 was setup in my downstairs computer room (soon to be my hamshack again when I get it finished). I talked to the locals, but most of them died or gave up the hobby, and the usual crew I hung out with was gone too.

Then I discovered DXing. During the height of the last sunspot cycle I talked all over the nation on 27.385 LSB with my HR2510 from home. I really enjoyed it. I kept logs, put thumbtacks into maps, and all that. I decided to start looking into ham radio. I even tried to learn Morse code, but I wasn't serious enough about it.

Over the years I started a SSB club, had my own CB forum, and all that. But something was missing. I just couldn't find the right kind of people to do radio with on the CB.

In 2003, I applied for, and got the position of radio technician with the County 911 center. Myself and four others maintained all of the radio infrastructure, and this is how I really learned a lot about radio.

In 2005, I took the plunge. I passed the Technician test and shortly thereafter passed Element 1 and the General written.

I gave up CB radio for good and never looked back. So far being a ham has so much more to offer, and I have learned an awful lot!

Of ALL the people I hung out with on the CB, I am the only one who became a ham.

I still have the Cobra 142GTL, the HR2510, and the LDO 100 Watt amp!

[VE7NOT]

Oh must I post this again.. :P

Started with 49MHz walkie-talikes. Played with my dad's marine radio (quite illegal too hihi)

After a roadtrip gone bad I got to see how useful CB could be and watching smokey and the bandit a few weeks later got me hooked. I dived into CB. At the time (mid90's) there was a huge crowd on 21 am. After I had set up my parents/relatives vehicles with cbs, gotten a good base station (A simple trc-492 on a 5/8 groundplane) and fitted a few friends with radios we used 15 but would come to 21 to yak with the locals.

It was clean. We never swore.

But the sunspot cycle of 97 killed us off. See I was just starting to get in ssb on the side when it opened and soon every winter day was s-20 over 9 of skip on am. Forget it!

I tried ssb dx for a while but it never had the same fun. I also was starting a family by then and alot of radio stuff went in the closet despite my getting my ham ticket in 98.

2m was no fun. I found repeaters boring.

Years later... 2004

The skip cycle died down... the morse exam was dropped in canada...

I got back on the air. First with cb. Everyone was on ssb now and most were hams.

Then after learning I had HF I quickly jumped into it. Ham became primary/cb secondary. We started using cb for family communication.

The building I'm in now has had multiple complaints of interference from my imax2000. (Yes 12w pep and 4w rms) Thus I have changed the family communication to gmrs (if people on qrz saw this they would be calling IC right now)

I still use 11m for ssb in evenings and for helpig travelers/truckers in summer.

Primary I'm a ham now.

AM CB handle Bandit

GMRS handle Bandit

CB SSB numbers Radios Canada 227, 9-RSN-227

[KC8FKS]

OH NO!!!!!!
You admit to using a C.B., they will never treat you the same again...lol.
Good for you, use the band that makes you happy and enjoy it!

[w3sy]

OH NO!!!!!!
You admit to using a C.B., they will never treat you the same again...lol.
Good for you, use the band that makes you happy and enjoy it!

I definitely agree. If CB makes you happy, you BELONG there. HAW!

Luckily, these days, many people have their choice between 11 meter CB and 2 meter CB.

[N2NH]

Hm, well, when I was 12, the OM got a CB. We had to wait a few months for the FCC to send the license and listened to his Lafayette HB-333 while waiting. Back then, except for a couple of channels, most of the other 23 were quiet. I operated under the OMs license until I got my own at 18.

I ended up with a Comstat 25A then got a Navaho 40 channel Sideband base when they expanded the band. A lot of CB'ers thought that they would end up with 100 channels and be right under 10 Meters but that never panned out. Stopped operating in 1979 - too many jerks on the band and the range had gone from 35 miles in 1965 to about 1/2 a mile in 1978.

Got my Novice and Tech in Jan of 1990 and never looked back. The only time I got on after that was to give a lost trucker some directions. :)

[KU4MY]

From my QRZ Bio -
"My interest in radio stretches back to when I was about 8 years old or so. As a Cub Scout I made my first crystal set and the bug hit me. I have been an avid SWL ever since then and have enjoyed keeping up with what goes on around the world and especially back home in the UK. As a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Miami, Florida, I, in addition the mandatory SSB CB rig, ran SW mobile."
-
Okay after playing Charlie Chicken Bander off an on as KAGH 1220, if I felt like rummaging through the crap packed up in storage and putting up an antenna. I would usually play, through the years, Evil Freeband CBer (WJ 2903), lingering between 27.405 and (ALWAYS below) 28MHz, especially during the right part of the solar cycles and when propo was good. It was a blast from when I was some where around 14 or so until I became burned out on it about 11 years ago.
At about the time I met fellow Islander KG4CGC, before he was KG4CGC, two other evil Freebanders and I decided to go for our tickets back in mid ’97 and we all tested and were licensed on the same day. I still talked to Charles, his better half and mine, as well as a couple of other folks (who are all also hams now, except for Charles’ better half) until Charles got his ticket and then I guess that was pretty much it for my CBing days. Those that still enjoy it, good for you. Those that live in places still inhabited by human beings and are actually able to find someone of intelligence to carry on a conversation with like KC7JTY, more power too ya. Unfortunately, by the time I left 11 meters over ten years ago, it had already died around these parts. No doubt it’s still a useful tool for truckers these days, but for me, it’s all a bunch of pleasant memories over almost a 25 year stretch of my life when things were just a bit different.

[KF5ER]

Well everybody is confessing so here my story.

I was a CBer in Long beach, CA. back in the 60's. Even got a licensee.

My CB buddy was a guy whose CB handle was 'horsefly', he lived a couple
of miles from me.

One night horsefly called me at 11:00pm, wanted me to come pick him up
at the Long Beach jail.

I went over and picked him up. He told me his story.

Now horsefly had a big, BIG, CB station. 50 foot tower, moonraker antenna, and a linear.

The FCC had evidently monitored him at some time. He said he had gotten a letter from
them but he didn't pay any attention cause wasn't nothing they could do to him.

Well they did. They showed up at his house with search warrants, made him go out
in the yard while they loaded all of his CB stuff in their van. He was arrested and
put in the Long Beach jail. He bonded out and I picked him up.

That ended my CB adventure. I sold my Navajo base and Lafayette mobile to
a guy at the Navy Base. I got transfered a few months later and
never found out what happened to horsefly after that.

[w3sy]

Stopped operating in 1979 - too many jerks on the band and the range had gone from 35 miles in 1965 to about 1/2 a mile in 1978.

Got my Novice and Tech in Jan of 1990 and never looked back.

Uh oh! You said there were too many jerks on CB! You are going to get NCT operator KC8FKS's nads in a noose!!

YOU CHICKENBAND HAYTAH!

haw....

Speaking as an Uppity Extree Class Hamster, it's amazing to see who "never looked back," and who still holds a strong loyalty to CB. Hey, I'm just SAYIN'......


Out!

[K8YS]

on one of the camping groups, the topic of no code vs know code came up. Here is the conversation that I had with some... well....




-----Original Message-----
From: <me>
Sent: Tuesday, 2007
To: 'dumpstation@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [dump] Morse Code requirement


An <xxxxxxxxxx> wrote this:

So anyone who did not want to wast their time learning something they would never use again after passing the test is an idiot.

You Sir are an Elitist.

You think you are better then everyone else because you wasted a lot of time and effert on something useless. Interesting.



------------------------------------------------------------------------


What he is really saying is that he is not a ham, he thinks that the morse requirement was a waste of time because he would never use it and that anyone that thinks that morse should still be required is an "elitist".

I've heard ALL this whiney cry baby stuff before. I've been a ham for 30 years, I've had a lot of fun because I've held a ham license, I have gotten jobs because of my knowledge of communications systems, and that ALL goes back to my desire to become a ham, I even worked for Yaesu Electronics only because I held a ham license. I've traveled to Guam and Hawaii only because I had a ham license - OK, so I was a Red Cross volunteer at the time, but 4 weeks of providing communications after a disaster was a FUN adventure.

All the things that I would have missed if I felt that learning morse code was a useless ordeal and I wanted to wait 30 years for the FCC to remove the requirement.

So Mr <xxxxxxxxxx>, to answer your question, I say this.... YES, you are damned right, I am an ELITIST, I am a member of a very elite club and it is too bad that you never wanted to join, you would have been welcome.

[kc7jty]

Morris code is for cats Baxter. 8)

[N2NH]

Stopped operating in 1979 - too many jerks on the band and the range had gone from 35 miles in 1965 to about 1/2 a mile in 1978.

Got my Novice and Tech in Jan of 1990 and never looked back.

Uh oh! You said there were too many jerks on CB! You are going to get NCT operator KC8FKS's nads in a noose!!

YOU CHICKENBAND HAYTAH!

haw....

Speaking as an Uppity Extree Class Hamster, it's amazing to see who "never looked back," and who still holds a strong loyalty to CB. Hey, I'm just SAYIN'......


Out!

Yeh, well, we did have a lot of fun, especially when they got rid of the license requirement. We'd do a night like Howard Stern, and Fridays resembled what Art Bell does now. One night, I mentioned the word "Ultra" and a voice from nowhere said, "DON'T USE THAT WORD!". Things got quiet and I asked why not? That person never spoke up again. A few years later, the MK-Ultra files were released. That convinced me.
:shock:

[KU4MY]

So what happened? Did you put them all to sleep or make them cluck like a chicken or what? :shock:

[N2NH]

So what happened? Did you put them all to sleep or make them cluck like a chicken or what? :shock:

Hm, well, for a couple of months, there was a police car parked where I could see him. One night about a week after I played 'Karn Evel 9' by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, one of the cops in the car did a 8 minute rendition on the siren at 2:30AM. It was very well done, but after a couple of years of strangeness like that, I finally got convinced that it was time to just leave it all behind.
:)

[KC8FKS]

Stopped operating in 1979 - too many jerks on the band and the range had gone from 35 miles in 1965 to about 1/2 a mile in 1978.

Got my Novice and Tech in Jan of 1990 and never looked back.

Uh oh! You said there were too many jerks on CB! You are going to get NCT operator KC8FKS's nads in a noose!!

YOU CHICKENBAND HAYTAH!

haw....

Speaking as an Uppity Extree Class Hamster, it's amazing to see who "never looked back," and who still holds a strong loyalty to CB. Hey, I'm just SAYIN'......


Out!



Yep, plenty of jerks on c.b., but plenty of jerks on te ham bands too.

[w3sy]

Stopped operating in 1979 - too many jerks on the band and the range had gone from 35 miles in 1965 to about 1/2 a mile in 1978.

Got my Novice and Tech in Jan of 1990 and never looked back.

Uh oh! You said there were too many jerks on CB! You are going to get NCT operator KC8FKS's nads in a noose!!

YOU CHICKENBAND HAYTAH!

haw....

Speaking as an Uppity Extree Class Hamster, it's amazing to see who "never looked back," and who still holds a strong loyalty to CB. Hey, I'm just SAYIN'......


Out!



Yep, plenty of jerks on c.b., but plenty of jerks on te ham bands too.

Reeeeeeeeaaaally??? Wow, you must be the first guy to suggest that.

Part of your problem might be that you are stuck on the 2 Meter CB -- whoooops, FM -- repeaters. Upgrade your way to HF and you'll see the Turd Percentage drop a bit. A lot of what I hear on the local repeaters sounds like CB without the cussin'.

HAW!

Tain foar?

[w2amr]

Got interested as a result of watching my uncle on the air.
I got on the air in 1960, age 15 with a heathkit CB lunchbox and a home brew 1/4 wave ground plane.
CB call 3W4483. License was in my dad's name, I was too young to have my own.
Spent a few years operating AM till deregulation and the good buddy Smokey bandit crowd drove me to channel 16 SSB.
Worked a few years on sideband till the good buddies discovered that.
Pulled a xtal out of my rig and plugged in an old Simpson signal generator in it's place. Operated for a while on unassigned frequencies 20 - 50 KCs above channel 23 on unassigned frequencies . When they expanded the band to 40 channels I quite.
Got my ham ticket in Feb. 87.

[K8YS]

Got interested as a result of watching my uncle on the air.
I got on the air in 1960, age 15 with a heathkit CB lunchbox and a home brew 1/4 wave ground plane.
CB call 3W4483. License was in my dad's name, I was too young to have my own.
Spent a few years operating AM till deregulation and the good buddy Smokey bandit crowd drove me to channel 16 SSB.
Worked a few years on sideband till the good buddies discovered that.
Pulled a xtal out of my rig and plugged in an old Simpson signal generator in it's place. Operated for a while on unassigned frequencies 20 - 50 KCs above channel 23 on unassigned frequencies . When they expanded the band to 40 channels I quite.
Got my ham ticket in Feb. 87.

never played on ch 16. After the truckers moved off ch 10, the SSB crowd in Louisville KY took over that channel. I was going to school in Low-vul at the time.

[w3sy]

RIDDLE:

Q: How can you tell when a Chickenbander is saying something stupid?

A: He's TALKING.

HAW haw haw haw....

[W5KLB]

ROT sez:


I am a victim of a busted condom.

Eh, that's nuth'n.

My Pah done did told me that eye was an experiment that FAILED.

Former CB call KAIM 1769

5 year ago, eye culdn't spelt "Amator" or "Extree." Now eye R 1. But eye passed that Morris, Sea Doubya deel.

Gud numburs two ya.

Gotta go take meye meds. Wait... was that a Chicken?

[KU4MY]

Wait... was that a Chicken?

:lol:

[n2ize]

I still am a CBer.



Gear is cheap these days, you can pick up a good used Drake TR4 with power supply for about $230.00 - OK so it is ham bands only, pre-WARC, but they are still stable enough to run PSK31... no, they cannot be "freebanded" or modified for CB - although, I have see that one done before, but that is a different story.


Most of my Ham equipment has CB on it. It was made that way. Between 10 and 15 meters the bandswitch has a notch labelled 11. So do most of my external vfo's.

Thats when they built rigs. They don't make em like that anymore.

[M0GLO]

Part of your problem might be that you are stuck on the 2 Meter CB -- whoooops, FM -- repeaters. Upgrade your way to HF and you'll see the Turd Percentage drop a bit. A lot of what I hear on the local repeaters sounds like CB without the cussin'.


14.275

'nuff said roger roger.

[n8ats]

well, started life on cb radio in 1993. my buddy had one in his bronco and it was fun to get on and heckle the drunks on channel 5 every day after school. decided this was way to much fun and had to get one of my own. i picked up an old Royce 619 am base with a d104 mic. this worked alright for the purposes i was doing at the time till i decided to heckle on 22am. this opened a radio career for me. these people were by far much higher quality than the drunks on 5. They had a local established cb club going on which carried rules regulations and such. No swearing punishable by fines, monthly meetings, we help with civil patrol in area, if you chose to run noise toys, echo suck there was an 8pm limit on using them use em after no one wanted to hear em all day. Conversation must be kept clean being kids were monitoring the airwaves. for a bunch of citizen bullsh!tters they did i right i have to say. but like all good things it must end and the club disolved in around 1998. well after that i started working on the road, upgraded to a 2510 for potable purposes and got bored and discovered ssb. mind you it was when skip was rolling really well. i fell in love lot less noise and ssb just seemed to work so much better. well in this mode, i pursued my tech license in 1996. i got it did not have a radio, but had the important part done. well a friend of mine did have a radio and we got int he habit of setting up a sked with a mutual friend that also had a license on a repeater. this was fine and dandy till he got into the habit of getting on their and talking when i was not around. he did not have a license. well a letter was sent chewing my ass about my apparent breach of protocol that I did and i was being reported to the fcc. This comment was made to me on the air as well as in the letter," We should have known better to talk to you being your never going to be anything better than a stupid cber" After that i could not get acknowledged on any local machine in essence they blackballed me. well then i said piss on it , got out of radio for quite a while preferred women booze and fast things. then one day the bug bit again around 99-2000 i picked up a Washington on a steal of a price, put up a big stick and started dxing again. never did go back to am. radios came and radios went, i also joined many ssb dx clubs, as the station got bigger. then one day the cycle died, i said i got all this money invested into radio now, and no one to talk to this will not work, so i sol the cb gear i had and picked up a kenwood ts440s. from then on i strung a wire and studied and passed my general. it was a happy day. i got home and was talking once again and i found the conversation very fulfilling. something i was missing rather than point shoot numbers bye. was general bout a year and went for the extra,( I hated looking at a band chart) Now did i leave cb behind? no i did not. I still admin in 1 of the groups, we we search the band looking for the best of the best on the 11 meter band. and it is funny to hear these people that take up the front in the war from the cb side that want to join the group saying i don't want to be a ham, but to enter the group the etiquette is exactly the same we look for same quality of operators. so the difference is the license. but go figure, out of a group of cb enthusiast 80 percent now hold an amateur license. so don't think all bad came fro there. there is a ton of good operators on there that follow the rules, strive to be set apart a little bit but sometimes just need a nudge in the right direction. guess that is kinda what i do.lol Flame on if you choose, but being i spend the time there, i am promoting amateur radio to a larger audience than a couple dopers down at the local gas station parking lot. 73 all from romeo tango 123upmichigan

[WV6Z]

Why do you hate dopers so much? :P

[mm0jvb]

i started out in the late 70,s when i was 13 with a realistic 40 ch am cb with a 7 ft firestick on a groundplained metal box, then got a ham major & a half wave silver rod base antenna,i worked a few european stations but gave it all up after 2 years, many years later my father was a trucker & had a fm cb & when his company said they couldnt use them in thier trucks i took it & put it in the house out of curiosity . i got an antron 99 & switched it on & started listening to all the fm cb idiots on it, i spoke to some locals who had decent radios ( yaesu , kenwood ) & were into dx ing, i liked the sound of it better than fm cb so i got a cobra 148-gtl dx & a 30 amp psu , i joined a local 11mtr dx club & eventually worked around 50 countries , i then upgraded to a kenwood ts690 then an icom 706 mk1 & finished with around about 153 countries confirmed on 11mtr. i cosidered myself a good operator who never swore or deliberately caused interference to other users & never really used the cb frequencies only 27.555 ssb . i still have friends from 11 mtr ssb in USA, & the balearic islands who i,ve visited , all very nice people who still email me daily , i am allways trying to convert my stateside friend to get his ham ticket he,s a retired new york fireman & if any you guys ever listen on 555 & your in the new york area his call is 2AT017 & his name is jim . GIVE HIM A KICK UP THE BACKSIDE & TELL HM TO GET HIS HAM TICKET. he doesn't know what hes missing !!! i 've not spoken to him on the radio for at least 6 years. i eventually met a few hams & sat my foundation exam, then passed my intermediate & then my full exam . ive never spoken on 11 mtr since 2001 & never will again . i never had the chance to get into real radio & had never even met a ham radio operator until 2002 . i wish i had the chance earlier to get into ham radio but i cant change the past & make no excuses for my missguided radio years BUT we ALL had to start somewere . from what i remember i think the operating standards on 11 mtr especially AT & SD members are no different to some of what i hear on 20 mtr i have actually heard a lot more bad operators on 20 mtr .HONEST!! , these guys in AT & SD are monitored before they are given a membership & any bad operating is usually reported & thier membership revoked if they are allowed a membership in the first place . i would also place a bet that at the very least 75% of all new hams in the UK spent thier early years on 27.555 & if the standard of operating that i ve heard is anything to go by on the ham bands especially 20 mtr i think 11 mtr is a good traning ground for anyone who wants to work internationally on a radio, it is a good confidence builder for dx operating.
JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION. :boohoo:
MM0JVB

[N2RJ]

Hi there Jim!

[mm0jvb]

hello hello ryan my friend.
i,m sure we will work again soon . your antenna is amazing.
but its only a dream for me to get something like that !!
when i do get one it'll probably be just after i've won the lottery
& bought myself those 2 new homes i,m after. one in the med
& the other in the gulf of mexico dont know which island to go for though. & you can come & help me put it up.& hey don't worry about the cost i'll be loaded & pay all your costs.
& while were here bring the family & make it a vacation in each of my new qth's.
mm0jvb

[k3td]

In 1970 I had a Lafayette Comsat 23B (I think?). That was when everyone used their FCC-assigned call sign, but things were already headed down hill. Other than chit chat with friends and an occasional message about road conditions there was nothing much going on. The 'cool guys' were on SSB but our radios were AM only.

After a short time my best friend Dave (now W3TD) and I got bored and decided to get our ham tickets. I was licensed in '72 as WA3TGR and Dave got WN3ZDF a year or so later. In the 1980s I worked for E. F. Johnson in the land mobile group and acquired the Viking 4740 AM/SSB 40 channel CB mobile that we submitted to the FCC for Type Acceptance in 1976 - it is serial number 000000 and still has the FCC tracking tag on it.

73,