10-20Kw, there abouts I'd hazard. You can sometimes get coronal discharge on UHF at about 150W.Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
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10-20Kw, there abouts I'd hazard. You can sometimes get coronal discharge on UHF at about 150W.Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Quote:
Originally Posted by kb2vxa
All Herman Munster got was a couple of kids playing space aliens!
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Let me put it thusly:Quote:
Originally Posted by kb2vxa
If - back in the "CB heyday" - you couldn't pull a different piece of trim at least weekly instead of nightly you were doing something horribly wrong.
Amateur radio was for the hard-core experimenter and professional RF geek.
Shortwave radio (SWBC listening in particular) was for the news and political affairs crowd.
Press RTTY monitoring was a combination of the two above. Not everyone had the technical acumen required to construct a demodulator; those who did and could intercept the transmissions were well ahead of the information curve.
GMRS and the other non public service/public safety radio services were for running a business.
CB radio was for getting laid, finding the nearest party...ministering to the heathens and generally making an ass out of one's self.
Scanner monitoring was for keeping localized tabs on what was occurring with the last two via PS dispatch callouts.
As soon as Compuserve hit the scene with its "CB simulator" and online dating facilities, people looking to hook up went there instead of dealing with the incessant roar of skip during the day or the incessant roar of drunk CBers at night.
Fun was to be had on the service, but people wanted a more anonymous way of going about it. The rest is history.
My CB "dating" went on day and night depending on which shift the OM worked.
I was more into MW and SW DXing and more than broadcast.
I didn't have a RTTY setup, but I did browse the TTY room at WERA during regular visits. There was pretty much what you see on TV today, about 10 minutes of news and the rest of the hour fluff and filler. Sometimes there were operator chats, those got rather interesting.
I used 3 scanners, two borrowed had local PD crystals, mine was a 16 channel programmable dedicated to FBI monitoring. It really got interesting when I put it in the car and became the man watching the man watching the man. "HI RHINO!" Heh heh heh heh.....
After a few years vacation from radio a couple of friends, one being Sue KB2SFH arm twisted me into becoming KB2VXA and the rest is another chapter in radio history. Scanning My Back Pages (Dylan) my self taught radio/electronics helped along by CB experimentation launched my two careers, much better than factory employment and Amateur Radio. The test was a snap BTW, the only thing I had to study were the frequency allocations and in 15 minutes I passed with 100%. Not that it was a big accomplishment, so nothing worth bragging about.
i see cb making a come back in the next few years. as money tightens, the internet locks down, cell phone restrictions and a more repressive government actions...the youth will rediscover it and make it their own. by then, most of nuts that ruin it will have died off.
I have had this same thought on numerous occasions, especially if government "kills" the Internet via draconian control of its traffic. Youth returning in great numbers will drive the idiots away and they'll use the Class D service for a number oof things it wasn't originally intended for - such as digital trasnmissions.Quote:
Originally Posted by AC8KF WALT
A linked data communications system which utilizes HF (CB), VHF (MURS) and UHF (GMRS/FRS) along with 802.x technology is not only well within the realm of possibility but is in all likelihood inevitable.
RF power or brain power ? :snicker:Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
I doubt it. Old tech is not going to usurp new tech. There are too many apps and features that make new tech desirable. Young people that grew up with new tech are certainly not going to drop it for old tech. It would be like expecting a young person to swap his iPhone for an AM transistor radio. Perhaps if there was an world wide atomic war or some major world calamity what few survive might have to drop down to low tech as a means of communication. But otherwise, I don't see it happening. Certainly not anytime soon. In fact to think about it, if such a major catastrophe were to happen and I somehow managed to survive (for a while at least) I may not want to communicate. Under such circumstances the fewer that know I exist the better.Might be best to remain unseen and unheard.Quote:
Originally Posted by AC8KF WALT
lastly, I doubt the gubmint is going to lock down the Internet to the point where people stop using it. They are not that stupid. The Internet is a major source of revenue and commerce and if the government forgets that fact the business sector will remind them. . Even if a person never intends to buy anything or spend money on line, sooner or later, via day to day communications, visits to private web sites, etc. something will whet a persons appetite and drive them towards commerce. For example, Ebay has recently gotten a lot of my business. I have been buying and collecting vintage and antique pocket watches. My interest in these old mechanical marvels came via communications I had on the internet that piqued my desire to find and posses at least a few of them. Most are in working order. Ebay made finding and collecting them easy. Think of millions of other transactions that occur. To make the internet so draconian that people are driven away will also drive away a lot of potential revenue.
I was really wondering about RF power but you bring up a good point actually...Quote:
Originally Posted by n2ize
While I agree it's incredibly stupid to run that much power especially that close to ones self and others..
But you kind of wonder, this person has to have some smarts to be able to set up such a system and not kill themselves even on accident... So I sometimes wonder about their level of intelligence when I see stuff like that.. I wouldn't even want to be where the camera person is or within probably a mile of that place if I knew what was going on hahaha
I wonder does this person possess the ability to build such a system capable of such power? If so then how do they not know what is really going on with those levels of RF power..
Do they just simply have lots of money to buy stuff pre built and just got lucky not killing themselves with it installing it?
Or do they just have so much money that they paid someone else a pile of money to buy, build, and install everything for that person and it's just a matter of time before they take the cover off of one of those amplifiers and an effect similar to a squirrel touching more than one lead across a transformer happens when they touch the wrong part?
The things that make ya go hmmmmm
Cincinnati, Ohio August 2010Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
It's a "Top Secret" whatever was in the near truck (T-Bird / Bluegill), they will not allow you near it; windows tinted purple, Suburban hauled to the event on a flatbed then offloaded at the venue. They shoot out for the money and then load the Suburban back on the flatbed. Has 12 Leece-Neville (or ElectroDyne) Alternators
Small-Driver (in the decorated Suburban) was running two 3cx-20,000 tubes ( only 10 alternators) and, was doing well over 50 Kilowatts (for 15 seconds signaled by surplus Traffic Light off screen).
At the 37 second point, there is a fellow in a white Tee-Shirt (with yellow insignia) standing between the the two Suburbans; that's "Half Pint".
Attachment 12355
3CX5000, 3CX10,000 and 3CX20,000Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
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Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Yup
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Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Engineering Smarts
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Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Experience
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Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Most have the money, there are no "Pre-Built" appliances, they are custom order or you build it yourself.
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Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Three weeks back, a CB'er (Unit 502, Middletown, Ohio) Stuck his hand in the wrong place, killed him dead; the wife was severely injured at the breaker box from the unapproved 220v circuit run.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
The things that make ya go "unh-unh!" :shock:
.
Whether these rigs were cobbled together by them or some other chicken choker doesn't matter, neither has the sense God gave a goose. If you look beyond the shootout to see where they come from you'll see where the money goes. Back home you'll see a tar paper chicken shack, beat up double wide, or some other Welfare housing featured on Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Yard Of The Week.
Back in West Creek out in the Pine Barrens there are no Chicken Banders, but along with our famous Jersey Devil there exist our version of hillbillies, the Pineys. Come Christmas some of those yard decorations get rearranged, I spotted this rather interesting display.
I was thinking more in terms of "what's the purpose ?"... Okay, so you spend a load of money and get some big assed equipment, stuff it into a vehicle, drive into some parking lot, strap on some big antenna array, rev up, key down and hope that someone hears you over the other guy, and then it's all over. I just don't get it. i don't see any fulfillment. I'd rather have a 100 milliwatt radio and use it to exchange useful information with someone than have 50 killowatts or a lots of Jigawatts just so I can key down...Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
I think what they should do is, each of the drivers get into their vehicle, get the engines warmed up, move the cars to where they face each other about 4 feet apart, and then key down.
Problem solved.
^^^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by K7SGJ
This... I want to see this go down hahahahahahahaha
What's the purpose, money is the purpose, thousands of dollars change hands based on who was heard.Quote:
Originally Posted by n2ize
These are the same guys that built street racers and took them to Edgewater Dragstrip back in the '60's and '70's; it's the same mindset but, instead of the vehicle moving fast to get to a certain point, the vehicles are stationary and the radio signal does the moving.
The "T-Bird / Bluegill" team out of Chicago are "Celebrities", because they attract a audience, they demand an appearance fee from the group holding the function just for showing up.
Oh, BTW, being in one of those trucks is like being in a Faraday Cage with a tiger in the back seat.
.
.
All this CB talk and my neighbor's activity has me wondering if I should dust off the old Cobra 148GTL and play around a little. Back in the day I had a Washington with the bells and whistles and a few associated accessories. I sold all that off. Placed an ad on Craigslist and had it sold in under 12 hours. Got $400 for it all.
Still have the Cobra 29 from my trucking days. Every once in a while I'll hook it up to my 10m beam (with a tuner, of course) and talk to the guys waiting to cross the border.
You talk to aliens? Who Gnu?Quote:
Originally Posted by KJ6BSO
Yeah, from Tau Ceti Alpha 2Quote:
Originally Posted by K7SGJ
Yeah, no doubts bets are placed. So then your opponent goes and builds up a bigger amp and antenna array next time he wins. If I have enough money I can build up a tractor trailer with a couple large generators inside and a tower on top and I'll win until someone outdoes that. Maybe eventually one day some guy will build a mobile version of HAARPQuote:
Originally Posted by koØm
Racing I can understand, in addition to equipment and mechanics there is also skill, technique, split second decisions, etc. But, just keying down a radio doesn't seem to cut it. But I guess if it floats someones boat and it's not harming anyone then what the heck. What someone decided to spend their money and time on is their business. I might pay a fee to see a race but I sure as heck am not going to pay a fee to watch some dudes in a parking lot key down a radio no matter how many jigawatts. At least a race has some excitement and some action and some display of skill.
P.S. If some guy eventually does build a mobile version of HAARP for one of these events I might just be willing to pay to see that... from a distance. :lol:
other than the trucker, mexican and brother channels...37 channels are dead here. once in a great while i'll catch the locals having a qso.
I'm listening to my neighbor trying to get more out of his amp(s). All he's doing is over driving the big one. I think he's trying to use a Maco 250 to drive a 2500w amp. Everything he's trying is just distorting his signal. He runs one at a time and it sounds clear. Anytime he tries to run them both it's just a cluster of crunch.
I should add that every Saturday night they have a keydown contest (home version) in the tri state area. That's NE GA, NW SC and W NC.
Just don't tell them all one needs is one of these things guaranteed to blot out the opponent's signal and every signal for miles around.
That's pretty much how it is around here, except for a very small handful of "local" stations, mostly in the Bronx. At least that is how it was last time I listened to that band. It used to be quite busy round here in the 60's and into the 1990's. CB is pretty much a dead item in my local area these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by AC8KF WALT
In the old days we had a lot of CB'ers who ran their amps like that and were distorted as hell. When I became a 40 and 75 meter AM Gangsta I had my old scope hooked up to my receiver so I could look at the waveforms of the stations I was in QSO with. Most were nice clean with nice positive peaks. Then just for laughs I would tune up to 11 meters and watch the scope go crazy. Nice flattopping, clipping and lots of > 100% negative making those nice big flat lines between the peaks. Even the Atlantic ocean during a cat 5 hurricane runs a cleaner waveform. :snicker:Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
"It used to be quite busy round here in the 60's and into the 1900's."
Yeah, in the 1860s those steam rigs splattered all over too, steam amplifiers only made it worse.
Check. I meant 1990's.:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by kb2vxa
this past week i took time to see how many mobiles in my area had 11meter radios. not many but, more than i thought. well, it is the eastern panhandle of w.v..
What I find interesting is the number of trucks around here in my area (Rockford, IL), have 1 or more cb antenna's but no radio...
Now I understand a few people don't leave their radio in their vehicle all the time... But I think it's funny when more than half of the trucks I see with CB antenna's on the bed rails have bare so-239's hanging on the bottom of their antenna mounts (yes usually two)...
I was unaware that CB antenna's became a fashionable accessory hahaha
yes, strange but, true. remember when having a cell phone antenna stuck on the rear window was all the rage?
"Are we better off without CB?"
No, but then again I don't particularly think we are better off WITH it. It's fairly clean at least in my area, some truckers, yeah they swear but not just to swear, just talking to like minded folks far as I see. Don't hear the echo stuff so much. Not like we really NEED the frequencies with 10 meters not saturated. Be nice if more folks used the GMRS side of that service so it would be better for road/freeway conditions. (more power/external antenna, but it is licensed).
I kind of agree with the last part. It would be nice for road/weather/freeway conditions. Perhaps keep the high power GMRS side still licensed, and maybe have it shared with the amateur service. I know if I were traveling and current travel conditions were available somewhere in the 11 meter band, I would use it, but that's about all I would use it for.Quote:
Originally Posted by w6tmi
GMRS more power? Welcome to Earth, welcome to Misfit Island, stick around a while and you'll learn a thing or three.
I've been around awhile, and I the only thing of importance that I have learned so far, is about bushtits.Quote:
Originally Posted by kb2vxa
You learned to say no more.Quote:
Originally Posted by K7SGJ
Bushtit.
I've learned a Bushtit has become a most popular bird on the Island..... more so than say,a Sea Gull.... :mrgreen:Quote:
Originally Posted by W7XF
prob said driver got tired of all the stupidity and the idiots who think echo sounds good on cb and said hell with it not even worth having the damn thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by KC9SQR
quite frank, I doubt i would even bother with a cb in a semi these days.