HOBBY RADIO DAILY
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04-28-2025 - At 7:30 AM, Channel 6 is letting me know the band is coming alive. Let's see of the sideband channels got the memo. Yesterday was Morse Code Day! I didn't learn that fact until late and I didn't get to make a CW (Morse code) contact. I'll have to catch up on that today!
04-28-2025 - As a CB Radio walkie-talkie-carrying kid, I noticed a tower and antenna at a local business. If I touched my walkie-talkie antenna to that tower, I would have as good a signal as that business, or so I thought. I never tried it. I didn't want to climb the fence. However, I observed that the communicators Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin used on the Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series had no external antennas. So, I removed the telescoping antenna from my walkie-talkie, wrapped the same length of wire around a section of a #2 pencil, connected the wire to the proper place, and put the pencil inside the radio. Now I was communicating "secret agent" style. Well, almost. I still had that annoying no squelch, no noise blanker, loud hiss. How can you be a secret agent making that kind of racket? My CB Radio Daze - How It All Started
04-28-2025 - Good Morning! It's Monday, and we have local trucks—talking on Channel 19—picking up loads here and there to move about the country. During the day, there's a good chance that an oversized load will come through town with the pilot cars operating on Channel 19. Speaking of oversized loads, here's a blade runner making a tight turn. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
04-27-2025 - At 9:30 PM, it sounds like Mother Nature has put the CB Radio band to bed. I might follow shortly. Of course, that doesn't affect local communications, just skywave or "skip" communications.
04-27-2025 - The Texas Rangers (vs. San Francisco Giants) put on a heck of a clown show in the bottom of the 9th inning today. I was thoroughly entertained but not happy. In reality, I was happy for the Giants fans. It was a nice win for them.
04-27-2025 - At 10:00 AM, the CB Radio band is in full swing, with something happening on 30 of the 40 channels. That's pretty good! I hear a guy who sounds like he's in a barrel. I think he thinks his "power mic" is working better than it is. A few guys are using echo. I'm not a fan of echo, but if they're happy, I'm happy.
04-27-2025 - It was around 15 years years ago when I heard a station on CB Radio Channel 19 reporting as "aeronautical mobile" and going by the handle of Waldo Pepper. He said he was flying over Amarillo, Texas. That was the only CB Radio aeronautical mobile I've ever heard..
04-27-2025 - At 7:00 AM, Channel 6 is the only active channel in my part of the world, and it's not very strong. Before long, the band will sound like a buzzing beehive. The subject of band conditions brings up the subject of solar minimum and maximum, and I compare it to Daylight Savings Time and Standard time. Some people want the government to pick one time or the other. Some want permanent Daylight Savings Time, and some want permanent Standard time. I like darkness to come early in the evening. How about radio communications? If we could have only the conditions of solar minimum or maximum, I'd choose minimum for quieter communications every day. I can get on the Amateur (ham) Radio if I want to talk to Egypt. I love the quiet local communications when we're at solar minimum. Your mileage, or sunspots, may vary.
04-27-2025 - CB Radio is the best option for license-free, long-distance radio communications. Amateur (ham) Radio is capable of long-distance communications, but it's not license-free. The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is license-free but does not have long-distance capability. The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is neither long-distance nor license-free. All of the radio services have a place in your disaster toolbox.
04-27-2025 - At 5:45 AM, I hear two distant stations on Channel 19. Could it be two truckers on the fringes headed into town? Time will tell. The band has yet to come alive for the DXers and skip shooters. It's a quiet time for the truckers to communicate. Sadly, the skip shooters will show up later, tearing up the only channel truckers have to conduct business.
04-27-2025 - Good Morning! It's 5:15 AM on Sunday, and I have no idea what in the world of CB Radio is waiting for me. I've got the President McKinley on 40-channel scan while my coffee is brewing. In the CB Radio forums, I've noticed a common complaint about driving cross-country from Point A to Point B and never hearing anything on Channel 19. Further investigation almost always reveals that the complaining party never picked up the microphone to ask if anyone else was on the frequency. It's the usual case of "everyone listening and nobody talking." A few years ago, I picked up the mic of the base station radio and keyed up on Channel 19 with "If you're trying to sneak through town without saying anything, raise your hand." I got several chuckles. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
04-26-2025 - At 9:30 PM, I hear a few signals scattered across the band. With just these few signals, I am more convinced than ever that it would be a good idea for the FCC to make the phrase "No doubt about it" illegal. Maximum fine. Confiscate equipment. Okay, I'm just having a little fun here. No doubt about it!
04-26-2025 - It was 1975 and it was my first trip to California. I was headed to the Presidio of San Francisco to play Army for two more years. I stopped at a small diner somewhere near either Bakersfield or Barstow. My memory is a little fuzzy on that. I took a seat in a booth and the first thing I noticed was an index card on the wall that said: "Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward sat here." I should have asked on which side I was sitting, but I didn't. Also, the CB Radio was alive and well with trucker and 4-wheeler chatter back then. I had plenty of entertainment on that long, slow trip from Texas to California at 55 MPH!
04-26-2025 - A few years ago, I was listening to two local CB Radio Operators having a conversation when a well-known station in Jamaica started transmitting. When he did, he "cut the lips off" both local stations. I could not hear them, even though they were less than 10 miles from me, whenever the Jamaican station—1500 miles away—keyed up. I don't know how much power he was running, but I hope he's up-to-date on RF exposure warnings.
04-26-2025 - It was 1973 or 1974, and I was in Germany. I remember having a favorite elevated area where I would park and fire up the mobile rig. It was a Midland 13-862 that I ordered through Montgomery Ward. I would sit in the car and talk to Germans and U.S. military people for hours. I remember band conditions being tranquil while I was in Germany. Maybe we were at or near the bottom of the solar cycle. I guess I could look it up, but it's not important. Those were fun times! I found a beat-up version of that radio at a hamfest last year and bought it for $10. See the pic below. It has someone's call sign on it. UPDATE: That period was during Solar cycle 20, which began in 1964 and ended in 1976. So, while I was in Germany, we were near solar minimum.
04-26-2025 - The band is a little flat at 4:00 PM this afternoon. Channel 6 is active, but those operators have been known to make their own conditions.
04-26-2025 - In North Texas, at 9:30 AM, I hear traffic on channels 2, 6, 11, 24, 15, 16, 24, 32, 34, 36, 37, and 38. CB Radio is dead! Long Live CB Radio!
04-26-2025 - Traffic on Channel 19 is picking up, with big rigs passing through town. They'd been passing through town all night, but I declined to stay awake and listen to them. Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, is coming alive at 7:00 AM. I hear one weak station on Channel 38 Lower Sideband. I hear "John the Baptist" on Channel 11. I don't have any directional antennas - just the massive Zero Five ground plane antenna.
04-26-2025 - Good Morning! It's 6:00 AM Saturday morning and the CB Radio is quiet in my area. I'm sure things will pick up as the day progresses. I'll also be listening for Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® stations to work. On the scanner radio, there are a couple of area nets to listen to. Walmart can be amusing. No entertaining school bus radio traffic today. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
04-25-2025 - I'm starting this journal on Friday evening. At 8:00 PM, the band is relatively quiet here in North Texas. The only exceptions are Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, and Channel 38 Lower Sideband. I'll split my attention with the Texas Rangers baseball game in another hour. Right now, on Channel 19, someone is attempting chicken sounds. Well, it is CB Radio, folks.