10 10 till we do it again

[Dean Lofthouse]

Come on, which of you saddos used to do CB radio and not the FM legal, I mean the AM illegal.

 

All the rage before the electronics age when there was nothing better to do.

 

What were your handles etc.

 

I once spoke to someone in America on a standard radio, amazing when you think about it.

 

I suppose it was the first equivalent to a forum. My first CB experience was 30 years ago, proper rebel in them days.

[Mr Ed]

I used to play on my Dads when I was a kid, not sure if it was AM or FM. I was 'Red Leader'

[Dean Lofthouse]

I used to play on my Dads when I was a kid, not sure if it was AM or FM. I was 'Red Leader'

 

I was "Sparkrite" named after the the new electronic ignition system, me being a mechanic an all.

 

Red Leader? You didn't run round the garden with your arms out stretched with a red cape on as a lad did you Ed?

[Kev Stephenson]

firefly signing in.

 

I remember sitting in my mothers car on the drive (couldn't go anywhere as I was only 14) with the mag-mount on the roof talking to allsorts of wierdo's.

 

It used to be the best way of keeping in touch with school mates before mobile phones were openly available.

 

If I remember rightly I swapped the entire setup for a petrol powered radio controlled car.

[Mr Ed]

Red Leader? You didn't run round the garden with your arms out stretched with a red cape on as a lad did you Ed?

 

 

No, but I was obsessed with this -

[Andy Collins]

Used to run the president ssb rig, 1kw burner, ruddy great pole on mast, just in the 28meg band. Highly naughty at the time. The Ham enthusiasts used to kick up a stink, but we were a select few. The "Principality" of Sealand was another user who would be found on that frequency, and we networked across to Carolina, Eastern Europe, Holland, France on a regular basis. The whole CB thing went stupid once legalised, so I kept to the AM/SSB side of things. Handle was Silver Machine, after the Hawkwind track.

Now I think we have actually stepped backwards, the written word instead of the spoken word.

[Steve Bullman]

so......how much have things really changed.....did you have radio trolls? IgottaCB?

[Andy Collins]

IMO not at all, the good thing was, on the frequencies we operated on, with the big burners on, you could walk all over trolls, they just didnt hang around after a while. Of course, now and again, on the skip wave, you'd get some foreign trolls too, esp in N Carolina for some reason, but again with big power you'd jam them.

[Andy Collins]

The other thing on SSB we didnt use too much of the CB lingo, only plain English, with the over at the end of each transmission, roger for agreement, and over and out at the finish. Most of the transmissions were kept to short burst too, so the detectors couldnt lock on to your position, esp with 1kw burners.

[Dean Lofthouse]

There used to be a lad with a Huge burner and pole living a few doors up from me. He was a newbie and used to be on all the time just wiping me out.

 

So one night I went roof hopping with a handheld. Every time he transmitted I unplugged his pole and shorted it out.

 

Did the trick after a while.