WICHITA FALLS MAN

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08-26-2023 - It's Saturday, and it's coffee time! The Ham Radio CW (Morse code) contesters will be out in force this weekend, and I'll be listening off and on. Radio hobbyists everywhere will be keying up, here and there, on CB radios, ham radios, FRS, GMRS, and MURS radios, talking about everything under the sun. Are you monitoring in your area?

08-16-2023 - I'm sitting outside a dentist's office, waiting for my wife. I've got the tiny President Bill FCC CB Radio going, and I hear a lot of traffic on channels 6, 11, and others. I have only a 2-foot "Firestick" type antenna, so DX listening is not great. But I don't have a CB radio in the car for that purpose. All I need is Channel 19 reports while on the road.

08-15-2023 - I've noticed that the number of truckers on CB Radio Channel 19 sounding like Festus from the old TV show "Gunsmoke" is higher than I hear in the general population. I don't know why. Now, I'm hearing some who sound like Boomhauer from the "King of the Hill" TV series. I'm puzzled about that, too.

08-14-2023 - It's no big secret that CB Radio use is declining among long-haul truck drivers. I don't know if the trend will continue. I think VHF or UHF would have been a better choice for the trucking industry, but that didn't happen early on. There are reports that some truckers are using the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) and the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). Who are they talking to? Where that's headed, I do not know. Trucks might be driverless before long!

08-06-2023 - The ringtone on my phone is "CQ" in Morse code. The first time it went off in Walmart, I was behind an older gentleman in the checkout line. He didn't say anything, but I could see him smile. He knew what it was about.

08-05-2023 - I saw these CB Radio crystals on eBay, so I bought them just for the heck of it. Do you remember the days when you needed two crystals for each channel - one for transmit and one for receive? Those were the days!

08-04-2023 - It's coffee time as I wait for local traffic on CB Radio Channel 19 to come alive. I wish I had $1 for every time I've heard someone online chime in with "10-4 Good Buddy" when they see a post about CB Radio. In all the years I've been in this activity, I don't remember ever hearing the term "good buddy" on the air. I'm betting most of these folks haven't heard it on the air, but heard it from someone who heard it from someone, and so on.

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08-03-2023 - I'm not suggesting anyone do this, but I was wondering if anyone has delivered an "RF Bomb" to the vicinity of an offending CB Radio operator? By "RF Bomb" I mean a low-power transmitter tuned to the frequency the butt-head is using and delivered close enough to cause him to want to shut down and go to bed. Of course, the power would have to be so low that it would not interfere with those wanting to make legitimate use of the frequency. I've heard of such devices being hand-delivered. Again, don't do this!

08-02-2023 - It was over a dozen 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 over Amarillo, Texas. To date, that was the only CB Radio aeronautical mobile I've ever heard.

08-01-2023 - I'm up waiting for the USA Girls soccer team to play Portugal at 2 AM (0200), and I hear two truckers chatting on CB Radio Channel 19. The band is closed - no skip - so the channel is clear for the truckers. It should be clear anyway, but that's another story.