I can remember, one time when I was in high school, a tornado hit a small town not far from where we lived and my friends Dad stopped by the house and asked if I wanted to go for a ride with him, his wife and my friend. Little did I know that he was one of a few people that had a CB radio and he was relaying messages from the town to rescue agencies.
One of our cars, a 1980 Cadillac, had a built in CB as part of the entertainment system. Even the power antenna was specially designed to work with the radio. Of course, if you didn’t want to listen to the radio, you could always insert an 8-track cartridge…
To be true, pluggers were into the original social media, but it wasn’t CB… It was the Amateur Radio Service. CB is a ’50’s technology, but Amateur Radio is older, and uses satellites, web apps, and software defined technology today. And the ARRL (NO relation to the ARRP), just celebrated their centennial year, and pluggers are still in the original social media… and teaching kids about it too!
My Dad’s got a ham radio setup in his garage. Always has. We had a CB radio. Then a pager. Then a cell phone. Now my iPad. My Grandma’s phone was made of wood and was on a party line, it had a Bakelite crank and speaker. I loved it.
I got hooked on CB in the late 80´s when a used Silverado truck we bought had one installed already, and me and my brother went to the people who installed and serviced them to put an antenna in the mirror. We had previously broken an old 23 channel radio (didn´t have idea what SWR was then) that was from my dad who had been a ham some years before, but didn´t like the CB because of the profanity.Since them we have always have a CB radio, even if not in use, and have been in and out of it, until last year when both got our ham licenses.
nyssawho13 over 9 years ago
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
IndyMan over 9 years ago
I can remember, one time when I was in high school, a tornado hit a small town not far from where we lived and my friends Dad stopped by the house and asked if I wanted to go for a ride with him, his wife and my friend. Little did I know that he was one of a few people that had a CB radio and he was relaying messages from the town to rescue agencies.
neverenoughgold over 9 years ago
One of our cars, a 1980 Cadillac, had a built in CB as part of the entertainment system. Even the power antenna was specially designed to work with the radio. Of course, if you didn’t want to listen to the radio, you could always insert an 8-track cartridge…
C-KU_downlinker over 9 years ago
To be true, pluggers were into the original social media, but it wasn’t CB… It was the Amateur Radio Service. CB is a ’50’s technology, but Amateur Radio is older, and uses satellites, web apps, and software defined technology today. And the ARRL (NO relation to the ARRP), just celebrated their centennial year, and pluggers are still in the original social media… and teaching kids about it too!
Radical_Knight over 9 years ago
Even sporting a 102" stainless steel “quarter-wave” buggy whip. Co-phase two of those babies at 1 to 1.2 SWR’s (or less) and go directional.
ladylagomorph76 over 9 years ago
My Dad’s got a ham radio setup in his garage. Always has. We had a CB radio. Then a pager. Then a cell phone. Now my iPad. My Grandma’s phone was made of wood and was on a party line, it had a Bakelite crank and speaker. I loved it.
bfrg45 over 9 years ago
So do truckers still use CBs? If not, how do they find out about smokies and other hazards ahead these days?
nailer Premium Member over 9 years ago
I got hooked on CB in the late 80´s when a used Silverado truck we bought had one installed already, and me and my brother went to the people who installed and serviced them to put an antenna in the mirror. We had previously broken an old 23 channel radio (didn´t have idea what SWR was then) that was from my dad who had been a ham some years before, but didn´t like the CB because of the profanity.Since them we have always have a CB radio, even if not in use, and have been in and out of it, until last year when both got our ham licenses.