THE DAY WHEN THE FAT LADY SANG

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I was working in the retail field when the fat lady sang her song, the song that said there was only a short period of time left that 23 channel rigs could be sold, before the 40's took over. Of course I was pretty darn upset because my $400 E.F. Johnson 352 was dropping by the hundreds, and many CB Shops (They were almost on every corner in Houston) were folding left and right. I really enjoyed using that 352, but what good was it now?? SSB freq's were moved to the upper end of the 40 channels (35-40), and believe me, it was very hard to find anyone who still used channel 16 LSB.

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Back to the fat lady: Each week the store dropped the price of all 23channel radios, hoping to entice someone into buying them, before the next price drop hit. But there weren't many people interested, including myself. Nonetheless, if I thought far enough ahead, or even conceived the idea that they would be collectible, especially NEW-IN-THE-BOX, I would have plunked down a few dollars, bought what I could, and then put them in a time capsule destined to be opened at the turn of the century. But I was in my 20's, and distracted by the usual things 20 year olds are, so I didn't buy one (hey, I was saving up for a 40channel sideband rig).

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The end came swiftly, with the $300-$400 Hy-gain and Cobra sideband rigs selling for $50 each. AM rigs fetched about $25, and when the dust settled there weren't as many brands around, nor CB shops to sell them. I'm sure many of these really bit the bullet on this switchover. Of course, they tried to combat the new rigs with rumors that the 40channel radios weren't as powerful, and didn't sound as good, but the writing was on the wall.

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I'm not sure what got me thinking about this, but hey, here it is and I'm wondering, what were YOUR experiences during this turbulent time? Did you get burned? Were you in retail too? Did you lose your business? Drop me a line or make a comment about this thread....

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'Nuff Said

Woody

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

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It's funny how you can't even get your reserve made on an EBAY auction at times, and then see something like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5819927496&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

Buy the ending price, you'd think this was Britney's Bra being auctioned off, and if I were I betting man, I'd almost be that I'd see this one reposted....in the future.

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And.....if you're looking to spend $200 on an SSB rig, I'd pass on a GRANT LT at that price and pick up a Cobra 200 dx:

http://cgi.ebay.com/UNIDEN-GRANT-LT-AM-SSB-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ5823643643QQcategoryZ40058QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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UPDATE: The Cobra 200 DX I ordered to do a review on has finally arrived!! And boy, this is one H-E-A-V-Y radio. Expect at least a couple weeks or more for the full review, of course, depending on how much free time I get. I got it through BUY.COM, for $215, with free shipping.

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UPDATE: The Grant LT I picked up on Ebay for about 50 bux is working like a charm and I haven't found anything to dislike yet -well, almost. The Green LED is sometimes difficult to read during daylight condition, even at "high", but that's a minor complaint.

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I'll also have a review of a used Cherokee 1000 nightmare rig I bought too...

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'Nuff Said

Woody

ONLY ONE MOD

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When you buy a CB, in particular, a SSB CB, what "mods" should you do?

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The question should be:

"What MOD should you do?"

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IMHO (And Uncle Charlie, don't leave me off your X-mas list this year for it), the only mod you should do is the clarifier mod**.

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A single-sideband radio without the ability to minutely track tx/rx together is only good if you're talking to one other person. But when more than two people are in a conversation it's a real pain to have to move the clarifier for each one - thus the clarifier mod: "everyone is on the same page".

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Adjusting a radio from 3 watts to 4 watts will not do a thing on the other end.

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Clipping the modulation circuit will make you "King of the airwaves" (briefly). It will also make many enemies, because in truth, you will be the "King of splatter".

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Adjusting the modulation? Well, they're pretty well adjusted from the factory. Usually the biggest issue with modulation is not how loud it is, but the quality (too muffled, too tinny, too much bass, etc.). This is where you buy another microphone. I know I've told this story many times before, but I purchased a Uniden PC-122XL about 10 years ago as a backup rig. One day I needed this to fill in for my usual rig, so I threw it on the passenger side seat, plugged it into the cig lighter and off I went. Because it was a backup rig I didn't want to spend any extra $$$ for an after market microphone so it had the original mike with it. Later that day I ran across my radio 'bud "Doug" (currently semi-retired from radio operation) and he wanted to know what I was talking on. When I told him a "stock" PC-122, he came back with:

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"You've never sounded more natural"

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(Guess I didn't need any "MOD's", eh?)

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I know, you're wondering about extra channels. I categorize this mod as "Borderline", and leave it up to you. Usually, when there is any activity going on, you'll find the brunt of it on channel 38, thus no freq. mod's required.

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If you were paying attention, you noticed two ** after the clarifier mod. I did this because some rigs will sound like crap after it's done and would sound much better by having a shop put the rig center-slot rather than do the mod. If you've been talking SSB you know what I mean - those rigs that tend to have modulation with a warble, or flutter that makes them hard to understand. Usually, these are rigs made in China, and usually it's due to crappy/cheap components.....

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'Nuff Said

Woody

OH....THE PAIN

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Just a quick reminder: When perusing EBAY make sure you know what the shipping cost is. I just ran across an auction (took a few minutes to stop laughing before I could type) where the fellow is selling a new Turner RK56

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For a BUY-IT-NOW price of $10.00

[is your spidey sense tingling yet??]

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Shipping is $30.00

'Nuff Said...

CB MOD'S

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No, it's not what you're thinking (clarifier mods, frequency mods, etc.) I'm talking about the modfication of the CB case, meter lights, channel lights and such. This has been a long time coming - back in the heyday of CB Radio there were many companies putting out rigs, each looking different than the other (even though they may have been identical on the inside), giving the operator some personal choice, something that made his Robyn look different than his buddies Royce.

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And then, along came the Galaxy Saturn....

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It was one of the first base stations to sport the "Rack mount" look, and became very popular. So popular in fact, almost ever base station sold since then has had the same "footprint". This form factor became the Star Trek "BORG" of radios - and we were "Assimilated".

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The 70's ended, the 80's ended, the 90's ended and still, if you wanted a Base Rig (New) most of the product looked the same (with the exception of the Cobra 2000 GTL, which [Thank God] they discontinued BEFORE having it made in China (Ed. - Like the Cobra 2010?), thus it's reputation remains intact.

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In the PC world, a curious thing happened at the beginning of the new century: People were modifying (or "Modding") their PC's so that their plain beize or black box looked quite a bit different than someone else's. I remember thinking to myself "I wonder why it hasn't been done with CB's?"

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It's happening now though - you can buy a custom face plate cover, colored lights for your meters, replacement colored LED's for the channel readout, and even replacement top and bottom covers for your mobile rig, in a variety of colors, including "Chrome" (Which is probably the worst pick because it shows every little scratch, not to mention smudges and fingerprints).

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So finally case modding has come to CB Radio.....just remember - It may look great on the outside, but it still has the cheap guts from China on the inside.

'Nuff Said

Woody

JOHN C. DVORAK

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John Dvorak is a columnist for PC Magazine. "What does this have to do with radios" you ask? (later). Besides reading his 2 columns, I also enjoyed watching his program on ZDTV ("I WANT MY ZDTV").

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John has a knack for seeing things clearly - whether it be related to PC's, Politics, etc. and if he were ever to run for president, he'd surely get my vote (along with several co-workers). You don't have to buy PC Magazine to read his work - you can catch it online as well (although I buy PC Magazine anyways). You never know what topic he'll touch on (ed.- here comes the radio part) and just recently he wrote about the effort of HAM Radio Operators during hurricane Katrina. Here's what he had to say:

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Inside Track v24n19 10.12.05


By John C. Dvorak
The most overlooked participants in Katrina relief were the ham radio folks. Bush should give them all medals.
Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, it was reported that over 100 Internet networks were still down in Louisiana, as well as another dozen elsewhere that had been in the path of the hurricane. So much for the notion that the Web is impossible to kill. Hard to have an Internet with no power! WiMAX and other solutions are useless, too, though I suppose a generator would be useful for WiMAX. Whatever the case, the most overlooked participants in the Katrina relief effort were the ham radio folks, who were doing whatever they could as ad hoc emergency dispatchers, creating their own network within the system. These dedicated persons pride themselves on their ability to do worldwide communications under adverse conditions, and the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) and its members, as well as others, were a big part of the aid effort. Of course, since amateur radio is anything but trendy in today's Xbox, gene-splicing world, there was zero coverage of its contribution in the mainstream press, and these people are not the world's greatest self-promoters. At least some of us are paying attention. Good work, guys! Bush should be giving medals to you all.

All I can say is - "Thanks John"

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'Nuff Said

Woody

"RARE" - CONTINUED.....

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I did a quick search on "RARE" descriptions and here's Woody's TOP 10:

10. Midland 13-882 [Dime a dozen]

9. Cherokee AH-100 [PALeeeeeeze]

8. Uniden Madison [told ya]

7. Astatic Golden Eagle [I see several per month]

6. Lafayette HB-444 [close but no cigar]

5. Galaxy DX-2527 [Hmmmm]

4. Midland 77-1165 [bonus points for having "RARE" AND

"WOW" in same description]

3. Lafayette HB-600 [I see at least 1 a month, maybe

it's the same one?]

2. Teaberry T-Charlie one [Ditto]

And finally (drum roll)

1. Cobra 146gtl

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'Nuff Said,

Woody

MID-WEEK MUSINGS.....

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Just for grins, here's the comparison between the previously mentioned EFJ-351 and the SBE Sidebander II:

E.F. Johnson Messenger 351

SBE Sidebander II

Ah yes, twins separated at birth are now re-united at the CB Gazette, and our staff has tears in their eyes.....

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Other than that, I don't have much to say except I'm on a vacation day and the radio is quiet -

'Nuff Said

Woody

EBAY THOUGHTS

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EBAY THOUGHT No.1 - "RARE"

How many times have we seen this on an Ebay auction? For instance tonight's latest "RARE" item was a Uniden Madison. How many Madison's have you seen this year? "RARE" is an over used catchword used by many to lure you to the Buy-it-now. "RARE" is Soooooooo over used that it desensitizes us to the word, thus truly rare items like the Metrotek "Space Station" are overlooked.

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EBAY THOUGHT No.2 - "WOW"

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I was scanning some new listings and ran across several "WOW's" (i.e. - Great old Uniden Grant WOW!!) and began to wonder about it's origin, and came up with a couple ideas:

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No.1-

One of EBay's first "Urban Legends", that placing "WOW" in an auction listing is based on the first person who put this in an auction (believed to be sometime in the early 1700's) and the next seller who saw it was compelled by demonic forces to add this "WOW" tag in their description line before 7 days were up......or else the slimey wet hands of debt would reach out from their computer monitor and, well, you get the idea.

or,

No.2-

Someone wrote a book on how best to attract sales and probably wrote something like: "In order to attract customers and increase sales, add a "WOW" to the first or last part of your description line. The unaware auction surfer will see the "WOW", get excited and purchase your item within seconds".....WOW! I guess it works because I got really excited writing this part!

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EBAY THOUGHT No.3 - "Peaked and Tweaked"

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OMG, there are too many things to say about this but usually it means "Ask a lot, and I mean a LOT of questions":

What do they mean by "Peaked and Tweaked"?

Who did the "Peaking" and "Tweaking"?

If it was a shop, why whould someone spend $30-$50 for a tuneup only to sell the item for $30-$100??

Was the modulation limiter clipped? if so, move onto the next auction because this is probably the worst thing anyone can do to a CB (next to having (ugh) an internal echo board on a SSB rig.

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More on this later....

'Nuff Said,

Woody

EVERYTHING YOU'VE WANTED

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE....

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It's been awhile since I've done a review, and as I perused the many CB listings on Ebay I've noticed, and passed by many of these "Secret CB Manuals and more on CD" auctions. My budget (squirreled away lunch money) was such that this seemed to be a good subject to review. After all, I'm sure many of you had the same questions I had:

How good were the scans?

Did they really have the data as advertised?

Could I read the schematics?

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The prices of these vary from .99 cents to around $10, so I picked the $10 auction and bought one.

The package arrived fairly fast, and inside I found 2 CD's. I popped in one and looked around, then the second, and indeed, everything they advertised was there. Also, from what I viewed, the scan of the manuals were pretty decent and easy to read. The only problem I really saw was a lack of an easy index, perhaps setup in an HTML format. For example, if I wanted to see what info the Secret CB's had on a Hygain "Hy-range V", it would be nice to have an index listing every mention of that rig, and the Secret CB it was in, along with a hyperlink to get there. Instead, you have to click on a PDF file that is numbered (like the Secret CB's) and spend time poking around it, then moving on to the next PDF file.

On the other CD there are files that have no meaning (at least to me) and you click on it and it opens up and tells you what schematic it is. A bit frustrating, but given the cost of buying the manuals and other schematics and information, ten bucks is a pretty good deal (it could have been done better). 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

'Nuff Said

Woody

LET THERE BE LIGHT.....

(and make it reliable)

Much to my surprise, I picked up a used Uniden Grant LT. Surprised because I thought that I'd never buy one because I don't care for radio equipment made in China (nothing against the people of China, it's just that their quality control S-U-C-K-S). But the price was right (cheap) and thus came surprise No.2 - it wasn't made in China, but in the Philippines!

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Other than the layout of the knobs (I prefer the clarifier closer to the left side of the front panel for easy access while driving), I found this version of the Grant quite likable, and yes, I'm looking for reasons to drive at night just so I can see things better with the illuminated panel!

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Dave Hall wrote me about the E.F. Johnson 351 and how it looked a lot like the SBE Sidebander II, something I'd noticed as well, and I'd still like to get the story on that model - Did they slap an EFJ tag on an SBE box as a stop gap until the 352 came out? And why did they (EFJ) make their SSB rigs (352, 4740) so hard to open up the damn clarifier??

'Nuff Said for Saturday!

Woody

A TALE OF 3 JOHNSON'S

Of course we all know that the first CB's were AM, followed by DSB, then SSB. The E.F. Johnson company (which were hugely popular with their Messenger and Viking lines) was one of the first companies to dabble in Single-Sideband in the sixties.

Their first entry into this field was the legendary model 350, a.k.a. - the "Johnnie". It was a simple transceiver with only 2 crystal controlled channels and didn't catch on all that well, because AMer's ruled the roost!

Fast forward to 1976 and once again E.F.J. came out with another SSB mobile, the Viking 352. This was a slick, no frills rig that seemed to call out to you and say "BUY ME". Of course, I answered that call, bought one, and it remains one of my favorite sideband rigs of all time.

I skipped lunches, I pass on the latest STYX album, I saved my money so I could fork out the $400 this rig commanded. And I clearly remember the advertising/reviews stating "E.F. Johnson re-enters the SSB market". Later of course, when the 40 channel rigs came out, E.F.J. offered 2 other models, strangely enough - mobiles as well (Why they didn't market a base station with SSB is beyond me).

So, for all of these years I thought EFJ only produced 2 SSB mobiles in those early years....until just recently. A few weeks ago I was perusing the newest listings on EBAY when I saw an auction for a Johnson 351 SSB mobile. "This had to be a typo" I thought, but when I saw the picture I realized the 351 was truly another 23ch SSB mobile.

Naturally, I had to buy it, and maybe I've had my head in the sand, but I would classify this rig as a rare one. If you've seen these around drop me an e-mail and I'll re-classify it, but I don't think too many of these were manufactured.

'Nuff Said

Woody

SITE OF THE MONTH:

"Rigpix"

I've often searched the web for CB radio websites, and I've had this one bookmarked for several years, but just never mentioned it, but there are very few that catalog radios in a logical manner (I can think of 2 - Mine, and Rigpix). By logical, I mean a simple listing from A-Z, as opposed to chaotic mix where you feel like you are playing "Where's Waldo?"

I set up my listing so someone looking for a Fanon 880 rig could simply scroll to the "F's", see what the rig looks like and move on. Rigpix goes an extra step by adding some brief information about the rig itself. If you haven't visited this site, please do, and I'm sure you'll bookmark it (along with mine of course - heh-heh).

'Nuff Said

Woody