A RE-BUILD IN PROGRESS
AND
IT'S OCTOBER!!
Health issues can get in the way of many things, this Blog being one of those things, so all of the planned radio reviews aside (Radioddity's QT-40 & President's new Washington mobile, etc.) it was time to get a new Blog post ready for reading!
Being October, the first thing that comes to mind might be Halloween, and if you're a faithful reader for all of these years, you know that both Robin and I have been busy preparing our lists of all the horror movies we'd like to binge watch this month, leading up to the 31st.
While perusing a folder of stills from classic horror flicks I couldn't help myself, and just had to add my own "touch" to one of them [pictured below]
Moving along... I came across a post in a CB related Facebook group that was of interest. Donald Stephens wrote about an Avanti Astro-Beam that he rescued from a house along the side of a road that he happened to pass by one day:
PHOTOS BY DONALD STEPHENS
As you can see, it's missing an element, and what remained wasn't in the best shape either. Donald wrote that he had a friend whose hobby was making and/or refurbishing antennas, and he offered his services.
Several photos were posted, along with updates on how the project was coming along, until finally - it was done! Donald shared the following photo:
The finished project stirred memories of my own Astro-Beam, along with how I came to own it, and the sheer luck involved in getting it home. So, here is my Avanti Astro-Beam story...
WOODY'S ASTRO-BEAM STORY
The one I owned [1984] was purchased second hand from the original owner. I saw an ad for it in the Classified section of the Houston Chronicle, so I got my radio 'bud Doug to drive me down to the guy's home in his Toyota "Monster" truck that had huge tires, and wasn't very easy to get up and into. We weren't sure what to expect, except that it was listed as being recently removed from a tower and ready to go.
Arriving there, the owner walked us through his house to the backyard where we saw that, other than taking it down from the tower, nothing else had been done to it (other than disconnect the coax). Already after 5p.m. we realized it would take a while to disassemble the beam, and the owner had long lost the assembly instructions, as well, in 1984 there wasn't an "Internet" to try and find them.
The owner chuckled and said humorously to us: "Why
don't you put it in the back of that Toyota? I'll even through in some
rope." To his surprise, we were game to do just that (while he made sure
that we understood he wouldn't take it back). There was a decent length pole
that went from the antenna to the rotor, so we put the pole down against the
tailgate (centered) with the rest of the antenna draped over the cab of donut wheeled
Toyota 4x4, and tied it down the best we could, with the front and rear elements
hanging off each side. Doug was behind the wheel and I was in the bed of the
truck, half of me keeping it as balanced as possible, avoiding any sliding to
one side of the cab to the other, while the other half of me envisioned it
sailing off the truck with me hanging onto the pole.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it 😉
I've mentioned before that I like to purchase press photos that were taken back in the glory days of CB radio, and here is another one that I'd like to share:
This photo was taken in 1983 of Larry Shrigley, R.E.A.C.T. President of the Western suburbs of Chicago. Being a member of R.E.A.C.T. wasn't something you got into for a plethora of "Thank You's", as he remarked:
"In the seven year I've been with R.E.A.C.T. I've only gotten two 'thank yous'. I don't care about the recognition. I do it for the satisfaction I get from helping people."
Larry was one of the 300 people in metropolitan Chicago who spent their time as volunteers for R.E.A.C.T [Radio Emergency Associated Citizens Team] monitoring channel 9.
That wraps up this Blog post of which (if you didn't already know), today is "National CB Day", 10-4?
73,
WOODY
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