"FROM THE REALM OF 22A"

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It suddenly dawned on me that a month has gone by since my last posting! Blame work, blame selling off some items on Ebay, blame that damn Cheerleader on "Heroes" (C'mon, SOMEONE save the world...p-l-e-a-se), but wherever it lies, at least I have a new posting for the second month of the year.

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And what a year (so far) it has been. Microsoft released it's bloated cow "Vista" (finally), and not too suprisingly, they are sneaking out test versions of SERVICE PACK 1 for Vista already. At least they seem to find their bugs faster...As of the 23rd of this month, you can get a HAM license for voice on HF WITHOUT code. And to be honest with you, while I've heard some amateurs say "They'll ruin the band", after listening many nights on 75/80 meters, I can't tell too much difference between what I hear there, and on 11meters (an interesting side note - In listening to conversations it seems that I hear more younger hams (thirty-something) complaining about the no code license as opposed to the older ones. I've heard the elders say more than once "maybe it will help Amateur Radio more than anything else")...And continued indifference to Amateur Radio has me convinced that the court idiot is running the Kingdom of the FCC.

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"THEY'RE THERE, BUT THE LIGHTS ARE OUT" DEPT.

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Radio manufacturers are said to run on slim margins, and they probably pay big bux for advertising, so why not let us pay for it? I know, I can here ya saying "You've gone daft man", but I'm talking about some manufacturer clothing. Not the cheap-o hats they give out during "Dealer Day" (tnx TypoMan), but some nice wind breakers, and shirts with a tasteful logo on it.

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I think it was back in December when I thought "Hey, it would be cool to have something that said "Certified Yaesu Nut" with a logo on it to where. So I started poking around and couldn't find any apparel on the manufacturer sites I visited (if there is, please enlighten me), and I think Yaesu, ICOM, Kenwood, Ten-Tec, and even Drake are missing the boat on this one. Maybe some genius in marketing is reading this now.....

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FROM THE "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ON" DEPT.

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Occasionally you might see some custom microphones hit ebay. Usually "Custom" means: some other microphone element installed; for instance I bought a D-104 head with the HC-4 and HC-5 elements in it. But towards the end of last year, custom microphones took a whole new meaning when one fellow in particular sold his collection. Backstory: It seems this man ran a radio shop at one time, and had a favorite customer who ran an autobody shop (I know, this is beginning to sound like "Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter"). The autobody guy sandblasted a number of different microphones and did some nice custom paint jobs on them, using high quality auto paint.

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I'm not sure how many of these he sold - there were quite a few and I was only able to buy a few of them, as many fetched over $200 each. The "BIG" sellers were the ones painted in "CAT" and "JOHN DEERE" color schemes. Several other ebay sellers posted a few of their custom microphones as well and all I can say is: If you have a friend in the auto painting industry, get something going, 'cause there's GOLD in them thar beatup microphones!!

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"MOMENT OF SILENCE DEPT."

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Folks, bow your head down for a moment of silence to reflect on the passing of Robert Adler, co-inventor of the TV Remote. Robert passed away at a nursing home at the age of 93. Not inactive, the U.S. Patent Office recently released his latest Patent earlier this month for advanced touch-screen technology.

"WHERE'S WOODY"

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I get alot of mail from the Gazette's fervant fans wondering..."WHEN are you doing some more videos?" The answer, which explains my slipped disk, is "very soon" (i.e. - some are already shot, but in post-production). I guess I've been watching too many radio related videos on youtube to really think about cranking out some more. Whatever the subject is will be 1. Video and 2. PODcast audio of the video and I promise not to mimmick the shaking camera work as seen in some of the youtube clips. Speaking of which, I found a GOOD video about a Ham Radio Club's class. Check it out - maybe you're doing the same thing, or maybe you'll get some ideas from it...

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FROM THE "CRISPY" DEPT.-

CwDave sent me a link to this Ebay auction, that featured one toasty kenwood and D104!! Believe it or not, it was up to $87 with 4 hours remaining....

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More later!

"OH....THE PAIN..."

and,

"My, what a lovely dimple you have"

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Yes, I admit it - I had a great time buying some items on Ebay, but went overboard and now the 'ol checking account is paying the price. There were too many "RARE" auctions, and just to point out the difference (one more time):

• "RARE", is NOT an Astatic Silver Eagle D-104, or a Night Eagle, etc.
• "RARE" IS, a Kenwood TS-900 with matching spkr and vfo

Meanwhile, I continue to get packages at work from my January buying spree, and the postman shoots me daggers out of the corner of his eyes as he has to carry in, not just the mail, but perhaps 15 parcels sent via US Priority Mail......I smile....he glares.

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I picked up a dualband vertical for the house, and then weather nose dived in my part of Texas, but in a couple more weeks it will be Spring (in my part of Texas), and maybe I can get it on the roof inbetween lawn maint.

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As many have found out, there are some interesting videos on youtube. Here's one from a guy setting out to repair an Icom IC-703. WARNING: Seasick people beware! The camera moves around like an object in a first person shooter game.

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Also, for all of us who like to QWERP (QRP) wherever we are, the HFPACKERS Group is a good spot for information. They've recently posted some videos on youtube as well! BTW- It appears that this video was shot analog due to the video/audio sync problem, so don't worry - it's not your PC.

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Well...it finally stopped raining! After two weeks of either rain or ice, and a front yard looking more "Bog" than "Yard", someone upstairs turned on the lightswitch and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to put that new antenna up! I've had some time to play around with my FT-817ND and it's really a nice rig. I'm almost tempted to sell my 897D and use the 817 at home with an amp and wherever else at 5 watts.

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I haven't replaced the PS in my Cobra 2000 yet, but I did finally move it off the radio desk and put a RatShack TRC-457 in it's place (the delay due to my memory, or lack of - I can't remember where I put the replacement parts!).

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"READER MAIL"

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Dave H. wrote me regarding the "Menu" posting:

Woody,

I chalk it up to an age thing. Like you, I much prefer a radio with totally individual active hardware controls, and not something which is buried under a few levels of software access. But the plain truth is that today's radios are many levels of sophistication above those classics that we all cut our teeth on in the 1970's. When someone mentions an H.F rig, I still picture the Yaesu FT-101 or Kenwood TS-820 style of rig and features. But those rigs didn't have DSP, variable bandwidth, carrier I.F. shift, audio shaping, and a litany of other features (Some are probably little more than bells and whistles and really don't help all that much). Controlling all these features would require so many knobs and switches that the radio would look too cluttered. Plus all those little pieces of hardware cost money to add. If you multiplex one control via software, you save cost as well as present a radio with a "cleaner" appearance.

The end result, unfortunately, is a radio which has to be navigated much like an old Dungeons and Dragons game, where you need a roadmap to get to each "room" to make your changes. I have no doubt that if I was still a 20-something, I'd probably be able to store all that information in my memory and not need the manual, and operation would not be all that bad. But age brings decline in short term memory, and that's what becomes frustrating, especially for those "seldom used" features.

Face it, we're getting old! Imagine the tales we'll tell our grandchildren: "When I was a young ham, we had radios that had glowing glass tubes in it, and we didn't have an LCD display panel. We also had to actually TUNE them for the bands we used. And we used ANALOG modes!"

Yep that day is coming........ ;-)

Dave

Tnx Dave (as always) for writing and sharing your thoughts! And now I must go take my daily dose of Ensure.....

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Wes dropped me a line from Canada:

Hello Brian,
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the videos to the hamfest on your site. It was really interesting, gets the excitement going when I see all that vintage gear on the tables spread out for the taking...the old DAK's, President export models, etc.
You folks are really lucky down there to have that priviledge as up here hamfests on my area are almost non-existent. Over in BC and Ontario a few happen, but infrequently. CB in Canada took a tumble in the mid 80's, gained momentum around 1989 thru 1999 and then took a bad fade as the pioneers of the circuit died off and took their folowing with, and stuff got packed away.
In the past 6 years it has gotten even worse. In our area the truckers 10 miles from here are the only source of listening on the radio. We used to have over 50 operators within a 40 mile radius, now there's maybe a half dozen left that come on once in a while. We have a local radio club called the Pow City Communicats Radio Club that only show up for 10 minutes on Tuesdays at 10PM for a club NET CALL, that used to have over 65 members 10 years ago. Now they have about 7 responses, that's it. The rest of the week you never hear them on the radio.
BTW...I'm a lousy typist so excuse the typos please.

Back to the videos, and your CB Gazette website. I really enjoy it. It is a real blast from the past that gives a good feeling that there are others out there with a passion for this stuff as I've had since 1976. We had a radio shop here in our family, DX Comminucations, Inc and had a website that ran for the last 5 years we had the shop, since 1987. We sold all the new & used gear including older 23's from the 70's I'd find NOS....and also the current Uniden, Cobra, Ranger, Export rigs...same as Copper's Electronics did basically and many others. I enjoyed it immensely, had a full time tech working for me who was real good. In 2001 he passed away of a heart attack and since then I decided to go back to trucking and have been since.

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I had about 7 radios back then in my collection, the bug hit once again in 2004 and I started buying vintage rigs...mostly NIB/NOS gear and thought I'd stop at about 35 rigs. Today at just over 100, I am still buying the occasional piece and have a nice room half filled with stuff. But I enjoy this, as you obviously do too. I think you bought some CB Mag's from me a while back, I enjoy those too...mostly the 70's stuff more than 60's.
I have a few radios left to seek out and then I must stop.
I have many pictures of my radios, if you are ever interested in some nice shots of maybe some rigs that you don't yet have on your site, I'd gladly email you some pics of a few. I have a mint Midland 78-999 base in the box, brand new. Plus a NIB Cobra 148FGTL-DX+ export rig, NIB SBE Console II with metal cabinets...actually many of the major brands NIB. I still need to find a minty Stoner Pro-40 SSB, ARF-2001, a NIB DAK Mark X, SBE Landcommand LCB-8, and a few others.

I have a few photos of some of the radio room I have of my collection. I found an interesting mic about 2 years ago that once I did research on I found out it was pretty rare. It's called a Liberty 200, by Wright Electronics...made by Turner. Brand new and never wired....a beautiful gold colored Turner +2. That's one of my fav's.

I found it interesting when you mentioned in the one video of a guy restoring a 1977 Bandit Trans Am. Well, I just finished redoing one a couple years ago...same car. I didn't mount a CB in it because I didn't want to start drilling holes, etc in an all-original car. But many times I wish I had a 2nd same car I COULD install it and put the antenna on the roof and make it a replica. :-)

My boys and I really enjoy it, like I said before I love all the "past stuff."
You know it seems as if the 60's and 70's is an era that when we were part of it, we never realized what a piece of history we were living in. It was a really special time that I don't think can be beaten, ever. Nice cars, CBing was so popular I remember at 7PM we couldn't find a vacant channel on my 23 channel TRC-30A to talk on! You always had someone cross-channeling you and wiping you out. We spend that extra $200 to increase antenna height another 20' and buy a bigger antenna so we could talk further than the "other guy".

It's too bad that things change so fast, especially since the year 2000 hit. It seemed before the new millenium at least here in Canada, things were at a much slower "change of pace" so to speak. in 1997 I though CB would come back and by 2004 we'd have a boom, it was just that good here. Cell phones, computers, video games, etc have taken over, along with other things.

But I guess I'm an old stubborn one who refuses to change, and is grabbing all those neat things I can find that I find "retro" and making something that makes me happy....a mini CB MUSEUM. About 80-100 radios, and 50+ mics.
I often travel to Alberta and B.C. buying out inventory from shops that closed doors and bring home carloads of NOS stuff that I have fun finding.


It's only drawback is that mint Tram D201A's are not $20 each. Nor minty Browning Mark II's $15.
Anyway...I just thought I'd email you and say how much I enjoy clicking thru your site. I hope you keep it up & running for a long time, it really is a pleasure. I know I'm on it at least 20 times monthly in the past 4 years...and many many times before that.

Have a great New Year and if you'd like any pics for to add, I can send some decent ones for you to examine and see if it benefits from them, or not. Take Care, Wes Simpson in Canada or, on eBay "collectiblez_4-u"

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Thanks for writing in Wes, and yes, I've had the pleasure of purchasing some items from you recently. Hopefully I'll get going with a few new videos this year, and Thanks for all the great photo's you've sent (which will be popping up here and there in other blog posts! )

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PRODUCT REVIEW

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"The Finger Dimple"

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Have you ever gone from a rig with an indentation in the tuning knob to one without it?

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Well I just did. I added a Kenwood TS-850 to the shack and I'm so used to moving the VFO knob via one finger (as I do with my 897D) that it took me a minute to realize - "Hey, something's missing on this knob".

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"...Once again, one finger tuning was within my mortal power"

Well here comes the "Finger Dimple" to the rescue. I purchased one of these (actually you get two) along with a "kranker knob" for my FT-817nd (but that's another review), and they arrived very quickly via U.S. Postal "Priority". The tiny dimple came in a small (very small) zip bag and I'll have to admit that I was a bit dubious about it (peel and stick), but stick it I did, and once again one finger tuning was within my mortal power!

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I know many of you are wondering "How long will it stay on the knob", as well as myself, so I promise to give you an update as future posts on the Blog are written, but I'll have to admit, at least for this reviewer, this was $6 well spent!

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And so we come to the end of yet another exciting Issue, hopefully you drank lots of Coffee!!

73, Woody

-COMING SOON!

1. REVIEW: The "Kranker Knob" for FT-817ND
2. REVIEW: Tram Dualband vertical base antenna
3. REVIEW: Heil "Goldline" microphone
4. ARTICLE: Just what good are Filters?
5. ARTICLE: Will CB be a wasteland?
6. ARTICLE: Collectors Corner - "A LOOK AT THE GENERAL RADIOTELEPHONE MC5"
7. ARTICLE: "Wild and Crazy Custom Microphones"
8. ARTICLE: "Why You Need a Monitor Scope"

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"TECHNICAL EYES"

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I have this problem, maybe you have it as well: I'm watching a movie or a TV show, and if someone is using a radio for communications, I'll freeze-frame it if I can to ID the radio. Here's a couple examples:

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Last night I was up all night and while flipping through the Direct TV menu I came across an old one that I hadn't seen in years called "Rollercoaster". Timothy Bottoms plays a pyscho bomber who likes to blow up rollercoasters. George Segal and Richard Widmark are the good guys trying to hunt him down.

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Towards the end of the movie, as they are hunting for a bomb on a rollercoaster, Widmark and Segal are in an office communicating with the bomb squad (who are using typical police sized walkie-talkies) and it took a couple scenes but I could see that Widmark was talking on a Courier 23. The movie was made in 1977, but the Courier looked almost new, maybe it was a leftover prop from a much older movie...(picture of courier 23 is from Ztins ebay auction - click HERE.)

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The night before, I was having a "Bond-A-Thon", watching the James Bond sets No.1 and 3. The last movie up was "Dr. NO". I've seen that movie more times than I can remember, but THIS time, in the very beginning when an agent and his secretary are killed (she is killed while warming up the shortwave set), my eyes went right to the radio! I paused the DVD and could see the name "K.W. Vanguard". I kept the DVD on pause, went into the other room, got on the computer and googled the name. On one of the first links I tried I found myself looking at the rig from Dr. NO. Here it is! Once satisfied, I was able to return to the comfort of the couch and continue watching movie...

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"FROM THE SHIPPING DEPT."

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Did you notice a spike in shipping costs during the Christmas/New Year Holidays this year on EBAY? There were so many items I would have bid on if shipping was accurate. Example: Desk microphone, shipping charge $29 (smaller than a D104) from one US location to another US location. Compare this to an FT-101b I bought and paid $27 to ship from New York to Texas! I know the FT-101 was accurate because the seller took it to UPS after packing it up to get the shipping cost to my Zip. Example 2: Dualband HT, with original accessories in original box (modern small dualbander). The Buy-it-now price was reasonable but $34 to ship??

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These are but two examples out of many I encountered. Some sellers admitted their shipping calculator was incorrect after I emailed them, and was given a much lower (and accurate price). Other people weren't as nice, and didn't appreciate me pointing out the fact they were making money sometimes $20-$30 on shipping. Of course, whenever you buy something on EBAY, it is a contract and it's your fault if you didn't check the shipping charge. As far as I know, it's not a crime to charge so much extra. Did anyone else run into this? Drop me a line...

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"FROM THE I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT PRICE DEPT"

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First of all, the price the seller wants is high, but secondly, it's hard to fathom paying $600 for it originally. Click HERE to see what I'm talking about.

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And now my friends, you've come to the end of another posting! Next Post - Reader Mail!!

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Woody

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"WAITER, MAY I HAVE A MENU?"

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As manufacturers strive to put more features in smaller footprint rigs menu's grow in length and depth. For some settings this is fine, because they might only have to be set once or twice during the time you own the rig.

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Other settings however are ones that we (operators) like to "fiddle" with more frequently. I may be getting old (correction - I get older each year) but some menu's are so cryptic it requires the manual to figure out how to do what you want to do, and if you're like me, the manual is never easy to find when you need it.

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Of course, I own several rigs that are menu driven, and yes, I cringe when it becomes apparent that I have to go into the menu system. It's for that exact reason I bought a Kenwood TS-850! The 850 is a "Knob-O-Rama" rig and that's the way I like it - if I want to adjust something, it's right there in front of me: Turn a knob or push a button, based on one of the first rules I was taught about troubleshooting computers, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

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So am I in the minority? Let me know how YOU feel about it - send me an e-mail!!

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Woody

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REVIEW: 2007-1

"ARRL QST ON CD-ROM"

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For my first review of the new year, I thought I'd write one about a product that I've always wanted to buy, but hadn't - until a few weeks ago. The product I'm talking about, of course, is the ARRL's "QST's on CD-ROM" .
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For my own personal preferences, I like reading the old fashioned way, however, magazines get torn, folded, lost, and smelly over a period of decades, and I thought it would be cool to be able to have, at my fingertips, a way to pull them up on screen and even search for what I was looking for. My mind was made up though as I noticed that either cheap ink, cheap paper, or both, caused text to be easily smeared (once smeared - always smeared) - so I ordered one set (1995-1999).
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The viewing program installed very quickly and before you could say "QST" I was looking at the cover of January 1995. I was a tad dismayed to find the cover in Black & White, so I poked through the settings to see how to correct it and discovered that it was not possible because it was B&W only. I guess, for most of the years, this would be perfectly normal, but it seemed unsatisfactory for the later years and the (sometimes) glorious color covers. But I got over it. What I couldn't get over was the way the grey scale switch didn't seem to give any perceivable difference in my viewing pleasure (the shades seemed "mushed" together), and this could be because I was viewing it on an LCD monitor vs. a CRT monitor. A few years ago it wouldn't be a big deal, but today LCD screens are very popular. But this is only one Ham's opinion.
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There's not alot to say about the viewer: You can Zoom in or out, and move from page to page, search, or print. I printed out a few pages: some text, some advertisements ("The NEW Icom IC-736") and some mixed pages of text and photos, and it worked just fine.
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Wrap-up:
For someone who doesn't have enough space to keep decades of QST's around, or just to have something preserved digitally, this is rather nice to have, granted expensive, if you wanted every issue. You get 4 years on CD-ROM for $39.95 plus shipping. I don't know if the ARRL ever runs these on sale, but if they do, it makes an even better purchase and perhaps, future issues will be scanned in color!
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RATING: 3-out-of-5 Stars.
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SO WHAT DID SANTA BRING YOU??

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It's finally over (this years Holiday Marketing, huge crowds at the Mall, Best Buy, the Post Office, and clogged freeway traffic). Due to a shortfall of $$$ and a Bonus that came the Friday before Christmas, I didn't get to exercise my Internet shopping prowness as much as last year, but it is indeed, my favorite way to beat the lines!

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I don't usually jump all over the web to buy items - I can usually find them in 1 or 2 websites I shop at, and since I've started this type of Holiday spending, I haven't come down with quite as many illnesses - thanks to keeping out of germs way.

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Back to Santa, and your gifts...

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I gave myself 2 luxury items this year, one of them was right in line with my hobby interests, the other was...well, "out of the blue":

1. Kenwood TS-850 (my first venture into Kenwood HF as a daily user rig). CW-Dave (the guy who should be in the Guinness book of world records for most rigs owned and operated) is a BIG Kenwood fan. As any old time reader knows, I'm more of a Yaesu/Icom kinda guy, but I'm going to give it a whirl.
2. Apple IPOD. I can't explain it, but I own it.

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I got the black one (it looks cool but shows every fingerprint and smudge) because that's all the store had, and found that I was amazed at how small the IPOD is, considering it has a 30GB HD in it! The color screen is small, but bright and sharp and I don't like the earbuds that come with it. I've listened to ONE song so far, but have watched 2 episodes of "The Land of Giants" TV show from the sixties. I can see that this little player will come in handy whenever I'm expecting a long wait (doctors office).

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SURPRISES

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And then there is always the unexpected!! I picked up 2 Stoner items - One book "The New CB Sideband Book" (I've never seen this one before. Don wrote one in 1958 called "The New Sideband Book", which I have a copy of, but this one was written in 1977 and deals strictly with CB and has a few plugs for his "NEW" Stoner Pro40).

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The second item was a Tube rig, the "Stoner SSB-100", which was probably a marine HF SSB transceiver (haven't received it yet, so I'm not sure).

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So 'Nuff Said for my first post of 2007

Woody

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My postings will return after the 1st of the New Year!

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To:
CW-Dave, Steve, Dan, Silent-Doug, Ray, Tim, Utica-Dave, Marc, Sonny, Bob, Eric, Jesse, Todd (still haven't opened up that Pro40!!), Mohave Jay,Robert, Bill & Barb, Craig, Microphone_Jim, Lance, Allen, Destry, Frank, Friz, Gerry, Greg, Joe, Jeff, Jeremy, Jimmy and Glenn Hendrix, Val, DaveH, and Keith (I know I'm forgetting many of you)
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"MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR, and

MAY THE DX DRIFT YOUR WAY"

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"THE OTHER WHITE MEAT"

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Yes, it's been awhile since I've posted a Ham only column, and it didn't occur to me until just this afternoon while I was listening to what I think was a Collins "Net" on 40meters, at the same time I was on EBAY posting some HAM gear for auction, that I realized I was overdue for something to do with HAM Radio....

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"THE ROCK OF GIBRALTOR"

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If you frequent a repeater, then you'll probably know I'm correct in saying that every repeater has it's "Rock of Gibraltor", someone who keeps things moving, is on-the-air almost 24hours a day (even when running HF), and a person that most users respect, for one reason or the other.

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So here's my story: Once upone a time there was a local repeater that was known for it's conversations relating to various HF contests, helping other operators learn what they needed to learn to get a WAS, or WAC award. The "Rock", or in this case the anchor for the repeater was up at the crack of dawn, had a dry sense of humor, and a "Crisp, no nonsense" way with words. To the average listener (me) it seemed like everyone wanted to talk with this respected HAM radio operator. [I called this repeater frequency "The Contest Geek Channel" - not to make fun of it, but it best described what you'd hear so it was easier for me to remember.]

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The operator has a morning routine:

• Coffee
• Greetings to other Ham's jumping into conversations while on their way to work.
• A report of what HF bands were open last night, and currently, and where they were open to.
• But best of all, he had a "weather rock".

The weather rock was nothing unusual, remained outside, but within view of his Shack window. Almost 75% of the fellows joining the group would ask him what the weather was going to be that day. He'd look out at the rock and (for example) see that it was wet and declare "The weather rock says rain". It was great fun, and everyone enjoyed his help, his "Open Band" alerts, and of course - his weather rock.

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Much of the conversations were very dry and technical, with Harry jumping in occasionally letting people know what band was open and to where it was open to. He had a great memory, so many times it would go something like this - "Hey George, I know your missing Japan in your worked-all-countries and I was just up on 15meters and it's open to Japan". It was through this manner where I worked my first South African station while I was driving into work one morning.

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"Hey guys", said Harry,"There's a South African station on ten meters around 27.480, if anyone wants to work him."

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I was either using my old butt-ugly Icom 725 or, a Uniden 2510, but in any case, I heard the report, started turning the dial and there was the station! Fortunetely I was right near an exit off the freeway and so exit I did, and pulled into a parking lot. He was fading and my wattage was limited but I did indeed make the contact, if only for about a minute. But, I never would have known about it at all if it wasn't for Harry.

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Years went by and I could pop on that repeater and it was like the contesting talk had never ended from my previous visit. It was good to know that at least some things don't change that much - until someone dies..... Yes, Harry the "Weather Rock" forecaster had passed away one night and not only was his passing sad, but the slow death of the repeater that followed, was terrible as well. At first there were nostalgic stories about him, and his weather rock, and some jokes about how maybe someone should borrow the rock to keep the tradition going, but you could tell: week-by-week, month-by-month, the heart of the repeater was gone. It's been several years since Harry passed away, and I stop by that frequency now and again but instead of constant QSO's, there's nothing left, like a planet who lost it's atmosphere and was now a wasteland of hash and squelch. It just goes to show, how one person can be the glue that holds the whole club or repeater community together, and if you have your own version of the "Rock of Gibraltor, then take a few minutes to thank he or she, for their contribution to Amateur Radio...

[The names in this story were changed, but as Zepplin sang: "The song remains the same"]

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"FROM THE FAVORITE MFG. DEPT."

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There are many poll's conducted with titles like "What's your favorite rig to own and operate?" which got me to thinking about one step further, who was my favorite Manufacturer. I've owned several ICOM's in the last 20 years, like the IC-211, 202, 505, 251, 271, 271H, 471, 275H, 207, 208, 7800, 703, 725, 751a and all 3 flavors of 706, but I'ved always come back to Yaesu (Although, the 751A remains one of the best HF rigs I've owned).

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I can't tell you how many FT-101's I'ved owned, but you can be sure it's over half a dozen, but I've enjoyed others like: FT-301, 901, 902, 890, 209, 290r, 100 (non-D), 757I and II, FTDX-560, 400, the 101 "twins", Ft-50r, 60r, Vx-5r, 650 (sweet!!), 225RD, 726, 530r, 897, 897D, and the 817ND. So for me I'd have to rate 'em: 1. Yaesu 2. ICOM and 3. Kenwood a distant 3rd. Out of all of the Yaesu's I think the 101E, 902DM, 757, 650, and 897D were/are my favorite HF rigs, yet I've used an ICOM 207 Dualbander for about 5 or 6 years now. And the FT-530r has to be my all time favorite HT: Not quite the big tank the 209 was, yes not as small and lightweight as a VX-5r or FT-60r. I'm covering my bases on these, as sooner or later it will quit and then parts will become an issue, so whenever I see a reasonably-price 530, I'll try and buy it (I have 4 in my FT-530 "war chest" now).

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What turned me off of ICOM for a period of time, was the lack of parts for some of their earlier stuff, whereas I could and still can have my 101's repaired fairly easy enough. With the newer HF gear, Icom seems to be very reliable but I'm not happy with their noise blanker, while Yaesu seems to be "tricky" with SWR on certains bands....I guess there isn't one around that seems to be issue free. So what about you? What brand you prefer to pick from?

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Woody

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"PART III"

[THE TIMES THEY WERE A CHANGING]

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Before I get too far along let's not forget two other important categories: Microphones, and Walkie-Talkies, which were also involved in this turbulent period of change and growth within 11 meters! The most popular Microphone Mfg's were:

• Turner, Turner/CONRAC, Turner/Telex
• Astatic

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"TURNER"

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Turner, was Cedar Rapids' leading mortician in 1925, and from there they went on to being one of the most popular microphone manufacturers in the world! (Ya never know where you'll end up). The B-E-S-T information you'll find on Turner is on a site exclusively dedicated to the "Turner Story", by Eric Braun. You can also access his website via the CB GAZETTE website, and believe me, you won't be disappointed by what Eric has put together.

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While there were many different models, the most popular format was what you would see in a 250, 251, Plus 2, etc. and if you take notice, they OEM'd that style out to many, many other CB Radio companies. Turner also offered a Plus 2 mobile microphone which was unique in it's design as well. While popular under the Turner brand, these weren't OEM'd as much as the Turner base station microphone were (a few come to mind like Regency, and Kris). And a brief note about "Style", while Turner made several wonderfual changes in their microphones throughout the 70's, Astatic pretty much relied on the D-104 for their flagship desk microphone, sometimes varying from silver to gold (as in the "Golden Eagle" D104 Anniversary edition). But enough about Astatic, let's get back to Turner.

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Turner offered a radically new design for a desktop microphone with the Tuner Plus 3 (base and mobile), which offered not just a pre-amp, but speech compression. It was a popular seller to say the least, and when SSB came into it's own it was only natural that they offer a model marketed to the owners of Single Sideband Base Stations - The Turner Super Sidekick, which had the same footprint as the Plus 3 with a few changes:

• Gone was the grey finish, and in it's place black, with the exception of the microphone head which was shiney Chrome
• They dropped the speech compressor for a preamplier (not sure why)

This was the first desk microphone I wired to my Midland 13-880B and I received many compliments on the audio (it's still a favorite of mine, and I try to keep as many as possible on hand, just in case.....). As you can see, Turner kept up with the times with new designs, including the Turner Expander 500 with VU meter, tone and amplification controls, whereas Astatic's D104 remained cast in stone. And speaking of Astatic, we'll look at what they offered during this "Time of Change" in my next installment. But for more classic Turner try the CB Gazette's TURNER web page.

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WOODY

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"USED TRANSCEIVER PRICING ODDITIES"

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There are several HAM rigs that seem to defy logic in pricing and/or continuation of manufacturing. Here's a few examples (I'm sure you can think of others as well):

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Let's start with a new rig, still available on the market, Alinco's DX-70th HF+6m radio. The rig itself looks good, has a nice big display which is easy to read, has great transmit audio, but a terrible, terrible noise blanker (which at times, actually adds noise into the receiver). But the real deal is that it's an HF+6m mobile that is selling (new) for about $800. There are several other alternatives (some less expensive) which offer HF-440 coverage, yet this dinosaur continues to roam the catalog pages of HRO and AES.

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Moving along quickly, I have examples of a couple other used rigs that fetch very, VERY good pricing for what they are:

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Kenwood's TS-711a, 2meter 25watt base which looks like a TS-430 (made around the same time) and fetches a price in the range of $500-600 dollars (close to original retail).

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I owned one of these rigs back in the 80's and loved it. Nice receiver, nice looking single band base station, but (IMO) over-priced in the used market considering it's about 20 years old! (in this same category, ICOM's IC-271a and 275a are a tad over-priced).

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Last (at least for this brief writings), but not least, Kenwood's TS-50, and HF mobile rig. A favorite of HAM's and Freebanders alike, this was a popular rig while in production (in fact it competed directly with Alinco's DX-70t) and remains popular on the used radio market at a high range of $400-$550 dollars. I have nothing to say about the rig itself, except that when you breach the $500 mark, you should be asking yourself "Should I pay this much for a used, 20-yearold HF mobile? Or should I kick in another $100-$200 and get a newer, smaller rig with a warranty and VHF-UHF coverage?"

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However (you knew a "However" was coming didn't ya?) when faced with a choice between a used TS-50 and an Alinco DX-70, I pick the TS-50 because the DX-70 noise blanker sucks so bad.

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There is a flip side to my story (i.e.- rigs that are a bargain in the used market and well worth the purchase) which I'll cover on another post. But for now - get back to your spreadsheets or other work and come back later to waste some time!

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WOODY

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"PART II"

[The Times They Were A Changing]

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Picking up where I left off... CB was really hot, you had the First Lady, Betty Ford, on covers of CB Magazines (her handle was "First Mama" ), and CB shops were amazing - Many were large sized with a floor model of each radio that you could actually touch! Some even had master switches so you could compare transmission and reception between different models as well as several different base antennas.

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Of course, prices were high, and if you were lucky, they would knock $10 or $20 off the manufacturers list price, which is what they were selling them for. SSB Base Stations were in the $300-$900 range, and you couldn't snage a mobile sideband rig for less than $300 with the exception of the Midland line.

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Everyone seemed to follow the "Gentleman's Agreement" regarding channels 16-18 being sideband frequencies so it was a rare occasion when an AM'er tried to use those channels (unlike today). It wasn't just the Gentleman's Agreement regarding AM and SSB frequencies that made things better, it was more like CBer's following their own "Rules of Engagement", which was pretty ironic if you thought about it. The FCC had their set of Rules and Regulations, which for the most part weren't followed by the CBer's (unless "Uncle Charlie" was in town), and then the CBer's had their own "Rules and Regulations" which were, for the most part abided by with: AM "Slang" staying on AM and SSB "Protocols" observed on the sideband channels. Usually when someone new arrived on SSB they'd be 10-4ing ya Gud Buddy etc. and then someone on the frequency would explain to them that: There's no "Good Buddy" talk, no echo mikes, just plain language and your first name and/or a set of numbers, and if they didn't comply, they didn't have anyone to talk to. Usually, if they were approached in a non-combative manner, the newbie to SSB was very eager to learn the ways of the Single-Sideband-Ninja....

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This seemed to work for a few years, but with more and more people jumping onto the CB bandwagon, the 23 channel spectrum began to fill up quickly so crafty Sideband Operators, using VFO's or crystal kits moved to frequencies above channel 23, while AM'ers cut that designated wire to allow them to use channels 22a and 22b (there was nothing more satisfying than hearing the "Clip" noise from the wire cutters....unless of course, it was the wrong wire) I seem to recall on local fellow who got in there with a pair of snips the size of garden shears, and managed to short out everything around the green wire.

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Many CB sets were located in the kitchen area, sitting against the wall, on the breakfast table - it was a family thing. Mom and Dad had handles and the kids too. Citizens Band Radio manufacturers were keen to this as well and began to make rigs with wood side panels, brushed chrome, and other cosmetics with hopes the base units would make their way into the living rooms of America as well [Note - the wood features also reflected the current fad of wood paneled living rooms, and mobile units with brushed chrome and painted "Wood" accents reflected many vehicles of that era that had fake wood dashboards, or side panels on station wagons].Fanon even had a small base unit with looked like the latest solid-state FM radio tuners of that day. And most manufacturers were keen to the operators love of a BIG Base Station! When the "Joker" invited me down to his house I knew that it was either to show me he new BIGGER Base Station or his new BIGGER antenna. No one wanted to pay six bills or more to get a base that was the size of a small VCR.

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CB Magazines grew in size (both in exterior dimensions and thickness) and everyone wanted in on the latest way to communicate, as well as many "Wannabe" CB magazines appeared and just as quickly disappeared from the magazine shelf rack. Driving down the freeway in the morning, it seemed to the casual observer that every 3 out of 5 cars had some sort of CB Antenna on it. People who otherwise wouldn't know the person in the car 2 lanes away from them, developed friendships, flirtations, and sometimes full blown romances just from their conversations on the way into work. Places like Denny's welcomed CBer's for their weekly "Morning Coffee Break" specials, and I'm sure that more than one employer had several late employees on that special morning where you could "Eyeball" someone and put a face to the "Handle".

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CB Radio thefts were fairly common - after all, many mobiles cost several hundred dollars (or more), until the no name brands appeared and offered the buyer a break in price. CB's, being under-the-dash mounted were easy (and fast) to steal, and brought the thief a fast profit on the black market, or local truck stop. CBer's bought devices that would allow the radio to slide into a bracket quickly, and slide out just as fast so they could lock their rig in the trunk. Others had hideaway antenna brackets so they could fold their antenna into the trunk, so their car would not appear to have a CB radio in it [ed.- my memory may be faulty on this one, but I seem to recall watching the local Houston news one night and they had a story about a local guy who invented and put a patent on this device]. If you were monitoring channel 19 while driving down the road it was not uncommon to hear someone offering a CB for half it's value. Once an interested party was snagged, the seller would suggest that they move to another channel to discuss the deal. Not all ON-THE-AIR deals were black market radios, but a good percentage of them were. Today, many thieves consider CB's not worth their time, due to lower prices and the general (yet wrong) impression that CB is dead.

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So let's look at the picture so far:

• Citizens Band Radio was hotter than a "Pet Rock"
• Thousands of licenses were being processed each month
• While expensive, people found a way to come up with the $$$
• CB Radio Shops seemed to be on every other corner
• And all of these people were crammed into 23 channels
• There were many CB companies competing for your money: E.F. Johnson, PACE, Pearce-Simpson, RCA, Panasonic, Lafayette, Radio Shack, Kraco, Teaberry, Tram, Browning, Cobra, SBE, Courier, Fanon (then Courier/Fanon), Royce, Sears, J.C. Penny, Midland, Hy-Gain, Siltronix, Pal, G.E., Palomar, Utac, Regency, Robyn, Sonar, Gemtronics, Shakespeare, Xtal, and Kris just to name a few, but you get the idea....Citizens Band Radio had more operators than the Amateur Radio Service!!

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TO BE CONTINUED AT A LATER DATE

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"HAPPY HALLOWEEN"

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"THE TIMES, THEY WERE A CHANGING"

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What times? What changing?? Let me explain. The "times" were 1969-1977, and the it was Citizens Band Radio that was changing (Yup, I'm still stuck in Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine). It's pretty much a given that tubes ruled the world for the better part of the sixties [with the exception of several mobile units]. Favorite rigs around that time were the "Big Dogs" like Tram's Titan, and Titan II; Regency's Imperial II; Browning's Mark II; Lafayette's Comstat series, and HB-333, 444's.
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And, up until 1969ish, when it came to mode of operation, AM was king-of-the-band. There had been some brief, yet unsuccessful attempts at introducing Single Sideband to the public - one in the very early sixties, a few in the mid-sixties (E.F. Johson 350 or the "Johnny", which notably was also solid-state), as well as DSB (Double Sideband), and General Radiotelephone's SB-72, but for most of that decade it was AM. Even operators with the Browning sideband rigs were perplexed by it, and didn't like the fact they had to "clarify" the other station in, so they used it mostly on AM.
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But then solid-state units (which had been primarily mobile) began to appear around 1970, and the push for sideband began in earnest. If I recall correctly, it was like going to bed in an AM world and waking up with alien invaders call SSB....it seemed like almost at once, the major players appeared:

• SBE's Console 1
• Quickly followed by their "Super Console"
• Cobra's 131
• Pace had the "Sidetalk 1000"
• Pearce Simpson's "Simba", "Bengal", "Cheetah"
• Midlands 13-880B, and 885B
• And others, that don't come to mind at this moment

CB Magazines created column's devoted to SSB, and you had to admit, those full page color ads of the new breed of CB had to get your heart pumping a little faster. I jumped onto the SSB band wagon as fast as I could get the money for one. Up until this time, there weren't any real local "Dealers", most of what we bought came from mail order or more likely a neighbors garage. We had a couple of garage dealers in our town. They found a distributor and depending on their cash flow, would either have a rig or two to look at, or at least a bunch of catalogs. The garage dealer I remember best sold Pearce Simpson for the most part (although he would not turn a Midland buyer away) and owned a "Simba" which was a great advertising tool - you got to hear him on the air, and could go over to his house and actually see it [take note though, that while this was a sideband rig, he used it almost exclusively on CH2-AM]. To a teenager, it looked HUGE, and between all the bells and whistles, the shiny chrome and that alien looking desk microphone, it would have been a done deal for me - except it was too expensive.

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One day, while talking with some friends, a fellow called "Mister Chips" asked for a break and introduced himself to our group. Apparently he was new to CB and was just getting the feel of things, and asked how his rig sounded. The answer was "Great". Then the question was: "What kind of rig are ya running?". "A Sideband Engineering Super Console" Mister Chips replied. The name sounded familiar so I grabbed my latest copy of S9 and there it was in full page ad. We didn't know what the real difference was between sideband and AM, because we'd never heard a SSB signal. Mister Chips oblidged us by going to SSB and talking.

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After the shock wore off, he was deluged with questions and even invited us over to see the rig. My Dad took me over to his house and Mister Chips was an agreeable sort, years older than my Dad, but they connected on a level I couldn't - until it came to his rig, which was sitting on the kitchenette table, looking awesome. "How 'bout a cup of coffee?" he asked. My Dad said sure, and I nodded an affirmative as well. Thus two milestones were marked that day:

1. I saw my first SSB rig, and even talked on it, and
2. I had my first cup of coffee.

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So now I was hot for a sideband rig, but how could I afford it? they were four hundred dollars and up. Then one day a group of us were talking about SSB and one of them mentioned that they had heard of an actual CB Radio shop, just across the border in Springfield, Ma. and after some negotiations, I got my Dad to drive me up there. I knew the street but not the exact address, and while we were driving down the street I saw a TV Repair Shop to our left and taped to the window was a sign that read: "CB RADIOS TOO". That turned out to be the CB Shop, and it was the place where I bought my first SSB rig - a used Midland 13-880B, for under $200. As I found out later, I would pay dearly for lack of adjacent channel rejection in my dealings with my neighbor/nemesis, the "Bald Eagle".

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Once I got a sideband rig two or three of my radio buddies followed. We all like the straight forward kinda talk, and using our first names instead of "Handles". We used channels 16-18 for SSB, which was great until more truckers moved to channel 19 and bleedover became an issue. All-in-all, it was still a great 23 channel world, and actual CB "ONLY" Dealers began to pop-up like microwave popcorn. These were the days of "wine and roses", and we were unaware of what was just around the corner...

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[TO BE CONTINUED: AT A LATER DATE]

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"Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine"

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Just a quick note, but I thought it was cool enough for a short post.

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Dave M. sent an e-mail with the photo below. Both he and I are into old time radio photo's, and I know some of you are too - So, thanks Dave for regenerating Mr. Peabody's "Wayback Machine"........

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"AUCTION OF THE YEAR"

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I've been keeping tabs on EBAY auctions this year and was going to proclaim the No.1 Auction of the year at the end of December, but frankly after seeing this one, well as the highlander said "There can only be one..." and I don't think anything else will come close to this one. It's outlandish, funny, misspelled, and a little sad (This could be OSCAR material). So without further adieu:

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OPEN THE ENVELOPE

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"WHERE HAVE ALL THE GREAT MIKES GONE?"

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It's like a bad movie ("The Grinch that Stole the Manufacturers") when I think about it - what happened to all of our favorite manufacturers? Of course I know what happened- they were bought by another company and in some cases, that company merged with another company that was later bought by another company and the bottom line ruled over creative design and quality control.

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Yes, TELEX has a few Turner handheld models available (or is it one model available?), and YES, Astatic who was bought out, still offers hand microphones, packaged in plastic; some, in just about any color you want. But where are the classic Plus 3's, Sidekicks, 254's, D104's, etc.? I'm not necessarily talking those specific microphones, but more the spirit of the design that went into making those microphones (a microphone you'd be proud to have on the radio desk in the shack). Thanks to EBAY, you can still pick up the older ones, sometimes still New-in-the-box, but why aren't they still in production today?

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Manufacturing costs are one (NO, I don't want to buy a crappy piece of junk from CHINA), and maybe perceived market share another, but if nice looking, quality microphones weren't desired, then why is HEIL doing so well? Why do operators pay for the Yaesu MD-200A8X microphone if style and quality isn't still marketable at a higher price?

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What I see are people paying $100-$200 for a D-104 "Night Eagle" because ASTATIC doesn't make them anymore. I see TURNER Plus 3's NOS going for up to $100, along with "Super Sidekicks", "CS-1's", etc.

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What I don't ever expect to see is someone paying BIG $$$ for the "Anniversary Edition" Diesel echo mike, or the Golden Edition Barjan "Super Bubba", it's just not going to happen (but then I'm the guy who said that "Rap music sucked" and would never be popular). Can you imagine an Ebay auction 10 years from now?

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"ASTATIC D104m6, with original shredded, and cracked plastic container"

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If TELEX had any brains, they'd come out with a limited edition "CLASSIC SERIES" of microphones, not just the CB series, but go back to the 40's and 50's styles, only with upgraded cartridges that would work well with todays rigs....

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That's how I see it, so 'Nuff Said

Woody

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