CB radio was the communication "thing"

[ozonetrooper]

CB radio was the communication "thing" before message boards.

I had a set up with side-band as well as rotatable vertical/horizontal beam and a 360 degree ground plane antennas.

Man those were the fun days !

 

[MoodyBlues]

CB radio was the communication "thing" before message boards.

I had a set up with side-band as well as rotatable vertical/horizontal beam and a 360 degree ground plane antennas.

Man those were the fun days !

Three of the people closest to me are/were ham radio operators, and it was such fun. I remember when I bought my first brand-new car and the dealer was shocked that I declined installing a CB radio! I did get the 8-track tape drive, though.

 

[puppykickr]

CB radio was the communication "thing" before message boards.

I had a set up with side-band as well as rotatable vertical/horizontal beam and a 360 degree ground plane antennas.

Man those were the fun days !

I am stuck with an Imax 2000 with the feedpoint at about 20 foot.

Basically, nearly the bare minimum.

My radio is tweaked to what is legal and for what it can do continuously as long as a fan is on it (lol).
(There is mass confusion over what is 'legal power'. If you read it correctly, the law says that your unmodulated signal is limited to 4 watts. (Technically, this is enough to talk around the world on 11m.)
That will be considerably higher when you speak into the mic. Many manufacturers misread this and actually limit the total output to only 4 watts.
My radio deadkeys at 4 watts, which is the legal maximum. When I speak into the mic, the radio puts out what it is capable of.)

I can talk 30+ miles locally on a good night, rather consistantly.
I can get to Kentucky, Tennessee, New York, and North Carolina with skip.
Once each to Florida and California.

I have built better, but to put something like that at an elevation where it would be noticibly better would be difficult, if not illegal (height lmitations).
I have built a vertical, center feed halfwave (18 foot long) that should have a takeoff angle of 0°, which would give it outstanding range.

The problem would be getting it the ~2 wavelengths into the air and suspending the feedline a certain distance out from it at a 90° angle. (The alternative is to run it through the inside of the lower element and then make the connection at the center, but this also poses some difficulties of its own.)

Anyhow, on the ground, that one gives me about 13 miles when I run an old 40 channel handheld to it.
That radio only deadkeys about 1½ watts, and swings to about 5 watts.

 

[ozonetrooper]

I had a Hi-Gain double side band that was tweaked for power, on a VFO to tune channels with a digital frequency meter and a 100 watt digital linear !

It was technically a CB radio but the VFO allowed me to slide out both sides of the cb meter band.

This is the beam and ground plane :

the VFO was like this one :

 

[puppykickr]

I love the old VFOs!

I had a CB friend with two old Teaberry base units that had them built right in.

Also, sideband was very different when you could untie the clarifier so that the receive and transmit were separate.

Those were the days.

My 'footwarmer' is a King Cobra 150 GTL that puts that out on high, half of that on low.

The real PITA is having a power supply that can run such a thing.
On my limited budget, that means a 50+ lbs. block of a thing that takes up space and gets really hot, lol.

This thing only produces about 15 - 20 amps, but does the job decently.

 

[puppykickr]

My radio has its own power supply, that was procured from an old full size VHS camcorder.

I mounted it right to the top of the radio, and then put the rubber feet from a base unit on the bottom of the rig.

I like the way it looks.

 

[ozonetrooper]

Also, sideband was very different when you could untie the clarifier so that the receive and transmit were separate.

Yes had that mod as well.

I have a box full of old 35mm pictures that has some shots of my station, I need to go through it and try and find them.

I used to talk skip alot, traded QSO cards and the whole bit.

I had a D104 Silver Eagle and a Turner Super Sidekick+3, was called an alligator station by many !

Awesome hobby for the day !

 

[Fox Mulder]

This thread took a left turn.
You guys should all get your ham tickets, play radio for real.

 

[puppykickr]

This thread took a left turn.
You guys should all get your ham tickets, play radio for real.

That would take the fun out of it!

 

[ozonetrooper]

I actually took a course at the college for CW (Morse code) but never followed up on the ham section.

A buddy who lived a few blocks away had one of these, (they were the chit back in them days), there were several of these working the 27 MHz band back in my day.

 

[olbriar]

I actually took a course at the college for CW (Morse code) but never followed up on the ham section.

A buddy who lived a few blocks away had one of these, (they were the chit back in them days), there were several of these working the 27 MHz band back in my day.

Code is no longer a requirement.

 

[puppykickr]

What really sucks is that HAM radios are not supposed to be used on CB frequencies.

So a HAM licence means that you can legally only talk to other HAMs, unless you are using a CB......

Anyway, most HAMs I have met have rarely built there own antennas or open their radios.

Not to mention that you are now under government control if they ever decide to do so.

Kind of defeats the purpose imo.

 

[olbriar]

I was a licensed CB operator back in the sixties. The FCC sure stepped up and controlled that... not. The only control I see in the HAM arena is the control over the equipment... and that's iffy.

Getting a HAM license was always on my bucket list. I finally took the necessary steps to get a novice license. I work 2 meter and that's all I care to do. With the repeater systems in place, I can talk to my buds across the state. Without CW involved, anyone can obtain a license.
A bit of communication etiquette and some very basic electronics, you are in like Flynn.

I loved the old CB days! I ran legal. I had a Johnson base station and had a mobile in my 57 Olds complete with a 102" whip. I ran a shift of REACT for a few years. My friends and I would do Skunk Hunts on Saturday nights. All night long.. hunt after hunt then followed up by meeting someplace for breakfast.

Being a kid at the time, I collected QSL cards. We'd swap cards without any contact. The quest was to obtain a card from every state.
Out of all of my childhood things, the only thing that I still posses is a two drawer file cabinet full of cards. I even know about where it sits in my shed.

 

[nickdalzell]

I recently had tried to use a CB a few years ago and stumbled onto the infamous Channel 6, the "Super Bowl". To this day I am not sure of those freaks were on hard drugs or burned in the brain from all those illegal amps. I actually thought of responding to one of them since the came in real clear, but figured they're too frazzled to know what I'm saying. They could hardly construct a coherent sentence, and always ended with 'bye bye bye'

 

[olbriar]

My 27 MHz adventure started out with a pair of GI Joe Commando Walkie Talkies I got for Christmas. On a good day you could communicate with a buddy from across the yard. They were rock locked to channel 9 but were receiver enough to listen in on the local chat. It wasn't long before I actually met some of the CB'ers around town and they were keen on sharing their love for the hobby. I conned my mother into applying for a license and started saving my dollars. The summer before I turned 13 I quit my paper route and my lawn mowing and got a real job at fifty cents an hour! By the end of summer I had saved enough to buy my first radio. It was an EF Johnson with power supply and antenna which my adult CB friends helped me set up. My walkie talkie days were over.

 

[puppykickr]

My 27 MHz adventure started out with a pair of GI Joe Commando Walkie Talkies I got for Christmas. On a good day you could communicate with a buddy from across the yard. They were rock locked to channel 9 but were receiver enough to listen in on the local chat. It wasn't long before I actually met some of the CB'ers around town and they were keen on sharing their love for the hobby. I conned my mother into applying for a license and started saving my dollars. The summer before I turned 13 I quit my paper route and my lawn mowing and got a real job at fifty cents an hour! By the end of summer I had saved enough to buy my first radio. It was an EF Johnson with power supply and antenna which my adult CB friends helped me set up. My walkie talkie days were over.

Bet you wish you still had that Johnson.
Good radios!

 

[puppykickr]

I recently had tried to use a CB a few years ago and stumbled onto the infamous Channel 6, the "Super Bowl". To this day I am not sure of those freaks were on hard drugs or burned in the brain from all those illegal amps. I actually thought of responding to one of them since the came in real clear, but figured they're too frazzled to know what I'm saying. They could hardly construct a coherent sentence, and always ended with 'bye bye bye'

Yeah, they are very annoying.

But, they DO serve a purpose.
They are a perfect example as to the importance of keeping your equipment on frequency and no over modulating.

All that garbled, distorted crap that bleeds 6+ channels up and down from the broadcast channel is what you DON'T want.

When you concentrate all of that wasted power into a properly modulated signal that fills the proper frequency spectrum of a channel, you get the sound quality of a broadcast radio station.

Occasionally over the years, I have heard Motormouth Maul.
He is in California, and has one of (if not the) best sounding rigs around.

I even wound up finding him on Facebook, after hearing him onair for 20+ years.

http://motormouthmaul.com/mmm2_010.htm

 

[olbriar]

Bet you wish you still had that Johnson.
Good radios!

I wish I had both of them. I bought another when I got my first car after getting tired of switching base to mobile and back all of the time. They were great radios. When radios turned to girls they became far less than important to me. I don't even know what became of them. I had the mobile installed in a 57 olds, then a 61 olds, but I never installed it in my 68 cougar that I bought in 1970. The base station was moved to a friends house where we mostly all lived while in high school. Again, no memory of what became of it. You are right... they were very good radios.

 

[puppykickr]

I wish I had both of them. I bought another when I got my first car after getting tired of switching base to mobile and back all of the time. They were great radios. When radios turned to girls they became far less than important to me. I don't even know what became of them. I had the mobile installed in a 57 olds, then a 61 olds, but I never installed it in my 68 cougar that I bought in 1970. The base station was moved to a friends house where we mostly all lived while in high school. Again, no memory of what became of it. You are right... they were very good radios.

Bet you wish you still had that Olds, too.

 

[olbriar]

I would like to have that 57 back. It was a super 88 and was in great shape inside and out. I bought it for $50 and sold it for the same a couple of years later. Oddly enough, I saw that car in a K-Mart parking lot. I know it was mine for it had a big hole beside the trunk where I had mounted a 102" whip. The auto I'd really like to have was one of my father's he was restoring it but sold it in mid stream. It was the first auto I ever drove. A 1936 Ford pickup. His was a bit rougher than this one.

 

[nickdalzell]

At work we got an old Studebaker pickup truck that our company's founder bought. They had gotten it running (had some redneck mess with it) but something caught fire, they spotted asbestos and panicked. It's well beyond my capabilities since I have literally zero understanding of 6V positive ground systems and there's no schematic. It's all original, engine, trans and all. I'm not fearful of asbestos like the puny people of today, but I obviously cannot fix it.

 

[puppykickr]

At work we got an old Studebaker pickup truck that our company's founder bought. They had gotten it running (had some redneck mess with it) but something caught fire, they spotted asbestos and panicked. It's well beyond my capabilities since I have literally zero understanding of 6V positive ground systems and there's no schematic. It's all original, engine, trans and all. I'm not fearful of asbestos like the puny people of today, but I obviously cannot fix it.

For the love of God, get me all the info you can about year, make, and model.
Everything.
Engine size, type, you name it.

I was the guy my friends called to get a vehicle running when it had sat in a field for years.
Literally.
That one was a 1953 F-100 with a flathead V-8.
Rare, a 50th anniversary.

Another was my buddy's 1963 Comet.

I kept my 1970 Oldsmobile running for 26 years.
(Hoping to get it running again next month.)

6V positive ground is an oddball, but not anymore difficult than anything else.

Old vehicles were great, because all they need is fuel, air, and fire.

 

[nickdalzell]

I have no idea the year, but judging from the art deco interior I'd guess late 40s-early 50s. It's got a flat head but it's a 6. Inline. 6V Positive ground system, quite beat up (some paint would at least help). It's NOT a resto-mod, it's factory. Original engine, trans, clutch, etc. I don't think any of the gauges worked, and they only got as far as it idling, the choke was not working at all. We have no clue if the trans or clutch was any good. It's on the column. Tires are flat and there are NO brakes. It's located in Owensboro, KY, at our business called Tony's Golf Carts and Parts. She wants to sell it, but it currently does NOT run, it's got fire damage to the harness, and I'm not sure if it even has a battery anymore.

As far as interior features go, it's bare bones. No radio (not even a place for one), standard gauge layout (none work ATM) and some quite fancy term for just a heater, called the 'Studebaker Climac-tic Control' (it's three knobs for fan, heat and defrost.)

 

[puppykickr]

Ok, so first thing is the wiring.
Back in the day, it was common to have cloth wrapped wires.
The wires themselves could even be aluminum.

If to be enjoyed rather than restored, it is not hard to replace these wires with modern new ones.

It can be done one at a time, and then they can be bundled up neatly after it runs.

A brand new 6VDC battery can be had at any auto parts store, because they are still fairly common in use.
Just always remember that the polarity is reversed.
Really, other than that detail right there, it means nothing else to you.

A 6VDC starter will turn 'slowly', like a nearly dead 12VDC battery to our modern ears.

Check the small wires going to the ignition coil first.
The insulation on these was most susceptable to heat.

The brakes are not difficult.
Most likely, all the moving pieces are bad, along with the shoes.
This is probably a four wheel drum brake system.

The drums will probably get you by for a while yet.
Use Marvel Mystery Oil and time around the hubs if they wont come off.
There is an oval slot at the center top or center bottom of the backing plate behind each brake.
You can stick a large flat screwdriver in there and flick the starwheel adjuster to back off the brake shoes if needed.

I am not sure about your vehicle, but the master cylinder may be on the frame rail underneath the car.
This can be a pain, but if it is not under the hood on the driver's side firewall then look there.

The wires for the brake lights may be attached to the master cylinder, or the brake pedal lever under the dashboard.
If your brake lights don't work, check the bulbs first and then these wires.

Leaking brake fluid from anywhere, and or non-function of one or more brakes on wheels is a stopper here, as parts need immediate replacement before the vehicle can be moved.

If you are competent with habd tools, a Chilton's or Motor manual for the vehicle is most helpful.
Hanes manuals are generally worthless, as you will find that half of it will describe in great detail how the seatbelts work (whether the vehicle has them or not), and at least another 25% of it will be warnings about not drinking the antifreeze and battery acid.

If you are not confident at this point, then buy shoes, wheel cylinders, and brake hardware from a good auto parts store (ie., NOT AutoZone) and bring the thing to a local brake shop.
Hopefully there is someone there 50+ years old that has a soft spot for stuff like this.

As far as the choke, it is not really that crucial.
A couple pumps of the gas, then hold the pedal about 15%-20% down and crank it for about 7 seconds, or until it fires.

If it fires, pump the pedal to keep it running, and slow the pumping as it warms up.
When it stops 'heaving', it will idle without your help.

If the choke is stuck closed, then open it and hokd it open.
The screwdriver mentioned before can be used, so long as itcwont fall through when the throttle is actuated.
(Check for this with the engine off while you are under the hood.)

Then proceed with the cranking procedure above.

Let it rest about 10-20 seconds between cranking attempts.

If you still have no luck, try starting fluid.
Have a helper spray short bursts into the carburetor as you do the above again.

If it fires, great. (Even without a start.)
If it starts, try to keep it running with the pedal.
Keep the starting fluid to a minimum.

If it starts, then uncontrollably revs up, you have to be ready to turn the key off.

A helper is a great idea.
If there is a fire, do not panic.
Close the hood and keep cranking the starter.

(Closing the hood restricts the available oxygen, and cranking causes a great suction that will draw the fire into the motor where it is harmless.)

A flat head motor is rather cool.
It sounds different, and is rather bullet proof.

Remember that these things can run for 100+ years, and that for most of that time the oils available were very inferior to what we have now.
You will see more Model T cars rolling down the street nowadays than you will see Taurus SHOs from the '90s.

 

[joe71]

For truck drivers having a cb radio is an absolute must. Three reasons
1) communication
2) information
3) entertainment