CB radio has to be one of the earliest forms of social networking. They where relatively affordable and with little training easy to use. As a form of social media they brought people together from all over the globe and made the world a smaller place. There are a few operators here in Northern Ireland, some are a bloody nuisance with playing music and using bad language and some are very professional and could put some ham guys to shame but it will never go back to the hey days of the 70s where a 40 channel simply wasn't big enough. 10 10 good buddy.
There are some intelligent people on CB, most of them on SSB. Hams should never disrespect CBers. In times of emergency, they do come through. Thanks for the video.
you're right . I have an indicative but i practice CB too. 20 years ago there was too many people on CB frequencies but now most of the people are very motivated and full of respect. Fred from France . 73 my friend
I used to enjoy CB in the 70’s and 80’s. But in attempting to enjoy it again I quickly discovered that the local CB community around me today equate to little more than RF power hungry ex-cons, inner-city morons, and low IQ wanna-be but never will be ham radio operators. The very few who have partially functioning brains might be able to carry on a conversation when they are sober, but 30 minutes after getting high they become turncoats and power on their totally illegal multi-kilowatt linear amps to brag about who’s the king of CB Dumbo Mountain for the week. Then they walk all over one another, get all heated, and threaten one another with violence. I hope that DX chatter on CB is never picked up in outer space by a Death Star, or this planet will be annihilated faster than they can say bye-bye-bye. In this respect I am grateful to CB, as it motivated me to get my ham ticket and say sayonara forever to the CB nonsense.
CB is still lots of fun. I'm a licensed amatuer and I have numerous friends I talk to on CB all the time throughout the band. It's coming active again with the new cycle and is lots of fun but I miss those who sadly pass and don't make it from the last cycle to the next. I have several CB radio friends who are now gone and I miss them dearly.
Hey 741, In the late 70- early 80`s my friends and I used to convoy around at night with cb rigs for hours. I am licensed as KANA 5675, handle was Panama Red. My pickup was a 1954 Ford F-100 that was wired 6 volt pos. ground. Had to use an old truck 12 volt battery strapped to the trans hump to run my rig. Had a 23 channel Craig and talked through a pr. of Radio Shack rabbit ears attached to my West Coast side views. Oh, those carefree days. I still can get on with a "GE Help" handheld, though my antenna broke. I can still listen in on stuff up on 11 with the old Kenwood HF rig. When propagation is right, those AM SSB stations come in very well up here in Endless Mts., PA. KC3BXZ Joe 73
Hey man, great video! Thanks for the shout out and I love that shirt! I think it is far far past the time for HAM's and your average CBer to bury the hatchet. The hobby needs all the ears and voices it can get at this point.
Hey Erik ,, look what the cat dragged in , as I always say , I made it !! Good to see you , I heard you giving him a shout out and have finally got time to come check it out and subscribe 👍. I agree with you completely , I still hold my ticket but I enjoy both and I don’t point fingers , there’s good n bad operators on both sides
I accidently reinvigorated the CB use in my local area. I bought a box of old CB radios for $40 at a yard sale and set them up for our Boy Scout troop. The kids loved using the radios so much the started a CB club. There is a lot of value in having a way to communicate that doesn't rely on complex technologies. And if you want the level of intelligence to rise on the airwaves, then be the person that does that. Don't use profanity, don't engage in name-calling. Be the change you want to see. More people will hear you and jump on the radio.
CB is taking off with the solar cycle kicking in. I’ve been back at it for a year and loving it. Talked to Australia last week. Like building my own home brew 2 element Yagi antennas.
Solar cycles were great back in the day for DXing, I could communicate from my push bike to America using my Tait CB4 on AM, from Hastings New Zealand. My particular model had 4 torch batteries in it using a car cb aerial on the bike carrier.
I’m a ham, but I’ve been getting back in to CB. Mostly after watching Farpoint farms and mower junkie. Put a new Antron antenna up yesterday and made contact with locals that I had no idea were still in to CB. Definitely still alive and well around here! -KC4PPS -209 in Tennessee
5150 here in north east Texas, I have a radio in both vehicles as well as a base station with an old D&A tube amp. I enjoy talking with friends all around the area (100 MI or so radius). Lots of good people. 3s&8s to ya, and I'm back quiet
I got my first CB rig in 1966 and still have a Bearcat 980SSB! I just need to get some altitude on the antenna. This all was before getting my ham ticket but, back in '66, CB was known as 'Poor man's ham.' Sadly, in the '70s it got completely out of control...to the point where the FCC gave up! It would be fun, though, to see who's out there these days. Right now I can't hear anyone. Great....another project! LOL Fun video, Rob! 73 W1NLJ
Those wires attached to the PLC were most likely for an add on frequency counter. That was the way we use to do it. lol Mod the radio for the 11 meter band using existing switches add a freq counter and turn the clarifier into a slide to get freq's dialed in or slide between channels. Add a tube type Foot Warmer amplifier and what a setup! Wow, the memories.
Just do it bud, it's alive, lots of skip on CB nowadays, and new solar cycle will bring worldwide contacts in the next years. Get back on the air NOW :)
I have had a Cobra 148gtl citizens band transceiver since I bought the vehicle new in 1996. I cut a very meet hole in the dashboard and mounted the old 148gtl permanently into the rectangular hole. I also made a small rectangular hole next to the rectangular hole for the microphone socket that attached to the radio. Today, I still have the radio mounted in the same vehicle with the same antenna. Everything still works except the band. I hear almost nobody on the band anymore whether AM or SSB. Every once in a great while, I hear someone very far away on channel 38 LSB. But that is it. It is sad what has happened to citizens band. I had very poor foresight when I cut holes into my dashboard. Back in 1996, I never dreamed I would still have the same vehicle, nor did I anticipate the death of citizens band. I can not remove the old Cobra 148gtl without replacing dashboard panels. It is very hard to find dashboard panels in good condition for a vehicle made in 1996. Thus, I just leave the old radio in. I had great times with that radio. I talked to the Canary Islands back around 1999 with the same antenna and coaxial cable on channel 36 USB. I miss those days. I regularly scan through the channels, since the radio is still working. I rarely hear anybody. The antenna is a 4 foot Wilson Silverload. Everything was better back then except maybe advanced technolgy. Today, everything sucks except advanced technolgy. As a kid I was KBX1339
When I saw the thumbnail of the Lafayette SSB-140 I had to check the video out! I have one now and had one back in the day! I actually have a lot of CB stuff sitting around that my ole lady will probably throw in the trash after I am gone! I have several TRC-457's, a Royce 642 (I think that's the model number), a couple Cobra 2000's, President Madison station and all kinds of Uniden and President mobiles. I have a lot of Ham gear that I haven't used in a while either. It can be kinda hard to stay on top of several hobbies at once! Maybe I'll make a different YT channel just for some of my radio gear. Thanks for the Video! 73!
I'm a ham but I still love my cbs. I think if you enjoy doing content on cb then you'll definitely have people that will watch it. Lol you'll probably quickly be contacted by President and have some new gear to test also 😂 they have some cool stuff
Now should we wait for the new radios coming out since the FCC laws have changed in regards to opening up FM freqs? More channels???? So that they will design and make new radios? Remember the old 23 CHANNEL PACE and JOHNSON CB radios? Then there was Realistic, Lafayette, Royce, Kraco, Midland, and those CB radios that had tubes needed to warm up? Do they make TODAY a base station antenna that can outperform the Super Penetrator 5/8 wave omni directional ground plane antenna?
@@microminiskirt Its aluminum....modern version of the Avanti Sigma 5/8. Same basic electrical design but better mechanical design. www.rightchannelradios.com/products/maco-v58-cb-base-antenna
I love my CB radios I probably have 75 or so from old tube types to new stuff and some exports. I started back in 1994 when I found my dad’s spare radio in the closet which was a tram D 42. He was a truck driver. I didn’t know any better and I thought it was just like a car stereo I could stick a piece of wire in the back and use it. The SWR warning light was on but at the time I didn’t know what it was. I threw about a 20 foot long piece of wire out my bedroom window into a bush and I was talking on channel 19 to truck drivers 2 miles away at the interstate. knowing what I know now I can’t believe it worked. My dad finally knocked on my door wanting to know who I was talking to when he seen I had his CB out with a piece of speaker wire crammed in the back of it he wasn’t too happy and took it away. I can’t believe it didn’t blow the finals But I still have the radio and it still works and looks good. We normally stay on channel 17 here in North Carolina Lotta good knowledgeable guys on there to talk to never any arguing or fussing.
great vid. thanks for having a positive look into cb radio. The FCC says it is now legal to talk skip inside the continental US as long as you use legal cb watts.
Oh I love my Lafayette SSB 140. It was the first 40 channel radio I ever bought and I still have it. I have extra channels in mine just for kicks. Thank you for the excellent CB radio video
SAME HERE, STARTED OUT WITH A RADIO SHACK MINI 23. JUST A RED LED FOR MOD. 50 FOOT OF RG 58 AND THE RADIO SHACK 1/4 ON THE ROOF. POWERED BY A DYING CAR BATTERY. GOT ABOUT A WEEK UNTIL IT NEEDED A CHARGE. ON CHRISTMAS SANTA BROUGHT ME A LAFAYETTE TELSAT SSB 140. CQ UNIT 15 KEYSTONE STATE. ALWAYS HAVE A CB NEAR BY.
The cost of vintage cb equipment has gone thru the roof. I first got on CB back in 1967 thru 1977. Back when things were good and you formed new friendships with those you talked to on air AND...everyone had a CB LICENSE with a call-sign. Most cb'ers today weren't even born when we were active. Back in the day...you could make a 2 hour drive from Mass. to both Winnisquam or Laconia, NH and go to either the Browning or Tram factories and get the royal treatment from the techs who were more than glad to guide you thru their facilities. We formed radio clubs and hosted "Coffee Breaks" and "Jamborees" and traveled three or four states to attend another clubs functions. We shot a lot of Skip everywhere..even Europe and collected QSL cards from nearly every station we talked to. If a QSL wasn't available, a three cent postcard would suffice quite nicely. We used to attend "Antenna Raising" parties. and install mobile rigs for the uninitiated at ten or fifteen bucks a pop. In the winter we had a group of mobiles which outfitted their cars & trucks with thermos's of coffee, flares, blankets and chains in the event we come across a disabled snowbound motorist. We had a command center and numerous maps on the walls to assist in our operations plus we were connected with the county's ALERT / 9 EMERGENCY CHANNEL...not to mention our local CIVIL DEFENSE. We assisted on a voluntary basis during raging storms, downed aircraft, missing persons and other areas of concern. Yep...most modern day so-called cb'ers. don't have a clue what it was like back when CB Radio was "Good".
Just wanted to stop and say thank you for making that video. I really enjoyed it. I subscribe to your channel blindly because of it I've been subscribed to Eric over at farpoint farms since close to the beginning. Thanks again look forward to viewing your content
Stew Pot: Yes...the lockdown has seen a big increase in the number of people using CB here in the UK. I'm a member of CTDX (link below) and the membership has been going up rapidly since the virus panic started. www.charlietango.co.uk/
@@paganphil100 Oh dear... CT wannabe hams using CB with their wannbe ham speak and made up callsigns. This almost made me not come back to CB.. So I came back to CB using my 27/81 Rotel240 ... CB is pretty much dead around here.. The ones that remain rarely speak to anyone who they are not on first name terms with... Anyone new or unknown is generally ignored. I'll continue to use my old kit until it lets the smoke out, I wont bother getting it repaired or replaced. Coming back to CB was a big disappointment. Its a fading shadow of its former glory years and will continue to fade due to the lack of new people.
September 5 1986 at 3:00pm got my first radio was Realistic TRC 48 23 channel was base & mobile radio plus had had 24 channel in too and had Am / SSB with stock microphone! Also Antenna waa Shakespeare 1/2 wave up 35 feet plus hill live on farm back then too till 1997 ! Also done lots upgrades radio and antenna since then too ! Also still enjoy radio for base and mobile too! I went ham radio in April 30 2007 at 10:30pm licence 3/4 of bands but still use CB radio! I am from Port Hope area 65 miles east of Toronto Ontario live in Country area north Of Port Hope Town 10 mins North West! Been hear all my life too !
I started out on CB back in the mid 70's , I've still got all my CBs , From the General Electrics to the President Lincoln .... Also a ham operator ... Regards from Wales " Gw0wvl " .
I owned one of those CB Base stations (Exact Lafayette model ) when I was in High School in 1979. I lived in Anchorage AK at the time and would talk all over the Continental US on sideband when the conditions were right. Furthest away was a Ham operator in Switzerland that was exploring the CB band with his setup. I just recently got my Ham license in 2019 where I passed all three exams in one day. I regret not getting my license decades ago and I likely would have if not for the Morse Code requirement; I just never could get good enough at the Morse Code. All the theory questions were pretty easy for me.
I love how quiet your receive is. Out here the power lines are hell bent to kill our RX. Thanks for posting this video. Cool to see the old rigs working. Had the Grant too.
People don't realize what 5 Watts at 27 Mhz with a good antenna can do compared to 5 watts at UHF. Laws of physics all things being equal give you a 24 db Gain
psssssssssst, i promise nobody is hearing your 5 watts over the top of everyone elses AT THE MINIMUM 200w - apply that same amount of gain to 200w and you suddenly realize you might as well not even transmit cos you're so far down into the noise floor
Looks from here as if you have it all! Ham radio, dabble in CB radio, older motorcycles-I have a 2006 Royal Enfield-and it seems you’ve chased a train or two. Having just retired I hope to find time for a list almost exactly like yours. Fine business. (Appears if I want to find people using CB that are highly “sane,” I need to get a sideband CB radio.) - W3GX John
Nice vedio 2👍👍 up !! l love cb radio since l was a teenager with my home base cobra GTL 2000 and still have them hook up (2020) and running talking world wide overseas from home and my car. It fun to enjoy talking to people Also no data charges....heheh because it free to chat😃😃😃 Thank you for this vedio !
Just pulled my old radio shack TRC-205 hand held 40 channel cb, it still works great. Has plugs for external ant., external mic and external power. Now if I can convince the landlord to allow me to erect an outside antenna in the apartment building where I live now in Hew Hampshire....
im surprised cb radio still active i live in canada and i dont hear anyone here exept the truckers that are on the highway . sure brings back memories from the 70s im a ham radio operator, but will use the portable cb and listen to see if anything here comes up great information , glad to see this band is still being used great information nice video .
Just getting back into CB radio after 40 years or so...got a Cobra 29 LTD classic for a base station,LMR 400 coax to a 102" whip mounted on the chimney with a homemade ground plane that I copied from mower junkie 151 SC. Top of the antenna is 34' off the ground and it works great.... SWR's barely move on channels 1-40 73's 102 NY
I live in Westbrook Ct. Still on the radio. I had a Uniden PC 122 XL but now run Uniden 980 SSB. You can catch me on 2. My handle is Archangel. I run an Antron 99 base.
Mt. Greylock is not too far from me here in Bennington, Vermont. I used to take the base antenna up there and talk all over the world back in the mid to late 90's. 3,489 FT elevation. Good times!! 73's from "Hound-dog"/415 in Vermont.
@@SevenFortyOne Give a shout out when your in the area. Local channel here is 30, with people talking up to 50 miles apart. I'm on the top of a hill so I have great coverage of town and beyond. Washington base with A99 works well. 73's
I see a Astatic D-104 and a Turner mic in the background. I still have a few CB SSB radios, mostly J.C. Penney's PLL single sideband radios. They all have freq mods and unlocked clarifiers as I used to do freq and clarifier mods back in the day, mid 70's through the 80's. PLL chips were very easy to modify. Yeah, make more CB vids.
Been running a cb since 1988, I keep one in two of my vehicles and one in my room, “wife loves it” lol, but I use both ham and cb, love them both. 73, Kg7vdn
@@microminiskirt if you can run a ssb rig you can run a ham radio, it really isn’t difficult, but yes it requires a license , one I passed on first try and I’m not really a technical person, but I’m more of a Cber as it’s more laid back.
@@bobdillashaw4360 I am sure it's much more laid back as there is no regulation on CB and with HAMS too much regulation, more cost $$$$, more range. That President CB radio in video looks like has a signal meter from a Realistic TRC-451.
Lafayette SSB-140? Man, that brings back some memories. I never owned one personally but I worked on around 200 of them just from the mid ‘90’s until I shut down my shop around ’07 or ‘08 and many more in the years before that. They mostly came in for capacitor replacements and to have the power supply rebuilt. Over the years, the caps just dried out and eventually failed. Around half of them had an extra channel modification and most were hack jobs, very poorly done. One of the things you said really piqued my ears. The ribbon cable. Since I haven’t seen the radio and the exact attachment points for the ribbon cable I can’t say for sure whether your guess of that being for a channel is true or not but I have my doubts. I heard you say that a wire or two were connected to the PLL. The vast majority of all the SSB radios of all brands that I’ve seen that used ribbon cord and were connected to the PLL used the ribbon cable for a frequency counter. Most of them used 4,6 or 8 wire ribbon cables and were only connected in 4 or 5 spots. I’ve seen some of your other videos so I know that you’re not a radio dummy, you could be correct. If it was an 8-12 wire cable and at least 8 wires were connected, then you had a very special radio. If you go as far back as the ‘80’s, back then there were only 3 people that were building channel control boxes using the 8-12 wire ribbon cable. 2 of them were absolute radio geniuses and the third was me. Of the other 2, 1 of them is still around. That one is Lester from Lester’s Custom Truck Shop/LesComm. I don’t agree with some things he does but when it comes to custom frequency boxes, he is the Emperor. His LC#### boxes were sold to shops all over the country and still are. They are the best ever made for that purpose. The other genius was a raging A-hole and egomaniac named Billy Dean Ward, a.k.a. The CB Doctor, he was the King. As he aged, he eventually became nearly human and we were good friends over his last 10 years. He was a true radio engineer with several patents. Long story but we collaborated on hundreds of ideas. Usually I could come up with the what if ideas and a basic understanding of the concept and he would build and test those ideas to prove the concept and put them into production. He was a horrible businessman though, screwed over a lot of people, including me, yet was still always broke. It was around the time that a few other techs figured out how to reverse engineer what we were doing when Les started his LC#### production and made all other channel mod boxes obsolete. I really wish I had seen it. Oh well. Still a wonderful radio. I noticed the light dimming that you spoke of. Given the age of the radio, it’s possible that the power supply is on its way out but I would start by replacing all the capacitors. At that age, even if they test good, they’re extremely likely to fail soon. Then look at the power supply after you test the radio for dimming and proper operation. If everything checks out within specifications, then do an alignment. I’m off to my old 746Pro to see if there’s anything on 20m tonight. Have a great time with those radios. Oh my goodness, I’m sorry. I always go back to check for errors and saw how long this was. I didn’t realize that I had rambled so much. My old mind just gets going sometimes and won’t stop. My apologies. Great video.
Wow - that's an awesome story, thanks for sharing! I don't recall exactly how many wires were in that cable but I think it was somewhere between 6 and 10. If memory serves, they were all different colors and not all of them may hve been connected to the board. I don't recall exactly where it was attached internally but I do recall needing to do some work on the PLL chip to fix some cuts and jumps on the circuit board. I also recall thinking that whoever did the work on this radio had done a pretty nice job. The radio was modified, not hacked which made it easy to put back to stock configuration and get it working again. I wish I had made a video about it back when I did this but I wasn't as serious about filming stuff back then as I am now. I think you are right about the capacitors - I'm sure they could use replacing. If I can find some time this fall/winter maybe I'll re-cap the radio and do an alignment. If I do, I'll be sure to put it on TH-cam. Again, thanks for the story. CB has a rich and colorful history and I love hearing about it.
SevenFortyOne I’m long winded but normally not that bad. I’m glad to hear that someone did a good job. I always had modifications come in that I didn’t like or weren’t needed but as long as someone took the time to do it properly, it still made me happy. I’m proud of good work, even if it’s someone else’s. Like I said before, I can tell from your videos that you’re not a dummy. This is for you and for anyone reading because I know some are on tight budgets. While it is best to replace every cap at once in the old radios, for those that are on a budget, you can safely do just one section at a time. I recommend doing the power filtering caps first. Once those are done the order of the other sections isn’t as important. I’ve had my license for 20 years but still enjoy CB , mostly SSB. Good thing I like it since I drive truck now, not as busy as it used to be but it’s still needed at many places. Have a good one, time for bed.
Yeah, you can still have a lot of fun on CB, not here though, it is very dead in North East Scotland! EDIT: I am always hoping it will come alive again. It is quiet in the UK now, some areas still have a few breakers, but the late 70s and 80s have gone. We can now use AM, FM, SSB on the same 40 as you, but most are still on the old UK 27/81 FM spec radios. Others have moved away from CB to Ham equipment and are using that for CB!
@@SevenFortyOne There is a rise in use of CB due to Covid, but not in this area, shame, I used to enjoy my CB and in fact any radio. There is another story attached to radio, but I'll not go into that for fear or incriminating myself!
bob fourjis: There are still many Scottish CB operators "on air".....when there's any short-skip propagation I hear lots of them (I live in East Lancs). I recently had a qso with a guy in Dingwall (near Inverness) and there were lots of others calling in too. Have a look at the link below....there are many Scottish members and its all free :-) www.charlietango.co.uk/
so funny, i still have my D-104 silver eagle (45yrs), Johnson messenger 4740, and an old realistic base trc-457 as well as some other odds and sods power meters and SWR meters. don't know if any of them work, been sitting in a box in my basement for the last 20yrs. live in a condo these days, can't use. kinda miss those days, used to have a bunch of us would hang out on channel 39 just about every night, and when the skip would come in it was a freeforall.
That was hilarious to hear the gentleman talk about Channel 31. That was the first channel I heard here in Enfield, CT when I got my cb a few months ago. After that it was getting into amateur radio and getting my Technician and General licenses recently and going for Extra next. But I look forward to checking out CB again soon, too. 73, KC1NLR
Enfield has always had an active CB group on or near 31...it gets quite interesting sometimes...at least it used to. Radio is a ton of fun and there is alot to explore in the hobby-enjoy!
Good video! I’m gonna setup a base station sometime this spring. I recently got a Maco V58 base station antenna and a 100 ft of RG8X coax cable. I plan on running a old school base station. I have a Realistic TRC - 441 base station I got about a year ago that still works great. I’m hoping to find a Uniden Washington at a upcoming ham fest in a couple months. I’m also on the lookout for a Uniden Grant or Cobra 148 GTL if I can’t find a Washington.
Here in Maine on the coast, there's a group of people on 28 I talk to. Probably 5 to 10 people on that one channel and they are mostly in the same town. All cool people. Mr.392 on the coast, out!
I enjoyed the video. I grew up in the hey days of cb radio. I have a President Washington base radio with a Turner Super Sidekick II mic. I should fire that thing back up! 73
I'm still active on USB the higher channels and i have great DX there. Nobody is rough. I talked to whole Europe and sometimes to the US. My last QSO was with Brasil. Anyway CB is alive on the higher channels and i learned for my ham license but i rather be on CB. In fact the only antenna i have up is for CB.
ive been in cb 50+ years and heard it all. been a ham for around 25 years and heard it all there its funny CB is very very active here in the North East Georgia tri state area. i`ve been hearing so much trash on Ham lately on 80mtrs i mean dropping the "F" bomb GDs the "S" word i havnt heard that kind of talk on cb on many years, once in awhile ill here a dam or hell when two guys get all worked up or drunk..lol but its still the best hobby ever. keep it clean keep it safe...well trains is fun to but cant talk to them.or can i??
that lafayatte telsat looks so classic and straight with those metal knobs and metal front, the wood on top too. the receiver doesnt sound bad, its no icom ic765 or ic7300, but good for a receiver that old. amazing that you got it for only $20. cb has great things to it, there is no censorship, someone cant simply deleted a comment and there is local news, sometimes dx. i would be afraid of criminals that spy people out and then rob peoples belonings.
Regarding the wires coming out of the top of that modified radio you purchased, it may have gone to a small plastic matchbox size switch box, my modified Viking 4740 had one on it & it had three 3 position micro switches that enabled me to operate in between channels on multiple frequencies.
Ham operators have had CB users backs because they are next. If C B radio goes, ham radio is next. Many have both. I am old enough to have had a FCC license to operate a 23 channel CB. When the channel count was increased to 40, licensing was dropped. Most serious C B ers went to single side band channels. The people who could not get or keep certifications got to legally use C Bs and courtesy and civility went out the window. Many quit using them due to the changes in attitudes, foul language, and so forth that did not occur during the era of licenses. I still have my old Uniden mobile.
I've got an older connex 3300 with possibly 200 watt amp thru my wilson trucker 1000. I skipped out to OKC from Philly I found that to be pretty dam cool.
I have two Telsat ssb 140 radios, one seems to work fine, one needs work. Both could use recapping first, then alignment and whatever in repairs. I also found a cb like my first Sears 23 and an RS 451 ssb
I built my own vertical dipole base station antenna too from a 102” long 1 1/4” ground plane pipe with a trucker mount on top with a 102” whip, the coax runs inside the ground plane pipe out the bottom. SWR is less than 1.2 on all channels
I've been thinking of picking up a SSB unit for when the skip comes back in. I used to really enjoy working the skip years ago. I have all the CB channels programmed into a police scanner and might hear someone on CB once or twice a month. It's pretty dead here in Northern California.
@@paganphil100: I used to "freeband" up there in the 70s and 80s and would sit at the radio calling "CQ DX" and talking around the world for hours on end. I'd like to pick up a radio that will go up to the "triple nickel" by the time the skip comes rolling back in. I used to have a Yaesu FT-101E that went down to 11m. For the heck of it I was just google searching and actually found one for sale! If I only had a spare $600 it would be mine. The skip is dead right now. The past few nights I've been scanning shortwave from 3.000 MHz up to 23.000 MHz and heard absolutely nothing. I can at least listen to 27.555 with my SDR. I got a kick out of googling 27.555 and invariably every forum thread on the subject is full of self appointed "radio police" holier than thou HAMs admonishing the nasty nasty freeband pirates.
Great vid, that's a nice looking 140. I'm trying to figure out how far you were talking - where did the other guy say he was? I couldn't make out the name of the town.
Great video! I got my start in radio on CB in the 70s. Moved into ham radio after that. I just recently picked up a Radio Shack SSB CB rig on eBay. It is my first SSB CB rig and I’m impressed with how people operate SSB CB. I also watch Eric’s channel! Love the shirt! BTW, where in CT? I’ll be moving up to the Canton area from PA in a few months. 73 de K2CJB
I hooked up my first cobra 29 last night in my truck to test out. I got a radio check on 19 but not much elsewhere. I heard clear talk on channel 32 but they didn’t appear to hear me. I’m in CT over by Manchester
Channels 32 and 31 should have activity but more toward enfield. 8 and maybe 14 were popular Around springfield. Most of the activity in CT is on sideband which you don't have in that radio. Just be patient and keep tuning around and you should find people to talk to
@@SevenFortyOne i may have acted too soon on the cobra 29 purchase. my dad was big in the cb business back in the day. he used amps and a cobra 148 with ssb. i just ordered a galaxy 959! :)
Down here on the shoreline with i95 2 miles away and the sound 1 mile the noise makes it a nightmare trying to find anyone. My first radio was a 3 channel Globe, tubs with a 1/4 wave in the roof. A, B, C, and a handfull of xtels. lol
CB radio has to be one of the earliest forms of social networking. They where relatively affordable and with little training easy to use. As a form of social media they brought people together from all over the globe and made the world a smaller place. There are a few operators here in Northern Ireland, some are a bloody nuisance with playing music and using bad language and some are very professional and could put some ham guys to shame but it will never go back to the hey days of the 70s where a 40 channel simply wasn't big enough.
10 10 good buddy.
Back in the day we were only allowed 9 channels AM at 2 watts here in New Zealand. Then FM came in which destroyed DXing.
Hamradio exists since the 1920's. *It* was the earliest form of "social networking".
There are some intelligent people on CB, most of them on SSB. Hams should never disrespect CBers. In times of emergency, they do come through. Thanks for the video.
I still have my old CB license from Federal communications hanging on my wall from 1962. No. kOR 2361 it’s 58 years old
@@jgatkinson744 I still have my old call sign attached to my CB.
you're right . I have an indicative but i practice CB too. 20 years ago there was too many people on CB frequencies but now most of the people are very motivated and full of respect. Fred from France . 73 my friend
I used to enjoy CB in the 70’s and 80’s. But in attempting to enjoy it again I quickly discovered that the local CB community around me today equate to little more than RF power hungry ex-cons, inner-city morons, and low IQ wanna-be but never will be ham radio operators. The very few who have partially functioning brains might be able to carry on a conversation when they are sober, but 30 minutes after getting high they become turncoats and power on their totally illegal multi-kilowatt linear amps to brag about who’s the king of CB Dumbo Mountain for the week. Then they walk all over one another, get all heated, and threaten one another with violence. I hope that DX chatter on CB is never picked up in outer space by a Death Star, or this planet will be annihilated faster than they can say bye-bye-bye. In this respect I am grateful to CB, as it motivated me to get my ham ticket and say sayonara forever to the CB nonsense.
@@MarkPalmer1000 Nobody's perfect! 😁
CB is still lots of fun. I'm a licensed amatuer and I have numerous friends I talk to on CB all the time throughout the band. It's coming active again with the new cycle and is lots of fun but I miss those who sadly pass and don't make it from the last cycle to the next. I have several CB radio friends who are now gone and I miss them dearly.
Hey 741, In the late 70- early 80`s my friends and I used to convoy around at night with cb rigs for hours. I am licensed as KANA 5675, handle was Panama Red. My pickup was a 1954 Ford F-100 that was wired 6 volt pos. ground. Had to use an old truck 12 volt battery strapped to the trans hump to run my rig. Had a 23 channel Craig and talked through a pr. of Radio Shack rabbit ears attached to my West Coast side views. Oh, those carefree days. I still can get on with a "GE Help" handheld, though my antenna broke. I can still listen in on stuff up on 11 with the old Kenwood HF rig. When propagation is right, those AM SSB stations come in very well up here in Endless Mts., PA. KC3BXZ Joe 73
We used to do that too...someday I'll do a video about the "Scotty Hunts" (fox hunts) we used to do...they were a ton of fun.
Old fart
Hey man, great video! Thanks for the shout out and I love that shirt! I think it is far far past the time for HAM's and your average CBer to bury the hatchet. The hobby needs all the ears and voices it can get at this point.
Well said - I agree. There are more similarities between HAM and CB than some people think.
Hey Erik ,, look what the cat dragged in , as I always say , I made it !! Good to see you , I heard you giving him a shout out and have finally got time to come check it out and subscribe 👍. I agree with you completely , I still hold my ticket but I enjoy both and I don’t point fingers , there’s good n bad operators on both sides
@@SevenFortyOne what is your opinion about the Anytone AT-6666 radio for CB channel use ?
@@unitedstatesirie7431 I haven't used one but I've heard good things. Search for mower junkie on youtube - I think he has one
@@SevenFortyOne I want you to buy a Anytone AT-6666 radio and review it.
I got into CB's in 1971 my first base was a Midland 13-877 23 channel and I still have it. Would love to see more about your CB's, Love the hobby.
Same here, my 1st CB was a Sears 23 channel roadtalker in my VW with a 102" whip on the rear bumper. My FCC license was KBAR-3416
I accidently reinvigorated the CB use in my local area. I bought a box of old CB radios for $40 at a yard sale and set them up for our Boy Scout troop. The kids loved using the radios so much the started a CB club.
There is a lot of value in having a way to communicate that doesn't rely on complex technologies. And if you want the level of intelligence to rise on the airwaves, then be the person that does that. Don't use profanity, don't engage in name-calling. Be the change you want to see. More people will hear you and jump on the radio.
Love the hobby ,ive been back into it for about 4 years now.Love shooting skip,i also am running old 70's early 80's equipment.
CB is taking off with the solar cycle kicking in. I’ve been back at it for a year and loving it. Talked to Australia last week. Like building my own home brew 2 element Yagi antennas.
Solar cycles were great back in the day for DXing, I could communicate from my push bike to America using my Tait CB4 on AM, from Hastings New Zealand. My particular model had 4 torch batteries in it using a car cb aerial on the bike carrier.
I’m a ham, but I’ve been getting back in to CB. Mostly after watching Farpoint farms and mower junkie. Put a new Antron antenna up yesterday and made contact with locals that I had no idea were still in to CB. Definitely still alive and well around here!
-KC4PPS
-209 in Tennessee
Mower Junkie and Farpoint Farms are 2 of my favorite channels. good to hear CB is still going strong n your neck of the woods!
5150 here in north east Texas, I have a radio in both vehicles as well as a base station with an old D&A tube amp. I enjoy talking with friends all around the area (100 MI or so radius). Lots of good people. 3s&8s to ya, and I'm back quiet
Dirtbiker, Dishwasher, Dog Bite, Wildfire, etc. 25+ yrs. ago. Such memories; the good ol' days. We're gettin' old. Fun post. Thanx.
I got my first CB rig in 1966 and still have a Bearcat 980SSB! I just need to get some altitude on the antenna. This all was before getting my ham ticket but, back in '66, CB was known as 'Poor man's ham.' Sadly, in the '70s it got completely out of control...to the point where the FCC gave up! It would be fun, though, to see who's out there these days. Right now I can't hear anyone. Great....another project! LOL Fun video, Rob! 73 W1NLJ
Those wires attached to the PLC were most likely for an add on frequency counter. That was the way we use to do it. lol Mod the radio for the 11 meter band using existing switches add a freq counter and turn the clarifier into a slide to get freq's dialed in or slide between channels. Add a tube type Foot Warmer amplifier and what a setup! Wow, the memories.
I wouldn't have become a ham if it wasn't for CB radio. I still have my old Cobra 148GTL, would love to get it back on the air.
Nice i have 148gtl too an just picked up an pdl2 i love my imax 2000 for omni getter goin
Miss my one
Just do it bud, it's alive, lots of skip on CB nowadays, and new solar cycle will bring worldwide contacts in the next years.
Get back on the air NOW :)
im a rastaman i dont eat ham
I have had a Cobra 148gtl citizens band transceiver since I bought the vehicle new in 1996. I cut a very meet hole in the dashboard and mounted the old 148gtl permanently into the rectangular hole. I also made a small rectangular hole next to the rectangular hole for the microphone socket that attached to the radio. Today, I still have the radio mounted in the same vehicle with the same antenna. Everything still works except the band. I hear almost nobody on the band anymore whether AM or SSB. Every once in a great while, I hear someone very far away on channel 38 LSB. But that is it. It is sad what has happened to citizens band. I had very poor foresight when I cut holes into my dashboard. Back in 1996, I never dreamed I would still have the same vehicle, nor did I anticipate the death of citizens band. I can not remove the old Cobra 148gtl without replacing dashboard panels. It is very hard to find dashboard panels in good condition for a vehicle made in 1996. Thus, I just leave the old radio in. I had great times with that radio. I talked to the Canary Islands back around 1999 with the same antenna and coaxial cable on channel 36 USB. I miss those days. I regularly scan through the channels, since the radio is still working. I rarely hear anybody. The antenna is a 4 foot Wilson Silverload. Everything was better back then except maybe advanced technolgy. Today, everything sucks except advanced technolgy.
As a kid I was KBX1339
When I saw the thumbnail of the Lafayette SSB-140 I had to check the video out! I have one now and had one back in the day! I actually have a lot of CB stuff sitting around that my ole lady will probably throw in the trash after I am gone! I have several TRC-457's, a Royce 642 (I think that's the model number), a couple Cobra 2000's, President Madison station and all kinds of Uniden and President mobiles. I have a lot of Ham gear that I haven't used in a while either. It can be kinda hard to stay on top of several hobbies at once! Maybe I'll make a different YT channel just for some of my radio gear. Thanks for the Video! 73!
By all means make some videos about those radios!
I'm a ham but I still love my cbs. I think if you enjoy doing content on cb then you'll definitely have people that will watch it. Lol you'll probably quickly be contacted by President and have some new gear to test also 😂 they have some cool stuff
I was looking at the new CB stuff after shooting this video and it looks pretty good.
I just viewed your channel and purchased a Lafayette Telsat SSB-100 off of E bay I use to own a system like that you broughtback memories Thanks
Now should we wait for the new radios coming out since the FCC laws have changed in regards to opening up FM freqs? More channels???? So that they will design and make new radios? Remember the old 23 CHANNEL PACE and JOHNSON CB radios? Then there was Realistic, Lafayette, Royce, Kraco, Midland, and those CB radios that had tubes needed to warm up? Do they make TODAY a base station antenna that can outperform the Super Penetrator 5/8 wave omni directional ground plane antenna?
Yes.. the maco v58 is just as good as any antenna from the 70s
@@SevenFortyOne What are the specs and physical.size? Not aluminium?
@@microminiskirt Its aluminum....modern version of the Avanti Sigma 5/8. Same basic electrical design but better mechanical design. www.rightchannelradios.com/products/maco-v58-cb-base-antenna
@@SevenFortyOne WOW THAT IS A VERY EXPENSIVE ANTENNA. IS THAT INFLATION AT WORK? I REMEMBER THE OLD CB PENETRATOR OR SIGMA 5/8 ANTENNA COST 49.95🤑
@@microminiskirt Inflation...I bought my Maco V58 about 10 years ago for less than half of what they are selling for now.
I love my CB radios I probably have 75 or so from old tube types to new stuff and some exports. I started back in 1994 when I found my dad’s spare radio in the closet which was a tram D 42. He was a truck driver. I didn’t know any better and I thought it was just like a car stereo I could stick a piece of wire in the back and use it. The SWR warning light was on but at the time I didn’t know what it was. I threw about a 20 foot long piece of wire out my bedroom window into a bush and I was talking on channel 19 to truck drivers 2 miles away at the interstate. knowing what I know now I can’t believe it worked. My dad finally knocked on my door wanting to know who I was talking to when he seen I had his CB out with a piece of speaker wire crammed in the back of it he wasn’t too happy and took it away. I can’t believe it didn’t blow the finals But I still have the radio and it still works and looks good. We normally stay on channel 17 here in North Carolina Lotta good knowledgeable guys on there to talk to never any arguing or fussing.
great vid. thanks for having a positive look into cb radio. The FCC says it is now legal to talk skip inside the continental US as long as you use legal cb watts.
Oh I love my Lafayette SSB 140. It was the first 40 channel radio I ever bought and I still have it. I have extra channels in mine just for kicks. Thank you for the excellent CB radio video
Glad you liked it!
Ive been a CB radio fanatic since 75 and ive been driving over the road since 89. I use it but not much.
I am on the CB I started cb when I was 14 year old I am now 58
My first cb was a maxim 4e
SAME HERE, STARTED OUT WITH A RADIO SHACK MINI 23. JUST A RED LED FOR MOD. 50 FOOT OF RG 58 AND THE RADIO SHACK 1/4 ON THE ROOF. POWERED BY A DYING CAR BATTERY. GOT ABOUT A WEEK UNTIL IT NEEDED A CHARGE. ON CHRISTMAS SANTA BROUGHT ME A LAFAYETTE TELSAT SSB 140. CQ UNIT 15 KEYSTONE STATE. ALWAYS HAVE A CB NEAR BY.
Wow... you got a killer deal on those SSB rigs. Great video, as usual. 73s
As someone who refuses to ask the government permission to do anything.... CB it is!
It's cool to see the old dudes are still using the old ways of communicating
Great to see the CB radio in action. Would love to see more about your CB operation, it's been so long for me (early '90s) that it looks foreign.
The cost of vintage cb equipment has gone thru the roof. I first got on
CB back in 1967 thru 1977. Back when things were good and you formed new
friendships with those you talked to on air AND...everyone had a CB
LICENSE with a call-sign. Most cb'ers today weren't even born when we
were active. Back in the day...you could make a 2 hour drive from Mass.
to both Winnisquam or Laconia, NH and go to either the Browning or Tram
factories and get the royal treatment from the techs who were more than
glad to guide you thru their facilities. We formed radio clubs and
hosted "Coffee Breaks" and "Jamborees" and traveled three or four states
to attend another clubs functions. We shot a lot of Skip
everywhere..even Europe and collected QSL cards from nearly every
station we talked to. If a QSL wasn't available, a three cent postcard
would suffice quite nicely. We used to attend "Antenna Raising" parties.
and install mobile rigs for the uninitiated at ten or fifteen bucks a
pop. In the winter we had a group of mobiles which outfitted their cars
& trucks with thermos's of coffee, flares, blankets and chains in
the event we come across a disabled snowbound motorist. We had a command
center and numerous maps on the walls to assist in our operations plus
we were connected with the county's ALERT / 9 EMERGENCY CHANNEL...not to
mention our local CIVIL DEFENSE. We assisted on a voluntary basis
during raging storms, downed aircraft, missing persons and other areas
of concern. Yep...most modern day so-called cb'ers. don't have a clue
what it was like back when CB Radio was "Good".
Just wanted to stop and say thank you for making that video. I really enjoyed it. I subscribe to your channel blindly because of it I've been subscribed to Eric over at farpoint farms since close to the beginning. Thanks again look forward to viewing your content
Eric is a great guy.. I enjoy his videos alot. Thanks for tuning here too!
I love the concept of cb for the average joe. Love the hobby
Thanks for the upload and nostalgia . Still got my old President Jackson , And President George.. 73s HS0ZOU..
Cool, have a Cobra 21 and enjoy it from time to time. Glad I had a CB when I drove over the road pre cell phones!
I'm thinking about putting one back in my SUV...we'll see.
Thank you for sharing have a wonderful Christmas CB is a lot of fun
"free communication" is good.
Unregulated makes it better
HAM RADIO COST TOO MUCH🤑. IT'S REGULATED. EQUIPMENT COST TO 🤑 $$$ TO BUY AND DIFFICULT TO OPERATE.
I used to have both of those radios! Loved the export model Grant!
Nice, love the CB topic covered. I had a Radio Shack HT back in the day.
Thanks for the video. I just did one ( SSB-140) on Old Radio Night, and made many contacts. Stop in some time and have a coffee. 21 in S.C.
i have my ham ticket ,and have talked on cb for 42 yrs i just love radio!
I am a ham here in the UK but still run a CB in my pickup! Lots of activity on 11m and the ham bands since lockdown!
Stew Pot: Yes...the lockdown has seen a big increase in the number of people using CB here in the UK. I'm a member of CTDX (link below) and the membership has been going up rapidly since the virus panic started.
www.charlietango.co.uk/
@@paganphil100 Oh dear... CT wannabe hams using CB with their wannbe ham speak and made up callsigns.
This almost made me not come back to CB..
So I came back to CB using my 27/81 Rotel240 ... CB is pretty much dead around here.. The ones that remain rarely speak to anyone who they are not on first name terms with... Anyone new or unknown is generally ignored.
I'll continue to use my old kit until it lets the smoke out, I wont bother getting it repaired or replaced.
Coming back to CB was a big disappointment. Its a fading shadow of its former glory years and will continue to fade due to the lack of new people.
September 5 1986 at 3:00pm got my first radio was Realistic TRC 48 23 channel was base & mobile radio plus had had 24 channel in too and had Am / SSB with stock microphone! Also Antenna waa Shakespeare 1/2 wave up 35 feet plus hill live on farm back then too till 1997 ! Also done lots upgrades radio and antenna since then too ! Also still enjoy radio for base and mobile too! I went ham radio in April 30 2007 at 10:30pm licence 3/4 of bands but still use CB radio! I am from Port Hope area 65 miles east of Toronto Ontario live in Country area north Of Port Hope Town 10 mins North West! Been hear all my life too !
I started out on CB back in the mid 70's , I've still got all my CBs , From the General Electrics to the President Lincoln .... Also a ham operator ... Regards from Wales " Gw0wvl " .
I've kept most of my radios over the years too
I owned one of those CB Base stations (Exact Lafayette model ) when I was in High School in 1979. I lived in Anchorage AK at the time and would talk all over the Continental US on sideband when the conditions were right. Furthest away was a Ham operator in Switzerland that was exploring the CB band with his setup. I just recently got my Ham license in 2019 where I passed all three exams in one day. I regret not getting my license decades ago and I likely would have if not for the Morse Code requirement; I just never could get good enough at the Morse Code. All the theory questions were pretty easy for me.
I love how quiet your receive is. Out here the power lines are hell bent to kill our RX. Thanks for posting this video. Cool to see the old rigs working. Had the Grant too.
I am from Europe/Belgium. I wanna see more of these QSO's. I am also a CB operator and a ham, but I just love the CB freestyle.
Thanks for letting me know! I will make more. You might like @mowerjunkie channel too...he has lots of CB videos
People don't realize what 5 Watts at 27 Mhz with a good antenna can do compared to 5 watts at UHF. Laws of physics all things being equal give you a 24 db Gain
psssssssssst, i promise nobody is hearing your 5 watts over the top of everyone elses AT THE MINIMUM 200w - apply that same amount of gain to 200w and you suddenly realize you might as well not even transmit cos you're so far down into the noise floor
I'm a licensed ham radio operator and I have a CB radio on a different power supply,it's a fun hobby, I'll catch ya on the next one.
i live in asheville nc we have a large group of cb talkers.half of us have ham tickets also.i havent be on ham for 3 yrs i like cb alot more.
Neighbors are a good thing for CBing and the eastside booms...
THE HAM EQUIPMENT COST TOO MUCH🤑. EQUIPMENT NOT AS EASY TO USE LIKE CB. HAM REQUIRES A LICENSE TO TRANSMIT.
i been on the air since 1977 MIDTOWN MANHATTAN . i started with a laffeyette telstat 1140. the original social network.
1977 was when I bought my first CB radio ! I still have one in my car and one in my house ! the one in my car is a 40 channel cobra 25 !
What a GREAT deal on that President Grant - Especially considering it is one of the 10m "Export" rigs that cost several hundreds of dollars when new!
Looks from here as if you have it all! Ham radio, dabble in CB radio, older motorcycles-I have a 2006 Royal Enfield-and it seems you’ve chased a train or two. Having just retired I hope to find time for a list almost exactly like yours. Fine business. (Appears if I want to find people using CB that are highly “sane,” I need to get a sideband CB radio.) - W3GX John
I dabble in alot of different things I guess
love the cb...chatted with someone from ontario canada to south of brazil....with proper conditions....amazing stuff....havent been on in a month...
Nice vedio 2👍👍 up !! l love cb radio since l was a teenager with my home base cobra GTL 2000 and still have them hook up (2020) and running talking world wide overseas from home and my car. It fun to enjoy talking to people Also no data charges....heheh because it free to chat😃😃😃 Thank you for this vedio !
I had an SSB 140 about 30 odd years ago. A great rig. I should have hung onto it.
Just pulled my old radio shack TRC-205 hand held 40 channel cb, it still works great. Has plugs for external ant., external mic and external power. Now if I can convince the landlord to allow me to erect an outside antenna in the apartment building where I live now
in Hew Hampshire....
Thanks good video I have many cb radio started in 1964 .Eric good guy you to .Keep the good work👍👍👍
im surprised cb radio still active i live in canada and i dont hear anyone here exept the truckers that are on the highway . sure brings back memories from the 70s im a ham radio operator, but will use the portable cb and listen to see if anything here comes up great information , glad to see this band is still being used great information nice video .
Just getting back into CB radio after 40 years or so...got a Cobra 29 LTD classic for a base station,LMR 400 coax to a 102" whip mounted on the chimney with a homemade ground plane that I copied from mower junkie 151 SC. Top of the antenna is 34' off the ground and it works great.... SWR's barely move on channels 1-40 73's 102 NY
Sounds like a great setup!
CB RADIO IS THE EXPRESSION OF REAL FREE SPEECH
Yes! More CB videos please. Thanks for the video, I enjoyed watching it. 73's from 151 SC.
I'm planning more in the coming weeks - stay tuned!
I live in Westbrook Ct. Still on the radio. I had a Uniden PC 122 XL but now run Uniden 980 SSB. You can catch me on 2. My handle is Archangel. I run an Antron 99 base.
Mt. Greylock is not too far from me here in Bennington, Vermont. I used to take the base antenna up there and talk all over the world back in the mid to late 90's. 3,489 FT elevation. Good times!! 73's from "Hound-dog"/415 in Vermont.
Bennington is a great town. I ride my motorcycle through there once in a while
@@SevenFortyOne Give a shout out when your in the area. Local channel here is 30, with people talking up to 50 miles apart. I'm on the top of a hill so I have great coverage of town and beyond. Washington base with A99 works well. 73's
I see a Astatic D-104 and a Turner mic in the background. I still have a few CB SSB radios, mostly J.C. Penney's PLL single sideband radios. They all have freq mods and unlocked clarifiers as I used to do freq and clarifier mods back in the day, mid 70's through the 80's. PLL chips were very easy to modify. Yeah, make more CB vids.
Nice my first cb was 23 ch jcp pinto kicked ass on my old super mag 👌
Been running a cb since 1988, I keep one in two of my vehicles and one in my room, “wife loves it” lol, but I use both ham and cb, love them both. 73, Kg7vdn
HAM RADIO COST MORE FOR THE EQUIPMENT AND REQUIRES A LICENSE. THE EQUIPMENT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO USE.
@@microminiskirt if you can run a ssb rig you can run a ham radio, it really isn’t difficult, but yes it requires a license , one I passed on first try and I’m not really a technical person, but I’m more of a Cber as it’s more laid back.
@@bobdillashaw4360 I am sure it's much more laid back as there is no regulation on CB and with HAMS too much regulation, more cost $$$$, more range. That President CB radio in video looks like has a signal meter from a Realistic TRC-451.
Lafayette SSB-140? Man, that brings back some memories. I never owned one personally but I worked on around 200 of them just from the mid ‘90’s until I shut down my shop around ’07 or ‘08 and many more in the years before that. They mostly came in for capacitor replacements and to have the power supply rebuilt. Over the years, the caps just dried out and eventually failed. Around half of them had an extra channel modification and most were hack jobs, very poorly done.
One of the things you said really piqued my ears. The ribbon cable. Since I haven’t seen the radio and the exact attachment points for the ribbon cable I can’t say for sure whether your guess of that being for a channel is true or not but I have my doubts. I heard you say that a wire or two were connected to the PLL. The vast majority of all the SSB radios of all brands that I’ve seen that used ribbon cord and were connected to the PLL used the ribbon cable for a frequency counter. Most of them used 4,6 or 8 wire ribbon cables and were only connected in 4 or 5 spots. I’ve seen some of your other videos so I know that you’re not a radio dummy, you could be correct. If it was an 8-12 wire cable and at least 8 wires were connected, then you had a very special radio. If you go as far back as the ‘80’s, back then there were only 3 people that were building channel control boxes using the 8-12 wire ribbon cable. 2 of them were absolute radio geniuses and the third was me. Of the other 2, 1 of them is still around. That one is Lester from Lester’s Custom Truck Shop/LesComm. I don’t agree with some things he does but when it comes to custom frequency boxes, he is the Emperor. His LC#### boxes were sold to shops all over the country and still are. They are the best ever made for that purpose. The other genius was a raging A-hole and egomaniac named Billy Dean Ward, a.k.a. The CB Doctor, he was the King. As he aged, he eventually became nearly human and we were good friends over his last 10 years. He was a true radio engineer with several patents. Long story but we collaborated on hundreds of ideas. Usually I could come up with the what if ideas and a basic understanding of the concept and he would build and test those ideas to prove the concept and put them into production. He was a horrible businessman though, screwed over a lot of people, including me, yet was still always broke. It was around the time that a few other techs figured out how to reverse engineer what we were doing when Les started his LC#### production and made all other channel mod boxes obsolete. I really wish I had seen it. Oh well. Still a wonderful radio. I noticed the light dimming that you spoke of. Given the age of the radio, it’s possible that the power supply is on its way out but I would start by replacing all the capacitors. At that age, even if they test good, they’re extremely likely to fail soon. Then look at the power supply after you test the radio for dimming and proper operation. If everything checks out within specifications, then do an alignment. I’m off to my old 746Pro to see if there’s anything on 20m tonight. Have a great time with those radios.
Oh my goodness, I’m sorry. I always go back to check for errors and saw how long this was. I didn’t realize that I had rambled so much. My old mind just gets going sometimes and won’t stop. My apologies. Great video.
Wow - that's an awesome story, thanks for sharing! I don't recall exactly how many wires were in that cable but I think it was somewhere between 6 and 10. If memory serves, they were all different colors and not all of them may hve been connected to the board. I don't recall exactly where it was attached internally but I do recall needing to do some work on the PLL chip to fix some cuts and jumps on the circuit board. I also recall thinking that whoever did the work on this radio had done a pretty nice job. The radio was modified, not hacked which made it easy to put back to stock configuration and get it working again. I wish I had made a video about it back when I did this but I wasn't as serious about filming stuff back then as I am now. I think you are right about the capacitors - I'm sure they could use replacing. If I can find some time this fall/winter maybe I'll re-cap the radio and do an alignment. If I do, I'll be sure to put it on TH-cam. Again, thanks for the story. CB has a rich and colorful history and I love hearing about it.
SevenFortyOne I’m long winded but normally not that bad. I’m glad to hear that someone did a good job. I always had modifications come in that I didn’t like or weren’t needed but as long as someone took the time to do it properly, it still made me happy. I’m proud of good work, even if it’s someone else’s. Like I said before, I can tell from your videos that you’re not a dummy. This is for you and for anyone reading because I know some are on tight budgets. While it is best to replace every cap at once in the old radios, for those that are on a budget, you can safely do just one section at a time. I recommend doing the power filtering caps first. Once those are done the order of the other sections isn’t as important. I’ve had my license for 20 years but still enjoy CB , mostly SSB. Good thing I like it since I drive truck now, not as busy as it used to be but it’s still needed at many places. Have a good one, time for bed.
I used to have the mackinley fully converted and a mike like yours. I now run a kenwood 990s
nice vid :) we used cb's on the farm but we're upgrading to GMRS radios..
Use both!
Just picked up another SSB140 40 years later real clean still need to wire the D104 to it
NICE VIDEO..THANKS FOR SHARING..BE SAFE AND STAY WELL EVERYONE..73's TO ALL FROM DESPERADO 56 NORTH OF TAMPA FL.
Yeah, you can still have a lot of fun on CB, not here though, it is very dead in North East Scotland! EDIT: I am always hoping it will come alive again. It is quiet in the UK now, some areas still have a few breakers, but the late 70s and 80s have gone. We can now use AM, FM, SSB on the same 40 as you, but most are still on the old UK 27/81 FM spec radios. Others have moved away from CB to Ham equipment and are using that for CB!
Too bad it's dead...it's a great band. I've found it gets more active in the fall and Winter
@@SevenFortyOne There is a rise in use of CB due to Covid, but not in this area, shame, I used to enjoy my CB and in fact any radio. There is another story attached to radio, but I'll not go into that for fear or incriminating myself!
bob fourjis: There are still many Scottish CB operators "on air".....when there's any short-skip propagation I hear lots of them (I live in East Lancs). I recently had a qso with a guy in Dingwall (near Inverness) and there were lots of others calling in too. Have a look at the link below....there are many Scottish members and its all free :-)
www.charlietango.co.uk/
so funny, i still have my D-104 silver eagle (45yrs), Johnson messenger 4740, and an old realistic base trc-457 as well as some other odds and sods power meters and SWR meters. don't know if any of them work, been sitting in a box in my basement for the last 20yrs. live in a condo these days, can't use. kinda miss those days, used to have a bunch of us would hang out on channel 39 just about every night, and when the skip would come in it was a freeforall.
That was hilarious to hear the gentleman talk about Channel 31. That was the first channel I heard here in Enfield, CT when I got my cb a few months ago. After that it was getting into amateur radio and getting my Technician and General licenses recently and going for Extra next. But I look forward to checking out CB again soon, too. 73, KC1NLR
Enfield has always had an active CB group on or near 31...it gets quite interesting sometimes...at least it used to. Radio is a ton of fun and there is alot to explore in the hobby-enjoy!
@@SevenFortyOne I passed my Amateur Extra license exam today! 73, KC1NLR /AE
Awesome!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!
@@SevenFortyOne Thank you!
Where did you take the test?
Good video! I’m gonna setup a base station sometime this spring. I recently got a Maco V58 base station antenna and a 100 ft of RG8X coax cable. I plan on running a old school base station. I have a Realistic TRC - 441 base station I got about a year ago that still works great. I’m hoping to find a Uniden Washington at a upcoming ham fest in a couple months. I’m also on the lookout for a Uniden Grant or Cobra 148 GTL if I can’t find a Washington.
Sounds like a good plan. You'll enjoy that antenna....mine works great
Here in Maine on the coast, there's a group of people on 28 I talk to. Probably 5 to 10 people on that one channel and they are mostly in the same town. All cool people. Mr.392 on the coast, out!
CB radios are beautiful.
I enjoyed the video. I grew up in the hey days of cb radio. I have a President Washington base radio with a Turner Super Sidekick II mic. I should fire that thing back up! 73
Those are cool old radios...put it on the air and see what happens
I'm still active on USB the higher channels and i have great DX there. Nobody is rough. I talked to whole Europe and sometimes to the US. My last QSO was with Brasil. Anyway CB is alive on the higher channels and i learned for my ham license but i rather be on CB. In fact the only antenna i have up is for CB.
ive been in cb 50+ years and heard it all. been a ham for around 25 years and heard it all there its funny CB is very very active here in the North East Georgia tri state area. i`ve been hearing so much trash on Ham lately on 80mtrs i mean dropping the "F" bomb GDs the "S" word i havnt heard that kind of talk on cb on many years, once in awhile ill here a dam or hell when two guys get all worked up or drunk..lol but its still the best hobby ever. keep it clean keep it safe...well trains is fun to but cant talk to them.or can i??
that lafayatte telsat looks so classic and straight with those metal knobs and metal front, the wood on top too. the receiver doesnt sound bad, its no icom ic765 or ic7300, but good for a receiver that old. amazing that you got it for only $20. cb has great things to it, there is no censorship, someone cant simply deleted a comment and there is local news, sometimes dx. i would be afraid of criminals that spy people out and then rob peoples belonings.
I would love to have more stuff on CB.
Regarding the wires coming out of the top of that modified radio you purchased, it may have gone to a small plastic matchbox size switch box, my modified Viking 4740 had one on it & it had three 3 position micro switches that enabled me to operate in between channels on multiple frequencies.
I think you are right
Takes me back to the York jcb 863 days of the 80’s
Nice video. Makes me want dig out my Motorola Mocat 40 and see if it still works.
I had one of those for a while
Ham operators have had CB users backs because they are next. If C B radio goes, ham radio is next. Many have both.
I am old enough to have had a FCC license to operate a 23 channel CB. When the channel count was increased to 40, licensing was dropped.
Most serious C B ers went to single side band channels. The people who could not get or keep certifications got to legally use C Bs and courtesy and civility went out the window. Many quit using them due to the changes in attitudes, foul language, and so forth that did not occur during the era of licenses.
I still have my old Uniden mobile.
CQ, CQ, CQ-DX, This is KBED 5597 Southern Nevada... We're Standing By!!! Just sayin hello to the net.
750 in a buckeye said that’s a good video. I have that SSB 140 it was my first 40 channel side band radio
I got the SAME BASE. Been in my family 38 years..got it from my uncle
HAMMER.. gotta wore up a Mic and test TX. But it RX
Great piece of family history!
I've got an older connex 3300 with possibly 200 watt amp thru my wilson trucker 1000. I skipped out to OKC from Philly I found that to be pretty dam cool.
I live in the UK and I will never stop using my president grant 2 but I spent most of my time on mymaxcom 4 e l love it
I have two Telsat ssb 140 radios, one seems to work fine, one needs work. Both could use recapping first, then alignment and whatever in repairs. I also found a cb like my first Sears 23 and an RS 451 ssb
I built my own vertical dipole base station antenna too from a 102” long 1 1/4” ground plane pipe with a trucker mount on top with a 102” whip, the coax runs inside the ground plane pipe out the bottom. SWR is less than 1.2 on all channels
Probably talk to you before.. down here in Florida enjoyed your video
I've been thinking of picking up a SSB unit for when the skip comes back in. I used to really enjoy working the skip years ago. I have all the CB channels programmed into a police scanner and might hear someone on CB once or twice a month. It's pretty dead here in Northern California.
Duck Landes: Try listening on 27.555 USB......that's where all the action is now.
@@paganphil100: I used to "freeband" up there in the 70s and 80s and would sit at the radio calling "CQ DX" and talking around the world for hours on end. I'd like to pick up a radio that will go up to the "triple nickel" by the time the skip comes rolling back in. I used to have a Yaesu FT-101E that went down to 11m. For the heck of it I was just google searching and actually found one for sale! If I only had a spare $600 it would be mine. The skip is dead right now. The past few nights I've been scanning shortwave from 3.000 MHz up to 23.000 MHz and heard absolutely nothing. I can at least listen to 27.555 with my SDR. I got a kick out of googling 27.555 and invariably every forum thread on the subject is full of self appointed "radio police" holier than thou HAMs admonishing the nasty nasty freeband pirates.
The conversations sound like Luke talking to his commands just before he blows up the Death Star!
That's where they got the effect for the movie from. Sideband radio coms.
Great vid, that's a nice looking 140. I'm trying to figure out how far you were talking - where did the other guy say he was? I couldn't make out the name of the town.
They were about 25 to 30 miles away. The loudest guy was only 5 or 6 away
Great video! I got my start in radio on CB in the 70s. Moved into ham radio after that. I just recently picked up a Radio Shack SSB CB rig on eBay. It is my first SSB CB rig and I’m impressed with how people operate SSB CB. I also watch Eric’s channel! Love the shirt! BTW, where in CT? I’ll be moving up to the Canton area from PA in a few months. 73 de K2CJB
Canton is a nice town - I'm in the Tolland area about 20 miles NE of Hartford. 73 - N1NUG
SevenFortyOne Maybe when we get settled we can go to the ARRL HQ.
Definitely look me up when you get here!
I hooked up my first cobra 29 last night in my truck to test out. I got a radio check on 19 but not much elsewhere. I heard clear talk on channel 32 but they didn’t appear to hear me. I’m in CT over by Manchester
Channels 32 and 31 should have activity but more toward enfield. 8 and maybe 14 were popular Around springfield. Most of the activity in CT is on sideband which you don't have in that radio. Just be patient and keep tuning around and you should find people to talk to
@@SevenFortyOne i may have acted too soon on the cobra 29 purchase. my dad was big in the cb business back in the day. he used amps and a cobra 148 with ssb. i just ordered a galaxy 959! :)
That's a good radio. Look me up on channel 39 lower sideband when you get it. I don't talk much but I do listen in...just yell for 741
@@SevenFortyOne will do! I’m using a mobile antenna currently for testing plan is a house base station. So I’ll be picking an antenna for that!
Enjoyed your video...any tips you might be able to offer to a beginner like myself would be greatly appreciated.thanks!
I'd say just get in the air and have fun. Experiment and see what works best for you
hello,good video,very interesting,nice radios,thanks from Rotterdam
Keep the cb content coming!
Down here on the shoreline with i95 2 miles away and the sound 1 mile the noise makes it a nightmare trying to find anyone. My first radio was a 3 channel Globe, tubs with a 1/4 wave in the roof. A, B, C, and a handfull of xtels. lol
We have some noise too from 91 and 84 but the SSB channels usually seem decent