• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

When Do You Remeber CB Going Crazy?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Dawn

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2003
Messages
284
Location
Pinecrest,Fl
Down here, in started downhill around 74-75 it became b@sh*t insane within a few short years afterwards. When I started to work at RS we didn't sell very many CB's. By '74 we were sold out of every shipment with a few days of the 23 channel models. We never had to deal with irate customers before. There was still plenty of legitimate and boating traffic by day and civil chatting in the evenings. The passage of the national 55 mph speed limit and the plight of the truckers who used to be on Channel 10 at the time seemed to bring this into the public consciousness and picked up as a fad. There were no flame wars between channels prior to '74. We also were in a bad recession back then a lots of people were out of work. Most of the troublemakers were unemployed and drinking and things got out of hand and ugly very quickly that started on CB and got finished in person in the wee hours or at breaks. Once president Ford was in and Betty was first mama or whatever her handle was, the FCC was called off, the license fees reduced everything went crazy. How did you remember it?
 

W8RMH

Feed Provider Since 2012
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
8,110
Location
Grove City, OH (A Bearcat not a Buckeye)
We had CBs in the late 60s and it was easy to talk across the county, and occasionally across the country in skip conditions.

After "Smoky and the Bandit" came out they got so popular that the airwaves became so overcrowded range dropped to nothing.
 

radioman2001

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
2,974
Location
New York North Carolina and all points in between
I remember 74-75, friends sister was on the CB 24/7 eventually actually marrying one of the people she talked with. Your right the 40 channel versions didn't come out until I think 1976. The FCC went too far by charging a insane price for a license, then someone balked and complained to Congress that the FCC cannot set pricing as only Congress could and so it became a free for all.
When I got out of the service in 76 my main job at a local radio shop was constantly installing CB radios in every kind of car you can think of. I made the mistake of putting a loaded coil antenna on the trunk lid of what turned out to be the car's AM radio antenna. The trunk lid was actually isolated from the rest of the vehicle, I think it was a Dodge Colt or some thing small like that.
I used CB for years going to and from New York to both Dayton, OH and Mississippi. After Smoky and the Bandit it went even crazier for about a year and then died off. Today you can barely hear a soul on it, even when traveling cross country
 

ill41

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
9
Citizen Band Radio

This is true.Look around your town when driving around.You hardly see any antennas on cars anymore.Also look on the roofs on houses,barely any left.Barely any good used radios on the internet.Even most of the good CB shops have closed.I think the cell phone has taken the CB's place.In our state,its illegal to talk on the cell phone.But guess what,most people still talk and text daily.If the police cracked down,we wouldn't be so broke.
 

k8krh

Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
381
The farmers use cb a lot, and here in SOUTHERN INDIANA you see a number of whips on pickup trucks, but at the homes, I have rarely seen a cb antenna.

DOCTOR/795
 

bharvey2

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
1,839
Probably around '75 or so. That seems about the time that CW McCall's song "Convoy" came out and the switch from 23 to 40 channel radios was made. The CB craze was definitely in full swing by the time "Smokey and the Bandit" came out.
 

copperhd

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 25, 2008
Messages
43
It all went crazy in the mid '70s, The "Smokey & the bandit" movies came out, the FCC dropped their license requirement, then electronic manufacturers saw a huge market waiting to be flooded with cheap radios. This all led to anyone & everyone to jump on board. CB's were the cell phone& internet craze of the time. Chasing skip & more power lasted for about 10 years. Now I rarely turn one on unless I know there is some sunspot activity lending to some skip, or if I hear a major traffic tieup over the scanner just to try to get a little more perspective on the situation. Biggest part of the "old timers" gave up during the craze or died off & the younger generation have no intrest or would rather "tweet" & "text"..
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
cb

after they stopped issuing cb licenses!

Then again ham radio hit the wall and you still need a license ....but that you can blame on the moron stores for selling radios without a license!
I used to love radio, now I am sick of it,aside from listening .
 

JayMojave

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
722
Location
Mojave Ca
Hello All: Yes a good question, when did CB radio get Crazy. It always has been some what Nutzoid.

The Eisenhower Administration after the Soviet Satellite Sputnik was put up before our satellites in the space race, went full throttle to get the main stream of the public into the sciences and technologies, there by the CB Radio Service was generated. Bypassing the Amateur Radio Service, probably due to its unfriendly reputation.

At our High School we use to have Basket Ball Courts in a corner of the high school, probably 200 by 700 feet in area. New Science Buildings were put up there, with federal money (I believe) and Math, Science, Biology, Chemistry, and other sciences were placed there. And a renewed interest in the shop class's also had money put into them. As again new buildings were put up for Automotive, Wood, Metal, and Electronics shops. They even offered special two period class's industrial arts for those who wanted the more involved coverage of the shop class's. Now dropped by the academic world and bean counters.

The CB radio Service did just what they wanted it to do as many Americans picked a radio and started up talking and becoming interested in Radio Communications and other Sciences. I know I am one of them, with a 50 year plus carrier in the radio and electronics fields and still love it.

Like others have said the 55 mile an hour speed limit was just a challenge for the public spurring on the use of CB Radio, and of course, Smokey and the Bandit was also a big stir in popularizing the CB Radio Service. But surly the ability for folks to just talk to each other over a few miles was a big shoot in the arm also.

Because the CB band 11 meters is a rich skip band this also was fueled for the fire for public interest. As a kid on my Llyodds 901 Walkie Talkies, powered by a 9 volt transistor battery, I could hear skip stations from back east booming into the Southern California, but they never answered me....

The truckers have used the CB Radio for many years, and probably saving thousands of lives.

So the CB Band has earned its keep in many many ways, despite the nuts and foul language heard on it at times.

On the local scene here, I hear the old older hams talking on CH 40 LSB to each other late at night exchanging DX Frequencies and such. But they will not acknowledge you unless your a WWII CW Operator then your one of the boys, but I still get a kick out of them at times as I break in and say hello. Sometimes I get a Hello back.

Jay in the Mojave
 

Wally46

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
247
Location
Clinton, Iowa
I still have a CB base station and mobile. There are a lot of truckers that come to and through our town over the two bridges we have that connect us with Illinois. But yeah, I remember talking on the CB as a kid in the 70's. In the early to mid 80's as a teenager I had saved up enough money to buy a base CB and antenna from Radio Shack. It was awesome having a base station in my bedroom. If the phone was tied up I could still talk to my friends with the CB. I was talking to a trucker the other day and he asked me what a base station was haha.
 

gmclam

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
6,333
Location
Fair Oaks, CA
CB 1975

I started on CB in August of 1967. Some would say it was "insane" then as there were "legals" and "illegals". I loved it.

The time you are speaking occurred circa May of 1975. It got so crazy that people could start "issuing" their OWN CB licenses by using initials and their zip code. Funny that there could be 100s with the same ID. I stuck with it until January of 1979, but still have all the equipment.
 

Dawn

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2003
Messages
284
Location
Pinecrest,Fl
I hear this so many times about the movies Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit spurning on the CB craze. Perhaps they accelerated it towards the end to the 80's, but as I remember, the crazy train took off at least 4 years prior. Both of those movies were what? 77? 78? The song Convy came out during my Jr year in college, so that must have been around '75 and it was top 40 outside country. Within a year of that, even folks not into CB were using CB slang in the common vernacular with "Mercy Sakes" and "Good Buddy" as popular expressions. CB, at least down here went off the rails a few years before and we're usually well behind the curve the rest of the states. Interesting reminisence of times past. Lets not do Disco here. That was even worse.
 

JayMojave

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
722
Location
Mojave Ca
Hello Dawn: Yeah what you said!

I remember CB popularity going crazy in 1973 to 1974. Our CB Club, the Sunland and Tujunga CB Club ( east of the San Fernando Valley, So Cal) really took in membership. We had CB Breaks since the late 1960's, but again 73 to 74 was a large surge in interest.

Our first CB Break was held at Sterlings Restaurant in a convention haul, just across the street from the Sunland Park, it was a riot as many showed up is formal attire and the some ladies were formal onsombo's. But now dear old Dad ( his handle was Commodore) as he showed up as old gentlemen in a wheel chair as Sergeant Preston from Bob Sled Alaska, dressed as a old character with a captains hat, Blue coat, Fake Red Beard, 102 inch whip antenna taped to the wheel chair, and a good friend of ours ( Orange Peel) who's wife was a good looking blond in a mini skirt wheeling the old man around. Dad told them he was Sergeant Preston from Bob Sled Alaska, many shook his hand and said yes they talked to him on the radio. Dad did say at times he was from Alaska, as many didn't know the difference from a local station to a skip station. As a teen ager I thought what bunch of radio dummies. But Dad and everyone else had a blast at the first CB Break. I have a photo some where...

Because of the increase in member ship in and around 73, the CB Breaks had to be moved to the Tujunga VHF Hall. It was a two story building on a few acres with massive parking. The Top floor is were the CB Break was held, door prizes, and we raffled off all kinds of CB Gear. General Radiotelephone Super MC-11A's, Moonraker Beam Antennas, Maverick and Phantom D&A Linear Amplifiers, and much more CB Gear. The bottom floor had a Country and Western Band and a 50 foot long Bar, and a dance floor and many tables were folks just sat and talked while a having a tottie and listening to music.

A truck driver showed up wanting to see me, that squeaky voiced kid that advertised the CB Break he could hear from San Diego to Bakersfield. He was a very large man with a powerful hand shake, what a kick. Dad gave me gas money to drive my 62 Comet to the top of one of the mountains overlooking the So Cal Areas and advertise the CB Break. Yeah 73 to 74 area.

Jay in the Great Mojave Desert just down the road ah ways from the fillin station....
 

ChetsJug

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2014
Messages
90
What great stories! I guess the uphill swing started before I remember. I never heard of a CB until we moved to Pacoima in 1976. I believe the 23 to 40 switch happened that January (1977)? I remember all kinds of promotion and clearance sales to get rid of the 23 channels before the stores were stuck with them. I always thought that was silly to not allow 23 sales after the expansion date. But I think that's why movies and record albums were made. Realistic even had a Truckers Songs on 12 inch vinyl!

I found a 5 channel (A-E) tube CB a trucker was selling at a garage sale. He wanted $25 for it. He probably paid $200 for the old Johnston. Mom n dad said No-Way, it was too much. Well here comes Christmas and a new Panasonic RJ-3200, 23 channel AM. It came with a Kraco center load magnet mount lol. We put it in my brothers Toyota and headed out to Utah to visit relatives. I was 15 and in heaven talking to truckers along the way lol. We even talked from "the point of the Mtn" (like the furtherst point west on I-80 before the Salt Flats. We talked from there to Wendover, NV! Remember, no SWR check, out of hte box prolly 2 or 3 watts lmao!

I think I caught the middle of the curve. There was an antenna on every other pickup in hte K-Mart parking lot. I eventually put a 102 whip on my 1965 GTO's left rear quarter panel. I always envied the whip on Sheriff Andy Talor's patrol car... Or sheriff Pusser's :p

Thanks for filling in the blanks fellas, I always thought it was the 40 channel expansion that created the problem. Now I see that the request for more channels happened BECAUSE of too many people on the 23. I can see that.

I still love CB. I have had one in every car/pickup I've owned. Now I have a motor home and one is sitting on the dash waiting to be mounted. I have 2 boats, one 14' outboard and a 20' ski boat Berkley jet drive with a 454. a CB is ready for both of those (along with a Marine Band for the 20'). Is there more? Yup lol. I also have a 10' camping trailer with a genny n A/C I tow to the desert for the women to get out of the heat. It's a 1961 Lil Loafer. If you've seen my other replies, you know that after 30 years, I finally bought a RCI 2980 base station and Sirio 827, 21 foot 5/8th wave ground plane lol

The funny thing is, I've been hearing the question since the 80's... "Does anyone use CB anymore?" Immediately followed by "I never turn it on anymore" 's. To me it never died, I hear and talk to people all the time. Sometimes I don't here anyone in the day time. just some truckers driving through the night.

BUT YOU DO HAVE TO LEAVE IT ON TO HEAR IT, DUH!

Tchau
 
Last edited:

Dawn

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2003
Messages
284
Location
Pinecrest,Fl
We had a local break for the channel 13 crowd I used to attend on Friday nights at an open air restaurant called the Yumbrella around '71. Mostly the same old farts and pretty mellow gathering that had meeting there for many years. Around '73, the faces were getting much younger and the older guys stopped showing up or getting on the air. I really don't know how long that break was attending the same place, but had must been a while and the owners welcomed them. By '74, they had enough of the fights and police being called and run the breakers off. They moved to a pizza joint and within a year, they were run out of there and were meeting in a shopping center car lot last I remember. What had been a nice weekly social affair turned into a bunch of rowdy jerks by '75 that nobody wanted around. Funny that you mentioned K-mart. I remember the height of the fad, K-mart was selling records to teach you cb lingo. Discount stores like Zayre and even grocery store chains were selling CB's, even gas stations and that was before every one had a mini-mart and they did repairs. People were getting married on cb, even preachers trying to give sermons on Sunday it became so insane here. I'm wondering how nuts it got in other places.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top