Greetings Earthlings

[ChetsJug]

Hi forum dudes & dudetts

No call sign yet, unless you want my 1975 family CB station, LOL

So I've run a mobile and base CB for 30 years, used UHF duplex business band in work and have had a scanner since 1980. The scanner was usually local gov. I am taking flying lessons so I'm getting a handheld air band soon. I do want to branch out in my scanner use. Gotta try rail road. Hey, I'm a truckers and have drag races with them all day.

I used to play with GMRS and in talking to ny radio tech, he tells me about MURS. There are quite a few truckers getting into MURS. After a few minutes he just says "why don't you get your HAM licence and leave the toys alone." LOL

So there ya go. I'm not new, just ready to branch out and have fun on the rest of the bands out there.

 

[pinballwiz86]

Welcome! Get your Technician's license and get on the air. Rail roads can be interesting to listen to.

 

[teufler]

The Ham license is something that stays with you. Most of us worked CB for a time. Took the family alonmg on vacations, the language just got so bad that I turned it off. Told my wife, what about HaM radio. She said, they do stuff for hurricanes and they are really smart and your not. Well upon return, I got in a class and got my General, then upgraded to Extra years later. Drove the roads like you do, felt safer with a radio in the car. The Ham radio reaches out much fyrther than the CB. Lighting storms don't both you and generally with FM you do not have skip. On the open roads, in the plains states, about 40 miles will get into most repeaters. Out west, through linked repeaters, the state is the limit. For example NM has I-40 and I-25 linked so the entire Interstate systems are covered. In Las Vegas, there is the I-15 Corridor. Montana to Eastern California. Colorado has the I-70 link. There are others but get into a class and get you license.

 

[ChetsJug]

I bought a base CB

To update the Chet's Jug Hunker Hut (radio room)

Still doing a little each week on hamstudy.org (not com).

I will always have license free radio's though. I've had a dream since I was a teen to have a base station. Moving around 5 states, being married a few years, being a truck driver, all has put up hurdles I was too lazy to jump over. I can't ever say anything prevented me from setting one up. (outside of cost hehe).

So not that I have a good paying job and I OWN a home, I'm going to do it! Well let's not leave out my account with PayPal Credit

I have said some things in other threads so let me conglomerate here. I have purchased but not received an RCI 2980 base station from a fella back east. I have ordered from ebay a Sirio 827 antenna. and soon I will make the trek to HRO to get the coax. I just need to make a final decision as to where the erect the 21 foot beast.

On the VHF/MURS front, I have found a nice base station in a Midland 70-1340B (base) with a cool desk mic. I've seen HAM'ers collecting these vintage rigs for their programming capabilities and reliability. Most of them were duplex. That means it has a 2 watt setting for grabbing the repeater and 40 for "calling all cars" on simplex. lol It also has 5 channels programmed in so I know I have at least that many. I'm still digging into all the specs. There is as YT channel by Mike McCoy that collects these for various uses from GMRS repeaters to HAM.

 

[ChetsJug]

Amazing what you learn with time!

I had to sell the Midland VHF 70-1340 because it does not do wide band. I bought a 70-1442B-MM that does. This is needed for narrow band for MURS channel 1-3. Looks the same so I don't need to change the photo in my gallery LOL.

I found a silly little vintage Dynascan Cobra 85 base station. This thing looks like "Teddy Bear's first CB radio"! Anyone remember the Red Sovine song? hehe All it has is volume, squelch and a 23 channel dial. When I fired it up, the main relay was a little sticky and the mic makes the radio act retarded. I put on a Galaxy DX979 stock mic and wow! The little radio does a screaming 4 horsepower, revving to 12. A little tweak here and a little twist there and viola! It's now turbocharged to 6 HP, revving to 18 My goodness does it have a small chassis. Looks like a Cobra 18 board :/

I got a decent radio check out of a station 4 miles away with a car mag-mount. I can't wait to get it up on the ground plane. I have an A-B switch for the mast and this will serve me as my garage radio when I go hang out in my shop tinkering on my cars. We run channel 12 here in the Valley so the 23 channel will be just fine... and a little fun on the nostalgic side. Gee I wounder how a D104 lolly-pop would look sitting next to it... hmmm... Maybe a D104M on the hook? We'll see what sounds best when the time comes.