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PA Turnpike activity.

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
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So around 1:30 or so between Bristol and Neshaminy on the PA Turnpike, there is an active multi-site accident involving six people, two tractor trailers and four 4 wheelers. Two critical ALS patients and two BLS patients and two refusals.

State Police of course are encrypted but Turnpike maintenance is in the clear, as is EMS. Turnpike maintenance is doing all the work reporting and keeping track and getting information. There's only one troop car anyway.

I noticed that when I put on channel 19 and I am right near the turnpike scene...

Other than the usual excessive skip from the bayou I have not heard one exchange between two tractor trailers caught in the massive backup on the turnpike. Not one exchange.

Just as some background, this is where Route 95, route 13, PA connector Bridge over the Delaware River with the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 295 in New Jersey converge.

Bristol on the PA side and Bordentown on the New Jersey side are both heavy industrial areas with a great deal of trucking, truck stops, Etc. I have no doubt there are many 18 wheelers caught in this traffic charlie foxtrot.

That's a real testimonial to CB in this area. It was always very active here for 50 years straight.

Not one conversation on Channel 19 regarding the conditions. Amazing.

I know for many it's pretty active still. To me, this is a real eye-opener.
 

slowmover

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We’ve discussed the difficulties of installing a good radio rig in these composite-body trucks prevalent the past twenty years. It’s work, and it’s $$.

This calendar year has seen solar propagation such that overpowered base stations crowd AM-19 to the extent one smells the stench of sulfur. Three dozen other channels on which to DX.

The combination of difficulties just turns off that many more drivers. Especially into the afternoon when ordinary noise is at its
Better gear (and more of it) “works”.

There would have been some radio chatter early on, but depending on your distance away remember that a lot of these guys can barely get out across the highway.
 

trentbob

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Did you check channels adjacent to AM-19 when timeliness was still valid (before things get shifted to Net info)?

.
Everything you are saying I checked out very carefully, from our frequent Communications over the years, you know, I rarely post a thread on radio reference, LOL. I know you are an expert.

I think I should have said I'm adjacent to the turnpike LOL. Any local transmission even from a handheld would have come in 5x5 where I stand. There is no stopping that. It just didn't happen.

Once I'd listen for about 20 minutes and realized the troop car was far away, as they are spread pretty thin, and I heard the local Turnpike approved tow company on their frequency dispatched... 2 heavy duty tows, and additional EMS units dispatched. I realize this was not the usual all day, everyday accident, however frequent they are.

I know you are familiar with this area but I'm not sure what Commerce is going on around here as things have really declined. We're talking about major economic decline. Not going to get into politics here LOL. Traffic is way down. Don't see that many trucks but we certainly are experiencing..

Major shortages in my area.
 

slowmover

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Thanks for that underpinning. My impression of your familiarity with what information was available by other radio services had those questions in mind (info by other than CB).

My only expertise is CB use as a truck driver who’s familiar with major swaths of the country. And as one who’s traveled the country by car & truck since the early 1960s. The Road has become significantly more difficult over time.

We’re at a point men aren’t used to problem-solving roadway interference with each other. For the ordinary man it’s an inconvenience among many. For (truck) drivers it’s both their health (accidents avoided), and their income (losses not replaced). This lack of immediate problem-solving goes counter to what was seen and discussed forty, fifty sixty years ago and more.

Passivity doesn’t get things done. Waiting for the jesusphone to tell them what to do is seemingly now the norm. Having better tools by which to communicate on 19 as Skip and a-holes have made it more difficult is twin to the set of already existing (increasing) Road problems.

When one is in the middle of problems as they occur, radio comms are vital. (Granted).

First must have the tools (and can’t emphasize enough the confidence which comes from use), and one must strongly have the desire to keep himself and his family out of harms way.

AM-19 interference isn’t natural. One doesn’t get in the way of a man doing his job. One doesn’t threaten the man shepherding his family through violent weather.

Should be taken for granted that there’s not one minute of any hour of any day of the year there’s not someone somewhere depending on his fellow citizens on this radio band channel to alert him to problems.

Skip-related . . and passivity.


.
 

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
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Thanks for that underpinning. My impression of your familiarity with what information was available by other radio services had those questions in mind (info by other than CB).

My only expertise is CB use as a truck driver who’s familiar with major swaths of the country. And as one who’s traveled the country by car & truck since the early 1960s. The Road has become significantly more difficult over time.

We’re at a point men aren’t used to problem-solving roadway interference with each other. For the ordinary man it’s an inconvenience among many. For (truck) drivers it’s both their health (accidents avoided), and their income (losses not replaced). This lack of immediate problem-solving goes counter to what was seen and discussed forty, fifty sixty years ago and more.

Passivity doesn’t get things done. Waiting for the jesusphone to tell them what to do is seemingly now the norm. Having better tools by which to communicate on 19 as Skip and a-holes have made it more difficult is twin to the set of already existing (increasing) Road problems.

When one is in the middle of problems as they occur, radio comms are vital. (Granted).

First must have the tools (and can’t emphasize enough the confidence which comes from use), and one must strongly have the desire to keep himself and his family out of harms way.

AM-19 interference isn’t natural. One doesn’t get in the way of a man doing his job. One doesn’t threaten the man shepherding his family through violent weather.

Should be taken for granted that there’s not one minute of any hour of any day of the year there’s not someone somewhere depending on his fellow citizens on this radio band channel to alert him to problems.

Skip-related . . and passivity.


.
So I guess I've been through my share of solar Cycles, I have been away from CB for a while but have been listening more since it's been opening up.

With all of our state police and local police being encrypted now I work around that by listening to Fire and EMS. Fire police, news media, news choppers and tow trucks and you try your best to put it together when something happens.

When I heard how serious the accident was I enabled the VHF High Turnpike maintenance frequency and then went to the CB. When I didn't hear any local communication, just skip, I right away went to surrounding channels, then all of them.

An accident with a major traffic backup happens from time to time but my interest shifted to the fact that I wasn't hearing any local truckers on CB, I would have thought for sure it would have overridden the usual rumblings of skip in the background, especially being so close to the scene. It's true, I can't hear anything in Bordentown by Petro anymore secondary to skip.

It just hit me how odd it was, I know it's nothing new and it's been the trend but I just wanted to share the experience. I was very surprised.

Last evening I was driving locally and passed the large Wawa right at the exit ramp of the turnpike in Bristol PA. Route 13.. You probably know Wawa is like a 7-Eleven but much better, bigger with more resources, it's from Wawa PA and in the center of the state they are called Turkey Hill.

There is a first come first serve large parking lot for trucks to stay overnight, I was very surprised to see it was half empty and there was plenty of spots. It just seemed all very odd to me. There is definitely less truck traffic in the area. Just thought I would share, for those who know this neck of the woods.

Thanks for your comments and insight.🙂
 

mtindor

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I can't verify this because I don't have a CB, but I'm betting that if you were to get on CH19 and actually verbally make some jabs at the general trucker public, you'd get quite a number coming out of the woodwork on the offensive. I'm 56, and if I had a CB in my vehicle you can bet I'd spend sometime ranting and verbally abusing the silent but listening truckers -- I like to be a "trigger" lol.
 

slowmover

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I can't verify this because I don't have a CB, but I'm betting that if you were to get on CH19 and actually verbally make some jabs at the general trucker public, you'd get quite a number coming out of the woodwork on the offensive. I'm 56, and if I had a CB in my vehicle you can bet I'd spend sometime ranting and verbally abusing the silent but listening truckers -- I like to be a "trigger" lol.

Honey works better than molasses.

Guy named Cowboy Bob in western Ohio proves it daily. Awesome on-air personality.

I “get” where you’re going, but it’s a constant irritant plenty of days (this approach). Overused, and abused.

Two guarantees on uses of humor:

1. Wry & Dry

2. Deep Black


Has to be unexpected, in main.
Both’ll light up 19 for a good while.

Running central PA one morning nearing the Maryland border (near the manliest truckstop on the East Coast, the T/A on John Wayne Drive) had a couple of jokers playing dish-dat with rodger bips. Call & Response.

That took off. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, funny.

Think novelty over prison shiv.

.
 

slowmover

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So I guess I've been through my share of solar Cycles, I have been away from CB for a while but have been listening more since it's been opening up.

With all of our state police and local police being encrypted now I work around that by listening to Fire and EMS. Fire police, news media, news choppers and tow trucks and you try your best to put it together when something happens.

When I heard how serious the accident was I enabled the VHF High Turnpike maintenance frequency and then went to the CB. When I didn't hear any local communication, just skip, I right away went to surrounding channels, then all of them.

An accident with a major traffic backup happens from time to time but my interest shifted to the fact that I wasn't hearing any local truckers on CB, I would have thought for sure it would have overridden the usual rumblings of skip in the background, especially being so close to the scene. It's true, I can't hear anything in Bordentown by Petro anymore secondary to skip.

It just hit me how odd it was, I know it's nothing new and it's been the trend but I just wanted to share the experience. I was very surprised.

Last evening I was driving locally and passed the large Wawa right at the exit ramp of the turnpike in Bristol PA. Route 13.. You probably know Wawa is like a 7-Eleven but much better, bigger with more resources, it's from Wawa PA and in the center of the state they are called Turkey Hill.

There is a first come first serve large parking lot for trucks to stay overnight, I was very surprised to see it was half empty and there was plenty of spots. It just seemed all very odd to me. There is definitely less truck traffic in the area. Just thought I would share, for those who know this neck of the woods.

Thanks for your comments and insight.🙂

Stayed just ahead of a very high wind advisory coming out of Colorado and into New Mexico today. Steady 35, and gusts to 90 (caught one of those was able to slow sufficiently).

The number of drivers who answer warnings on 19 of what’s out ahead of them is disappointingly low.

Can call Americans any name in the book except stupid.

Three generations of television . . and fewer men with fathers (as divorce ruptures memory passed down thru the ages). The reasons matter little in the moment the tool is necessary.

I do what I can to interest other drivers.

New circuit board starting last year in several lines of radio makes a fresh start the best way to go.

Version II of Stryker 955 AM/SSB

Installations in fleet-spec company trucks is where I’ve become proficient. So the interest I try to excite has some “how to” as accompaniment.

.
 

slowmover

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FWIW, I hear a couple of base stations with fair regularity out of Philly during periods of Skip as I criss-cross the Great Plains

AM-19 trolls, true (shouldn’t be on travelers dedicated channel), but it usually means the locals in your area should be receiving distant trolls pretty well (base stations bragging about their HAM licensure, as well gumming up the works on 11-Meter).

— If that’s the case it accounts for less local comm activity, is my general impression.

Typical truck driver mobile units aren’t the problem during Skip.

NRC-equipped radios the best path through those woods to maintain local. Reduces the clock time one can’t hear well to a shorter period. (Worst from mid-afternoon to sunset).

Pre-Dawn & Post-Sunset is where NRC makes CB a great pleasure again as noise can be made to (literally) almost disappear.

Came out of Pipestone, MN late last night and was listening to (unfortunately) regular voices out of Oklahoma City. Two-way business radio-quality comms.

Late or Early
is the best time for locals to congregate and maybe decide on an alternate daytime AM choice on which to refer.

Them that understand the attack focused on AM-19 isn’t happenstance, much less organic, can take steps to preserve locality as well as stay in touch with travelers passing through.

21st Century gear is the right first step.


This is the least expensive NRC radio of which I’m aware. (Also RadioOddity CS-47).

Like a Randy it could be plugged into an antenna system of real merit.

AM/SSB is preferred.

.
 
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slowmover

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(9) became the cross-border Mexican taxi service choice once they saw we reserved it for emergency use.
 

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
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(9) became the cross-border Mexican taxi service choice once they saw we reserved it for emergency use.
I haven't been on radio reference for a while but I enjoyed your response to this old thread I started.. I actually check everyday, but not much response, Hope all is well with you.😉
 
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