Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

RADIO FREE AMERICA By Jody Weisel "Break one-nine fo r a n 18- wheeler southbound on t h is o ld super-slab:' "Come on breaker, you got the one Lickety-Spl it doin ' it to it like Sonny Pruitt." " Say good buddy how ' s it look over your shoulder to that old Shaky City? Come back." "Man, you go t wall-to-wall bear. There's a black and white at the 349 marker, a local yokel flip-floppin' at t he chicken coop a nd a bear-in -the-air worki ng w ith a n Evel Knievel around the 300's." "Sounds li ke its double-nickel time, We got a report of bear taking pictures and ha ndi ng out green st am ps at the 361 , b ut other t ha n that we haven't see n a cotton-pickin' t h ing. Put the pedal to th e metal Mr. Licketv-Split, You go t the o ne Silver Fox sayin' three's to you and yours. Have a good one." "That's a big ten-four Mr. Fo x . T his is the Lickety-S plit southbound and down at the double-nickel. Keep the sh iny side up, the ru bber side down, you r wheels between the d itches and you r green stamps in y o u r britches. I' ll be ten-ten and listenin ' in ." What is it? IS it the CIA sending secret co d es to operatives at the North Pole? Is it Richard Nixon attempting to get his plumbing fixed? Maybe it's the Gomer Pyle rad io show. No folks, th at is th e sound of America's truckers ( 1 8 - wh eel ers) keeping America's highways (super-slabs) free from over-eager Hishway Pa trol u nit s (Sm o key bears) with radar (pic tu re ta kers) . It is a network of 23 federally m a n d a t e d bro adcast ch ann els with more than th ree million persons operating citizen s band , or CB, radios on them . The popu larity of CB radio s is eas ily measu red by the fa ct th at the manufacturers ca n not ke ep up with the demand fo r th em, and th at th ieves have made them the number o n e item on their ge t list . T here are m ore than 3 0 0 different models o f CB radios on the market. Base st ations, which are used in homes and offices , are the most expensive and co mp lex . The m obile units are sm all, ligh t and range in p rice from $100 to $400. It is the convenient mobile unit th at cam e in to vogue immediately foll owin g the truckers strike of 197 3. Lar ge convoys o f trucks were able to keep in t ou ch with pol ice and National Guard actio n again st th em by simply monitoring chan nel 19 . The kn owledge o f what 's ahead of you, h ow the weather is, what road co n d i tio n s are like and the exact lo cation o f the police all ows truckers, to whom time is money, to m ake the best use o f their time. Mor e an d more aver age Joe's are ge tting the CB radio bug. It is estimated that in the Southern st ates. from Texas to Florida, o ne out o f five vehicles on the super high way s is radio equipped. The CB radio is not new. In 1953 th e Federal Communications Co m mission established the Citizens Band system of 2 3 chan nels. Ex cep t for truckers and a fe w h ome base stations n o one truly utilized the publics ai rwaves. u n til the regulation and enforcemen t of the 55 mph (dou ble-nic kel) speed limi t. That supposedly e ne rgy -co nse rvin g m easure ra ised the ante in the poker game of making ti me on the hi gh ways . The police dealt the mselves even a better hand when they escal ated the electronic warfare to include the new fast radar guns. The beleagured truckers and travellers retaliated with the trump car d o f a m assive early warning syste m of CB radios. At th e moment the card game is in a Mexican st and-off with neither side holding th e upper hand. If you 're 18 a nd an American citizen you can o b tain a class D citiz ens band licens e by fi lling ou t FCC form 505 and mailing it in with four d oll ars. The license is val id fo r five years and allo ws you to legally opera te you r rad io. Ill egal operat io n. bro ad casting without a license , can result in co nfis ca tion . o f y our equipment a nd a healthy fine. Don 't th ink th e FCC ca n' t catch you . They ' have cau gh t thousands o f viol ators, so ge t a license an d do it right. Once yo u have th e lic ense take the time to listen to co nver sa tion s over th e airwa ves. If you're like m o st m otorcy cli st s, all the national stars have been into CE's fo r ye ars, your in terest is ge tting ou t to the riding terrain as quickly as possib le. A person can talk on th e CB with an y inflection, tone or accent he wishes, but the CB user s are a proud and independen t gro up of rebe ls. T hey have their own j argon and voice p atternwhich separates m embers fro m n on -members. If you don' t play the game their way you may cre st a hill in to a radar trap because no one ' would answer yo ur call. Learn the truckers' lin go and the te n cod es. Legally , you must give y ou r call lette rs, to id en ti fy you rself, and talk no more th an five m in utes. In the real w or ld , be y ond the legal definitions, the FCC ca ll letter s are widely disregarded. Your ide n tifying call sh ould be your ' han dle ' o r ni ck nam e. Do n ot use actual names over the ra d io . This is considered imp ro per be ha vior an d o nly handles are used. All CB trans mi tte rs have a five-watt in p ut power an d a m aximum four-watt power output. T he four watts o f o u tp u t will e nable yo u t o transm it between five and six mil es o n the ave rage. less in the m ountains and m ore o n the plains. When speak in g in to th e mike , you shoul d hold it away fro m you r mouth , at a 45-degree an gle, an d speak in a normal voice. If you yell o r speak too loud th e set will ove r-m odu late onto othe r chan nels. Make your co n tac t q uickly, ask the info rmation y o u desire, respond in k ind and clear the channel. Man y a CBer has crossed the coun try --- ------CB radio manUfacturers'--------- . ~t":::'~:~t::n~:.~:~o ."" Audlo"o" eo",. ' 50 Marcus B/lld Hauppauge . N Y 7178 7 8"",., A.tr_onl" 9300 Hall Rd Dow ney. CA 9024' Fanon.Cou,Ie, eo,p• . J .I.L. eo,p. 990 So F,w Oalfs Pasadena . CA 91 lO~ 1000 Del Am o B/vd Carso n. CA Gomtronlc. E.F. Johnaon CO. 3S6 So Bou levard Lake City , 5C C,./fl Coq>. _ , . , I£lect,1c 921 W ANeSle Com p ton . CA 90024 29~60 934 £ I HIP St L os Angeles. CA D'... ae.n eo,p. 299 10th Aile 5 W Waseca . MN KTI., Inc. 26 No"Ia eo",. Linea, Sp'.m. .clto Communlc.lIon. H,_ I£Iectronlc. M-e One Ech o Plaza Cedar our g, W, 5301 2 8601 Nor theast Hlway 6 Lm coln . Nt 68505 3 '21 W. Burb ank Blvd Burbank . CA S""p I£lect",nlc. CO,p. Olaon Electronic. R.,enc, 260 7707 Rec or d 5' IndI an apolis . IN 46226 46.53 Massach userrs Ava IndIan apolIS. IN 462 18 Royc. Electronic. T••" Inc• . So Forge 5t Akron. OH 44308 PAL Electronic. 2962 W Weldon Phoe nl1f. AZ 8~0 17 Worth . TX 76107 Eloct,onlc. 1746 Lell ll e Rd No Kansas Oty. MO 64116 5"",... Electric '200 W ArteSIa Comp rofl. CA 90220 DYIIa'.' Communication. 220 A,rporr B/lld WatSOn ville. CA 95076 ~9 P.fhcom 24049 So Frampton Harbo r CIty CA 90 710 F.,Ian. Communlc.llon. P ••rc.-Slmpaon So Srh Mon teoello. CA Spfoma Communication. 6363 W Sunse' Billd Los Angeles. CA 26 17 Gladdln,,-Cta,lcon So FIgueroa Lo s Angeles, CA RCA R.dlo Shaclr w 7th Sf Fort lIotwot. 663 Dowd Ave ( tuaOerh. NJ 07101 f 94 ~ " Say good buddy, it ' s been nice modu lating w ith you here on the ravideo. This is the one Wily Coyote and he's got the hammer down. Be su re and keep your wheels off t he gra ss, the bugs off the glass, and the bears off you r . . . . _ tail , Three's to ya." 2333 Ulah £1 Sttg undo . CA IOU 50 Washm gron Cedar burg. WI S3012 1801 W Belle PIII /fl . Ave ChIcago. IL 60613 25415 £ Walnut Pasade na . CA fu ll tilt without ever sp eak in g in to th e m ik e by simply liste nin g to the cal ls. Do not ho g the chan nel used for informat ion, normally channel 19 , with idle cha tt e r. There are 23 channels open fo r conversation so utilize one of th em by ask ing you r part y to jump d own a few chan nels. ' Mo st o f the CB u n its lo ok alike , but o ff er different fe atu res, ma n y that are unne cessary to the cas ual users. T he best sets offer 23 chan nels and it is foolish to b uy a se t with less. Each chan nel is ten kHz apart and on accu rately tuned sets t hey offer the radio en thusias t a wide range of capab ili ties . It is best to get a rad io with a plug-in m icro p h on e, although some less expensive m odels have wired-in circu itry. The plug-in co n nec to r allo ws the mi crophone to be re m oved and replaced. Telephone type re ceiv er s are m ore fo r status than fun c tion . To ov ercome environmental noise it is impo rtan t to ge t a set with th e hi ghest level o f audio power output, rather maximum clear volume measured in watts, b efor e distortion. The average un it resists distortion un til 2.5 or 3 watts. The higher the audio power outpu t th e bette r the transmission qu ality . A sq uelc h con tr ol is utilized on m ost sets to e lim in at e undesired noise an d signals. The squelch blanks ou t background noise while permitting th e strongest signal to trigger the recep tion circ u itry. Many sets als o in clude a public address phase that allows external speakers to be connected. This is a n extra not necessary to most users aI th ough wo rthy of consideration for many desert and open co u ntry re cre ation riders who might be interested in a lo ud sp ea ker . The ante nna is the "m os t critical compone n t in th e CBe rs sys tem . T he id eal antenna should be 35 fee t in le ngth to enable it to match th e 11 meter wavelength o f th e CB rad ios maximu m 27 kH z. T his is impossible on vehicle mounted units, bu t go o d reception can be ach ieved using a whip antenna where the wavelength is quartered to approximately 102 inches. Shorter an te n nas with 102 inches of coiled winding can als o be utilized. The best location for an antenna is th e high est poin t of the vehicle, in the cen te r of the ro of. This insu res a broad refl ectin g pl ane in a uniform radius . If d rilling a hole in y ou r roof is not pal atable, the an te n na can be a ttached to rain gu Hers, trunk lids, mirrors, or even with quick-release magne ti c m ounts. ~~:":c~~ ,.~:.~ u~:c.tlon. SUl'Y'eror 1It,,_ PO Ball 800 BIsca yne Anne .. M,.aml. FL 331 52 7 E'-c trOI1lCS Cour t Mad Ison HeIghts. M/ "80 n 10 Keyston e PI Pafa mus . NJ 07652 T. .IJo",l£lectronlc. . HU 28 Lo ndellus No rthridge. CA 91324 T,am I DIamond C..,.,.. «o. BOlt 787 WmntSQuam . NH 03289 T_, IIIc"'pho.... POP 171h Sr. N E Ced ar Rap Ids. /04 52402 X-T.' Far Easter n Reu arch Lao 8149 Sh,, -.y NOfthfldg• . CA rn32 4

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