Hobby Radio Craze
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Random Hobby Radio - the good, the bad, and the ugly - because, as the late Oscar Gamble said, "They don't think it be like it is, but it do!"........................................................................................
07-07-2025 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Monday, and I know of nothing of Hobby Radio major importance happening today. It was around 15 years ago when I heard a station on CB Radio Channel 19 reporting as "aeronautical mobile" and going by the handle of Waldo Pepper. He said he was flying over Amarillo, Texas. That was the only CB Radio aeronautical mobile I've ever heard. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
07-07-2025 - 5:15 AM - As a CB Radio walkie-talkie-carrying kid, I noticed a tower and antenna at a local business. If I touched my walkie-talkie antenna to that tower, I would have as good a signal as that business, or so I thought. I never tried it. I didn't want to climb the fence. However, I observed that the communicators Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin used on the Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series had no external antennas. So, I removed the telescoping antenna from my walkie-talkie, wrapped the same length of wire around a section of a #2 pencil, connected the wire to the proper place, and put the pencil inside the radio. Now I was communicating "secret agent" style. Well, almost. I still had that annoying no squelch, no noise blanker, loud hiss. How can you be a secret agent making that kind of racket? My CB Radio Daze - How It All Started
07-07-2025 - 5:25 AM - CB Radio is the best option for license-free, long-distance radio communications. Amateur (ham) Radio is capable of long-distance communications, but it's not license-free. The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is license-free but does not have long-distance capability. The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is neither long-distance nor license-free. All of the radio services have a place in your disaster toolbox.
07-07-2025 - 5:45 AM - There is a fair amount of railroad radio traffic in my area, with the primary frequency being 160.920 MHz. On your scanner radio, search for railroad radio traffic in your area between 160 - 161 MHz. According to my research, prison is up and running. They should be because they never sleep. Well, some officers have been caught sleeping!
07-07-2025 - 7:00 AM - Local trucks—talking on Channel 19—are picking up loads here and there to transport around the country. During the day, there's a good chance that an oversized load will pass through town, assisted by pilot cars using Channel 19. Here's a blade runner making a tight turn.
07-07-2025 - 7:15 AM - There is a news item out this morning about an Amateur (ham) Radio Operator in North Carolina who was electrocuted while raising an antenna mast near power lines. This accident occurred at the K2J 13 colonies Special Event operation. The report I saw stated that the victim was not a K2J operator but was assisting them. Very sad.
07-07-2025 - 8:45 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – July 6-7, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Flash Flooding – Texas
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Weather – Central Plains
• Excessive Rainfall / Flash Flooding – Southern Plains, Great Lakes to Mid-Atlantic
• Fire Weather – Western U.S.
• Tropical Activity:
Atlantic:
• Tropical Depression Chantal
Eastern Pacific:
• Disturbance 1: Low (20%)
• Disturbance 2: Low (20%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Major Disaster Declaration Approval – TX
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
07-07-2025 - 11:00 AM - A Ham Radio podcaster once said, about Ham Radio people complaining on the phone bands about newer hams who didn't have to pass the Morse code test: "Do your complaining in the CW portion of the bands," or words to that effect. This smackdown reminds me of the hams complaining about the digital mode enthusiasts using FT-8. Most of these complaints seem to be "If you're not enjoying the hobby the way I enjoy the hobby, you're doing it wrong!" Digitize all you want. The only Amateur (ham) Radio keyboarding I do is logging contacts, and I do that for the benefit of the other operator. I don't chase paper, so logging is of no use to me. Looking back at old contacts? Highly overrated. That's my opinion, anyway.
07-07-2025 - 11:30 AM - Due to the tragic flooding in Texas, I decided to check the ARRL ARES X (formerly Twitter) account to see what they were discussing. The last post was in April 2022. Interesting.
07-07-2025 - 11:4 AM - According to a story in the Washington Court House Record Herald, the City of Washington Court House (Ohio) has installed a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) repeater and invites area families (no businesses) to use the machine, free of charge. This repeater will be activated only during disasters or when cell phone systems are unavailable. That's an interesting name for a city!
07-07-2025 - 1:00 PM - I tried to work some Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® this afternoon, but the 20-meter band is half asleep here in North Texas. At least on my ground plane antenna. I'll try again later. For now, it's back to the CB Radio and the scanner radio for local goings on.
07-07-2025 - 1:15 PM - The CB Radio band is in full swing, with something happening on most of the 40 channels. That's pretty good! I hear a guy who sounds like he's in a barrel. I think he thinks his "power mic" is working better than it is. A few guys are using echo. I'm not a fan of echo, but if they're happy, I'm happy.
07-07-2025 - It was 1975 and it was my first trip to California. I was headed to the Presidio of San Francisco to play Army for two more years. I stopped at a small diner somewhere near either Bakersfield or Barstow. My memory is a little fuzzy on that. I took a seat in a booth and the first thing I noticed was an index card on the wall that said: "Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward sat here." I should have asked on which side I was sitting, but I didn't. Also, the CB Radio was alive and well with trucker and 4-wheeler chatter back then. I had plenty of entertainment on that long, slow trip from Texas to California at 55 MPH!
More to come!