Hobby Ra7dio3
HOME - RESERVED - MORE
It comes to you, this stuff just flies through the air, they send this information beamed out over the place, you just got to know how to grab it, see, I know how to grab it. Kelso (Heat 1995)
04-30-2025 - Has anyone made an FRS, MURS, GMRS, CB, or Ham Radio contact from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis? How about the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio? Ham Radio VHF or UHF contacts have probably happened, but what about the other radio services?
04-30-2025 - 6:30 AM - The line of storms has passed. Now, it's school buses, city transit buses, Walmart, the local prison, the county jail, Air Traffic Control, and other radio players that will provide morning radio entertainment.
04-30-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, and I have nothing on my schedule. We have a narrow line of thunderstorms about to pass over the city, and our Amateur (ham) Radio Skywarn® storm spotters are still on the job after a break following last night's storm. I checked around the house, and I didn't see any storm damage. I'm listening to the action on my Yaesu FT-2980 two-meter transceiver. If two meters (144 MHz) is the workhorse of Amateur Radio, 2980 is the workhorse of two-meter radios. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
04-29-2025 - At 7:45 PM, serious storms are passing through the area. Amateur (ham) Radio Skywarn® storm spotters are deployed and providing constant updates. These folks do a great job!
04-29-2025 - On the Parks on the Air® spotter page, I see the New River Gorge National Park. The New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, West Virginia is the site of the annual B.A.S.E. jumping "Bridge Day." This year's event happens on October 18, 2025. Maybe someone could activate an Amateur (ham) Radio special event station for the event. Has this been done before?
04-29-2025 - I had a flashback of my first stop at the over-the-highway McDonald's in Vinita, Oklahoma, back in 1974. I was headed north to Savanna Army Depot to play Army. Those were the golden CB Radio years. All the truckers had radios, and many 4-wheelers also had radios. During that trip, I had a 102-inch fiberglass antenna on a Chevy Vega. That was a sight. My last stop there was heading north again, to the St. Louis area for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Yes, I had the CB Radio on but there was less Channel 19 CB Radio traffic. As I write this, two truckers are exchanging "smokey reports" on Channel 19. CB Radio is dead! Long live CB Radio!
04-29-2025 - An oversized load is passing through town, and the pilot cars are operating on CB Radio Channel 19. I have no idea what they're moving, but many of those huge turbine blades are a regular sight.
04-29-2025 - Another fun radio scanning target of a time gone by was the drive-thru ordering system at our local fast-food establishments. Just after midnight on the weekends seemed to be more comical due to the lack of sobriety of some customers. While not something you'd want to sit in your car and listen to, it was enjoyable enough to listen to from the comfort of your home. Most of these companies have moved to higher frequencies and use spread spectrum technology, which is beyond the capability of generic scanner radios.
04-29-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – April 28-29, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Severe Weather - Southern Plains to Northeast
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Thunderstorms – Southern Plains to Northeast
• Heavy Rain/Flash Flooding – Southern Plains, Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• Amendment No. 1 to FEMA-4863-DR-VA
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
04-29-2025 - According to the FCC database, my town of just over 100,000 has about 15 General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) licensees. I keep the GMRS frequencies in rotation on my scanner radio. In the last few years, I've heard one contact. On the other hand, the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) has a small handful of regular operators. On the CB Radio, a group has been meeting on the air each evening for more years than I can remember.
04-29-2025 - Someone on X, formerly known as Twitter, said "CB Radio lingo" is the official language of truckers, and English will get you nowhere in that field. I don't know about that. I've been using plain language on the CB Radio since 1964, and I've never had trouble communicating with truckers or anyone else. I go out of my way to avoid "lingo" and 10-codes. Plain language is the best way to go because you don't have to translate it. Your opinion may vary.
04-29-2025 - 7:15 AM - I did go back to bed and slept later than I usually do. We've got more storms on the way. We just caught the edge of the one earlier. Maybe we'll get lucky again. We've had enough rain for the month. On the 20-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band, I hear someone calling "CQ" in the Parks on the Air® program. They're weak, so I won't try to make contact. But my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready, so I'll make contact with that!
04-29-2025 - Good Morning! At 4:30 AM, wind gusts woke me as thunderstorms passed through my location. Our local Amateur (ham) Radio Skywarn® Storm Spotters are on the air, watching things. One spotter reported a 49 MPH gust. Should I make some coffee or go back to bed?
04-28-2025 - I bought a 1960 copy of CQ Ghost Ship, a book by Walker A. Tompkins, K6ATX (SK), almost a year ago. It's one of the Amateur (ham) Radio books I read in 1966. Others were Death Valley QTH, DX Brings Danger, Grand Canyon QSO, and SOS at Midnight, all by Tompkins. These books were updated in paperback (featuring more modern equipment) in 1985 or so and sold by the American Radio Relay League. Nope! I want the original hardcover versions. As I did with SOS at Midnight, I paid too much for CQ Ghost Ship, but the nostalgia value is worth it.
04-28-2025 - A good source of entertainment for scanner radio owners is the local school bus operation. You don't have to wait long for interesting radio traffic in my town. Our city transit bus drivers are also good for a laugh now and then, mainly because they think no one can hear them. I'm not about to let them in on the secret world of scanner owners.
04-28-2025 - I miss the good old days of scanner radio wardriving when almost everyone had a cordless phone in the home and talked about everything under the sun or moon, thinking no one could hear them.
04-28-2025 - It was in 1976 and 77 when I would climb - in my Datsun B210 - to the highest points in San Francisco - Twin Peaks and Mount Davidson - to receive more signals on my AM-FM portable radio with extended VHF receiver coverage. I was interested in that, even more than listening to Dr. Don Rose on KFRC. With an extended VHF tuning range, in the days before scanner radios were popular and affordable, I could listen to commercial entities of all types. I even found the frequencies for car phones. Cordless phones were, as far as I know, not out at that time. I don't remember hearing any. It didn't matter since there was no shortage of scanning targets. Manual spin-the-dial scanning. I'm sure Hobby Radio enthusiasts still use that elevation for one purpose or another.
04-28-2025 - At 11:45 AM, the 20-meter Amateur (ham) Radio band was dead. It was so quiet that I had to look outside to see if my antenna was still there.
04-28-2025 - I contacted a station at Indiana Dunes State Park (US-2258) in Indiana on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. This brings my POTA hunter count to 524.
04-28-2025 - Checking the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) website, I see plenty of "hamfests" coming up around the USA. Check the ARRL website (it's easy to find) for one near you.
04-28-2025 - Coming up next month are these school contacts with the International Space Station: Pan American International School, Luque, Paraguay, direct via ZP5DBI (Jonny Kim KJ5HKP) and the Wireless Institute of Australia AGM and Technical Expo, Bayswater, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via K6DUE (Takaya Onishi KF5LKS). This is way outside the "radio footprint" of the ISS for USA people. There should be more on the way.
04-28-2025 - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring – April 27-28, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• Severe Thunderstorms - Central U.S.
Hazard Monitoring:
• Severe Weather – Southern Plains to Great Lakes
• Critical Fire Weather – Southwest
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity
Event Monitoring:
• No new significant events
04-28-2025 - At 7:30 AM, Channel 6 is letting me know the band is coming alive. Let's see of the sideband channels got the memo. Yesterday was Morse Code Day! I didn't learn that fact until late and I didn't get to make a CW (Morse code) contact. I'll have to catch up on that today!
04-28-2025 - 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
04-28-2025 - Good Morning! It's Monday, and we have local trucks—talking on Channel 19—picking up loads here and there to move about the country. During the day, there's a good chance that an oversized load will come through town with the pilot cars operating on Channel 19. Speaking of oversized loads, here's a blade runner making a tight turn. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
04-27-2025 - At 9:30 PM, it sounds like Mother Nature has put the CB Radio band to bed. I might follow shortly. Of course, that doesn't affect local communications, just skywave or "skip" communications.
04-27-2025 - The Texas Rangers (vs. San Francisco Giants) put on a heck of a clown show in the bottom of the 9th inning today. I was thoroughly entertained but not happy. In reality, I was happy for the Giants fans. It was a nice win for them.
04-27-2025 - At 10:00 AM, the CB Radio band is in full swing, with something happening on 30 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.
04-27-2025 - It was around 15 years 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..
04-27-2025 - At 7:00 AM, Channel 6 is the only active channel in my part of the world, and it's not very strong. Before long, the band will sound like a buzzing beehive. The subject of band conditions brings up the subject of solar minimum and maximum, and I compare it to Daylight Savings Time and Standard time. Some people want the government to pick one time or the other. Some want permanent Daylight Savings Time, and some want permanent Standard time. I like darkness to come early in the evening. How about radio communications? If we could have only the conditions of solar minimum or maximum, I'd choose minimum for quieter communications every day. I can get on the Amateur (ham) Radio if I want to talk to Egypt. I love the quiet local communications when we're at solar minimum. Your mileage, or sunspots, may vary.
04-27-2025 - CB Radio is the best option for license-free, long-distance radio communications. While 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.
04-27-2025 - At 5:45 AM, I hear two distant stations on Channel 19. Could it be two truckers on the fringes headed into town? Time will tell. The band has yet to come alive for the DXers and skip shooters. It's a quiet time for the truckers to communicate. Sadly, the skip shooters will show up later, tearing up the only channel truckers have to conduct business.
04-27-2025 - Good Morning! It's 5:15 AM on Sunday, and I have no idea what in the world of CB Radio is waiting for me. I've got the President McKinley on 40-channel scan while my coffee is brewing. In the CB Radio forums, I've noticed a common complaint about driving cross-country from Point A to Point B and never hearing anything on Channel 19. Further investigation almost always reveals that the complaining party never picked up the microphone to ask if anyone else was on the frequency. It's the usual case of "everyone listening and nobody talking." A few years ago, I picked up the mic of the base station radio and keyed up on Channel 19 with "If you're trying to sneak through town without saying anything, raise your hand." I got several chuckles. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
04-26-2025 - At 9:30 PM, I hear a few signals scattered across the band. With just these few signals, I am more convinced than ever that it would be a good idea for the FCC to make the phrase "No doubt about it" illegal. Maximum fine. Confiscate equipment. Okay, I'm just having a little fun here. No doubt about it!
04-26-2025 - 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!
04-26-2025 - A few years ago, I was listening to two local CB Radio Operators having a conversation when a well-known station in Jamaica started transmitting. When he did, he "cut the lips off" both local stations. I could not hear them, even though they were less than 10 miles from me, whenever the Jamaican station—1500 miles away—keyed up. I don't know how much power he was running, but I hope he's up-to-date on RF exposure warnings.
04-26-2025 - It was 1973 or 1974, and I was in Germany. I remember having a favorite elevated area where I would park and fire up the mobile rig. It was a Midland 13-862 that I ordered through Montgomery Ward. I would sit in the car and talk to Germans and U.S. military people for hours. I remember band conditions being tranquil while I was in Germany. Maybe we were at or near the bottom of the solar cycle. I guess I could look it up, but it's not important. Those were fun times! I found a beat-up version of that radio at a hamfest last year and bought it for $10. See the pic below. It has someone's call sign on it. UPDATE: That period was during Solar cycle 20, which began in 1964 and ended in 1976. So, while I was in Germany, we were near solar minimum.
04-26-2025 - The band is a little flat at 4:00 PM this afternoon. Channel 6 is active, but those operators have been known to make their own conditions.
04-26-2025 - In North Texas, at 9:30 AM, I hear traffic on channels 2, 6, 11, 24, 15, 16, 24, 32, 34, 36, 37, and 38. CB Radio is dead! Long Live CB Radio!
04-26-2025 - Traffic on Channel 19 is picking up, with big rigs passing through town. They'd been passing through town all night, but I declined to stay awake and listen to them. Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, is coming alive at 7:00 AM. I hear one weak station on Channel 38 Lower Sideband. I hear "John the Baptist" on Channel 11. I don't have any directional antennas - just the massive Zero Five ground plane antenna.
04-26-2025 - Good Morning! It's 6:00 AM Saturday morning and the CB Radio is quiet in my area. I'm sure things will pick up as the day progresses. I'll also be listening for Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® stations to work. On the scanner radio, there are a couple of area nets to listen to. Walmart can be amusing. No entertaining school bus radio traffic today. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready!
04-25-2025 - I'm starting this journal on Friday evening. At 8:00 PM, the band is relatively quiet here in North Texas. The only exceptions are Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, and Channel 38 Lower Sideband. I'll split my attention with the Texas Rangers baseball game in another hour. Right now, on Channel 19, someone is attempting chicken sounds. Well, it is CB Radio, folks.