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12-07-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday. Once again, I have nothing on the schedule, so I'll just keep the CB Radio on "scan" and see what develops. Sometimes, when Channel 19 is quiet, I'll pick up the mic and say, "If you're trying to sneak through town without saying a word, raise your hand." I usually get a response. I'm reminded of a local guy whose life mission seemed to be to torment truckers on the radio. Having heard enough, I told him the next time he gave a trucker Hell for no reason, I would broadcast his address and phone number. He calmed down quickly. I haven't heard him in several years. I hope this post doesn't conjure him up! My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:30 AM - 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!
--- 6:45 AM - A few years ago, I was listening to two local CB Radio Operators 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.
--- 7:00 AM - The CB Radio is slowly coming alive. I heard someone on Channel 19 looking for a "smokey report" on a nearby highway. Channel 6 is trying to make its presence known with a few weak squelch breaks. I hear a conversation on Channel 25 that sounds like mobile units passing through town. It can only get better from here on out.
--- 7:30 AM - From the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - NOTIFICATION OF SUSPECTED ILLEGAL TRAFFIC & ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION OF ROBOCALL MITIGATION DATABASE FILING DEFICIENCIES - SK TELECO LLC. FCC Enforcement Bureau issues cease-and-desist letter to SK Teleco LLC for apparently transmitting illegal robocalls impersonating Walmart. The letter also informs SK Teleco that their Robocall Mitigation Database filing is deficient and must be cured. . Action by: Acting Chief, Enforcement Bureau. Adopted: 2025-12-02 by LETTER. EB.
--- 8:30 AM - 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.
--- 11:45 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 across the room from his microphone. 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.
--- 1:45 PM - The CB Radio band is still screaming as I watch football. I was enjoying the snow at the Bengals-Bills game until it decided to let up. Maybe we'll get another good snow game this season. I did give a “radio check” on Channel 19 earlier, so the day won’t be a complete loss.
--- 5:45 PM - Conditions seem to be weakening, but 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!
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12-06-2025 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday, and I don't have anything on my schedule for today. A flashback: 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 used by Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series lacked 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 Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.--- 5:30 AM - 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.
-- 6:00 AM - I have the President McKinley on 40-channel scan, and I'm starting to get some squelch breaks on a few channels. It won't be long before the band comes alive. I think I'll need another cup of coffee first.
--- 6:45 AM - An oversized load is making its way through town with radio communications happening on CB Radio channel 40. Channel 6 is starting to come alive with a Jamaican station holding court. He's not the guy who says "I'm gone" a dozen times but never leaves. This is a different station. I don't think the "I'm gone" guy needs to be gone, I just think it's funny that he says he's leaving but doesn't. Let's see what the day brings.
+++ One of the things a dollar can't buy today is a dollar's worth of anything.
-- 8:00 AM - Channel 6 is the only active channel in my area, and it's not very strong. Before long, the band will sound like a buzzing beehive. The subject of band conditions brings up the solar minimum and maximum, and I compare them to Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time. Some people want the government to pick one time or the other. Some want permanent Daylight Saving Time, and some want permanent Standard Time. I like the darkness to come early in the evening. How about radio communications? If we could only have conditions at solar minimum or maximum, I'd choose minimum for quiet local communications. The “skip shooters” probably want to do me bodily harm for such a thought. I wish we could alternate atmospheric conditions weekly.
--- 8:30 AM - The sideband DX channels 37 and 38 are coming alive. I hear Montreal, Canada, on 37 booming in on my Zero Five ground plane antenna 1500 "air" miles away.
--- 3:30 PM - The CB Radio band is going strong with signals all across the band. I am constantly amused by how many people think CB Radio is dead.
--- 7:30 PM - The CB Radio band is dead. Not a peep on any of the 40 channels. Maybe it will come to life again for a final showing before it really closes up for the night.
--- 9:30 PM - Another person reports online that he drove for hundreds of miles without hearing anything on his CB Radio. I wanted to ask him if he bothered to pick up the mic and make a call, but I’m pretty sure I know what the answer would be. I stopped inserting myself into conversations with answers or corrections. It's less stressful that way.