CB RADIO REPORT
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Random news, information, pithy commentary, stories, humor - but no technical info - all powered by CB Radio. Let's have fun! KHT 0496
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12-09-2025 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Tuesday. There was plenty of activity across the CB Radio band yesterday. Channel 38 was really busy. I was, as usual, in the listening mode all day. I answered a question from a trucker on Channel 19, then I returned to the listening mode. If you're thinking about visiting Starbucks this morning, or any time today, don't! Visit a local coffee shop instead. You can go to Starbucks tomorrow. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - I hear two truckers on Channel 19 talking about picking up loads at a local manufacturing plant. During the day, there's a good chance an oversized load will come through town, with pilot cars operating on Channel 19 or other channels. Speaking of oversized loads, here's a blade runner making a tight turn. We get a lot of those passing through town.
--- 6:15 AM - It was 1977, and I was stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco. I was driving an Army bus, returning from a military funeral with the honor guard, of which I was a member. We were in the Broadway Street tunnel. Almost everyone was asleep. I eased open the door, shut off the ignition, let that massive exhaust pipe load up with unburned gas, turned it back on, and BOOOOM! Sleepers jumped up, blast victim's tires screeched, horns blew, and a woman pulled up by the door and screamed that she was going to report us for throwing bombs. Now, when I’m behind a school bus, the sight of that big-bore exhaust brings a smile.
--- 7:00 AM - The CB Radio band is trying to come alive with brief spurts of activity on channels 6, 9, and 28. The adventure begins!
--- 12:30 PM - The CB Radio band is very much alive this afternoon, with operators on Channel 38 LSB competing to be heard. Most of the 40 channels are busy. CB Radio is dead! Long live CB Radio!
--- It was the late 1960s. I was sitting in the family's CB-equipped car when I heard two kids (I was a kid, but they were younger) playing with CB walkie-talkies. Before long, I had them believing I was a visitor from another planet hiding in a nearby storm drainage pipe. After about 15 minutes, an adult had heard enough and told me to knock it off. I did. Damn Kilocycle Kops!
--- 3:00 PM - There's a lot of chatter on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the requirement that commercial truck drivers be able to speak some level of English. Understanding the requirement and whether or not it is needed is swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other. Some of the commenters know what they're talking about. Some saw the words 'trucker' and 'English' and imagined all kinds of things. CB Radio was mentioned, which is why I'm interested. I'll let them hash it out. I've learned to keep my two cents in my pocket. I might need it for radios or radio accessories.
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12-08-2025 - 5:15 AM - Good Morning! It's Monday, and a trip to Walmart might be the only thing on my schedule. I had a flashback, going back to 1967 and the CB Radio Operator's 1967 Chevy Chevelle with twin Hustler break-over antennas, with those big resonators, mounted on the rear fenders. I still remember his call sign. Back then, I had a 300 milliwatt walkie-talkie set that I bought at a pawn shop. It just happened to be on the channel most local CBers were using. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
+++ 5:30 AM - Some nations have a dynamic two-party system; while one party is in power, the other stays in jail.
--- 6:30 AM - CB Radio is the best option for license-free, long-distance 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.
--- 6:45 AM - I survived, though not unscathed, the “Great Bakersfield Dust Storm of 1977.” According to Wikipedia, the storm began on December 19th. On December 20th, I made my exit from the U.S. Army at the Presidio of San Francisco and headed home to Texas in my little CB Radio-equipped Datsun B210. Bakersfield, California, was on my planned route. I heard warnings of high winds around Bakersfield, but nothing so serious that would cause me to consider a detour. Either that, or I had a case of “gethomeitis.” That’s possible. Entering the danger zone, I saw “big rig” trucks - probably empty - overturned, and cars on the side of the road with the paint sanded off one side. To this day, I don’t remember what prompted me to continue, but I did. I made it through the storm with a sanded-down windshield as the only casualty. It was a problem only when the sun was in front of me. I didn't replace it for three years.
--- 7:00 AM - 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, but so far the band has been quiet. It's early. 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."
--- 9:00 AM - One of my “pet peeves” about CB Radio is the lack of originality on the air. I’ve heard several stations use the phrase “no doubt about it” in their transmissions this morning. I hear it every day. Someone heard someone else say it, and they thought they had to say it to be accepted by the elite CB Radio crowd. Then, there’s that valued piece of equipment often referred to as a “linear.” Many will say that everyone knows they mean “amplifier,” so it’s not a big deal. That might be true except for the fact that the word amplifier, or booster, or anything similar appears in the dictionary definition of the word “linear.” Many things can be described as linear. Calling an amplifier a “linear” is like calling a car a “blue” or a “red.” A blue or a red what? A linear what? Then, there are those pesky “pills.” Some might say I should accept all lingo. I get that. But, having been on the CB Radio since 1964, I think I have a right to an opinion.
---12:45 PM - In the mid-1960s, ROTC students at my high school were invited to bring their 22-caliber rifles to school to be fired on the ROTC firing range. These rifles were stored in the students' lockers until their scheduled ROTC period. This means the rifles were carried through the halls to and from the range. Some students, including me, walked to school with their rifles and back home again. No cops were called. No damns were given. It was a very different time.
--- 1:00 PM - One of my favorite YouTube personalities was Dino Davila. He went by "Challenger" on the CB Radio. Dino made a lot of videos of him operating and tinkering with CB Radios. He wasn't the most knowledgeable of operators, but he might have had more fun than most. That made his videos fun to watch. Dino died in 2013, but I still watch his videos now and then.
