#cb radio

[outsidewolves]

Doodles made while listening to records with friends

[el-ffej]

An anecdote from the Washington Post obituary of James Earl Jones:

Mr. Jones played down his most famous role, as the voice of Darth Vader (David Prowse embodied Vader on-screen). He said it was just a day’s work, for which he collected $7,000. He later negotiated a better deal when Star Wars became a sensation.

Interviewers sometimes asked Mr. Jones if he took advantage of his forbidding Vader delivery to, say, scare away muggers. He admitted to the Times that he pretended to be Vader only once, while using a CB radio on a cross-country drive.

“The truck drivers would really freak out — for them, it was Darth Vader,” he said. “I had to stop doing that.”

------

I'm just picturing this: sometime in the 70s/80s, some trucker on a long haul, hasn't slept in 24 hours, chatting back and forth on the CB... and then suddenly, that voice:

"Where can I find a Waffle House in this star system?"

[wat3rm370n]

Radios are a good thing to have. Devices that require cell service are cell phones and are not the same as radios.

I keep seeing commercials for "rapid radios" where they are trying to pitch these "walkie talkie" type devices as radios that can reach across the country. This is misleading nonsense. They are a real product, and they will allow communication across long distances, under the right circumstances, but these are not radios, and the advertising is misleading.

They're essentially cell phones because they require cell towers and LTE service to be working and within range. Back in the early days of cell phones, I knew people with cell phones that provided a type of walkie-talkie service you could use between paired phones on the same plan. I'm sure there are people still using this on cell phones. But it's merely similar to how you use a walkie talkie, the signal itself is sent via the cell phone service.

So that means these devices are not like radios that can work when cell towers are non-functional or not in range. They are NOT independent of a mobile phone network.

Some ads claim there are "no monthly fees" which makes it sound like they're radios that are independently operating like an amateur radio or walkie talkie, where you need no subscription or plan. That's tricky though because they do have an annual fee for service - through their cellular carrier! They will not work without this service.

FRS radio, used via walkie talkies, will work independently of any subscription. You don't need a license to broadcast (talk over it), and if you buy a reputable legal set, even something cheap, they are fixed so that you can't access or transmit in a way that you wouldn't be allowed. Many of us played with these as kids, and some of the children's toy types work just fine, but there are better quality ones that will have a better audio signal and maybe a slightly bigger but still short range. CB radio is similar but the equipment is different and operates at different frequencies.

GMRS radios also have a limited range but are more powerful than FRS. You can have a base station and hook up antennas, but there are also handheld GMRS that work like walkie talkies too, and can communicate with radios on the FRS channels, and also more GMRS frequencies. You need a license to broadcast on GMRS, but it's relatively cheap and you only need one license per household to cover a whole family using different radios. There are rules by the FCC for example using your assigned call sign at 15 minute intervals or at the end of any conversation. There are also rules about using repeaters that allow people to broadcast or hear radio from greater distances. (I hear people 40 miles away on GMRS, using a repeater.)

Some GMRS radios come with a built-in weather radio and even FM radio too. Some can be programmed (on the device or connected to a computer app) to listen in on various frequencies such as emergency service channels like the fire department, just like "police scanners". These too if sold from a reputable source, and compliant with rules, will not allow you to accidentally broadcast on some officially designated channel or a HAM channel and get into trouble. HAM radio licensing no longer requires you pass a morse code test but it does still have tests on radio operations and equipment, and unless you pass these tests and get licensed you can't operate HAM.

CB, FRS, GMRS, and HAM are not cell phones and they are not private. Though texting is an option, encryption is not allowed by the U.S. FCC for these amateur radio bands.

Then there's also LoRa radio which is being used by people now for short-range low-power texting communication that doesn't require cell service. This is an unlicensed frequency that's used for a number of things. There is an open source tech called Meshtastic that's popular.

All of these things are totally different thing than these "radios" being marketed supposedly for "preppers" who want a way to communicate long distance or in a disaster. If you want to communicate when cell phone service is interrupted or not available nearby, these "long distance walkie talkies" are not the solution.

If you want to be able to communicate long distance without cell service, a satellite phone can do that, because they use satellites in orbit. But these also obviously require a service, because they work by satellites that are in orbit being operated by some company. And the service is pretty expensive.

Read up a little on how radios work, and then get the actual radios, from a reputable source, and get the right license if need be, and follow the rules.

And honestly I don't recommend impulse buying anything you see in an ad without looking into it further.

[humanoidhistory]

Ham radio operator in Philadelphia, 1971.

[oldshowbiz]

The only book I have ever read

[qslcardsonline]

[dlnorton]

Getting Into Shortwave, A Reason To Do It by DLNorton

I'm 62 years old.. in case you were wondering. This is why I'm bringing this up for our younger readers on Tumblr (and Bluesky) because I feel it's going to be important starting next year.

This is it... and listen closely..

--Get into listening on shortwave.. and get into ham radio operation.

Yes, I know a lot of far right evangelical churches use this medium to spread their own brand of bullshit to the older generations and the few nutcase survivalists out there, but hear me out. Not everyone uses this medium anymore.. but it's stagnant as far as the left agenda is concerned, especially here in the U.S.A. It's on there, but it's far and few between. It needs to grow.

I listen a lot to the stuff coming out of other countries, and from what I hear.. they're talking about us.. Americans.. and they're right. We really do not give one f u c k about what goes on out there.. unless it's on our cellphones, and even then we pick and choose who we want to watch.. not listen.. and a lot of them are these pointless "influencers" which, quite frankly, helped to get D*n*ld Tr*mp back into the White House.

So why am I asking the younger folks to get into shortwave listening and get into ham radio operation? Because of Starlink. El*n M*sk basically owns Starlink.. and El*n M*sk at any time can have it shut down.. on a whim. Yes, there are other satellite communications providers out there, but as does Starlink, so does these other providers.

We need an alternative to fall back on.. and it's the old school method of communication that has been around since Guglielmo Marconi sent out the first wireless transmission of carrier (radio) wave morse code back in the very early 1900s. If M*sk shuts down the satellite systems and in turn, all the cell towers shut down.. which is funny because that's also radio frequency based (Thank you Hedy Lamarr).. we're going to be left high and dry as far as cellular communication is concerned. They did this on a small scale in San Francisco back in 2011 when BART shut down cellular service to those who were planning a protest of a BART police shooting of a homeless man. This created a lot of chaos since this communication was no longer available, and no one had a way of coordinating the protest. If they had simple FRS (Family Radio Service) or GMRS (General Mobil Radio Service) or even the old tried and true CB radios.. then they could still communicate efforts in this event.

Simple.

Why these? Because no one really monitors these frequencies anymore. Oh sure, the FCC has their own monitors, but do they also really hang on to every word? No.. they do not. I know this because I used to run a CB radio transmit station and the shit that goes on on those airwaves, you'de think the FCC would be cracking down on it.. but they don't, they have much bigger fish to fry like... Internet communications? Fucking LOL!!

Could the local, state or federal authorities jam all radio frequencies? Sure, but simple over the air jamming is a real military effort, and most municipalities, et al.. (especially local) do not have that capability readily available.. but shutting off cell towers by just one order..? That could create MAJOR chaos..!!

Also, the Internet can too be shut down with a flick of the switch. It's pretty much shut down (or limited) in North Korea, Iran, China (to some extent) and any other dictatorship, hell.. even Russia has it limited.. You think P*t*n wants us to know what's really going on over there? If Tr*mp gives the word, M*sk will shut down Starlink and any other Internet/cellular provider faster than you can say "KKKlandestine" or "Pr*ject 2*25" or "Punch that MF'ing Nazi asshole!" .. It's scary to think about if and when your eyes and ears get punched out or shut off. I panic when I can't find my iPhone.

Shortwave is SO easy to listen to. You can actually listen to shortwave on the Internet using any WebSDR site. SDRUtah has a good one. Google it, and give it a whirl. Now, it is on the Internet and the Internet is vulnerable to shutdown. So what do you do? Get a cheap shortwave radio and a length of wire, some batteries and tune in. Oh.. I say batteries because the electrical grid can be shut down too, like in the case of when Texas had that horrific snow storm back in 2021..? It completely FUBARed their power grid thanks to deregulation of the power companies, and ERCOT got "caught" with their preverbal pants down..? But enough on the Lone Star states bureaucratic fuck foul ups.

So the electrical grid is defenseless too.. which is why having alternative power sources is a good idea. But I hear you say, "God dammit dude, are you trying to turn us into these wack job survivalists you see roaming the Internet and other survivalist modes of communication?"

Not necessarily.. but we can use one aspect of their "bonkerz" methods and ideologies to at least give ourselves a little something to fall back on.. and why not start with listening to shortwave? It's simple to do. You can find any number of shortwave radios on the Internet (Amazon, eBay.. who ever.. Temu? *shudder*) at any price practically.

Now I have two shortwave radios, a Radio Shack DX-394 I got back in 1996 at a Radio Shack that was shutting down, along with a couple of inexpensive police/fire scanners for listening to the 2 meter bands and to listen to the weather band on 162.550 MHz. And I also have an old Halicrafters S-120 vacuum tubed unit which I don't listen to anymore since it's practically unsafe to use because of how it's wired for use back when it was manufactured back in the late 1950s. I did find a YouTube video on how to modify the old S-120 to make it safe, but it's a lot of work that I don't really want to get into right now. Maybe in the future I'll crack that old puppy open and go at it with a soldering iron.

Now the other item I mentioned was ham radio, or amateur radio. I do not have the capability to operate a ham radio.. not yet, I'm working on that. I'm going to try to get my "Tech" level license so's I can operate on the 2 meter bands. I attempted it back in the mid 1990s.. but got sidetracked somehow and lost interest. I'm kicking myself over that one still. *sigh*

Now, I say "Tech" level because there's actually 3 levels of ham radio operation (license).. an AI overview spewed this out on Google to give you an idea:

------------------

-The three levels of ham radio license in the United States are: 

Technician Class- The entry-level license, which is the choice for most new operators. It allows access to Amateur Radio frequencies above 30 megahertz, and some limited privileges on the HF bands. 

General Class- Grants operating privileges on all Amateur Radio bands and all operating modes. To earn this license, you must pass the Technician written examination and a 35-question examination. 

Amateur Extra ClassAllows access to all the same bands as General class licensees, plus some additional segments within those bands. 

To get a ham radio license, you must: 

Pass an examination administered by a team of volunteer examiners (VEs)

Contact a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) to request an examination

Pay any reimbursement fees charged by the VEs

You can stay at any class for as long as you want before upgrading. US licenses are valid for 10 years before renewal. 

You can study for the exam using: 

Study guides

Training courses

Question pools, which are normally valid for 4 years

Study tools from HamStudy.org

---------------

That's basically it in a nutshell as far as ham radio is concerned.

And remember,

CB radio and FRS are basically free to use, GMRS is free to use too, but you'll need to pay a $35.00 fee on the FCC website to register you and your family.. which is one basic fee (35 bux) and you're off to the races as far as GMRS goes. I forget how long the GMRS permit is to use.. but I think it's 5 years.. but I could be wrong..

So that's it. The take away here is, start by listening to shortwave.. and hopefully, the rest with blossom from there.

Be proactive as far as your communication goes. I know there's probably more I didn't touch on, but I know you're smart "young" and mostly woke people.. I'm an old fuckin' boomer, and I know some of my boomer peers are crusty far-right motherfuckers and they're trying to get the proceeding generations to follow their lead. It's up to you guys to take a stand and fight them.. and I hope this will give you one method of staying in touch with your peers when all else fails to deliver.

so... GO!! NOW!!

-DLNorton, 12-28-2024

[[Repost this far and wide.. PLEASE!]]

[petitescartes]

KBY-7487 Schoharie Emergency Radio Group, New York

"When Moon Doggy say's break, You better Break."