CB bands:The Wild West of HF

[LanceLovejoy]

Been awhile since I monitored the wild-west of HF, the CB bands, but cruising through them today had some fun with what must be some pretty good dx conditions for these bands.  Love the colorful handles, the lingo I haven't heard since Smokey and the Bandit, the salty language, and the good Dx hits here and there (Californian, Louisiana, Mojave Desert and Michigan ID'd today). Quite a bit more lively than the usual Ham Band snooze-fest bantor.   Ch11 (27085khz) and ch 19(27185khz) very active today. 

[skeezix]

They've been like that for as long as I can remember going back to the mid-80's. Maybe I'm getting old and memory fades, but I could swear the guys on ch 6 are the exact same guys that have been on there for decades droning on & on & on & on about absolutely nothing.

Don't forget to venture beyond the allocated band. Have some locals here that hang out on 27.455 USB.

[cmradio]

27.555 is stil an active call channel

Conditions have been sporadic N of 49.

Peace!

[Jolly Roger]

You can work guys right down to about 26.000, and right up to the ham band at 28.000. From about 26.000 to about 26.500 it's SSB and generally pretty civilized. From about 26.500 to ch.01 on 26.965 it's generally AM and can be pretty embarrassing. The CB HF band starts at ch.40 on 27.405 and can have some classy operators but that's rare.
I got started DXing CB in the mid 1970's. Worked a TON of great DX on the 23 normal channels, AM, four watts. People were great. I still have several hundred QSL's and letters from then. By the mid '80's CB had gotten pretty trashy. You had to get WAY off the beaten path to work good ops. I remember there was a call channel on 26.200. I used to hang out there and work the world. I remember some guys had some BIG amps. A couple thousand watts was common. The biggest I ever heard of for a fact (and NOT urban legend) was 80kw. Yes, eighty THOUSAND watts. I imagine there were bigger ones out there.
Then I got my ham ticket. It's a cool hobby, and I like it, but it's no better then what I call "the glory days" of CBing in the '70's.

[cmradio]

I remember some guys had some BIG amps. A couple thousand watts was common. The biggest I ever heard of for a fact (and NOT urban legend) was 80kw. Yes, eighty THOUSAND watts. I imagine there were bigger ones out there.

Was that the TNT club out of Texas in the 70's through late 80's?

Bart of the group in Corpus Cristi was quite a gent.

Peace!

[Jolly Roger]

I can't recall. Popular Communications had an article on it. It was in a Chev Suburban. They had a nitrous injected 454 driving 5 locomotive generators to power it.

[cmradio]

No odder than an 80KW sub amp for a Honda Civic by the backwards-ballcap crowd

Peace!