HarryHydro wrote:

Hi Folks:
Just remeniscing and old realistic CB walkie talkie I had. It had
the metal ground-straps on the side and it could talk 2.4 miles (just
measured on a map) with an S7. My Wife just picked up two similar
walkie-talkies at a yard sale for $5! I was wide-eyed at the size of
the thing! I remember when I was a kid wanting one of these
walkie-talkies so bad that I got the dimensions and made a cardboard
model to see 'how it felt holding one'! Wow! Thinking back! Anyone
ever routinely talk further on a CB walkie talkie?
The guy I use to talk to frequently in South Toms River was
Electro-Express. I - you guessed it - was Hydro! (hydrofoil) He'd
say, "The only walkie-talkie I know that'll talk that far is Hydro's".
I currently use a Johnson Messenger Viking. Yes, I know it's
2005.. ;-) This radio talks and sounds nice too!

Take Care!
Hydro

I was somewhere between 8 an 10 years old when I got my first pair of CB
walkie-talkies for Christmas or my birthday back in the early 70s. This
was the results of my parents recognizing a talent for electronics in me
back then. By then, I'd put together a myiad of electronic projects like
crystal radios, alarms, mosture detectors, dc motors, light detectors, etc.
These little CB walkie-talkies were in little plastic blue briefcase-style
boxes, less than 1 foot by 1 foot. You'd open them up, extend the
telescopic antenna and turn it on. Ony one channel (14) and 100
milliwatts. They'd only work for about a block. I was hooked then.

My father saw my frustration with them after he'd tell me stories of back
when he was stationed in Morocco working the other side of the world with a
Heathkit DX-40, a Hammurland receiver, and a knife switch to a long-wire
antenna.

After he retired from the Air Force, he commuted to school. We set up a 4
watt mobile into a ground plane strapped to the chimney and put an
identical mobile rig in his Datsun B210 with a base loaded whip. And then
we waited for our CB license to come from the FCC. KCN-6537! Not amazing
I still remember that, we used it. We were scared to death of the law back
then. Back in the mid-70s, when he took off for school, I'd talk to him
until he was out of range. When he came home on Friday's, I'd be at that
radio waiting to hear him and talk him in. Range was about 13 miles. It
was fun! Back in the 70's, the locals in Louisiana made it difficult
because their pleasure was to maliciously interfere with us. Then one day,
he came home and showed me the window had been smashed and his CB was gone.
At 12 years old, I became frustrated with CB. At 13 I became a ham. After
my father saw me get a ham license, he passed his test soon after I did
again, after letting his ham license expire years ago. I started off with
an "N" in my call sign. Still have that call sign, but I made "extra" back
when you had to pass a 20 WPM morse code test.

When I was waiting for my "N" call sign, I put together a 6L6
oscillator/transmitter and borrowed an old tube-type receiver. My first
few contacts in the novice band of 40 were miraculous to me--100s of miles
away!. I was hooked at 13. Soon after, I put together a 6146 transmitter
for a few more watts. Wow, I was fascinated. Sure was fun back then.
Both my mother and father became nervous when they found out about the
exposed plate voltage. I mounted that 6146 on top of the aluminum box so I
could see the filiment glow and the plate connector was bare metal. My
father finally broke down and bought an Yaesu FT-101. Wow! A radio that
put out 180 watts AND a VFO AND all bands AND all MODES! I remember making
sure it wasn't putting out more than 75 watts--that would have been
breaking the rules. It didn't get any better than that. I still have that
radio. Needs new tubes (and of course the modification for the available
replacement tubes).

I still always travel with channel 19 in the truck. It still works better
than a radar detector. Today, I'm frustrated with hams. Back then, my ham
friends were techies. It's hard to find a techie on the ham bands
now-a-days.

Yup, sure was fun back then. It's a new era today.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Guy