D Peter Maus wrote:
snip
I don't often get into the FCC bashing mode, but putting Citizens
Radio Service on 11 meters was one of the most bone headed decisions to
come out of Gettysburg. Citizens Radio Service was to be local only,
limited power, short range communication. It has a radius limit in the
charter. And yet, they put it on one of the best propagation bands in
the spectrum. When I was experimenting with CB in the mid 60's, I had an
Arvin HT with 100 milliwatts, and got to chatting with a licensed
operator about nothing in particular. (Which I later found out was a
violation of his licensing provisions.) He was aware I was working a
license free HT, but he thought I was just a local kid. I thought he was
the CB station at the end of the block. We were both stunned when we
realized that he was in North Carolina and I was in Florissant, Missouri.
snip
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I dislike almost every decission the FCC has made since it's inception.
But in regards to class D CB.....
There wasn't a whole lot of choice.
Class A, ~4645MHz, just wasn't feasable with 1950 technology, and died
on
the vine so to speak. There was a clear need for a simpler licensing
scheme
for small bussiness and farm/ranches. We can "thank" Firestone Tire for

demonstrating an inexpensive 11M transceiver. I suspect that no one in
the
FCC, or Friestone for that mater, could have any idea that CB would
take off.
And until Japen introduced low cost transistor units CB was mostly used
by
busineses.

I am just glad the FCC didn't snag 6M or 2M for CB use.

Too bad they didn't stick in the 72~76MHz hole between TV CH4 and CH5.

Terry