On Thu, 04 Mar 2004 07:55:23 GMT, Occasional CB Listener
wrote:


To be honest with you, it is better not to organize any club or
organization, because there is too much riff-raff going on.

From living on Long Island, N.Y., until 1986 and here in Nevada, my
friends and I who organized CB clubs on Channel 18 (27.175 MHz) were
victimized by troublemakers who jammed frequencies, T-hunted (tracked
down signals), made threatening telephone calls in the wee hours of the
night, gave out classified personal information (unlisted telephone
numbers, Social Security numbers, credit history, etc.) and damaged CB
antennae/coaxial cables. In fact, three CB/ham radio operators in the
Las Vegas area were notorious for terrorizing the community back in the
1980s and 1990s by committing the aforementioned offenses.

It is very difficult to gather personal information from CB
conversations unless you provide it for them. It is alarming just how
much personal information is inadvertently given out over a period of
time. CB'ers should be conscious of this and not talk about such
things.

I've been involved in the tracking down of idiots over the years, and
the most we were able to get were names, addresses, and (if listed)
phone numbers. If these troublemakers can get more information than
that, then there is a breakdown in the security of the databases which
hold our personal information. This should be alarming for many other
reasons, as abuse of this information is not limited to CB operators.


The best bet is to use the CB radio for occasional or emergency use.
The CB is convenient when contacting two or more people at once --
especially when you or they are out on the roads. But if you're going
to organize 24/7 clubs like we tried to do years ago, or just like what
a well-known Long Island CB/sideband club did on 27.005 MHz LSB back in
the 1980s, then you're a walking bull's-eye, because you'll become a
target for stalkers, psychos, crack addicts, jammers and other misfits
who have nothing better to do than cause trouble. I know that
firsthand, and so do my friends. Since I went 10-7 back in 1995 and
have talked on the CB occasionally since then, I have not received the
problems I did when I was a frequent user.

I've never run into the level of "radio terrorism" that you've
described. I guess this is a region dependant thing. Most of our
bozo's had way more bark than bite, and most of them vanished like a
puff of smoke, when their identities were exposed.

I certainly wouldn't let paranoia ruin an interest in radio. I agree
with you about not going through the effort of forming a formal club,
but for different reasons. My reasons have more to do with the fact
that most people want to "do their own thing", and don't want to be
part of a group, unless it's very loose and informal. Also 85% of the
work, get's done by 15% of the members, and this invariably leads to
internal strife.

It's ok to have weekly "coffee breaks" or maybe a group party or trip,
which doesn't require much more planning than to just show up and pay
your own way. But I wouldn't go much farther than that.



The good thing about online chat rooms (voice and mIRC) is that those
who cause trouble with the group are kicked out and removed from the
rest of the group. That you can't do on the open airwaves. If you want
to find friends in your area, go searching around in PalTalk or mIRC for
people in your area. If they seem decent, then you can chat with them
publicly or privately; if they are troublemakers, then stay away from
them and not invite them into your group.

These "poser" internet pseudo CB chat rooms just don't hold the same
appeal as actual over the air conversations. There's something to be
said for a little background static, and the desire to customize your
radio station, and the fact that you don't need some company's common
carrier to create your medium.

Dave
"Sandbagger"
http://home.ptd.net/~n3cvj