Let’s start this article with a bit of history of the “C.B. Radio Service” in this country. The “Citizen’s Band Radio” began in 1945 with the FCC apportioning C.B. classes “A” and “B” which were bands made available in the (then) barely used UHF frequency spectrum. However, due to the fact that the equipment was neither practical nor affordable, usage of these bands was extremely limited and localized.
Then, in 1958, the FCC carved out the “Class D” C.B. band spectrum from the 27 megacycle (we now use megahertz)/11 meter Amateur Radio frequency allotment (much to the Ham’s chagrin). Though equipment was still somewhat expensive and usage rather sparse, the concept was sound. The early transceivers were large and heavy with all rectifying and amplifying tasks allocated to handfuls of vacuum tubes.
And, despite the fact that they only had provision for one or two transmit crystals (really expensive sets were more capable), they did have a full coverage receiver. So, they were actually quite useful in an era prior to that of cell phones and other small two-way radios.
Until the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s virtually all base stations used a ¼ or 5/8 wave vertical ground plane antenna into which they would transmit the legal limit of 4 watts output (5 watts into the final amplification stage). The local transmitting and receiving range was surprisingly good overall.
Coincidently, it was at about this time that the transistor was being perfected. This little invention brought C.B. Radio to the average “Joe” on the streets. By the early 1970’s, C.B. radio usage began to blossom and was being used for what it was intended, a poor man's and small businessman’s inexpensive radio communication system.
It had already taken root with a small number of truckers who quickly saw the benefit of having access to help with a simple call for help on Channel 9 (the official emergency frequency). Likewise, the radio helped them circumvent the mandatory 55 mph speed limit during the “gas crunch” days by keeping track of the “Smokies” (state troopers) running radar. That number soon grew to include virtually 100% of over-the-road trucks.
Though intended (by and large) for base-to-mobile communications, the average user soon discovered that C.B. was an ideal social media for reaching out and talking with others. He could chat with others locally for hours at a time without tying up his phone line or wearing out his ears. And, he could chat with whomever and how ever many folks happened to be on the “frickency” at any given time of the day or night. And, it sure beat the upkeep on a new bass boat. Still, the equipment wasn’t all that cheap. Though gaining in popularity and with more people than ever having a C.B. base station and mobile radio, the numbers were still relatively small. That was about to change.
At this juncture we need to also note that the FCC was still licensing the “D Class” service. That also meant that there were rules to follow and penalties to pay for violations of those rules. The FCC had district offices whose authority covered the “C.B. Radio Service” and you could file a complaint with them at any time. Granted, due to the fact that the “Class D” service was a low priority and the fact that the FCC was understaffed, not every complaint could be addressed. This allowed for more and more flaunting of the service’s restrictions and more and more rebellion among its users.
However, from time to time, “Fat Cousin Charley” (C.B. code slang for the FCC) could come to town and monitor the area for violations. Such violations usually consisted of someone consistently having a “potty mouth” on the radio or they would boost their RF signal with a linear amplifier from the 5 watt limit to as much power as they could afford (100 watts was not uncommon and 500 watts wasn’t rare). In other words, if your neighbor was listening to you talk high-powered “skip” on their TV and radio (excessive RFI), they would call the FCC and complain.
The license was originally 20 bucks (actually quite a bit back then). But, by the mid-1970’s, the fee had dropped to 4 dollars and then it was dropped altogether in 1977 when the crowded 23 channel C.B. band spectrum was widened to 40 channels (it spans the spectrum from 26.965 mhz to 27.405 mhz with the upper channels [starting with channel 36] used for upper and lower sideband transmissions).
Speaking from personal experience, most of the C.B. crowd back then was pretty much self-policing very much like the Ham radio operators were. Certainly there were the rebels who just weren’t going to allow something like rules interfere with their lifestyle of abusing the airwaves. Local operators often took matters into their own hands and exercised a bit of vigilante-style measures to resolve carrier throwers, potty mouths, scofflaws, and such.
Then, something interesting happened; electronics began to be manufactured off shore in Japan and Taiwan (and later, Korea, Malaysia, and China). These new radios were not only less expensive, they were more technologically advanced having what is known as PLL tuning (i.e. synthesized tuning). Crystals and tubes were no longer required and sets became affordable to all. And, they were getting lighter and more compact. Within a few years, the “C.B. Craze” had taken the nation by storm.
Ponder this: if you were the FCC, just how would you enforce regulations of the “Citizen’s Band Radio Service” when the number of operators (and violators) went from a few thousand to millions and your agency hadn’t grown correspondingly? How could you keep up with the myriad infractions that occurred every single day without a corresponding increase in staff? You couldn’t and they didn’t. Instead, they simply threw their hands up in surrender and shoved the C.B. band over into a corner never to be considered other than the fact that it exists.
Even though overcrowding of the airwaves and technological advances have greatly diminished C.B. radio’s popularity, not much has changed as far as the FCC is concerned. Infractions? What infractions? Are you sick of having to listen to a potty mouth on the air all of the time? Stiff cheese. You have three operators in your area that are each running about 250 watts of power without a low band pass filter and a high SWR which causes you to listen to them on your toaster? Sour grapes (certain major and continuous violations are still addressed by the FCC but most are ignored).
And, that’s part of the point of this article: the C.B. crowd simply overwhelmed the system. In the beginning, there were some citations for being “naughty” on the air. However, there came a time when it was simply impossible to for the FCC to keep up with their “baby” so they dumped the rebellious child alongside the road and moved on down the airwaves.
Nowadays, few folks outside of those in trucking have even heard of the “Class D CB Radio Service” and those who have are more interested in services available through the Internet and smart phones. Even those who were once deeply into the hobby have long since divested themselves of their antennas and radios (though a few holdouts do remain).
Isn’t it about time that we used the “C.B. Radio” principle with our guns and rights? Isn’t it time to simply overwhelm the “system” and thousands of us exercise our God-given right to keep and bear arms (“to bear” meaning to carry on your person) and to have an opinion? Shouldn’t we get the message to the brain-dead politicians that we have Constitutionally-established rights that we refuse to surrender to anyone for any reason?
Shouldn’t we put an end to the suppression of free speech under the insane guise of “political correctness” and because we might offend a loony leftist? Shouldn’t we just speak our minds without regard to what the PC Posse thinks? What are they going to do, arrest all of us? Make note that they will try!
As an aside: just because Second Amendment haters says something vile about us (i.e. that we’re racist hate mongers and knuckle dragging gun toters) doesn’t mean that it’s true. Won’t people get sick of their whining after awhile and just ignore them if we just overwhelm them?
Disclaimer: this author is not a man of violence neither does he advocate violence; he is a man committed to peace at all cost save that of wisdom and common sense (including personal protection). However, he understands that there are those who simply will not abide by any such commitment and who only understand one principle: the guy with the biggest stick wins and rules. No amount of reasoning or negotiating will ameliorate their fervid hatred for truth, justice, and the American way in all of its culture and history. Their brainwashing is complete and irreversible. I would that it were not so but let’s not kid ourselves. We’re dealing with an implacable and merciless adversary that can only be stopped by force because force is all they know. Continuing……
The idea is rather simple: how about we all spend a few days in jail for holding onto our principles and actually obeying the law? How about we force them to take us to court and simply show them the law (noting that they do know the law but must be forced to concede to it and that we must intimately know the law)? In other words, why should we cower to and surrender our freedom of speech and whatever other rights to those who are obviously mentally impaired but who demand lordship over us and to strip us of our rights?
If we stand up to these bullies, at some point, they will walk on egg shells and talk softly hoping that they aren’t standing next to a conservative packing a belly full of truth and the boldness to declare and defend it. In other words, shouldn’t we simply reinstate the United States of America the way it was prior to the invasion of insanity in the 1960’s?
I’m old enough to remember that you just didn’t shoot your mouth off back then. If someone took offense at your stupidity, you would likely have to grab some “Bandaids” and then reconsider whether or not you wanted to be a fool in public next time. No one (not even the police) defended a fool or an idiot who brought down trouble on his own head. We can, once again, institute a society that stops the loonies from expecting the police to protect them from their insanity while trying to make us, their victims, criminals.
And, shouldn’t we do these things right away to get the message to all that we are not going to sanction liberal lunacy by fearfully backing away and letting them control our entire life and lifestyle? Isn’t it likely that we can overwhelm the system to the point that they will simply leave us alone instead of getting hurt? How has cowering helped us so far?
Isn’t it also time to get this message to our government well before the UN troops (who are here to “help” FEMA with emergencies, don’tcha know) start kicking down our doors to take our weapons? Shouldn’t we be prepared to overwhelm any and all those who disobey our laws and our Constitution by trying to stop us from defending ourselves?
What local law enforcement agency in this land is prepared for a shootout with (only) a thousand locals who are armed to the teeth? What UN troops, if forewarned that they will be walking into an area of thousands of armed men “hiding behind every blade of grass” (re: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto when contemplating war with the US), would willfully march into Hell? And, which commander would order his troops to do that? But, are “we the people” prepared for that contingency?
We have very little time left. The jaws of the trap set by our treacherous government officials are almost closed. We prepare now or UN troops will be busting down doors, busting heads, and busting into our gun vaults.
Also, from here on it’s going to have to be “Com Time”. “Com Time” is when we must be able to instantly communicate with those who are ready to repel anyone, whether the U.N. or the loony left, who threatens our God-given rights and who insist on violating our Constitution in order to defeat “we the people” (just as we see in our government today). We must be able to coordinate our actions just as any other army set to defend itself against oppression would do.
This means that, just as “we the people” are amassing the largest cache of weapons on earth, we should be doing the same with radios. We need to have immediate access to every imaginable transceiver available to the public and have a massive stock of these radios prior to their being branded as “illegal”. When that happens (and it will), we can simply overwhelm the system. They can’t throw ten million radio operators in jail. They won’t be able to stop our ability to communicate (a primary rule in defeating an enemy is stop or hinder his ability to communicate).
C.B. radios are plentiful and inexpensive and all of them can be powered by a simple 12 volt power supply or battery (stand alone battery or car battery). Antennas (particularly mobile antennas) are cheap and can even be crafted from a couple of pieces of wire to form a “dipole”. FMRS radios are even cheaper and will be indispensable for short-range communications (a large cache of AA and AAA batteries will be needed). GMRS radios are fairly inexpensive and have an even longer range than FMRS radios and share some of the FMRS frequencies.
Ham radios can be used in an emergency environment when civilian operating “privileges” are suspended (and they will be!). What difference does it make if you’re using a Ham radio if all radios are outlawed? Ham radios have the ability to communicate between nations and continents and will be handy to have around so we can remain informed.
At the very least, a medium performance general coverage Short Wave radio needs to be available. A very capable portable SW radio can be purchased for less than $125.00 while other high performance models can run as much as $2,000.00 or more.
It’s time to prepare for either a global natural disaster or a man-made national/global disaster. One or the other is highly likely to happen in our lifetime. You can’t beat the “Boy Scout” motto: Be Prepared.
And, it’s time to step up and face down the deluded rabid left who have been brainwashed to destroy western civilization at any cost. They must be confronted (it is they who will cause the confrontation) and they must be forced to understand that they are not dealing with weaklings who flee at every scare tactic. They must know that we are an adversary that is well-trained (from martial arts to CCW), disciplined, unafraid, and grounded in Constitutional and local law and peace. Most of all, and though they won’t believe it or acknowledge it, we need to be grounded in the truth and wisdom of God’s word which, if at all possible, resolves to peace. That is, of course, what we desire. The left, of course, desires no such thing but rather, with all un-holy religious fervor, the enforcement of their agenda.
In any event, we must be prepared to overwhelm the system even if some of us must spend time in jail for doing that which is only wrong because the left says it is. The reasons for doing so are many and our future is at stake; the time is now.
