Remembering . . .
THE CLASS "D" CITIZENS
BAND FROM IT'S ORIGIN TO TODAY
"BREAKER, BREAKER
ONE NINE"
The idea of a radio
service for the citizenry at large was not a new idea. The service dates
back to a time when a hand full of manufacturers made radios with very
limited range and usefulness. These were on 462 mHz. It was known as the
Class A citizens band. Then, in September, 1958 the Class D band was opened
and CB was off to a big start. It required a license and the radio
district designations were used to begin the call sign. 17W7033, 6Q3455
etc. At that time there were 23 voice channels which included channel 23,
a shared channel with radio control and other uses in the Class C service.
Things changed when
it was realized that all call letters in the U.S.A. must begin with either
K or W as per convention. So, all call signs were reassigned. KBN3529 replaced
a 17Q number etc.
At first, licensees
could communicate with other licensees (not units of their own license)
only on channels 9-14 & 23. Then in the mid 1960's that rule was changed
to allow everyone to talk to everyone on all channels (still 23.)
I don't remember
any great changes after that until perhaps 1969 when channel 9 became the
official emergency channel. No "chit chat" was allowed on that channel
- and still isn't.
One of the best studies
in human nature comes from this hobby. The most flagrant violations of
rules and regulations seemed to pivot around antenna height, distance over
which a conversation could be legally carried on, "skip" or atmospheric
bending of signals from one state or area to another, and profanity. Now
that all of the above have been virtually deregulated and the CB operators
could do more or less what they would, the radios went into the closets
and were sold at flea markets and yard sales. I guess if it isn't illegal,
it just isn't fun anymore!
I believe the Part
15 "unlicensed" 100 mW walkie talkies were originated around the same time
as Class D but it could have been that they were allowed for some time
prior. I doubt it though because the band had been previously allocated
to the amateur radio service which only uses licensed operators and stations.
I also don't remember
the exact year but sometime in the 1970's the additional channels from
23 to 40 were added to make a total of 40 Class D CB channels.
This was largely
unnoticed by the truckers as they seemed to stay pretty much glued to channel
19.
Now Class D CB operates
on 40 AM and SSB channels between 26.965 and 27.405 MHz and requires no
license. Class C CB is used for remote control of model cars, boats
or airplanes and is found between some of the Class D voice channels and
channel 23. There is no Class B CB service. The old Class A
CB became what is now known as GMRS and FRS. (Ground Mobile Radio Service
and Family Radio Service). The little FRS radios can be found for sale
in drug stores, department stores, toy stores and almost all stores and,
have a surprising range of up to a couple of miles. They are now FM and
have good receivers. A large scale improvement over the old superregenerative
27 mHz receivers of the "G.I. Joe" toy walkie talkies of the 1960's.
Over time I will
ad stories here about my days on CB Radio. More important, I hope many
of you will do the same. Please find our E-mail address on the home page
and share your stories with other readers. It was a great hobby for a very
long time and acquired many interesting tales along the way.
Of course, there
are still CB Radio operators and CB Radios. There just aren't nearly as
many as there were when movies like "Smoky and the Bandit" were in their
hay day in the mid 1970's. (At about this time over 2,000,000 licenses
were active in the U.S.A. with just as many "bootleg" stations that were
"waiting on their licence". The wide spread use of radios in the trucking
industry is credited to a nationwide strike of truck drivers around 1972.
It was found that keeping each other posted on the weather and road conditions
as well as the locations of nearby "smokies" was a handy help to driving
from coast to coast. ('Smokies' were any law enforcement person capable
of issuing a speeding ticket - especially if they had a "picture taker"
in their patrol car (speed radar).
If you are or have
been a CB'er, why not write us an E-mail outlining some of your experiences
and let us post it here on the Hobby page of Sanfordquest.com?
Thanks and a big
10-4
Quaedan
Thanks
to the "Prowler" for this first class station from
the Sanford
area. You can often find him on channel 16 AM.
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