CB RADIO REPORT
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03-04-2026 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, and I’m wondering if the band will be as wild and crazy as it was yesterday. That would not be a bad thing. At the moment, it’s quite dead. I haven’t heard any local traffic on Channel 19. At this hour, it’s usually just a chance meeting of two truckers, headed in opposite directions, inquiring about the road ahead for each. Let’s see what the day brings. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:30 AM - A few years ago, a trucker on U.S. 287 issued a "smokey report" on CB Radio Channel 19: "Northbound, you got an Evil Knievel up ahead on the grassy knoll." Another trucker responded: "He better not mess with me cuz I've got a sack of donuts and I'm not afraid to use 'em.
--- 5:50 AM - Someone passing through town decided that the local CB Radio population wanted to hear the Beatles and Chuck Berry. Luckily, he kept moving. Another driver has his radio set to sound like he's got a mouthful of rubber bands. Clear communications must not be high on his list.
--- 6:30 AM - Local trucking traffic is picking up with loads to be delivered, loads to be picked up, and loads just making their way through town. What's on the radio in your part of the world?
--- 11:0 AM - Someone on Channel 19 is excited about something, so much so that they sound like a mad rat. They should calm down before they, and their radio, blow a fuse! On Channel 39, lower sideband, the Battlestar Galactica Cylon voice is back on the air. Maybe it's someone with an electrolarynx or artificial larynx, or it's keyboard generated. One never knows.
--- 12:15 PM - There are nice conversations in progress on Channels 15 and 17. Short DX (long-distance) contacts are being made on other channels across the band as well. Some channels are just a cacophony of heterodynes with multiple weak signals musically mixing together.
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03-03-2026 - 5:15 AM - Good Morning! It's Tuesday. Just now, Wellington J. Wimpy (of Popeye fame) popped into my head with his famous "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." In recent years, a meme has circulated featuring the Burger King guy, the Jack in the Box guy, and Ronald McDonald with Wimpy jacked up, and one of them saying, "It's Tuesday, M-----------!" In the world of CB Radio, I already hear traffic on Channel 19. The rest of the band has yet to awaken. Channel 6 is usually the one to open the DX activities, but yesterday other channels beat them to the punch. What will today bring? My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:46 AM - Locally, I hear traffic on Channels 1 and 32. Channel 1 is a regular for a trucking operation, but Channel 32 is new to me. Let's see what they're up to. But first, I need more coffee!
--- 6:45 AM - Traffic on Channel 19 is picking up, with big rigs passing through town. They'd been passing through town all night, but I declined to stay awake and listen to them. Channel 6, the "superbowl" of CB Radio, is coming alive at 7:00 AM. I hear one weak station on Channel 38 Lower Sideband. I don't have any directional antennas - just the massive Zero Five ground plane antenna.
---7:15 AM - I don’t know how many times I have driven through Mineral Wells, Texas, over the years. Some trips were to and from Fort Hood, and others to and from the Austin-San Antonio area. What I didn’t know until a decade or so ago was that Newtronics, the manufacturer of Hustler CB and Amateur (ham) Radio antennas, was just a block off U.S. 281. When I learned this, I contacted them and found out they didn’t have a showroom but sold through dealers. Now, I see that they have moved to a location about halfway between Mineral Wells and Weatherford, Texas.
--- 8:15 AM - The band has gone crazy with clear signals on some channels and heterodynes on the others. The ship-shooters are giving it all they've got. My only complaint is that some of them won't stay off of Channel 19. The truckers only ask for one channel (maybe two in California) to conduct their business. Is that too much to ask?
--- 3:00 PM - The band has been screaming all day. Even the usually quiet channels were busy today. The heterodynes are still flying, with only the strong surviving. By the way, you don't need an amplifier to be among the strong.
8:20 PM - The band is just about closed with some lingering traffic on Channel 38, Lower Sideband. I think that will fade away before long. Channel 6, the "superbowl, lost the race today on opening and closing the band. I'll ride out the rest of the evening on Channel 19. Tomorrow is another day.