[The Garage CB Radio]



From           Jay

Newsgroups     rec.radio.cb

Date           Sat, 15 Feb 1997



The Garage CB Radio.



The garage CB radio was never ment  to be as good as the CB Radio in the

house. The garage CB radio was always a kind of second radio installed

in the garage to allow you to listen in on all the local CB goings on.

This allowed you to show up at the local coffee shop in your overalls,

with a distinctive scent of carburetor cleaner. Then you could socialize

and maintain your standing of the inner CB group.



The antenna for the house CB radio was always mounted on a 60 Ft. tower

with best of coax and installation practices, always. The garage CB

radio antenna used what ever you could find for a few bucks, anything

over ten bucks could not be considered as a Garage CB radio antenna

system. Usually a old Droopy Draws quarter wave length antenna (9 Ft.

tall ), sold by Radio Shack for $9.95 new, was used as a antenna. Or a

old TV antenna just laying up on the roof. Each Garage antenna had to be

a unique, one of kind installation. This was a expression of the

individual. Old cars in the backyard with a 102 inch whip antenna would

be considered a Garage antenna. It received ok,  just allowing the

reception of the local CB traffic. Again not designed or installed for

transmitting. Just copying the mail, while one worked on ones projects,

rebuilding the ol carb while looking for those damn springs and ball

barring that explode out everywhere, sawing up boards, emptying beer

cans, working on a linear,  welding stuff, drilling things,  you know,

... working in the garage.



Usually to impress other local CB'ers, the garage CB Radio had to have

something wrong with it, to give the impression that you were a guy who

make broke things work. A wire dangling lose, and unconnected gave this

impression. Or a bad filter capacitor in the power supply that gave the

transmit audio a distinctive hum, that had another much worse looking

capacitor connected in by clip leads, that sometimes shorts out ( making

the use of the Garage CB Radio, paralleled taking your life in your

hands at times) gives the Garage radio it's mesquite. You keep a can of

Lacquer open to give off that Garage smell, when friends drop over to

costume mass quantities of beer and stale, ant infested patio chips.



So the accepted and expected Garage CB radio anomalies of notoriety

where: weak modulation, being off frequency, a load squeal or hum in

your transmit audio, terrible tone quality, back ground noises of air

compressors, florescent lights flickering,  power tools of all kinds.

Having the Garage CB Radio on top of the old Norge Refrigerator that

kept all the beer cool, was a FCC Rule, I think.



A old tube radio running off a even older car 12 volt lead acid battery

being charged by a battery charger, with a 20 Ft. piece of wire stuck in

the antenna connector fit the bill, if the mic wasn't to nice.....    A

old radio setting there as the receiver, on top of another radio that

was the transmitter, was of course acceptable.....  Or a nice one piece

CB radio with a car antenna being used as the antenna that's nailed to a

board, with the coax just pushed into the antenna connector was always a

winner....  Of course a home-brew Heathkit (We all called Griefkit)

sitting next to the drill press, with metal shavings all over it, was

always a favorite.



Just as the light switch turns on the florescent lights, it turns on the

CB Radio to, so that after the florescent light show is over with, the

tubes in the CB radio light off, allowing the local home channel, to be

in ears reach.



Garage CB Radio's sometimes had extra long mic cords that allowed over

the air, auto mechanics engine trouble shooting and analysis. The

entourage of CB Radio auto mechanics, with their own unique and

different diagnosis, was never short of experts. Old Bert would make

comments while chewing a cigar in one side of his mouth. Old Man Bert

was always hard to understand, but my Dad always laughed when he talked

over the CB. I never understood why Bert was considered amazing.  Maybe

it was the German accent. Once we heard the sharp crisp sound of a mic

bouncing off a rotating fan blade, during the engine valve train hour.



I remember quite a few Garage CB Radio QSO's that had to take up the

main home channel during the mobile hour that required several 10-5's

(Or relays, from other stations) this was a acceptable practice. After

all the guy was using his Garage Radio.



Some CB radio type things ain't understood by all. It's best to attend

the coffee breaks so that one can understand the proper CB Radio

protocols and procedures, and who's all behind it. Something's in life

aren't book learned.



Jay

In the Great Mojave Desert, just down the

road ah ways from the fillin station.