Ham Radio and Schneider National

Them wuz the days, eh? An antenna on every car, a CB shop sprung up on almost every corner!!!! Where did all those "technicians" come from all of a sudden? And, OH! The "gadgets" and gimmicks. One of my favorites was an antenna that had a 3 foot long lower mast. Inside this mast was
a kind of oil or vinegar (HONEST! I ain't lying!!!!!) Someone brought one into a friend's shop where I sometimes did installations when "Jimmy" was covered up with bench work. The advertising for this thing said, "Did you ever wonder why your radio 'got out' so good over water? Well, you, too, can get out better because you will ALWAYS be 'over' water." I'm telling you, we simply rolled in the floor laughing so HARD, I thought we would absolutely BUST wide open!!!!!!! The tears just flew, and we hurt so bad trying to get our breath!!!! Shops sold these things (not ours: Jim would patiently explain that there was nothing TO that) by the HUNDREDS.
And there IS nothing to that, btw, because that "water, or oil", or whatever is the SAME as if it were made of the same material of that lower mast (metal). IOW, it COUNTS the same as if it WERE the metal. That's why those little "radial-looking" things people put underneath their loading coils and call 'em ground planes is a bunch of ****!!! It's a RIP OFF!!!!!

Anyway, those were the fabulous 70's!!!!



GF

 

Join the fly on the wall.

 

Must have that T2

 

You'll likely become more interested in an FT 857, an IC 706MkIIG, an IC 7000, a TS 480HX, or a TS 480SAT. Or, even any of the plethora of older ham radios that can easily be modified. But, as a licensed ham, I remind you that use of a radio, in a band, for which it is not type accepted, is violation of federal law. And, I would ask that you get familiar with what frequencies are allocated for amateur radio, what segments are used for what mode, and keep to some other frequencies, not allocated to the amateur radio service. For the most part, if you are not licensed, most hams won't talk to you, or they will be in violation, and if you are trying to use voice communications in a segment that is allocated to digital, packet, RTTY or CW, you will stand out like a sore thumb.

 

I did browse thru it, and saw an omission that I imagine most CB'ers don't know about, and most knowledgeable hams, might not, either.

I am speaking of RF exposure limits. Part of the reason (A very small part) the FCC set the power limits on the Class D citizen's radio service radios, is that it is in the perfect frequency range for absorption of RF energy. Different frequencies do different things to the human body, at different power levels. There is something unique about the 25-28 megahertz range, that makes RF more efficiently absorbed by the body. So, be careful, how much power you run, and how frequently, and for how long a period of time, from that mirror mounted antenna, less than 9 feet from your cranium. You might be literally cooking brain cells with RF energy.

 

To answer you, YES, I am a ham, and I ran a TS 570d in most of the Schneider trucks I drove, for the 8-9 years I was there. That said, be very cautious. Schneider does not want even licensees to run ham radios in the truck. Be sure to remove it before you put it in the shop. I even had a friend, who ran his QRP rig, from his own automotive battery, in his SNI truck, and when they caught him, he got in trouble for it. If you're not around when they find it, they will cut the power cord in a way that will force you to buy another one. They can be real jerks about it.
On the bright side, I have spoken to a couple of guys who went directly to Wayne Lubner, showed him their license and got a letter allowing them to run their equipment, so long as they assumed full responsibility for any damage to the truck, that might result, from the installation.
That said, they can accuse any trouble as being caused by your radio. I currently drive for a company who has no policy on the matter, and I checked with the big boss when I was hired, to be sure I could run a mobile station. When my truck went to Thermo King for some work on the APU, someone knocked the antenna cable out of the receptacle, on the back of the factory stereo. I wrote it up, 3 times and 3 times was told the reason I couldn't hear KFI in downtown L.A. or KMJ in downtown Fresno, was that my radio equipment was causing interference. WRONG. I took the dash apart, myself, and found the wire disconnected. They were simply too lazy to try to fix it right, and had an easy mark to blame, knowing the station I run.
BTW-my rigs are an IC 7000 with a HiQ 5/160, for HF, and a dual band horizontal loop for 2m and 70cm SSB, an ID 800H for D-Star and analog FM, and a TM D700A for APRS, and more analog FM memories. both of the dual banders are running Diamond SG7900A antennas. I also have, but have never installed, an SGC SmartCube 500, HF RF amplifier. AND, NO, MY RADIOS DO NOT CAUSE INTERFERENCE TO THE STEREO, AT ALL!!!

 

5 watts will not hurt you. Neither will 100 watts. Keep in mind that the RF exposure is comming out of the antenna, not your rig. Your rig will give off some energy, to which you should not put right by your head, but then many other things, like a clock radio near where you sleep, give off energy, and should be avoided. A light bulb gives off on average 30-100 watts. As a ham, you will run about 25-50 watts on 2m and 440. Thats lower than most light bulbs. As for the antenna, to put it on the otherside of the truck is a good thing, but only for a ham rig. CB is only 5 watts and will not hurt you at all. Most mirror frames go above your head near the top of the truck, you can also add on an extender if it really bothers you.

 

I wished that there were more of you instead of the CB cowboys with the exports. Of course, I was one of those cowboys too at one time.

 

I don't know if for sure, but it is likely those very "cowboys" with their "10 Meter reddios and 'dem extree channels' that caused Schneider to institute bans on other than legal CB sets. Anytime a small group of people causes trouble an entire genre, who probably never caused any trouble at all, get painted with the same wide brush!

A lot of trucking companys have gotten caught (and are STILL being caught) and have done the same thing about the illegal radios. A few drivers even got FIRED over it after telling FCC they had gotten rid of the illegal stuff, then one or more drivers got caught with their "10 Meter" radios.

Hams don't really care so long as CBers stay OUT of their bands, but if you are one of those CB "rambos", it'll gitcha sooner or later!

GF

 

You must be referring to the same wide brush that you use!