WH Petition: End Prohibition on 11 Meter Linear Amplifers

No they don't enforce rules if they did they would put an end to cb shop and online sales of 10 meter/ export (cb radios really) , even though they are sold as 10 meter,and in the fine print it states one must pocess a licence to operate, everyone and their brother knows darn well what they are going to be used as. If they ever did decide to enforce the rules( which will never happen) they need to worry less about truckers, since most of us stay on channel 19, and crack down on these base stations morons that run big power and designate 19 as their local channel and hog the airwaves talking about their disibilities, medical ailments, and of course their big radios, and we are trying to get usefull information about traffic, directions etc, and dont say anything to any of them about using channel 19 or they will blow an artery in their little brain. They exist in every major city and in the morning its 20 minutes of waving and good mornings and at night, after fighting with each other for hours ( and they are suppossed to be friends) its 20 minutes of goodnights, sounds like the Waltons when they would all say goodnight to each other.

 

Were you around in 1958? It was a whole different world back then. We were not that far from WWII. The only way FCC knew to deal with it was according to the mentality of the people at that time. They couldn't predict the future nor how people would react in 1980, 1990, or the 2000's. The reality of 1958 was, people were much more orderly and likely to obey rules. For example, schools paddled kids for misbehaving, and moreover, if you got a paddling from the teacher, your DAD would likely take his belt to you when you got home. It was, literally, if the authorities told you not to do something, you did not do it. So, if they had a rule that said one was not to "talk skip", then most of us wouldn't. There's always somebody willing to break the rules, and a few did. Some broke the speed limit in their '49 Fords. Most didn't. Yes, I heard people who 'accidentally" (?) talked to a station way off, and those who were not law breakers said, "OOPS, Sorry, I can't talk to you!" And signed off. Really! It happened. And insofar as the law is concerned, just because a naked lady walks by doesn't mean you should sample the wares! If you partake of forbidden fruit, you likely pay the consequences. And so on.
Anyhoo, it was a completely different world in '58 when CB was put on 27 MHZ. Another reason was, VHF and UHF equipment was in its first generation still and also very expensive. Twenty seven megs was much cheaper, other people had "dibs" on other spectrum, and the hams were raising **** anyway about removing anything from them! Ultimately it was the most convenient thing politically to put CB where they did. Like I said, taking something from somebody else was difficult. Even when they proposed to take part of 220 MHZ, Oh Lord! ARRL raised more **** than somebody with a forked tail--and we know who THAT would be! Talk about shooting oneself in the foot! Yep, they kept 220 MHZ (except for the UPS allocation), and allowed the "10 Meter" debacle where CBers and truckers were able to easily access "extra channels", invading the actual 10 Meter band!

I don't know what the answer is; I sure don't have power to "fix" it. It still comes back to: Get the amateur ticket for the extra space, more power, more opportunities. CB ain't goin nowheres anytime soon.

 

No I wasn't around in 1958. Even if people were more law abiding in those days, I can't understand why they FCC would make a local channel on an HF frequency. Unless they were clueless the fact it's suceptiple to distant communications. Or perhaps they figured it was only going to be a few people on at any given time. So there wouldn't be an issue of heterodyning of users on. I guess it was a best case scenario for the time. And if I recall my reading, 11 meter was on a shared basis with diathermy machines so it was not totally a ham band. Who are the hams to cry about that? Not as if someone took away your dinner plate at the buffet.

 

Here's an idea--send a CD of about an hour's worth of channel 19 audio to your lawmakers with a note attached saying, "we think this should be made a lot louder".

 

An amp doesn't make it louder.

 

The turning point in obedience of the law was Tricky Dick's national 55 overstaying its welcome. We were promised a repeal when the embargo was over, but then Watergate got blown wide open, he resigned, Ford didn't care, and Carter thought it was a great idea.

Its lingering 20 years longer than it was supposed to destroyed the legitimacy of the law - and its enforcers - in the eyes of most Americans. It has never recovered.

 

What folks don't want to acknowledge is what having an unbridled, higher-powered CB band would actually do. To those untrained in such things, two things come to mind. 1) like stepping on the gas, the vehicle goes faster, and, thus, better. 2) They believe that if I can overcome the noise with more power, then it solves the problem of not getting out for ME. And, then there's the "ego" factor. In todays' society, the "Me" thing is paramount, unlike in those old days we remember so fondly! It becomes, in a way, the "King on the hill" syndrome.

So what happens if everybody had................say 300 watts on 27 MHZ & everybody is trying to talk at once? The band would squeal, howl and roar 5 times(?) as bad as it does now! Which would make those who believe in BIG power, want MORE! ................and MORE. ........and MORE.
Ultimately making things worse, not better! And then there's the fact that, once such additional power became *legal*, some would simply ignore the restrictions (like they do now) and add even more power. Which would paralyze 11 Meters even more and create more interference to OTHER legitimate radio services. And it is for THAT reason (interference to adjacent services), there will never be additions to 27 MHZ. And we can go on about how it should've been, how it should've been set up in '58, and its not going to change anything: it IS what it is.
(Brace yourself) This may seem like a put down, and I'm sorry. But I don't know any other way to say it. To the authorities and the general public, CB radio is a "junk" band, a joke, an anachronism from the past! Again, I apologize! But........................that is the way it IS! And it must be dealt with on that basis. So what can ya's do in the here and now? If you want CB radio for a "hobby", that's not truly legal in the strict sense! It was never meant to BE a hobby, but a cheap way for citizens to communicate personal and commercial business. It's gonna stay that way, fortunately or UN-fortunately, depending on how you see it. And we can submit as many petitions we want until you know where freezes over! Legal amps just AIN'T gonna happen.
But you CAN obtain the amateur license where *some* high power amps ARE allowed. ...........Under certain conditions! WHOO HOOO! OH BOY! I gits to step on them mud ducks legally. NO! In amateur radio a courteous operator LEARNS when , how, and where to use higher power, and when not to. (Of course we have those who also believe in excessive power; sometimes they get their hands slapped). Or you might learn that, with the more orderly operation protocol that the amateurs have used for years, you might not NEED high power (the average is 100 watts or less).

So GET the amateur license, learn to use power and when not to, and have a ball not having to worry about amps. Me? I almost NEVER use more than the barefoot HF power of 100 watts! I work the world with it! Most of the rest of us do, too! Its FUN!

 

All it takes is a vindictive ex-wife to make a phone call to the FCC making false allegations and they will investigate those false allegations.

 

clean amplifiers are available but for a price. most of these drivers are unwilling to pay the price.