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The Huron Expositor, 1976-05-20, Page 4ti t/RON EXPOSITOR MAY 20, 1976 B radio brings California. It's jllegal to talk across the border however. Crowded CB channels are such a problem both in the U.S. and Canada that the first• Canadian CB magazine, called Canadian tianseiver, predicts that communications authorities in both countries will expand the network to 50 channels. Canadian truckers want the DOC to star t enforcing present rules that ban profanity. talking lonier than five minutes at a time and ban playing music on the air. To put the pre' sure on and show that they are well organized, a Toronto newspaper reports that the truckers plan to move en masse from Channel 10, which most of them use now,. to Channel 1, today, April 15. Many CB stores recommend buying a C13 se t with a good noise suppressor that tones down static. It is necessary but Alf Dale says local CB'ers could talk to each other over a faint conversa- fiat between CB'erS in the Exeter area say. "If it's not too close it won't bother them." He says he and a few friends might arrange a time, in advance when there aren't too many people on the radio and arrange a. channel and have a talk. He still talks to friends from the Oweh Sound• area "hut it has to be a good night", to receive from that far away. Sometimes he will click around the channel and hear who's talking and if he's No Job Too Small iNb „Ss ,SS,..•S'aSSPS:sfs....s..... ....... ... A. .. • a new I . o to Seofatth for the check; the person who ' complains about TVI has to. The main thing, the veteran CB'er 'stresses, is to not start feuding over the interference. "TVI can be corrected,'? he says. One,in 21 cars in the US now has a CB set and Canadians appear to be following the trend, General Motors plans to, make the two way radios .optional equipment on 1977 cars. Readers who are already into CB know all that's fn this article and much, much more. Those who aren't interested in CB may say they couldn't care less. But those of us who aren't involved, may have to start learning about CB's in self defense, especially if we still want to talk to our friends and co-workers. CB is the biggest craze since sliced bread. Just ask the people who work in the back rooms at the Huron Expositor where terms like 10-4 and negatory, 10.9 and break are being thrown around with awesome frequency. PICKING UP THE PLEDGES — Dennis McCauley and Bob Dinsmore were two of the Optimist club members who picked up phonathon pledge's all over the countryside on Saturday. By noon they had picked up $280 from donors who phoned ' into the arena•enovation drive from Tuckersmith. All pick-ups were co-ordinated by CB radio, with Alfie Dale as dispatcher. (Staff Photo) BABY SWING 799 Buckled safety belt, galvaniz- ed steel chains. 77" x.131/2" GYM-DANDY SLIDE .:.`31.88 SEAT-AND-CHAINS SET " 4.29 15" SWING SEAT '2.99 SWING STABILIZER KiT . , '3.98 AVX4•10,,om-4S,.'sraSS-a.. OW.aMasSSf.S.MSSS-MsMiss IS every one in your office or at the pArties you ep, to suddenly *Akin, to each other in a strange #ev.v. language? Do you shake your head 'in 'bewilderment as friends suddenly take' to driving around a tot in. ,their cars, talking to other .eople who are driving around in heir cars? If you answer the abuse 'two questions in the affirmative, then you are probably one of the fens people in Seaforth and area who have not caught the CB radio hug. We're in the minority as sales and use of CB radios is climbing here as it • is all over Canada and the US. • . Expositor advertising manager Dave Robb, who caught the CB bug last fall, estimates that-there are; 250 CB units in Seaforth. That's one for every three hou'sitE units in town. Most are in ears, "mobiles", but as a CB'er gets more serious about being able to chat. ss nil other "good buddies", he or she is very likely to buy another unit for the house. Some people. like Alfie Dale, a quadraplegic who is confined to his house, have a house or base unit exclusively: CB enthusiasts' say 'it takes an investment of about $200 to set up a mobile. That includes $13.50 for a licence, good for three yearS. from the Federal 'Department of Communications. The DOC estimates that there are 70,000'CB ts .iit'Ontari(-i", "40 per' cent of them licensed between January 1975 and January 197s. .Many people, including veteran CB'ers , feel that the radio waves are getting too Crowded.. Altie Dale is one of thosk. CB used to be taken more seriously and was valuable for accident and weather reports,' he says. People used call numbers more than nicknames and there was lots of courtesy and no foul language or long winded, aimless chatter. Now it's hard to find a channel • out of the4;mthat is available, and. the CB lingo'is 'getting too heavy. "Some "-guys. you can't even understand what they are saying,." Mlle says and he feels a few loud • mouths called "bucket mouth" or "ratchet j'axv" in CB talk are scaring off sonic people Who like the -idea of CB. CB was originally designed as a radio, system for bu.sinesses or perhaps farm commu nications, not th'e hobby band it. has become. Alfie hopes thecrase will dieselown a bit but meanwhile he 'talks most of the time on • • CB sidebands which are on each side of,thc regular CB channel, giving. him 69 channels to chose from. • , .A side band set is more expensive, but more and more people are getting them, when. they become frustrated in' their efforts to ''qtave a QSO or conversation on •the regular channels. - After you. talk to someone you can send them a QSL or confir-• matioji that you've talked, a spost card giving your real name, address • and official DOC call numbers along with your skip . handle or nickname, says Attie. who prefers call letters to the CB language. If the DOC is- going to crack, down on abuse. they need call n timbers. Sometimes people who've -talked a lot to each other on C41.. never meet or leave each other's real names. Wren you do meet your fellow talkers. they never look like you picture them, Alfie says. Every week a' ''new dealer star is handling CB equipment in the county. Dave Robb says. Some fear that the market will quickly become 'saturated .,..that CB equipment will go the way of .ne snowmobile binge of a few years ago. But maybe not. There are lots of sophisticated gadgets that can be added on to a basic CB set. Attie Dale wahabout the first person in Seaforth to' have a 'beam antenna. When ,others sass ss hat good reception he got, they wanted them too. "Nov. a lot of is Ives say 'darn that Alfie Dale' ' Loreen Dale laughs. All the gadgets can drive the CH'ers estment as high as $1500. One Toronto store selling CR equipment exclusively has seen its- sales volume go from $'00001/0 _to $1 million in four sears Truckers in the United States began using ('B in huge numbers during the gas crisis sshen the speed limited was lowered. Pro ate motorists followed suit. A recent radio show estimated that one in 14 A merican families had a CB radio and one in 10 Canadian families did likeise. Motorists sec their CB as imalitahl+ it Oita, have a flat tire or a rood t. mergency and can radio fellow CB'ers to send the police or a tow truck. An American man told me that a woman was attacked when she asked for help after having a flat tire on a busy freeway. "With a CB you can -stay in your car with the windows rolled up and radio for help," he said. CB'ers do a lot of search and rescue work, usually in clubs, ss ith the co-operation of the police or cis ilian rescue groups. They have been active during flood or storm emergencies in the U.S. There is a CB club in Exeter and there has been sonic talk of starting one here. It's a lot of work to keep a club going. and the same few do most of it, Alfie Dale thinks, Clubs plan fox hunts (like treasure hunts) and dances and send any money they make to charity . CB's- have a normal range of five to 10 miles. But in certain • weather conditions, especially in the summer, a skip occurs and CB'ers here find themselves talking to NoSts. Scotia or interested say "break" and ask to join, into one of the'eonversations. As CB's sprout like weeds interference with TV sets or CB conversations being received by mistake over other equipment is becoming a problem. A church service in town not too far away was interrupted this winter by a booming voice in CB lingp that somehow got received,on some of the church's electronic equipment. And Alf Dale knows a man who once heard a guy on CB coming through his toaster! Believe it or not, Alf says, the TV .set often causes the interference problem (Called TVI), especially old sets' without the proper filters, or bad antennas. The best thing to do is first contact your neighbour, the CB set user, and tell him you've got TVI. Then you can call the .DOC and they'll send an inspector out to check both the cb set and the TV, If the CB set is at fault it'll have to be fixed or go off the air. But the CB'er can't ask Free Estimates 10-4 GOOD BUDDY-No 'they aren't, talking to each other but Marilyn Chesney, who's known as "Secretary" on the CB - bands and Kathy Robb; "Little Jewel" illustrate the fact that women use CB radios about as much as men db. Loreen Dale, who moved to Seaforth last fall with her husband Alfie, a longtime CB user says women in Owen Sound where they used to live rarely talked in the radios. Marilyn is using a base unit: Kathy is using a mobile CB radio that is mounted in the Robb's pick up truck. 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With poles, guy topes 1395, and pegs, About 4 3",1( 5'1" x 3' high „ 555.57/0.5r5regif0t., CB LINGO Bear cave Base station Break Bubbly Bucket mouth 'Blood BoX Camera Chicken coop Clean Dead pedal Eatum up Eighteen-wheeler Feed the bears Green stamps Hammer Keep your nose between the ditches and Smokey out of ..your britches Landline Mobile parking lot Peanut butter in ears Pregnant roller skate ,t Portable stockyard Ratchet Jaw Salt shaker • Sit-wheeler Smokey the Bear Ten-four ten.filne Ten-thirty.three ',Theea, 011 you, threes and Thermos bottle :r-Tijuana TAXI Tioe.Wheelet let• • WHAT IT MEANS Police station Or post On highway `CB set operated from a fixed location I'd like to interrupt Liquor Talks a 'lot Ambulance Police radar unit Weigh scales for trucks No -police cars around Slow-moving vehicle Roadside restaurant Long-haul truck with 18 wheels Get a speeding ticket. 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