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Thread: Grape Ape ~ 10-8

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    Cool Grape Ape ~ 10-8

    Greetings fellow Radio Keyers, Grape Ape here, The personal is Chet.

    This looks like a good place to plop. I had left an annoying (that shall remain unnamed) place full of PC police and FCC Agent wannabees. Damn shame when a badass community gets infiltrated by ninnies and suck ups. (Chet, shut up, you're bitching again). oppps, sorry.

    Well, anywho, I've had a CB in my car since 1977, starting with my 1965 GTO, then my '74 440 Ramcharger. Ever see a muscle car with a 102' whip? lol I never owned a car over 2 or 3 months that didn't get a CB thrown into it. I even keep a couple small spares with c-clamps and mag-mount antennas ready for caravan with people that don't own CB's. With the hands free cell phone laws, CB still rules with its PTT exemption hahaha!

    Last year, I finally decided to go for my life long dream of having a real base station. Only having a quickie set up a few times, it's time for a home radio I can monitor in the evenings, like the old farts did when I was a teenager. Well now that I'm 52 I can consider myself an old fart LOL. One of my previous base attempts consisted of a 23 channel Panasonic RJ-3200 and a Mag-mount center load Kraco (yes, the $10 kind) in the center of the swamp cooler. Trust me that antenna and the area of the top of the swamp cooler is a perfect match. I could get out 10 full miles as opposed to 4 or 5 on the roof of the car. I think the thick metal on the car absorbed all my wattage like a sponge But, I was proud of that antenna up there as there were a couple 1/4 wave ground planes in the area that only got out 15 miles or so (in 1977, most people ran "out of the box" rigs, not too many people peeked a radio around our small valley; only the sidebanders bothered with that).

    So now I have the RCI-2980 and in the works is a pole mast going up that will hold a Serio 872 vertical base antenna, the beam will come in a year or two. I also recently got introduced to MURS, so I had to get a radio for that. I chose the intercom looking Ritron Jobcom. It sits on my desk and I rigged an Astatic external boom mike from a podium. It's 2 watts and totally compliant. Guess what I'm using for an antenna??? any guesses??? LOL that's right, it's a tram 44" whip on a bottom load Mag-Mount, sitting in the middle of my swamp cooler. And I will tell you, it gets out 12-15 miles at roof level. The locals tell me to get it on a pole 20-30' above the roof and there wont be a place in the San Fernando Valley I won't be able to reach. The furthest from my house would be around 22-24 miles. Sitting on the bench is a narrow band capable Midland VHF base station from a municipality, Model 70-1442B-MM. It is programmable for 2 or 40 watts. I can put the MURS freqs in at 2 watts. For the times the channel needs a good old fashioned "SQUUUAAAAAAASSSSSH" to restore order, I can program some upper channels with the MURS freqs at 40 watts. It came in the plastic, New in the box, surplus stock. With a brand new in the box Midland dispatch desk mic, I'm going to have a cool looking radio cave in no time.

    I love to work on cars in my garage (under the tree or patio works too lol). I have an new-old stock Dynascan Cobra 85 that runs at 6 hp and revs to 12 lol. That's going on an A-B switch to the mast as well so I can hear whats going on in my neck of the woods when I'm in the garage. CB is NOT dead in Los Angeles!

    To me when people say CB is dead, I think... "Good, it's finally reached a point that the mass CB craze is over and we can have quiet channels with just a few people on it again" LOL So many have gone to FRS and GMRS that is has had a nice effect on depopulating the CB band. Good!

    My radio rigs are in: in my 18-wheeler, the SuperStar 3900; 1980 Buick Electra/Park Avenue 350, the DX979 (this car for sale, PM me); Nissan pickup, another DX979, and in the 1964 Chevy pickup, a nice vintage Teaberry Stalker One 23 channel SSB. Somewhere under the dungheap in the "back 40" is a 23 T-Bucket that will get a small TRC sideband I forgot the number, but there is a 3 pill going under the seat and it will get a 102" as well. I have a CB reserved for the ski boat & the motor home too hahaha. CB's! Don't leave home with out um!

    Last but not least, anyone, anytime can PM or email me. That's what it's for! I'm sick of PM Pansies saying "Don't PM me unless you're on my friend list" like you're an internet stalker. Screw that. PM away! Actually I don't add ppl to my friend list until I get to know them in PM hahaha. If someone sends me a friend request and I've never talked to them in PM, or at least in length in the forum, I delete the request. I've had too many experiences where you friend someone and they turn out to have more than a screw lose. So there!

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  3. #2
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    Hi Grape Ape. Sounds like a place I left a couple of years ago. Makes me wonder if it's the same one.

  4. #3
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    Arrow NOS & more :)

    Quote Originally Posted by Promodmerc View Post
    Hi Grape Ape. Sounds like a place I left a couple of years ago. Makes me wonder if it's the same one.
    Yeah but most forums are on the fence with good and bad chatters.

    So I have a New Old Stock radio. A sweet Midland 77-250C Chrome face I bought on the bay for $80. Over priced except I've wanted one since my friend had one in his PU back when they were new in the 80's. I shouldn't complain, most NOS radios average about $100. To go with that I bought a NOS Road King 76 power mic. This will go in my '84 4X4 Chevy PU (Project Truck) with a 102" on a ball mount. All matched years lol.

    An addition to my Cave is a Johnson Messenger Two base station; 1962 tube rig, w/D104 wired in.

    Oh, I almost forgot. A friend that owns El Dorado CB in Webbers Falls, OK gave me 2 Johnson Messenger 323's. These are the early ones with the 9 pin/center post power plug and the "PL" tone box hook up like FM radios. It would be a riot to have the 3 radios on the tone and not have to hear anyone else on the channel lol.

    The later model 323a had a single input power wire with a +/- ground selector switch and removed the tone feature.

    TTFN
    Last edited by GrapeApe; 11-01-2015 at 04:53 PM.

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