Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jul 30, 2014 6:47:21 GMT -5
I'd like to keep this thread for pic posts (with descriptions if available) only. I've left the old thread up for related discussions. Inspired by Night Ranger's thread documenting antennas in his area that were still in the air after 30 - 40 years, I decided to do a drive through my old stomping grounds to see if there are any signs of remaining antennas either in use or dormant. This will take a little time as there's a pretty large area to cover, but if my first pass is any indication, I'm not going to find much. It doesn't appear that very many of the people I knew have anything left up in the air after all this time, so I'm widening my search to include any period base antenna I find, whether or not I knew who it belonged to at the time. So far I've found 2 candidates. Hopefully I'll find a few more: The first belongs to a guy (Al) who originally went by the handle of Rebel. He's been around since the early 1970's. In fact, a few of my teenaged friends went over to help Al dig the hole for that tower in 1974. This tower has been host to a few different antennas, including a Super Scanner (which got struck by lighting) and a PDL II. The current horizontal 4 element beam was erected sometime in the 80's when the skip was running heavy and Al had moved to the freeband to chase DX. On the top is his 2 meter beam (he's now a ham as well). But it's still looking good, although "uncle Al" has not been on the radio in several years. He should be in his 70's now. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jul 30, 2014 6:59:29 GMT -5
My second entry is grasping at straws, since there isn't much left. This is about a block away from my old house. At one time there were close to a dozen CB'ers (and a couple of hams) in my neighborhood. Today, I can't find a single CB antenna still standing in my old neighborhood. Only one ham's array is still up, and a new ham has started putting up some metal fairly recently, ironically at the same house that once was the home of a former CB operator from 40 years ago. This antenna remnant used to be a Radio Shack 5/8th wave ground plane. Probably 20 years ago, the base mount broke and the antenna was leaning while the radials slowly fell off. Today, this is all that's left. Ironically, the kid who ran this station back in the 1977 timeframe, was fairly short lived (I don't even remember his handle), yet the remains of his antenna have survived long after much more active CB'ers moved on. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Nov 7, 2014 13:43:22 GMT -5
Ok, it's been a while since I've done any old time antenna searching. But I was at lunch today and managed to find a couple. This one was once a Radio Shack 5/8th wave. The horizontal radials are slowly falling off, with only one remaining. But this antenna faired better than the one I posted previously from my old neighborhood..... Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Nov 7, 2014 13:47:51 GMT -5
This antenna is probably from the early 80's, when the old metal antennas were outlawed and only fiberglass "stick" antennas remained. This one looks like a Big Stick, or maybe an A99. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 19, 2014 13:02:42 GMT -5
A couple of unexpected finds I stumbled across today: First up is an Antenna Specialists Super Magnum. A 1/2 wave antenna with 4 1/4 wave "droopy" radials. Looks like the years have removed the "static ball" from the top of the antenna, but otherwise the antenna has survived the years well. As a bonus, there's an early Hustler version of a Discone scanner antenna mounted underneath. This was a typical setup for the 1970's CB'er. A base station radio occupied a table somewhere in the house, while an 8 or 16 channel Regency or Bearcat scanner sat next to it, and it was not unusual to hear police or fire dispatch calls in the background when the operator was talking. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 19, 2014 13:06:58 GMT -5
The second vintage antenna was only a block or two away from the last one. No doubt this operator pointed this antenna away from the other guy to reduce bleedover..... This PDL-II did not fair as well as his neighbor's ground plane. As is typical for these antennas, the plastic hubs get brittle with age and UV exposure and the reflector assembly fell off. I'm sure the driven end would have met the same fate, were it not for the matching section holding on to it: Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 20, 2014 12:17:15 GMT -5
This really was a banner day for spotting CB antennas from the bygone days. Here's another Antenna Specialists Super magnum. This one did not fair as well as the first one I captured earlier. The radiator section is completely gone, but the 4 radials are still proudly drooping in the late afternoon sun, amidst a jungle of utility wires nearby. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 20, 2014 12:20:24 GMT -5
This one made me laugh. I've seen similar setups like this on several occasions. Someone decided to take advantage of an existing TV antenna and mast to mount their CB antenna to. But for some reason, they chose to mount the CB antenna 3 or 4 feet below the TV antenna, and extending right up through it. I'm sure that wasn't good for the SWR, the radiation pattern, or TVI immunity........ Not a bad shot either as it was taken from a 45 MPH moving car...... Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 25, 2014 20:55:47 GMT -5
Here's another relic from the bygone days. This A/S Starduster almost survived. The very top piece is missing, but otherwise it's ready to go (with a really bad SWR). As a bonus, there appears to be a whip antenna also attached to the side of the building. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 13, 2015 18:13:53 GMT -5
I decided to go back to the last neighborhood where I found the Super Magnum and PDL II. As I suspected, this must have been one bastion of bleedover back in the day. I managed to find 3 more antennas that survived for the last 30+ years. The first one is an interesting sight. The CB antenna is a generic 1/4 wave, which unfortunately has lost the vertical radiator. But what I found interesting was the homemade dipole mounted below the CB antenna. Based on the size of the dipole, I'd bet this guy was experimenting with 49 Mhz. That looks a lot like the 49 Mhz dipole I made in the late 70's. Also seen is what I believe a scanner antenna on the opposite end of the house. Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 13, 2015 18:18:41 GMT -5
The 2nd find of the day is the mac-daddy of all omni antennas in the mid 70's, the Hy-Gain Penetrator. This one seems to have survived the years fairly well. I was half tempted to knock on the door and ask if they'd let me take it down..... Attachments:
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 13, 2015 18:30:05 GMT -5
The last find of the day was somewhat underwhelming, and probably a later entry in time, as this antenna didn't come out until 1979. It's the Radio Shack blue "Crossbow" fiberglass stick. And since I know you can burn them out with 75 watts, It's a pretty safe bet that this operator wasn't running much power. But the antenna appears to be in really good shape. But without much wind area, it should be able to survive most of what mother nature throws at it. Attachments:
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Post by MonkeyMan on Feb 24, 2015 21:08:35 GMT -5
The last find of the day was somewhat underwhelming, and probably a later entry in time, as this antenna didn't come out until 1979. It's the Radio Shack blue "Crossbow" fiberglass stick. And since I know you can burn them out with 75 watts, It's a pretty safe bet that this operator wasn't running much power. But the antenna appears to be in really good shape. But without much wind area, it should be able to survive most of what mother nature throws at it. There is a blue fiberglass Crossbow 1/4 wave a couple blocks East of me, it's been there for at least 17 years. I was given one of these along with some other unused junk back in the early 90's. I kept it and ran it here for a short time in the late 90's, then ditched it for an A99. I would have kept it but it didn't survive the throw.  I'll try to get a pic. From the 1985 RS catalog...  |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 18, 2015 11:57:43 GMT -5
Better late than never...  |
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 2, 2015 11:50:25 GMT -5
Saw what appeared to be one of these bad boys up in Mertztown (Berks county) this morning, and it looked to be in great shape with all radials intact. I tried to get a pic, but not crashing my car took priority.   |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jun 7, 2015 20:35:58 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've posted a pic of surviving antennas (or the remains of antennas) from the heyday in radio. So here's one I caught on the way back from my lake house. This poor Super Scanner has definitely seen better days. Only one element is intact, one is bent (I have to wonder what bent it), and there are missing sections. As a bonus, this operator also had either a Hy-Gain CLR-2 or a Radio Shack 5/8th wave ground plane. All three radials are missing, but surprisingly, the radiator is still there at full length. Which makes me think it's probably the Hy-Gain, as the Radio Shack versions always seemed to back out the sheet metal screws that held the sections together, and they slid down inside each other.  |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 9, 2015 9:52:00 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've posted a pic of surviving antennas (or the remains of antennas) from the heyday in radio. So here's one I caught on the way back from my lake house. This poor Super Scanner has definitely seen better days. Only one element is intact, one is bent (I have to wonder what bent it), and there are missing sections. As a bonus, this operator also had either a Hy-Gain CLR-2 or a Radio Shack 5/8th wave ground plane. All three radials are missing, but surprisingly, the radiator is still there at full length. Which makes me think it's probably the Hy-Gain, as the Radio Shack versions always seemed to back out the sheet metal screws that held the sections together, and they slid down inside each other. View Attachment. Been looking at those for years... |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 24, 2015 6:51:30 GMT -5
This one made me laugh. I've seen similar setups like this on several occasions. Someone decided to take advantage of an existing TV antenna and mast to mount their CB antenna to. But for some reason, they chose to mount the CB antenna 3 or 4 feet below the TV antenna, and extending right up through it. I'm sure that wasn't good for the SWR, the radiation pattern, or TVI immunity........ Not a bad shot either as it was taken from a 45 MPH moving car......  I believe I spotted this one last week. The intersection of Rt. 562 and Greshville road in lovely Greshville Pa? |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Sept 8, 2015 16:44:10 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've been on a quest for "back in the day" antennas, but I happened across this gem while up at my lake retreat. This Starduster is in amazingly good shape for being up for 40 years (and I remember seeing it 40 years ago). There are 2 others right nearby also in good shape. This park is (was) a haven for CB antennas, since phone service was not available in the park back in the 70's, so CB was used to communicate.  |
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Post by 2600 on Sept 9, 2015 15:23:16 GMT -5
Speaks for itself:  73 |
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Post by BBB on Sept 9, 2015 17:06:10 GMT -5
I'm feeling a bit droopy after seeing that  |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Oct 3, 2015 20:32:30 GMT -5
 Another one of those "let's mount the CB antenna to the TV antenna mast". It would seem that there are a bunch of antennas occupying that roof..... |
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Post by Night Ranger on Jan 16, 2016 16:35:13 GMT -5
After I posted a picture of Sunflower's 1975 drooper ground plane on my web page another vintage Rock Hill CB'er told me his old AstroPlane was still up at his father's house in "Murphy's Canyon". I snapped a picture of it as I drove by the house. I'm guessing it has been up since the 1970s as well. One Watt's 1970s AstroPlane antenna  Night Ranger |
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Post by Night Ranger on Jan 17, 2016 14:05:03 GMT -5
Sandy Sam's delapidated Moonraker 4 on a 70 foot tower. Back in the 1980s in Rock Hill, S.C. there was a CB'er named "Sandy Sam". He was very friendly. He had a 70 foot tower with a Moonraker 4 on the southeast side of Rock Hill, South Carolina. I think he ran a D&A Maverick and later a D&A Phantom with it. Fortunately he was good hearted, and handled his power and antenna setup well. Sandy Sam died of a heart attack around 2009 or 2010. He had already been off the CB for several years by then. Over the years his antenna has fallen in to disarray at his old girlfriend's house where it still stands. It looks like the outer most director has come loose and the wind has twisted it and blown it back against the third set of spreader arms. This tower and Moonraker 4 have been standing since at least 1986 although Hurricane Hugo in 1989 probably damaged the Moonraker 4. Sandy Sams delapidated Moonraker 4 in January of 2016.  Sandy Sam can be heard on this 1986 recording. His first key up on the recording starts at 42 seconds where he mentions that he is on his ground plane antenna. www.shadowstorm.com/cb/mp3s/Matador_WineMaker_SandySam_Butterfly_Wildcat_and_others_1986.mp3Night Ranger |
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Post by Night Ranger on Jan 18, 2016 21:51:48 GMT -5
I'm not entirely certain if this is a CB antenna. It may be a VHF low business band ground plane antenna. In any case it has been sitting on top of a telephone poll besides a building in Rock Hill, South Carolina for decades.  Night Ranger |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Apr 25, 2016 11:36:05 GMT -5
Spotted this one last week, turned around and snapped this out of my sunroof. Remnants of a Starduster on 435 King street, downtown PP-town...  |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Nov 29, 2016 19:51:07 GMT -5
A couple weeks ago the boy and I picked up food for the scouts food drive on a Saturday morning in the North end of Pottstown. They marked an alley for me that was a dead end, and while turning around I spotted this relic mounted on a garage. Hard to see, but 4 droopy radials and I believe 2 little round thingys (sorry, the name escapes me) on the top...  |
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I'll try to get a pic.
