Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 28, 2016 13:06:49 GMT -5
I've decided to create this thread due to popular demand from a few of the newer locals who participate in or listen to Classic Radio Roundup, and hear our frequent references to "Ol' Zero-Five", AKA "Firestarter" and his exploits with respect to building (and frying) amplifiers, his various radio experiments, and the on-air battles that he engaged in with some of the locals on Channel 21 back in the 2006-2012 timeframe. Essentially, I'll try to explain the "inside joke" by giving some background, and some links to still existing videos and audio recordings of "Ol' Zero-Five" in action....... Others, who were around during that time, are free to add their own perspectives and additional links as appropriate. Due to the controversial nature of the subject, I want to keep this as informational only, and not devolve it into a rock throwing contest. Although a few anecdotal chuckles are perfectly fine........ So here goes something......... Gene was his name, Firestarter was his handle, and "Ol' Zero-Five" was his skip talking numbers. Gene was a local in the greater Pottstown (Pa.) area. Originally from the Cleveland (Parma) Ohio area, and more recently Miami Florida, Gene moved into our area in 2005, and it didn't take long for him to set up a CB station. The local channel at the time was 21, and he soon settled in there. But his radio had a nasty habit of squealing on a D104, and when he either couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it, the other people on the channel got tired of hearing it, and would bust his stones about it. Eventually, Gene got tired of the criticism and he started getting a bit snarky with his responses and attitude. He was able to make friends with some of the group (Like Pete, myself, and a few other guys), but he also alienated a big portion of the group. And so began about 6 years worth of inter channel feuding. It was one side vs. the other, and Gene often lived up to his handle of Firestarter, as he seemed to thrive on the conflict. Some people felt that respect on a typical CB channel depended on how potent your signal was, and Gene was always looking to put out as many watts as he could get his hands on. Gene liked to portray the image that he was a financially well off individual, but instead of simply going out and buying the top shelf stuff, he'd go for the basket cases he could get for cheap on E-Bay, which he would invariably overdrive and cook. He finally decided that he needed to build his own amp, so he gathered up the parts and built one using a surplus dual plate Russian tube, which he complained gave him headaches when he transmitted with it. Then he converted the amp to use a 3-500z tube. But the used Ebay tube pull was gassy and he took a video of it, while he deliberately blew it out. He liked to play with his homebrewed amps, but by far, his most reliable amp was a Collins 30L-1. He had 4 572b tubes in it, and it took the beating that Gene gave it for nearly 4 years before finally crying "Uncle" in 2012. At the pinnacle of his reign, Gene's CB station consisted of an Icom 756 Pro, which he had a $1000 Neuman microphone and mixer board attached to. On top, he originally ran an Imax-2000. In his quest for every last db of signal, he opted for a Maco 3 element beam (which he eventually traded to me, and I'm still running). When his wife made him take down the beam, he opted for a Maco V5/8th wave GP. He was also a ham (W8ETS) and he had a 2 meter all-mode radio and a Ringo on top. Among his many hobbies and interests, Gene also liked to make videos. He made a couple of videos lampooning his radio adversaries, using kid's dolls as the "action figures". Some of the videos had some funny parts, like the firecrackers blowing up Bluebird's trunk full of documents (at 9:15 on the video), which BB claimed proved all sorts of strange government conspiracies, and was a source of periodic ridicule. As if these sideline projects were not enough, Gene also decided that he wanted to run a pirate FM broadcast station. Once again, E-Bay was the source of all of his parts. But he did manage to put together a radio "station" which could be heard nearly 10 miles away, when he ran it at full power. I'm not sure why he wanted to do this, as most pirate operators do so to share their unique personalities and eclectic music tastes with an audience fed up with cookie-cutter commercial radio stations. But Gene didn't want to go through the trouble to put together a unique show, and was happy just rebroadcasting his satellite radio, occasionally interrupting to identify (WCRZY). At one point, he wanted to make his operation legal, so he tried applying for a LPFM license, but he got turned down. This video was taken after Gene got wind that the FCC had been made aware of his pirate station and he decided to dial it way back. Gene was also an avid boater, and he and his wife had a nice 34' Sea Ray, which he kept first at the Chesapeake Bay, then he had the boat shipped to Florida. Then when trips there became problematic, he moved the boat to a house that he bought at the New Jersey Shore. He also had a project boat that he kept at his house. Originally a twin engine Sonic, the engines had been wasted in a hurricane, and he tried to convert it over to a single engine. But he kludged together a parts-built engine that never ran quite right. Gene also tried his hand at running a small business. He was a very good machinist, and started off making high performance antenna puck mounts for CB'ers. He also custom machined parts for automotive and firearm guys. Eventually he branched out and started making underwater LED lights for boats. He got in trouble with the local township for running a business out of his home, which happened because one of his radio enemies dropped the dime to the township. To be continued............
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 28, 2016 19:23:16 GMT -5
Well written, Dave! Once I'm able to compose myself I'll share a few thoughts.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 28, 2016 20:26:34 GMT -5
Well written, Dave! Once I'm able to compose myself I'll share a few thoughts. I didn't go into finite detail (that would probably take 3 or 4 pages), but there will be more to tell. This was just the "Zero-five for Dummies" intro version....
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Post by doctor on Mar 29, 2016 10:26:55 GMT -5
INTERESTING, and humorous. OH yes he is still around in FT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA DOCTOR/795
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 29, 2016 11:12:42 GMT -5
Gene also tried his hand at running a small business. He was a very good machinist, and started off making high performance antenna puck mounts for CB'ers. Then he branched out and started making underwater LED lights for boats. He got in trouble with the local township for running a business out of his home, which happened because one of his radio enemies dropped the dime to the township. When the township shut his shop at home down he ended up rented space just a couple blocks down the street from my place as luck would have it. At the time there were on-air rumors that he had the electric dangerously rigged for his machinery and that there was no bathroom so he was using "a pipe sticking out of the floor". One night he was at the shop and we got into it on the radio. I implied that my wife "knew people" down at borough hall and that he had better watch his step or we'd sick the codes dept. on him, well this really set him off and he went ballistic! In true Monkey Man form I prodded him even more and got it on tape. Oh, what fun! Another night after leaving the shop he was on the radio he came up around the front of the house then pulled down the back alley. I told him to beat it or I'd call the authorities to report him as a stalker. That set him off pretty good too. Once or twice while he was on his way to the shop in his eBay Porsche I dared him to do a burn-out in front of the house. I was secretly hoping he'd have a major mechanical failure, but that didn't happen. He did however lay down some nice burn-outs, which I enjoy anyway.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 29, 2016 11:56:34 GMT -5
Gene also tried his hand at running a small business. He was a very good machinist, and started off making high performance antenna puck mounts for CB'ers. Then he branched out and started making underwater LED lights for boats. He got in trouble with the local township for running a business out of his home, which happened because one of his radio enemies dropped the dime to the township. When the township shut his shop at home down he ended up rented space just a couple blocks down the street from my place as luck would have it. At the time there were on-air rumors that he had the electric dangerously rigged for his machinery and that there was no bathroom so he was using "a pipe sticking out of the floor". One night he was at the shop and we got into it on the radio. I implied that my wife "knew people" down at borough hall and that he had better watch his step or we'd sick the codes dept. on him, well this really set him off and he went ballistic! In true Monkey Man form I prodded him even more and got it on tape. Oh, what fun! Another night after leaving the shop he was on the radio he came up around the front of the house then pulled down the back alley. I told him to beat it or I'd call the authorities to report him as a stalker. That set him off pretty good too. Once or twice while he was on his way to the shop in his eBay Porsche I dared him to do a burn-out in front of the house. I was secretly hoping he'd have a major mechanical failure, but that didn't happen. He did however lay down some nice burn-outs, which I enjoy anyway. Gene wasn't hard to set off, if you knew his insecurities. He certainly could have handled himself better. But if he had, we wouldn't be having this conversation.....
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 29, 2016 11:58:25 GMT -5
INTERESTING, and humorous. OH yes he is still around in FT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA DOCTOR/795 Actually, he supposedly left Florida and is living with his sister now. I can only hope he's doing ok. I hate seeing people hit rock bottom.....
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Post by BBB on Mar 30, 2016 9:00:14 GMT -5
Very nice thought to remember Fire Starter and continue the entire 0-5 radio experience. I came into the fray about a year before he moved so I was able to catch some of the entertainment. My memories are mostly of the big "Siren" locking down a channel (for hours on end) I also recall witnessing an on-air failure of an amplifier or two. Some nasty sounds emanated OTA as they faded out .
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Post by cbrown on Mar 30, 2016 9:13:37 GMT -5
I always wondered who the 'genius' was who did the gassy 3-500Z tube video. Now I know.
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 30, 2016 10:24:03 GMT -5
More on Zero-five........(Part II) Another one of Gene's talents was his computer and website design skills. He had his own web server and internet domain running at his house. The primary reason for this was his futile efforts at trying to make big money via the internet. He tried cashing in on the porn side of the internet (but who wants to pay, when there's so much out there for free?). He also fancied himself as a female model photographer, and had a number of young ladies in his portfolio, which he used his internet connections to turn into a money making venture. Most of his internet "get rich" schemes never seemed to make him much money though. But by utilizing his excess server capacity, he was able to set up and run a CB/Ham radio forum for a number of years. His forum was ground zero and sounding board for his side of the channel feud, along with his friends and some people from other areas who weighed into the ruckus. Most of us managed to have a few laughs at the pictures and other comments that were left there in the process. Gene would go from completely open access, just so the locals could see what was being said, and then he would lock everything down, when "the other side" would negatively react to the things that were said. But all wasn't rosy there either, as Gene was always having problems with what he claimed were "Asian hackers", and the server was down almost as much as it was up. Gene's server is no longer around, but you can see a sample of it from the Internet Wayback archive: web.archive.org/web/20110202205340/http://71.224.90.142/cb/ One of the times when he was having server trouble, he set up a forum on Proboards. It's still there but in maintenance mode. If anyone can hack the admin account there and set it back to normal mode, we can have a chuckle there as well looking at a snapshot of the past...... cbdxing.proboards.com/Gene had more projects (or as he spelled it, "Prodjects") than most normal working people had the time for. In addition to his CB and ham stations, Gene was also involved in: "Prodject XYZ" - After cooking the original 3-500z tube, he rebuilt his homebrew amp with a 4-400 tube and managed to get 1500 watts peak (but with 1000 watts carrier (doh!) Videography - Including trying to film a "documentary" on the nearby abandoned Pennhurst asylum, as well as making "Dollmation" videos. Car projects - He bought a 1988(?) Porsche 924, for a fairly cheap price. But it ended up needing a lot of work. He did eventually get it running. - The "Hyundari" Someone took a Hyundai Tiberon and put a Ferrari body on it. Gene picked this Frankenstinian abortion up and was trying to get it roadworthy. Boat Projects - The aforementioned Sonic which was an on-again, off-again project that never seemed to get very far. Dirt Bikes/Moped - Gene picked up a moped (with no working brakes) for $50 and played around with that for a while. Then he got a dirt bike and rode it around, and managed to crash it through a wooden fence while taking a ride with Pete....... Aforementioned Pirate Radio Station. Uncoordinated 2 meter repeater and Echolink station. - Gene liked what Pete and I were doing with our 6 meter and 220 Mhz repeaters and he wanted to get in on the action in some way. Despite being told that there were no open 2 meter repeater frequencies, Gene was determined to make a go of it. So he bought two 2 meter rigs, and a controller off of E-Bay and fabricated a rack mountable shelf to mount them all in. He also found a second hand VHF duplexer for cheap on E-Bay, but he couldn't tune it down low enough in frequency to have it work properly. Be that as it may, he ran this for a couple of months, before giving up on running a repeater, and refocused his energy on his Pirate radio station. Guns - He dabbled with a few of those. Here's a rare treat: Gene shooting his first handgun. Also appearing were Pete and Number 7 AquaLED's underwater LED lighting. He finally started making a decent part time income from this business venture. But his customer service skills needed a lot of work. After his divorce and move to Florida, this became his main income source. Oh, and I almost forgot about his "Tiki Beach". While lamenting about the harsh cold winters here in "Communist Pennsylvania" one year, he decided to build a cinderblock hot tub and sandy beach in his basement, complete with fake palm trees and a wicker bar. He managed to complete this project but he could never keep the water in the pool hot enough to enjoy. To be continued.........
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 30, 2016 10:38:28 GMT -5
In keeping with the Zero-Five theme, I was wondering if we could post our personal experiences with failed radio equipment here. Not to seek any assistance with the repairs, just raise the awareness of radio equipment and how it goes BOOM! Photos of the 0-5'd equipment would be a bonus This is a great (if not a little painful) idea. But I'd prefer to keep this thread strictly about information and anecdotal accounts directly relating to "Ol Zero-Five". So I've created a separate thread for this idea. I moved Night Ranger's follow-up post there.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 31, 2016 5:12:14 GMT -5
How could I forget about Tiki Beach?...
"Yo Monkey Man, why you gotta be a jerk? I just wanted you to come over and hang out with me at my tiki beach. We could also watch movies on the big screen and sit on my fine, Italian leather sofa. But no Monkey Man, you gotta act like a jerk. Why do you have to be that way, Monkey Man?"
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 31, 2016 12:17:46 GMT -5
A Google image search of his call sign, W8ETS, yields a few interesting tidbits...
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 31, 2016 19:06:40 GMT -5
A Google image search of his call sign, W8ETS, yields a few interesting tidbits... Yep, there are many lingering Zero-five remnants if you look hard enough........ But I haven't found any sign of recent activity...
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 31, 2016 19:43:49 GMT -5
^^^ From what I heard, don't hold your breath. ^^^
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 31, 2016 21:10:58 GMT -5
^^^ From what I heard, don't hold your breath. ^^^ What have you heard? Last I heard, he's living with his sister, after having some sort of "episode" in Florida. Details are a bit sketchy though...
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Post by No Streak on Apr 1, 2016 7:38:37 GMT -5
Well it's funny to say that he is left over whelming impression on your guys lives. And I'm sure we have only heard the beginning of some of these episodes. Its like he really tried superhard to make friends and really try to fit it. Just didn't know how to accomplish that without having a confrontation. And it really sounded like him and Henry (BlueBird) really got along real well.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 1, 2016 7:52:07 GMT -5
Well it's funny to say that he is left over whelming impression on your guys lives. And I'm sure we have only heard the beginning of some of these episodes. Its like he really tried superhard to make friends and really try to fit it. Just didn't know how to accomplish that without having a confrontation. And it really sounded like him and Henry (BlueBird) really got along real well. I'm hoping that your sarcasm mode was on with that last comment . Gene and Henry were not even close to getting along all that well. Although their relationship had it's good and bad days, unlike others like "Wizzman" who was Gene's arch nemesis. Most of the quotes that we repeat like "If I can't talk skip, I'm gonna drop the maul alllll day long" was in response to the many feuds he had with Wizz.. Gene was a complicated person. He had self esteem issues, and desperately wanted to be accepted. And not just accepted, he wanted to be admired. Unfortunately, he thought that the best way to gain acceptance was to project the aura of being a successful mover, shaker and all around cool person, hoping that would attract other people to him. He flaunted his material possessions, and an alleged affluent lifestyle. But it came off as condescending, and it really rubbed some people the wrong way. To those of us who spent some time with him in person, he was a fun guy to hang with. But it was his behavior on the radio that got him in the most trouble. But to be fair, many of the people who warred with him weren't the most likable people either, which is why a bunch of us took his side. It's a lot like the 2016 presidential election. Neither side is especially appealing, but you find yourself leaning more toward the one who makes you laugh the most, and doesn't make you sick to the stomach.
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Post by BBB on Apr 1, 2016 8:38:34 GMT -5
Sandbagger said " Most of the quotes that we repeat like "If I can't talk skip, I'm gonna drop the maul alllll day long" was in response to one of his feuds with Wizz.."
And que the Barbie Girl song that he played OTA to lock it down...
See the pieces falling into place?
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Post by No Streak on Apr 1, 2016 8:40:33 GMT -5
Well it's funny to say that he is left over whelming impression on your guys lives. And I'm sure we have only heard the beginning of some of these episodes. Its like he really tried superhard to make friends and really try to fit it. Just didn't know how to accomplish that without having a confrontation. And it really sounded like him and Henry (BlueBird) really got along real well. I'm hoping that your sarcasm mode was on with that last comment . Gene and Henry were not even close to getting along all that well. Although their relationship had it's good and bad days, unlike others like "Wizzman" who was Gene's arch nemesis. Most of the quotes that we repeat like "If I can't talk skip, I'm gonna drop the maul alllll day long" was in response to one of his feuds with Wizz.. Gene was a complicated person. He had self esteem issues, and desperately wanted to be accepted. And not just accepted, he wanted to be admired. Unfortunately, he thought that the best way to gain acceptance was to project the aura of being a successful mover, shaker and all around cool person, hoping that would attract other people to him. He flaunted his material possessions, and an alleged affluent lifestyle. But it came off as condescending, and it really rubbed some people the wrong way. To those of us who spent some time with him in person, he was a fun guy to hang with. But it was his behavior on the radio that got him in the most trouble. But to be fair, many of the people who warred with him weren't the most likable people either, which is why a bunch of us took his side. It's a lot like the 2016 presidential election. Neither side is especially appealing, but you find yourself leaning more toward the one who makes you laugh the most, and doesn't make you sick to the stomach. Yeah I was watching that video that was posted. I was like man, now I see what you guys were dealing with now! But I can say their was lots of love for Wizzman and BlueBird for sure. And by the sound of it Wizzman was a class act himself.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 1, 2016 9:51:34 GMT -5
I'm hoping that your sarcasm mode was on with that last comment . Gene and Henry were not even close to getting along all that well. Although their relationship had it's good and bad days, unlike others like "Wizzman" who was Gene's arch nemesis. Most of the quotes that we repeat like "If I can't talk skip, I'm gonna drop the maul alllll day long" was in response to one of his feuds with Wizz.. Gene was a complicated person. He had self esteem issues, and desperately wanted to be accepted. And not just accepted, he wanted to be admired. Unfortunately, he thought that the best way to gain acceptance was to project the aura of being a successful mover, shaker and all around cool person, hoping that would attract other people to him. He flaunted his material possessions, and an alleged affluent lifestyle. But it came off as condescending, and it really rubbed some people the wrong way. To those of us who spent some time with him in person, he was a fun guy to hang with. But it was his behavior on the radio that got him in the most trouble. But to be fair, many of the people who warred with him weren't the most likable people either, which is why a bunch of us took his side. It's a lot like the 2016 presidential election. Neither side is especially appealing, but you find yourself leaning more toward the one who makes you laugh the most, and doesn't make you sick to the stomach. Yeah I was watching that video that was posted. I was like man, now I see what you guys were dealing with now! But I can their was lots of love for Wizzman and BlueBird for sure. And by the sound of it Wizzman was a class act himself. Well, like I said at the beginning of this thread, I'm not going to start throwing rocks at either Gene or the others involved except to say that certain personality types just don't get along, like oil and water. There was also a lot of the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" stuff going on as well. So alliances (like specifications) were subject to change on a weekly basis. But the good side of it all, for those of us who did a lot more sandbagging than talking, was that a lot of lampoonable and laughable exchanges occurred over the radio. I, and a few others have hours of recorded nonsense that has some really funny parts. I'd love to go through what I have and just pull out the funny stuff, and make a montage of Gene's greatest moments. But that will take more time than I have at the moment. I will see about posting some stuff, if I can.....
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 1, 2016 9:52:29 GMT -5
Sandbagger said " Most of the quotes that we repeat like "If I can't talk skip, I'm gonna drop the maul alllll day long" was in response to one of his feuds with Wizz.." And que the Barbie Girl song that he played OTA to lock it down... See the pieces falling into place? I was waiting for you to drop the Barbie Girl bomb........
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 3, 2016 14:06:58 GMT -5
OK, since this recording was taken exactly 10 years ago today, I figured I'd put it up. This was typical of the type of nonsense that went on on channel 21 back in the day. "Ol' Zero-Five" was visiting Pete, and the two of them were having a bit of fun. Also heard were Snowman (RIP), 206, 575, Gary, Number 7, Tree Frog, and a few others in the background. Also present were the typical jammers that liked to interfere with those they didn't like. April 3, 2006
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 4, 2016 12:56:10 GMT -5
The Zero-Five Story....... Chapter 3 - Equipment. Gene operated a variety of CB radio gear over his years in the greater Pottstown area. His choice of equipment was primarily driven by his desire to be the man with the strongest signal in the area. He had mixed degrees of success in this undertaking, but enough to fuel his sometimes flamboyant, sometimes bellicose radio persona. When he first graced the area with his presence, he was running an Emperor TS-3010 with a D-104 microphone and an Imax-2000 on the roof. This was the setup that he had trouble keeping from squealing and humming, and this started off the mutual animosity which festered for over 6 years. From those humble beginnings, he upgraded to an Icom IC-718, and then finally an Icom IC-756Pro. Gene was convinced that ham radios were far superior to CB radios (because they cost more and had more bells and whistles) However, he also had a couple of classic tube CB radios that he would run when we started up the very first Classic Radio Roundups. He had a DeWald radio which was one of the first CB's made. He also ran a Lafayette Comstat 25a, with a Turner +2, which actually ended up being his best sounding radio, which he never could understand (and I think he didn't believe us when we told him), considering how cheap that radio was compared to his Icom. Gene also went through a variety of amplifiers. He started off with a Mohawk-10 amp, which was good for maybe 600 watts of peak power. He then found a good deal on a Collins 30L-1, which could do close to 800 watts peak. He sold off the Mohawk, before it could become a casualty of the actions of Ol' Zero-Five. Additional commercially built amps which saw operating time on his bench, but eventually died from way too much drive or excessive keydown time: Kris Power Pump, which he used with 4 watt CB radios. Heathkit Warrior Heathkit SB230 Ameritron AL811 And eventually, even the Collins. As mentioned before, he also built a couple of homebrewed tube amps. None of which greatly exceeded the peak power of the Collins amp. From the many conversations that Gene had with Pete and myself, we managed to convince him that the most important part of a radio system is the antenna, so Gene was determined to improve his signal further by increasing antenna gain. So he went out and bought a Maco 103, 3 element beam. He had strapped an aluminum tower to the chimney of his house and he mounted the beam to it. The lower elements barely cleared the roof line, and he was unable to turn it more than about 120 degrees before it hit the slope of the roof. He also had no rotator, so if he wanted to turn the antenna, he had to take a pipe wrench to the mast. But it did increase his signal, and he managed to win a shootout battle against 2-Watt Willie's high powered van one time. Life was good....... for a short time. It would seem that Gene's wife, while seemingly supportive (or at least reluctantly accepting) of his various projects and activities, had a problem with him hanging large "unsightly" antennas all over the house. So the beam had to come down. Gene claimed that he was going to put the beam on a taller tower in the back woods that bordered his property (out of sight of course). But it never happened. The beam sat overgrown in the weeds for months, until I traded him a 2 meter radio for it. In the meantime, Gene had to put up a less obtrusive antenna. Still looking for the best gain, he opted for a Maco 5/8th wave. He put it up, but without the radials. He insisted that he didn't need them becaue his SWR was acceptable, but he had all sorts of issues with RF feedback and SWR variations. He actually got pissed off at Pete and I when we tried explaining to him the importance of those counterpoise radials. He was a tough man to sway once he was convinced of something. He finally put the radials on (which probably upset his wife, which I'm pretty sure was the real reason he initially left them off). He ran that antenna for a while, but he complained about it not working right (although his signal would seem to indicate that it was), and wanted to go back to an Imax (much less obtrusive). Gene also craved the sound of high fidelity audio. He was impressed by my early experimentation in that sandbox. In typical Gene fashion, he figured that he could do better if he simply threw large sums of money at the problem. He bought a $1000 Neumann studio mic (from E-bay of course), and a mixer board. But he shoved all that wonderful high fidelity into the mic jack of his unmodified and bandwidth limited Icom, so it never achieved the sound that he craved. He also had trouble matching the impedance of the microphone to that of the radio, so there were occasional hums, squeals, buzzes and the like. Somehow he managed to settle things down. But it was a big downer to have spent all that money and he didn't sound all that much better than he did with a straight D-104. Needless to say, his detractors enjoyed busting on the way his ham rig sounded compared to the typical "loud and proud" CB radios that most guys used. Somewhere along the line, Gene decided that he had maxed out the signal potential of his base, so he wanted to build up a high power mobile. Helped along by a couple of friends, he bought an 8-"Pill" Fat Boy competition amp and installed it in his Hummer, along with a Dave-Made air coil antenna on his own custom made antenna puck. He had trouble with squealing (seems to be a common theme) and finding the right drive power for the big amp. Gene liked to see the big dead key numbers on the meter. But that made him sound mushy, which was fodder for yet even more conflict. Other stations that Gene put together: Gene eventually moved his machining/LED business into a large garden shed adjacent to his garage. So he could monitor the local comings and goings while he was turning metal, he put up an Imax antenna on the shed roof and borrowed Pete's Navaho TRC-441 and ran it into a Fat Boy 3 transistor amp. Ironically, while his signal was not quite as strong as his main base, his audio was much louder on this "outbuilding base station". When Gene bought a house down in Mystic Isle New Jersey, to keep his big boat, he set up a station there. He ran his Icom IC-718, the Heathkit SB-230 amplifier and another Imax antenna. He wanted to be able to make contact with us from down there, but was never able to do it. There were rumors that he was "warmly welcomed" by the locals there. But I can't confirm it. Continued.....
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Post by BBB on Apr 5, 2016 11:35:25 GMT -5
OK, since this recording was taken exactly 10 years ago today, I figured I'd put it up. This was typical of the type of nonsense that went on on channel 21 back in the day. "Ol' Zero-Five" was visiting Pete, and the two of them were having a bit of fun. Also heard were Snowman (RIP), 206, 575, Gary, Number 7, Tree Frog, and a few others in the background. Also present were the typical jammers that liked to interfere with those they didn't like. home.ptd.net/~n3cvj/0403.mp3Wow, that brought back some memories.
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 5, 2016 18:18:35 GMT -5
OK, since this recording was taken exactly 10 years ago today, I figured I'd put it up. This was typical of the type of nonsense that went on on channel 21 back in the day. "Ol' Zero-Five" was visiting Pete, and the two of them were having a bit of fun. Also heard were Snowman (RIP), 206, 575, Gary, Number 7, Tree Frog, and a few others in the background. Also present were the typical jammers that liked to interfere with those they didn't like. home.ptd.net/~n3cvj/0403.mp3Wow, that brought back some memories. There's more where that came from. This week and next, I'll be posting recordings on their 10 year anniversary......
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 6, 2016 6:20:23 GMT -5
OK, since this recording was taken exactly 10 years ago today, I figured I'd put it up. This was typical of the type of nonsense that went on on channel 21 back in the day. "Ol' Zero-Five" was visiting Pete, and the two of them were having a bit of fun. Also heard were Snowman (RIP), 206, 575, Gary, Number 7, Tree Frog, and a few others in the background. Also present were the typical jammers that liked to interfere with those they didn't like. home.ptd.net/~n3cvj/0403.mp3As promised, here's another 10 year anniversary classic gem from "Ol' Zero-Five" and the locals on channel 21: 04/05/2006 Part1 04/05/2006 Part2
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Post by BBB on Apr 6, 2016 11:48:01 GMT -5
Nice, I hear some more familiar voices in those gates. Interestingly, only a few operators actually sounded good. I'm probably assuming correctly that it was more of an "All Knobs to the Right" thing going on back then
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
Posts: 6,245
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Post by Sandbagger on Apr 6, 2016 12:23:23 GMT -5
Nice, I hear some more familiar voices in those gates. Interestingly, only a few operators actually sounded good. I'm probably assuming correctly that it was more of an "All Knobs to the Right" thing going on back then All knobs to the right was a common theme on channel 21, and many "modern" CB operators. Thankfully, that's not the case on Channel 13 these days......
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Post by Night Ranger on Apr 6, 2016 13:00:31 GMT -5
Nice, I hear some more familiar voices in those gates. Interestingly, only a few operators actually sounded good. I'm probably assuming correctly that it was more of an "All Knobs to the Right" thing going on back then All knobs to the right was a common theme on channel 21, and many "modern" CB operators. Thankfully, that's not the case on Channel 13 these days...... I still remember the guy that played the "worldwide-worldwide" sound clip over and over on channel 21. I was sooooooo glad when you moved to channel 13. Besides, I doubt he liked me very much after I ran him off the channel from 600 to 700 miles away with my two 3-500z's and my lazy H antenna. Night Ranger
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