The Post Sandy "Mud Duck" edition of CRR 10/31

[Sandbagger]

Well, the local area had just been devistated by the effects of "Superstorm" Sandy, but CRR still went on. We had Pete running on 12V battery power and bone stock 4 watts. Nitro and Sparky were "camped out" in their recreational vehicles with generators running. Since Pete had no electric power, Dr. Hammer was not able to join us, but he was able to listen in via my streaming audio server. Out of respect for those who were operating with less than optimal power, I also ran a barefoot Johnson 4740 mobile rig on a stock mic. Surprisingly, the widespread power outages in the regional area made for some really low noise levels, and communication was able to go on unhampered despite the 10 or more db reduction in signal potentials. It was a good thing the skip decided to take a break..... But this will be one for the memories. It was different, which made it a little more fun.

[cbrown]

A nice quiet band isn't something we hear much any more. Glad you were able to still pull off the CRR.

[Night Ranger]

Nov 1, 2012 6:27:08 GMT -5 Sandbagger said:

Well, the local area had just been devistated by the effects of "Superstorm" Sandy, but CRR still went on. We had Pete running on 12V battery power and bone stock 4 watts. Nitro and Sparky were "camped out" in their recreational vehicles with generators running. Since Pete had no electric power, Dr. Hammer was not able to join us, but he was able to listen in via my streaming audio server. Out of respect for those who were operating with less than optimal power, I also ran a barefoot Johnson 4740 mobile rig on a stock mic. Surprisingly, the widespread power outages in the regional area made for some really low noise levels, and communication was able to go on unhampered despite the 10 or more db reduction in signal potentials. It was a good thing the skip decided to take a break..... But this will be one for the memories. It was different, which made it a little more fun.

Sorry to hear you got hit hard with the storm. Where I am in South Carolina we just had some mild gusts of wind for about two days. I saw the power flicker two or three times, and that was about it.

Night Ranger

[Sandbagger]

Nov 1, 2012 12:15:33 GMT -5 Night Ranger said:

Nov 1, 2012 6:27:08 GMT -5 Sandbagger said:

Well, the local area had just been devistated by the effects of "Superstorm" Sandy, but CRR still went on. We had Pete running on 12V battery power and bone stock 4 watts. Nitro and Sparky were "camped out" in their recreational vehicles with generators running. Since Pete had no electric power, Dr. Hammer was not able to join us, but he was able to listen in via my streaming audio server. Out of respect for those who were operating with less than optimal power, I also ran a barefoot Johnson 4740 mobile rig on a stock mic. Surprisingly, the widespread power outages in the regional area made for some really low noise levels, and communication was able to go on unhampered despite the 10 or more db reduction in signal potentials. It was a good thing the skip decided to take a break..... But this will be one for the memories. It was different, which made it a little more fun.

Sorry to hear you got hit hard with the storm. Where I am in South Carolina we just had some mild gusts of wind for about two days. I saw the power flicker two or three times, and that was about it.

Night Ranger

We made the best of it. And who says a bunch of old time CB radio guys aren't emergency-ready? It was like field day..... almost.

[cbrown]

Nov 2, 2012 6:12:10 GMT -5 Sandbagger said:

We made the best of it. And who says a bunch of old time CB radio guys aren't emergency-ready? It was like field day..... almost.

Same here. I had everything ready, just in case.

[BBB]

My radio signal meter was also reading "0" during the outage. Pure silence running off the 12 VDC battery system during times of inactivity. I too could hear everyone perfectly fine. Amazing how much combined RF noise all those little wall warts, TV's, appliances, ect must make.

RF power output was down a bit on the mobile/ base that I was running off an Optima Yellow Top battery at 12.8 VDC as opposed to the normal 14.5 VDC my 100 amp converter puts out. The 4 Mosfet rig I was running only swung to about 30-40 watts instead of 50-60 and when I added the 4 pill, it would only swing to about 120 watts instead of 250-300. I could watch the voltage read out drop when the amp was engaged so I didn't use it.

I'm gonna have to put a "Super Receive Mode" label next to "OFF" position on the main breaker panel of my house 10-4.

Thanks to all who offered the use of their generators when they got their power back on. Fortunately we had one for the duration of the 7 day outage but it speaks volumes about the kind of folks that are still on the radio today...seriously, thank you.