I had a lot of fun, with my CB radios, until people around me found out that I could also FIX them. Then I wound up in the CB Radio business, which was never my intention. And I was still working a full time job then too.
I had Big Rigs pull up in front of my house with some big burly truck driver knocking on my door at all hours, wanting me to fix his radio, or re-tune his antenna array.
At the height of my life with CB Radio, I was running a quad similar to a Moonraker up about 60' and talking to just about anyplace I wanted to talk to. I picked up a Heathkit DX-100 transmitter at a yard sale for $10, and converted it to one heck of a CB Transmitter.
I used an Allied AX-190 Communications Receiver, bought at Radio Shack, as my CB Receiver and I built a relay box to switch from receive to transmit, triggered by my D104 (amplified) microphone. That rig would PING like a Browning Eagle when I'd key the mic.
I could be talking to a local, and be broken in on by someone half way around the world.
In those days, there were NO personal computers or cell phones. It was a different time.
CB got de-regulated in the 70's and really went all to hades. That's when I sold the above mentioned station and went to Amateur Radio.
I still hold a HAM Radio license today, but I'm not active. I keep a small 2-Meter radio at my home, for Emergencies.
I was working the Hamfests circuit, when I first heard about the Commodore 64 computer. A friend of mine won one as a door prize at our local Hamfest, and didn't want it so sold it to me, real cheap.
Voila, I wound up in the C-64 repair business. But when the Commodore company went bankrupt, I migrated to the IBM PC.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Make all the money you want....just don't tell anyone about it. Cash only, from their hand to your pocket. Best way to do business.
There's always Barter too.
Happy Holidays,
TM
