POTA haters and purposeful interference.

[Mudfoot]

My dad volunteered for REACT. I remember tagging along to some of the "get together" meeting. My best memories were the CB Jamborees. They weren't small gatherings. Usually held at the County fairgrounds. I got a white helmet and a big 5 D cell flashlihght with red cone to direct traffic to park.

Plenty of entertainment and food. People wore their club jackets and shirts with their handles. They were always fun and family friendly. I remember driving to the Outer Banks with my girlfriend and mom. We stopped at a roadside rest on the way. We got a free cup of coffee and some cookies from a react booth. It was the mid 80's. I think that was the last one I ever saw.

When I worked EMS, we took our CB out of our Ambulance around 1982. We kept our base radio at the station. Our last radio was a Cobra 19. We usually listened to the locals talk on channel 10. I took it out around 2002.

 

[W4KVW]

My dad volunteered for REACT. I remember tagging along to some of the "get together" meeting. My best memories were the CB Jamborees. They weren't small gatherings. Usually held at the County fairgrounds. I got a white helmet and a big 5 D cell flashlihght with red cone to direct traffic to park.

Plenty of entertainment and food. People wore their club jackets and shirts with their handles. They were always fun and family friendly. I remember driving to the Outer Banks with my girlfriend and mom. We stopped at a roadside rest on the way. We got a free cup of coffee and some cookies from a react booth. It was the mid 80's. I think that was the last one I ever saw.

When I worked EMS, we took our CB out of our Ambulance around 1982. We kept our base radio at the station. Our last radio was a Cobra 19. We usually listened to the locals talk on channel 10. I took it out around 2002.

I still have my Club Vest from the ADF Operators from Channel 5. It was the Armadillo Operators. I was just a teen aged kid, so the vest no longer fits me but it's still in very good condition. I was ADF-1746 "SIX-SHOOTER". My dad was ADF-1748 "BOOTLEGGER". The vest has a Very Large Armadillo patch that covers most all of the back of the vest that is made of what looks like Bright Blue Crushed Velvet. Someone offered to buy it from me many years ago as a collectable, but they never came & picked it up? I'm pretty sure the group was formed in Texas originally. I'm in Northeast Florida & the group had members across the USA. I'm sure that most all are now deceased.

W4KVW

 

[BC Coyote]

I was involved with REACT on Vancouver Island in the mid to late 1990's. It was pretty much the last gasp of the organization in Canada at that time I think. I had the overnight monitor shift on certain days of the week and kept a radio on channel 9 in my bedroom. I did it for a few years and in all that time I never dealt with any kind of real emergency. Just directing lost motorists and the occasional request for a tow truck to be called.

Our director at the time was a fellow who went by "Little John" and he saved a guys life on channel 9...........it was late at night and he heard a call for help down in the static. He got back to the guy and it transpired he was thousands of miles away in the Northwest Territories and had broken down in the middle of nowhere at -30 F. It took responders almost two hours to reach the guy, but he survived with just a case of hypothermia and some frostbite. The NWT first responders were nice enough to call Little John the next morning and let him know he had likely saved the guys life. So that was at least one time that REACT & CB radio proved to be a worthwhile service!

 

[AudioShockwav]

I was involved with REACT on Vancouver Island in the mid to late 1990's. It was pretty much the last gasp of the organization in Canada at that time I think. I had the overnight monitor shift on certain days of the week and kept a radio on channel 9 in my bedroom. I did it for a few years and in all that time I never dealt with any kind of real emergency. Just directing lost motorists and the occasional request for a tow truck to be called.

Our director at the time was a fellow who went by "Little John" and he saved a guys life on channel 9...........it was late at night and he heard a call for help down in the static. He got back to the guy and it transpired he was thousands of miles away in the Northwest Territories and had broken down in the middle of nowhere at -30 F. It took responders almost two hours to reach the guy, but he survived with just a case of hypothermia and some frostbite. The NWT first responders were nice enough to call Little John the next morning and let him know he had likely saved the guys life. So that was at least one time that REACT & CB radio proved to be a worthwhile service!

I was listening to 9 one night around 9 pm, guy gets on calling for help,
He, his wife and two children were towing a fifth wheel up near Edison Camp, around Shaver lake and got caught in a nasty storm.
They had gotten stuck in deep snow earlier that day, no cell back then and were now about out of fuel.
I contacted Fresno county sheriff's, made the report and within 20 minutes they were in contact with him on channel 9.
Short story, it took SAR on snowmobiles to get them out, truck a trailer left until after the storm to be recovered.
Often it was something like wheeling in a off road area, broken drive line, mechanical issues, can you call a family member to help kind of thing.
Cellular changed all that.


73
Jeff

 

[N8YX]

Plenty of entertainment and food. People wore their club jackets and shirts with their handles. They were always fun and family friendly. I remember driving to the Outer Banks with my girlfriend and mom. We stopped at a roadside rest on the way. We got a free cup of coffee and some cookies from a react booth. It was the mid 80's. I think that was the last one I ever saw.

Last one I remember with an actual REACT booth was south of Canton, OH and was periodically active through the mid-2000s. Me and a lot of my motorcycle buddies (many of whom are licensed hams, CBers, etc.) would stop there for coffee on the way home from a day's ride. Always put a bit of lettuce in their contributions jar to keep the operation (based out of Massillon) viable.

As far as monitoring:

I keep a receiver on all the frequencies people gravitate to for emergency help. Somewhat easy to do when you have a bank of them which can be computer controlled. The frustrating part is the apparent takeover of Ch9 by the Latin-America Chit-Chat Club, various anonymous jammers on 121.500 and so forth. No one wants to listen to that all day.

 

[BC Coyote]

the apparent takeover of Ch9 by the Latin-America Chit-Chat Club,

Otherwise known as the "Puerto Rico Superbowl". The story I heard was that when REACT started winding down in the late 90's, Puerto Rican CBers started using 9 as it was a somewhat quieter than any of the other 39 channels....... since then usage has spread to other Latin American countries too.
It personally doesn't bother me, as NOBODY uses 9 for emergencies anymore!

 

[Mudfoot]

I remember my dad monitoring channel 9 when he belonged TO REACT. He had a Utica TCIII base with Turner Plus II. He had a 1966 Rambler Classic with a steel whip. I would talk to him on his way to and from work at Rockwell International. He had an old Johnson mobile, then later on, a Lafayette solid state 23 channel.

We had a Radio Shack 5/8 wave ground plane about 30' high. I remember talking to all the locals and surrounding communities. The noise floor was quiet back then. Just didn't have all the RFI noise pollution like there is today.

 

[N8YX]

I learned a lot about weak-signal upper HF work (optimizing antennas, sked times, etc) when skip rolled up for the evening and all the locals went to bed. Had a number of friends on channels 35-40 and we'd keep in touch in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes with no movement of the S meter at all - but still readable. Many of these folks were over 100mi to my SW.

You're right about noise levels. I have a couple of general coverage receivers which are very quiet on 12 through 10M but even the premium CB rigs I own show increased noise levels from "back in the day". Good question if those skeds could be repeated. I'd probably put up a fixed-pointed yagi of some sort just for that path.

 

[N8YX]

Otherwise known as the "Puerto Rico Superbowl". The story I heard was that when REACT started winding down in the late 90's, Puerto Rican CBers started using 9 as it was a somewhat quieter than any of the other 39 channels....... since then usage has spread to other Latin American countries too.
It personally doesn't bother me, as NOBODY uses 9 for emergencies anymore!

What's the story with 26.715? I hear a lot more Bowl-style activity on that frequency than I do on Ch9. Wish I'd have stayed with a Spanish speaking gal pal long enough for her to teach me more of the language - including some of the cultural nuances.

 

[Rwb]

Last one I remember with an actual REACT booth was south of Canton, OH and was periodically active through the mid-2000s. Me and a lot of my motorcycle buddies (many of whom are licensed hams, CBers, etc.) would stop there for coffee on the way home from a day's ride. Always put a bit of lettuce in their contributions jar to keep the operation (based out of Massillon) viable.

As far as monitoring:

I keep a receiver on all the frequencies people gravitate to for emergency help. Somewhat easy to do when you have a bank of them which can be computer controlled. The frustrating part is the apparent takeover of Ch9 by the Latin-America Chit-Chat Club, various anonymous jammers on 121.500 and so forth. No one wants to listen to that all day.

and that texmex female tazi dispatcher same words every little bit. i had a texmex friend decipher her so id know

 

[Mudfoot]

Wish I'd have stayed with a Spanish speaking gal pal long enough for her to teach me more of the language - including some of the cultural nuances.

I picked up Spanish during my two year tour in Honduras in the early 80's. When I returned to Fort Bliss, I was ready to hit the streets in Juarez Mexico. Had to pick up a whole new dialect, lol. I thought Spanish was Spanish.

 

[Rwb]

I picked up Spanish during my two year tour in Honduras in the early 80's. When I returned to Fort Bliss, I was ready to hit the streets in Juarez Mexico. Had to pick up a whole new dialect, lol. I thought Spanish was Spanish.

i heard there is maybe 6 versions of spanish, might be even more