Shops to look for in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri

[Eldorado828]

On a road trip and currently located in Clarksville TN. To we start another leg towards Williamstown KY then over to Petersburg KY. Following that in back across Missouri on the route back home.

Question is, is there some notable cb shops worthy of dropping in to find those things I might need to have??

I see trucks cb is in Glasgow but not sure if it's open to the public. Any others?

 

[Slowmover]

Nomad Radio
Louisville, KY
Under new management since 1980.

He’s city center so I haven’t stopped off in big truck. Who knows what treasures are hidden in that temple?

One of my favorite truck stops in that area is the new Loves at Elizabethtown, KY. I run the KY Parkway route thru Dyersburg, TN (nice Loves there) fairly often the past six years. The one at Calvary City is also good, just busy. Anything else near L-ville, avoid, unless you get well into Indiana. Rough areas near Forts Knox and Campbell.

You won’t find many shops that “advertise” on AM-19 thru those stretches you mention. E/W Tennessee and E/S Georgia plus E North Carolina come to mind on that score. The others have work to do. (Don’t ever use Ch 5 CB Shop at Memphis, for example)

Rays CB Shop
West Memphis, AR

Same property as the Petro (a good one). Strip mall, facing McDonalds on Petro Dr. (West Memphis is legendary. All I have to do is key up anywhere in the USA with, “ . . kick it back to 26 for the real deal” , and everyone knows the hoodlums I’ve seen, ha!)

Past busy main roads it’s word of mouth. You hear 2,3 rock haulers with nice audio chances are it’s the same guy set them up. Same for bull haulers in a herd formation. Will have to ask.

You pretty much need to be on the main routes:

IH-65, Birmingham to Indianapolis

IH-24, Chattanooga to Nashville

IH-85, NC into Atlanta

IH-40, Knoxille to Amarillo

IH-55 & IH-57 from south IL into Chicago

IH-70, KC to all points East.

IH-80/94, ChicagoLand

IH-10, San Antonio to Slidell

IH-20, Atlanta to Permian Basin

IH-80 & IH-76, Pennsylvania (very big)

IH-81, Knoxville to Harrisburg

Ohio is the center of the radio universe.
Extends to adjoining states.

I can probably name at least one shop on each of those. Those are the busiest for radio traffic. Some other routes on big roads have high volume, but not much radio chatter unless there’s a wreck. Tend to be very rural. Where a scanner to cover the other CB channels is good (and anything along Ohio River).

IH-55 Memphis to STL
IH-24, Nashville to IL
IH-35, Minneapolis to OKC
IH-64, Kentucky & Virginia
IH-79, Ohio & WV
IH-68, Maryland

I got you for TN & KY, but for MO it’s going to be someone between Kansas City & Omaha (name not known to me).

Other areas can have loads of chatter, but you won’t hear as many good radios. Sometimes it’s embarrassingly bad ones. Meaning they’s all runnin’ Bubba Fred Specials. Just ask contributor RWB who lives in SW Missouri.

Speaking of which, the IOWA 80 Petro at Joplin, MO has something for every truck driver and his sweetheart. Stop off a few hours.

 

[Slowmover]

You head back thru OKC, stay the night five (5) miles or so from the IH-40 & IH-35 junction (south likely better than north). You’ve heard me say it’s the best on-air group in the country, and it is.

Rattlesnake & Co

OKC is outstanding natural terrain for radio. On a cool, clear night it’s something else. You’ll get feedback on your signal better than anywhere else I’ve been. Great group (except a couple of drunks occasionally on Kenwoods & Icoms).

Edmond Amateur Radio Club
Is where I found adapters at short notice.

.

 

[Slowmover]

No buried treasure found?

 

[Eldorado828]

Slow, by the time we made our scheduled attractions and my lack of keeping up with wwdx I may have missed a few chances. I'd hoped to have a little more time during the travel but.... I'll be back up to Clarksville TN around August traveling alone with no schedule to adhere to, so I can hit a few shops that trip.

Couldn't this time but your advice has been useful for that trip so it's very appreciated.

 

[Slowmover]

I laid out what I believe to be true for what a truck driver will encounter. And wrote these posts with non truck drivers in mind.

A highlighter pen across those busy Interstate stretches on a map should reveal a pattern useful for travel. The areas to use a scanner, also, in a different color.

Where rail lines and major waterways intersect is already obvious: there’s a town or major city at that location. Means Intermodal and bulk commodity. Masses of trucks then fanning out.

Where I-155 crosses the Mississippi ought to have a radio tech serving Northwestern TN, Missouri boot heel, and NE Arkansas.

There are a couple of major chain truck stops just north of the IH-55 & IH-155. I’d start there in a Yellow Pages search.

That’s the way I’d use a map to try to locate. Choke-points or water-ports.

Otherwise (from there) it’s EFFINGHAM, IL or WEST MEMPHIS, AR both of which are kinda far and maybe OOR for those drivers.

Unless Bubba Fred moved over from Joplin, MO.

.

 

[jkp1]

I google cb sales or cb repair a lot when I'm on the road. That usually brings up something.

 

[Slowmover]

I google cb sales or cb repair a lot when I'm on the road. That usually brings up something.

Ham Radio
Amateur Radio

 

[jkp1]

CB. I'll check out every place I can just for something to do. Kinda enjoy experiencing the places people talk about on the Forum. Im always hope I'll find a good shop. Unfortunately, I'm usually disappointed. I am grateful to the forum and all the good info that helps me know the difference.

 

[Slowmover]

CB. I'll check out every place I can just for something to do. Kinda enjoy experiencing the places people talk about on the Forum. Im always hope I'll find a good shop. Unfortunately, I'm usually disappointed. I am grateful to the forum and all the good info that helps me know the difference.

The revised version of, Blue Highways?
Now with supplemental index

 

[jkp1]

I'm an oversize load escort. I'm still in the enjoy traveling stage. I try to find something interesting to do or see where ever I am.

 

[G GOLLY WAlly]

Slow I'll have to try and check out Effingham, Illinois. Elizabethtown, Tn and West Memphis I run those roads quite a bit. I bet I've been on the road with you at some point in the last five years and didn't know it. I've seen a sign for Bob's CB coming up here to Pa last week, I think yove mentioned that place before, I often entertain the thought of checking it out. One place I have checked out was Snappy's. If I remember right its across from the TA in Tridelphia Wv, I don't know anything about his work, but I thought he had a bunch of over priced radios. especially for radios without SSB.

 

[jkp1]

The last time I was in Effingham, the service wasn't very good. The had a limited number of radios, and they didn't want to sell me anything that was SMT. They couldn't/didn't want to , work on SMT radios. That was a couple of years ago.

 

[Slowmover]

Came thru Joplin, MO in the o’dark thirty to hear the singin’, jinglin’

Stop right in
To your Highway Forty Four
CB Store!

Your home of the Bubba Fred!
Key down, and leave ‘em for dead!

The Joplin CB Store
On Highway Forty-Four!!

 

[Slowmover]

Slow I'll have to try and check out Effingham, Illinois. Elizabethtown, Tn and West Memphis I run those roads quite a bit. I bet I've been on the road with you at some point in the last five years and didn't know it. I've seen a sign for Bob's CB coming up here to Pa last week, I think yove mentioned that place before, I often entertain the thought of checking it out. One place I have checked out was Snappy's. If I remember right its across from the TA in Tridelphia Wv, I don't know anything about his work, but I thought he had a bunch of over priced radios. especially for radios without SSB.

BOBS CB
Strattanville, PA

is definitely worth anyone’s time to stop. CB shops put a lot into a little space and this is no exception.

Yes, I’m sure you’ve passed me in one direction or the other. Feels that way.