INTRO:

This past September, a once popular radio service observed its 50th anniversary, without fanfare, celebrations, or even any notice from the radio community.  What was this service, and why doesn't anyone seem to care? 

This is Bill Continelli, W2XOY, and I'll be back in a moment with the answers, here on "This Week in Amateur Radio".

September 11, 1958.  Some hams still remember the day, and a few are still angry.  For that is the day that the FCC took away "our" 11 meter band and carved out the new Class D Citizens Radio Service.  Amateurs were outraged at the time--not only did we lose frequencies, but the new 27 Mc CB Service represented a real threat to Amateur Radio.  Affordable two way communications were now available to the general public, without a theory or code test.  Many hams predicted the destruction of our hobby by this no test interloper.

In the beginning, there was some cause for concern.  By 1960, the licensed CB population was 100,000.  By 1962, the number of licensed CB'ers exceeded the number of hams.  By the end of the decade, over 800,000 legal CB'ers were crowded on the 23 channels, along with an estimated two to three million unlicensed operators.  In contrast, the ham population was stagnant at 250,000.  CB'ers had their own specialty magazines (CB Horizons, CB Magazine and S-9), as well as regular columns in Popular Electronics and Electronix Illustrated.

In the mid 1970's, the CB population exploded, thanks to the oil crisis, truckers, CB songs on country radio stations, and an endless parade of "CB" movies and TV shows featuring a variety of good ol' boys, women in severely undersized clothing, and muscle cars with 102" whips.  The FCC was inundated with applications at the rate of one million per month. 

Articles about CB appeared in just about every newspaper and magazine.  Even the staid and stogy Consumer Reports tested some CB radios in one of their issues.  CB's were sold everywhere---department stores, catalogue stores, discount chains, grocery stores, pharmacies and, of course, truck stops.  It is estimated that by the end of the 70's, over 30 million CB's were in the hands of the general public.  I remember conducting several informal surveys on the cars I saw.  For a period of time, one in five---or 20% of all vehicles were equipped with 27 MHz radios.

But there is a big difference between a fad and a hobby.  In the early 1980's, the CB bubble began to burst.  Sales began a free fall.  Many of the secondary CB manufacturers that had appeared in the mid 70's went out of business.  Then some of the major companies, who had been in the CB field since the 50's, either folded or got out of CB radio.  Big names such as Browning, Tram, Johnson, Pace and Lafayette disappeared from the ranks of CB manufacturers.  Stores cut back on their CB inventory.  CB antennas on houses and cars rusted, broke, or were simply removed by their owners. 

CB radios began showing up at garage sales for $5.  Membership in REACT dropped by 80%.  Ironically, during this time, ham radio was enjoying a renaissance, with the amateur population increasing almost 300% over the 1970 numbers. 

This free fall accelerated in the 90's when affordable cell phones appeared.  Sears, then a barometer of what the general public wanted, stopped selling CB's at their stores and even removed them from their catalogue.

Today, it is actually difficult to buy a CB radio in a local store.  On an informal tour of Sears, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, and other local department stores, I found only two Wal-Marts with CB radios in stock.  Each had about five units in stock---and they have sat there, unsold, in the five months I've been monitoring. Even Radio Shack---which used to have shelves filled with all types of 27 MHz radios, has drastically cut back.  Many Radio Shack stores---especially those in affluent neighborhoods---no longer carry any CB radios.  The rest have maybe one or two models.  The shelves have been turned over to FRS/GMRS radios and, of course, cell phones.  I've scanned cars in parking lots and on the highway.  Less than 1% have a CB antenna on them.  I've listened on the air, when skip is not present.  Except for channels 6 (a special case), 11, and 19, the frequencies are quiet.

Does this mean that CB radio is dead?  No, not by a long shot.  The internet and truck stops are full of CB radios---usually high end models with lots of bells and whistles that appeal to the serious hobbyists or truckers.  Having been tossed aside by a general public bored with 27 MHz, CB has returned to its roots--a die hard base of two to three million users that will never go away.  No matter what other communications services come along in the future, there will always be those who will cling to 27 MHz.ml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

What does this mean for ham radio?  Well first, we can exhale now--CB won't kill us.  And second, we can take comfort in the thought that there will always be die hard amateurs who, no matter what other radio service might appear, will always cherish their ham radio hobby.

I know, I'm one of them.

This is Bill Continelli, W2XOY, for "This Week in Amateur Radio".