THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR "THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO" BY WILLIAM CONTINELLI, W2XOY, WHO ALSO WROTE THE "WAYBACK MACHINE" SERIES.

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I DO A LOT OF TRAVELING FOR MY JOB. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, I TRY TO TAKE MY OWN CAR ON THESE TRIPS.   ON THE ROAD, THE RADIOS ARE GOING FULL BLAST. THE CB IS ON CH 19, THE SCANNER IS PROBING ALL FREQUENCIES BETWEEN 160.2 AND 161.5 MHZ LOOKING FOR TRAINS, THE 2 METER RIG IS ON 146.52 MHZ, AND THE AM RADIO IS SEEKING OUT UNIQUE STATIONS IN THE SMALL TOWNS I GO THROUGH.   IN THE BACK SEAT IS A SUITCASE FILLED WITH A YAESU FT-817, A DUAL BAND RIG, A SHORTWAVE RADIO, GMRS AND FRS RADIOS, AND ENOUGH BATTERIES TO JUMP START A PETERBILT.   LIFE IS GOOD.

I’VE DEVELOPED THE HABIT OF GOING TO TRUCKSTOPS.    THEY HAVE EVERYTHING, FROM A SMALL CHAPEL (FILLED WITH GRIZZLED TRUCKERS ON SUNDAY MORNING), TO GREAT FOOD, AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIES, CB RADIOS AND ACCESSORIES, AND LOTS OF HAM RIGS.

HAM RADIOS?? FOR SALE AT TRUCK STOPS?? OH YES.   FROM MY OBSERVATIONS, TRUCK STOPS ARE THE IN PLACE TO BUY YOUR HAM GEAR. JUST CHECK IT OUT.   AS YOU GO IN, YOU WILL SEE A WALL COVERED WITH RADIOS, ANTENNAS AND ACCESSORIES.   GO CLOSER. THERE ARE THE USUAL CB RADIOS FROM COBRA, UNIDEN AND MIDLAND.    YOU MIGHT SEE A SCANNER OR TWO. BUT IN TRUCK STOP AFTER TRUCK STOP, OVER 50% OF THE DISPLAY IS DEVOTED TO ONE BRAND OF AMATEUR EQUIPMENT.   NO, ITS NOT ICOM, KENWOOD, YAESU, OR EVEN ALINCO.    ITS NOT RANGER EITHER, BUT YOUR GETTING CLOSE. GIVE UP?   ITS GALAXY. NO, NOT GALAXY RADIO FROM THE 1960’S, THIS IS THE NEW GALAXY, MAKER OF 10 METER RADIOS.    YOU KNOW, THE GALAXY DX 33, DX 44, DX 55, DX 66, DX 77 , DX 88, AND DX 99--THOSE 10 METER RADIOS.    WHAT’S THAT?    YOU NEVER SAW THEM ADVERTISED IN QST, OR FEATURED IN THE AES OR HRO CATALOGUES?    ME NEITHER.   IN FACT, THE ONLY PLACE I’VE EVER SEEN GALAXY 10 METER RADIOS IS AT TRUCK STOPS OR IN CB STORES.

I KNOW, I KNOW, YOU’RE CONFUSED.   SO AM I. AFTER ALL, IF I WAS SELLING AMATEUR RADIOS, I WOULD TARGET MY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND ADVERTISING TOWARDS AMATEUR DEALERS AND PUBLICATIONS.   I DON’T SEE HOW GALAXY EXPECTS HAMS TO FIND THESE RADIOS AT TRUCK STOPS.    AND SO, AFTER THE 3RD OR 4TH TRUCK STOP, I DECIDED TO ASK.

I WAS SURPRISED, APPALLED AND TAKEN ABACK BY THE ANSWERS, AND YOU WILL BE TOO.    IT APPEARS - - ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? - - THAT THESE RADIOS AREN’T EVEN USED ON 10 METERS!!    THEY ARE PURCHASED AT THE TRUCK STOP FOR $200 TO $400.   THE BUYER THEN WALKS ACROSS THE PARKING LOT TO A TRAILER IN THE CORNER, COVERED WITH ANTENNAS. THERE USUALLY IS A SMALL SIGN OUT FRONT THAT SIMPLY SAYS “CB SHOP”. ONCE INSIDE, THE GALAXY GOES THROUGH A $30 TRANSFORMATION, EMERGING AS A CB RADIO WITH 200+ CHANNELS AND TWICE THE POWER THE FCC ALLOWS!!    IN THE METAMORPHOSIS FROM 10 METERS TO CB, THE 2 YEAR GUARANTY BECOMES VOID, BUT THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO BOTHER THE BUYER.

OVER AND OVER, I HEARD TRUCKERS SAY THAT THE GALAXY 10 METER RADIOS MADE THE BEST CB’S.    I ASKED THEM IF THEY REALIZED THAT THE CONVERSION MAY NOT BE LEGAL, AND THE RIGS WEREN’T TYPE ACCEPTED FOR 11 METERS. I POINTED TO THE SMALL SIGN IN THE DISPLAY CASE THAT USUALLY WARNED BUYERS NOT TO CONVERT THE RADIOS.    I ASKED THEM WHY THEY SIMPLY DIDN’T BUY THE COBRA, UNIDEN OR MIDLAND RADIOS ON DISPLAY--YOU KNOW, THE ONES WITH 40 CHANNELS, NOT 200, WITH 4 WATTS, NOT 25 AND WITH 90% MODULATION, NOT 150%. THEY GAVE ME AN AMUSED, TOLERANT SMILE.

I REALIZED THIS WAS AN EPIDEMIC!!    EXCESSIVE POWER!! EXCESSIVE MODULATION!!   ECHOS!! FEEDBACK!!    EXTRA CHANNELS!!!    I HAD TO NOTIFY GALAXY AT ONCE!!!  

AND SO, I SENT GALAXY THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL............

TO: GALAXY RADIO CORPORATION
FROM: BILL CONTINELLI, W2XOY
RE: ILLEGAL MODIFICATIONS

HI--I AM A REPORTER FOR “THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO”, WHICH IS HEARD ON OVER 100 AMATEUR REPEATERS COAST TO COAST.

I AM WRITING A STORY ON HOW GALAXY 10 METER RADIOS ARE SOLD AT TRUCK STOPS AND ARE ILLEGALLY CONVERTED TO 11 METER CB USE.   I WOULD LIKE SOME ANSWERS FROM YOU FOR USE IN MY REPORT.

WHY DO YOU SELL YOUR 10 METER RADIOS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH TRUCK STOPS?   WHY NOT SELL THEM THROUGH TRADITIONAL AMATEUR RADIO OUTLETS?

ARE YOU AWARE THAT AT THESE TRUCK STOPS YOUR 10 METER RADIOS ARE BEING CONVERTED ILLEGALLY TO CB OPERATION?

WHAT ACTIONS WILL YOU TAKE TO STOP THIS EPIDEMIC OF ILLEGAL CONVERSIONS?

WILL YOU REDESIGN YOUR 10 METER RADIOS SO THEY NO LONGER CAN BE MODIFIED?

WILL YOU PULL THE FRANCHISES OF ALL THE TRUCK STOPS ENGAGED IN THIS ILLEGAL PRACTICE?

I LOOK FORWARD TO USING YOUR RESPONSE IN MY REPORT.

SINCERELY,
BILL CONTINELLI, W2XOY

AND THIS WAS GALAXY’S REPLY.....

(SILENCE FOLLOWED BY THE SOUND OF A LONELY CRICKET CHIRPING).

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT. SO, WHAT ARE WE, AS HAMS, GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT THAT DX-99 LOOKS GOOD.   REAL GOOD.   I’M SAVING MY MONEY.

THIS IS BILL CONTINELLI, W2XOY, FOR THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO.