1980s Vintage Emergency CB radios tested. Kraco Mayday 1 and Mayday 2 RF lifeline before cellphones
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- čas přidán 17. 08. 2024
- Video where we discuss and test two vintage emergency CB radios from the early 1980s the Kraco Mayday 1 and Mayday 2. Straight from the trunk of Granny's Lincoln to my lab. Thanks to my wife for helping me with the range testing .
#survivalcomms - Věda a technologie
I have my dad and CB radios to thank for an extremely long career in public-safety communications... In the 70's. as a 13 year old, Dad let me put CB's in all our vehicles, a 30' tower on our roof with beam antenna, long wire for SWL and a constantly changing variety of homemade CB and scanner antennas. Good times for a geek kid, I was very blessed, Thanks Dad !
Mom told me many years later, they always knew when I was going to sneak out late at night because my CB base would clearly modulate in their bedroom stereo. (Happy Mother's Day Mom)
Sounds like my childhood :) Spent many nights ragchewing on the CB . I had an old Lafayette HA600 during the cold war golden age of SWL . I wish I still had it there is something special about tuning across a log scale. Thanks for watching !
CB to the rescue! In April of 1986, a violent spring snowstorm stopped I-70 traffic crossing Floyd Hill, Colorado for nearly 11 hours. Our little house sat just to the south of the highway at 8,800' elevation, and for that time this Extra class ham became "Floyd Hill Base" on CB. The power was out, but our fireplace - and the phone lines - were still OK. I hooked my Icom 735 to a deep cycle battery and relayed call after call to worried families and businesses throughout the country. The stranded truckers (and a few POVs with visible CB antennas) were a magnet to the surrounding motorists. Once in a lifetime experience.
Thank you for sharing that story John. They were fortunate to have you ready and willing to help and that is a great example of how people coped and can still cope with an event without smartphones. The most important part of the puzzle was the willingness and ability of others to assist one another. Thanks for watching !
Wow. Kraco. THAT'S a name I haven't heard in a very long time. People used to call it 'Krapco' but one of the best car stereos I ever had was a Kraco.
I used a CB in my vehicles until a few years ago when the language got so filthy and vugar that I didn't want my wife & little girls to hear it.
This was a great overview and trip back in time, Brett. Those old radios are awesome. Love the yellow diddle stick! Haven't seen one of those since my TV/stereo repair days....40+ yrs ago!! Lol.
Its amazing how well the items of brands we used to make fun of have stood the test of time. I want to start collecting Kmart stuff now :) CB around here is foreign language, roger beeps, and overmodulated indecipherable audio. Back then our radios sounded good. It is all about the judicious application of tuner spray :) Remember this quote : "My dad is a tv repair man, he's got this ultimate set of tools, i can fix it". I mowed the yard of an older fellow that lived on the street behind us and he had a small hobby TV shop set up on his back porch. He gave me a small portable set that had a luggage style case and it was the cats pajamas back then as none of my friends had their own TV. I miss those days gone by.
Very cool! I remember a similar handheld emergency CB radio from Radio Shack. My Dad had a 23 ch. JCPenney CB in his car. I loved that thing! Now I see why you made the 27 MHz jungle antenna!
There were a plethora of vendors cranking them out back then. Like I was telling Rob in an earlier comment the brands we made fun of back then actually have stood the test of time better than we would have ever imagined. I would love to have the old Sears Roadtalker I had . Thanks for watching !
Hi Brett. Thank you so much for that - it was really interesting. ATB and stay safe. Nigel
Glad you enjoyed it Nigel ! Thanks for watching !
Enjoyed it, Thanks!
You are welcome ! Thanks for watching !
IHMO, CB is quietly making a come back.
Good point. It really works a lot better than most folks give it credit for. With a good antenna it really can shine. Thanks for watching !
Hey SurvivalComms,
I just watched your video and I must say it's really helpful and well made.
I was wondering if I could help you design your thumbnails for better CTR? Wanna try out a free one?
Hey, quick question, I just watched your chameleon mpas review, and was curious what toroids you used, can you help out? By the way, best review of it ever, and could tell you weren't a paid reviewer like all the others... having trouble finding out how to make a 5:1 on a round toroid...
FT140-43 was what I had on hand and used. Thank you for your compliment and thank you for watching !