Many years ago young men gathered in corners of their bedrooms, in little closets, or in their parents' cars and participated in the latest communication craze. Lunchtime conversation at school included words like skip, linears, handles, and other arcane terminology known only to a select few. I was one of those young men.
I wasn't deeply into the craze. I didn't own a base station. I had an inexpensive radio with only a few channels. I'd almost forgotten my participation. Friends of mine who have scattered throughout the globe stayed with it and moved from citizen's band radios to the world of Morse code and amateur radio, also known as ham radio. I like that. Among the many memories that have slipped beyond my grasp, some flotsam stays within reach. One of those bits of data is K9SOH, my grandfather McNaughton's callsign. When he was spinning the dials and calling on friends around the world, he'd introduce himself, "CQ, CQ, CQ. This is K9SOH--Kilo Niner Sorry Old Ham ..." I'd stand by listening, amazed that he could speak with somebody on another continent from the collection of equipment cloistered in a room in the corner of his garage.
I didn't aspire to be a ham, but I did want the notoriety of being an unlicensed voice on the local airwaves. I'm reminded of that aged desire because I came across a list recently. And here it is. It includes the person's handle, or name that they used when transmitting, the CB channel they monitored, their twenty, or location, and their real name. To marginally protect them--we were testing the tensile strength of Communications law after all--I am including their given name and their last initial. Maybe. Maybe it's not their last initial at all. Maybe I'm making it all up. Who knows? But if you were there and you recall, you can check me on it in your own pile of discarded trivia. Otherwise, please enjoy the colorful handles and this brief trip back to rebels pirating the airwaves. 10-4?
HANDLE MONITORS TWENTY NAME
Cherokee Kid 11
Snoopy 11 1/2 mile Sugarland Gary S.
Angus Rancher 11 Sugarland Road David C.
Motormouth 1, 11 Sugarland Road Jerry P.
Ski Rope 11 Front Street
Wally Gator 11 Tampa
Southern Belle 11 Miami
Jack the Jew 11 Southern Indiana
Unit 9 11 Miami
Two-gun Kid 11 Lynwood Drive Phillip S.
Country Girl 10 6 miles south Mary B.
Tree Doctor 13 2 miles south David C.
Badcat 10 1 mile south Larry J.
Big Bill 11 1/2 mile south
Apple Picker 11 Mobile radio Tim R.
Willy ? Mobile radio Bill R.
Converse Kid 10 Terrace Park Dean G.
Porky Pig 10 Rex C.
Mr. Baseball 10 West End Bobby F.
Bald Eagle 17 South Petersburg
Big Mac 15 3D store Woody C.
Super Chicken Sugarland Road David B.
Gearjammer 19
Huggy Bear 11
Waldo 19 Trucker
Drummer Boy Mark R.
Skipland
Newcomer 14 1/2 mile NW Mark V.
Jimbo
Scooby Doo 19
Phil Harmon 10
Doberman Kid south Washington
Purple Lace Tonya M.
Swinger Lamar G.
Mr. Ed Odon
Blondie 10 SE 2 Susan S.
293 West Virginia
Little Critter Flatlands of Kansas
Pinball Wizard 10
Dr. John 11
Sidewinder 10
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