[aprssig] Radio Shack demise - Lets take back 11 meters!

[AC]

On 2015-02-08 11:51, Robert Bruninga wrote:
> Here is an idea.  Radio Shak was the #1 seller and supporter of CB radios.
> But as they close down, there remains a few BILLION dollars worth of 27 MHz
> spectrum sitting on the table.
> 
> Why not come up with a proposal for the FCC to give it back to HAMS?  What
> for?  That is the BIG question.  Its wavelength is IDEAL for mobile
> operation.  And HAMS love making use of old radios.
> 
> I do not want this to smack of self-interest, but APRS seems like a pretty
> good use of a channel.  And it does not involve speakers having to listen
> to foul language..
> 
> So what is the KILLER APP for 11 Meters?
> 
> How do we make it happen?
> 
> Does anyone know of any "under used channel" for experimentation?  Who
> would like to get an STA from the FCC to "experiment?
> 
> Bob, Wb4APR

Truck stops were and still are the number one retail space seller of CB
radios, not Radio Shack (the number one seller period is online now).
You can walk into one and find a whole wall of CBs and related
accessories, far more than Radio Shack had recently and at minimum equal
to what they used to have 20-30 years ago.  Radio Shack would have two
or three models for sale in any given year -- typically one handheld and
two different mobile receivers plus a base station model very long ago.
 Antennas were limited to two or three mobile styles and a single
matching base antenna for the base station when they had it.

I just traveled cross country a month ago and made nearly all of my fuel
and foood stops in truck stops (Pilot, TA, Flying J, etc.)  Every one of
them had a selection of 10-15 antennas, at minimum five different models
of CBs, and all the various accessories you can imagine to go with them.

Radio shack going bankrupt isn't going to disrupt the CB market.  They
never really participated much in the market in the first place.  Volume
was always with the truck stops.  I worked in a Radio Shack 20 years
ago.  Aside from the CB on display, there was maybe only one more in the
back stock room.  The sales volume in Radio Shack was minimal.

You also won't ever get all the truckers to turn off or give back their
radios by converting it to amateur use.  I was stuck behind this
accident http://krqe.com/2015/01/11/semi-crash-closes-i-40-near-luguna/
during the trip.  I had an HT with me along with a CB.  There were
plenty of truck drivers on the air via CB over several channels (I did
have a conversation with one amateur op on 146.520 that was two miles
behind me).  That's a very large installed user base to try and disrupt.