C.B. - Over and out?

[Salem6]

By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine


It is 25 years since Citizens' Band radio arrived on British shores in a big way. But where has it gone?

In 1981 Britain was in the grip of an illegal craze. But it didn't involve sex, drugs or violence. Instead, bedrooms and cars across the UK reverberated to the coded joys of CB radio.

With far-fetched sounding call signs for users, CB became a space for a community of users, admittedly mostly young and male, who wanted to talk and share music.

The craze, like so many before and after, was American in its origin. Movies like Convoy, in which Kris Kristofferson plays Rubber Duck, a trucker with a grudge, and Smokey and the Bandit, with Burt Reynolds as the eponymous bootlegger, captivated a section of the British public.

British lorry drivers were the pioneers of CB use, finding it useful to communicate between themselves about such things as the locations of speed traps and other road hazards, and to keep at bay the loneliness of the open road. But the slang they used remained resolutely American.

"Breaker-breaker, you have smokey bear in your area," roughly translated into English as "I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation but members of the local constabulary are nearby".

Only British place names found their way into the code. Newspapers gleefully picked up on Noddy Town for London, Smokey Dragon for Cardiff, and industry specific monikers like Sugar Town for Bury St Edmunds and Salt City for Northwich. Each local community of CB-ers might then conjure up more nicknames at a more detailed level.

Rapid rise

Jeff Briggs, who ran an electronics business, realised there was a gap in the market and filled it with an audiotape, Teach Yourself CB: An Englishman's Guide. "They used to take it very seriously," he remembers.

The rapid rise of CB was a serious vexation to the authorities. Questions were soon asked in Parliament about this fad that was disrupting emergency pagers and the public's reception of ordinary radio and television.

But a mixture of the anti-authority feel of US CB and the illegality of the technology in the UK only added to its appeal.

CB SLANG
Smokey/bear: Police
Brush Your Teeth and Comb Your Hair: Watch out for speed trap
Good buddy: Friend and fellow CB-er
Ears: Antennae
Eyeball: Face-to-face meeting
Hammer: Accelerator
Rig: CB set
Flip flop: Return journey

Alan Crumpton, who in 1981 went under the call sign or "handle" Al Capone, and now runs Thunderpole, a CB retailer, said he had joined the craze while it was illegal.

"There was the thrill of something under the counter. The reason the handles were used was because they didn't want anybody to know who they were. Then again, it's still fun now."

By 1981, there were an estimated 300,000 illegal users of CB.

John Gordon, call sign The Spirit, was another early adopter, and remembers the radios rapidly becoming ubiquitous.

"In the beginning it was cars, kids were even using them on pushbikes, anything you could strap one to, motorbikes even."

But Mr Gordon, who now runs an electronics business, had got in on the act so early that he was the only person in his area with a CB. When he eventually persuaded a friend to get on board the radio revolution he had to phone him to tell him to switch on his CB when he wanted to talk.

Long decline

"In the early days kids were on it all night. There was lots of bad language. Now they've got mobile phones. There's e-mail."

CB was legalised in the autumn of 1981 - but not in a way CB-ers wanted. The government picked a frequency at odds with the sets owned by the illegal fraternity. It was seen as heavy-handedness from a country that up until recently demanded that many long-range amateur radio users take a Morse Code test.

From a high of 300,000 licence holders in 1983, and who knows how many operating illegally, there has been a year-on-year decline, with just 20,000 licensees remaining. Ofcom is currently consulting on proposals to scrap licences.

Now if electronically-minded people want an "open channel" environment to chat they have endless chatrooms of every possible flavour. For those wanting to meet each other in the ether there is MySpace, Facebook and countless dating websites.

In 1981, Britain's media expected CB usage to rocket into the stratosphere in much the same way. And there were concerns about the content.

American feel

A columnist in the Times warned: "All in all the average London CB conversation can have as many gaps and uncomfortable pauses in it as that at an unsuccessful dinner party."

The paper noted: "In practice the frequencies can overflow with trivia at best, obscenities at worst."

But the "wrong" frequency issue helped stunt the growth of the phenomenon. Users felt the British-specific equipment somehow lacked an American feel.


Burt Reynolds was the poster boy for the CB generation

"We were alienated from the rest of the world. All the high street shops overstocked with CB. There was going to be this huge demand. It didn't happen," notes Mr Crumpton.

Nevertheless, he maintains CB is "still alive and well" - the torch being carried by lorry drivers, off-road 4x4 enthusiasts and caravan clubs. While handheld mobile phone use is now illegal in a car, CB is not.

And there is at least one area where the CB dealers might see growth.


Tiverton Age Concern is using CB radio to combat the feelings of loneliness and vulnerability felt by older people living alone, often in remote areas.

After the charity was left a legacy by a CB enthusiast, it issued 20 pensioners with sets. For a generation where not all are comfortable with the internet, and with many finding mobile phones too expensive, the radios are a godsend.

For an hour every morning, they chat on the radio. Some even have call signs and use slang like asking for an "eyeball", a face-to-face meeting, says Mary Healey of Age Concern.

"One chap said 'I can listen to other people talking if I want join in I can but it means the world when you are on your own and have only got the cat for company'."



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Add your comments on this story, using the form below.
Half the fun of CB was because it was illegal - and illegal for no good reason. It was a harmless and fun way to cock a snook at authority. 10-10 'til we do it again, good buddies.
Mark "Crazy Cat" Esdale, Bridge, Canterbury


In my experience the only use that people made of their CB sets was talking about their CB sets to other owners!! I tried to get the idea going of a voluntary community info service. Where people with special knowledge on a subject would spend a few hours on air offering advice about local directions, medical advice, DIY help, cooking tips, fixing TVs or whatever. It might have taken off but the killjoys would have swamped it with endless music or noises and ended it pretty quick.
Nigel Andrews, Worthing, United Kingdom




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