I was a "bad boy" back in the '70s. I was an avionics tech in the Navy at the time. We would fire up the HF radio in a helicopter, dial in a CB frequency, listen for awhile, and when one of the CBers got to talking all cocky about how powerful his rig was, we'd hit the transmit (TX) key and blank him out.

I don't recall the exact wattage of the HF radio, but other techs claimed that you could walk by the antenna with a fluorescent light tube and have it light up when the transmitter was keyed.

But that may be urban legend. I don't know for sure. I do know that if you were working on it at a bench and put your fingertip over the end of the coaxial connector at the final output, you'd get a nasty RF burn.

Hi BF,

My business partner is a radio expert. His hobby is repairing ham radios of all brands, the guy is a radio genius.

Soooo.... I hear the people on the ham radios conversing even at the office most days. When his friends call, they give their call sign first, then their name.

There are some younger guys getting into it too, because it has such reliability in emergencies (over cell phones) and they can hear things from all over the place, like you said, even around the world.

Aren't radio waves something?

OldSteve:

My son was an avionics tech for the F16's in the Air Force a few years back.

Yes. Radio Waves are amazing. If the cell phones,land Lines,internet,and other forms of communications go out in a emergency,there's always the reliable shortwave band. Shortwave broadcasts over a long distance,without the need for repeater antennas. A repeater is a antenna on a tower that picks up a radio signal,and amplifies it,and sends it out all over a given area. That's how the police talk on their walkie talkies,to there police station.

I wish I where a radio expert. Your business partner sounds like a interesting person. BF

Hi old Steve. Yes that would happen. You'd feel that RF where you touch the Coaxial connection,and you'd possibly do harm to the transmitter.

Some of those CBers do get arrogant,and some of them use words I wish that they wouldn't. There are a few good one's out here. BF