*It turned out you could hack them. That's why they were a hit in the brief but intense heyday of CB radio.
Consumer electronics of the 1970s
by Brian Santo
Out of the box, the Cobra 138XLR was one of the more capable Citizen’s Band (CB) radios available in the late 1970s, the heyday for the systems. But what gained the 138XLR a devoted following was audio quality combined with a particular amenability to postsale modifications.
It’s impossible to understand CB radios devoid of their cultural context in the United States during a weird period. The 1970s were a deeply faddish time in the country, and one of the biggest fads was CB radio (see also: pet rocks, macramé, and streaking, a pastime that entailed running naked through a public venue, preferably on live television). CB radios figure in the 1975 hit single “Convoy” (which even by the bizarre musical standards of the time improbably rose to No. 1 on several worldwide pop and country charts) and also in such motion pictures as Smokey and the Bandit, Citizens Band, (both 1977) and Convoy (1978; it was inspired by the song). The references in popular entertainment underlined a fact that eluded even some of the millions of people who bought CB radios back then: Starting in the early 1970s, CB radios were tools of a trade—long-haul trucking.
Trucking is a solitary endeavor, and two-way CB radios provided a means of creating a community. Also, at the time, trucker pay was often dependent on how quickly goods were delivered. That encouraged truckers to drive much faster than the speed limit, which the federal government in 1974 reduced to 55 miles per hour (89 kilometers per hour). Truckers began using the radios to exceed the speed limit by alerting each other to the location of “smokies”—highway patrolmen. Other motorists caught on and began buying CBs for the same reason.
Truckers also had a culture of modifying their equipment. ...
