Observations About CB Radio in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

As a pre-teen in 1980s Puerto Rico, I was big into CB radio, as
many others were at the time. After a couple of years, though, my
interest waned and I left CB. Many years later, I bought a used
Realistic TRC-415 mobile unit on eBay and put it in my car, with a
magnetic base antenna. Not much seemed to be going on in the
CB bands then, and I honestly wasn't as interested in it as I
thought I was. So, before long, I put the CB away and forgot
about it. Recently, I found it while going through some old boxes,
and decided to put it in my car again.

My commute to work is now different than it was since I
bought the mobile unit a few years ago, and this time I was
able to hear a lot more. Practically nobody has been able to
copy ME, though, with the exception of a contact in Grapevine
which my fiancee was able to make late one night while I
drove us back from a local bar. I know that I need a better
unit and antenna (and a SWR meter), but that's not happening
just yet.

I do monitor CB on my way home from work 2-3 times a
week, usually while driving through Irving and the DFW
Airport area, and I've noticed a few patterns:


Channel 2 seems to be used  almost exclusively by Spanish-
speakers.

Puerto Ricans seem to like to hang out on Channel 9 (the
'Emergency Channel', but apparently this isn't enforced
very well, if it ever was). Good to see Puerto Ricans
still into CB, even all the way over here. Just don't try to
use Channel 9 for emergencies near DFW Airport.

Channel 6 normally sees the most activity, with some
high-wattage units making appearances, one in specific,
which I haven't been able to clearly identify.

Other than that, I just hear a lot of truckers with extremely
rural accents that I can almost never understand.

I will transmit every now and then to see if anybody can
copy me, but other than the nighttime contact described
above, no dice. I usually do this on channels 6, 8 and 9,
at around 5:00-5:30PM CDT and I go by the handle
"W.E.M.Y." Give me a shout if you hear me.

I'm looking to upgrade my CB set-up sometime in the
near future, and I will post here when and if I do. We do
have a CB shop in the area, which I need to check out
sometime soon: Ike's CB Shop. Their Facebook page
is here. I'll post more observations when something new
happens.