I used to have a Tristar 747, heavily modded to put out a bit more oomph and expand the RX/TX range but I threw it out a couple of years ago as I hadn't switched it on for 10 years or more. Was fun on summer holidays (in the UK) when the Sporadic-E would kick in and you could natter to breakers all over the world, but these days the UK FM band is dead, other than a few wallies, and sidebanding has lost its interest. Kudos to those who still persevere with it though.

Just found this old schematic for the ole 747...

Band is very up and down at the moment, there is approximately 12 stations operating near to my QTH. I had a very similar rig in the past, the Ham International Concorde 2, which as I recall had the same chassis as the TriStar 747.

There's defiantly a division in the types of operating on 11mtrs today. You have the regular, what I call "Breakers or CB'ers". But now there appears to be a new breed of "11m Operators" who sound very much like "Hams". They don't say "SWAR" and use "Q Codes" etc, with no Goody-Buddy lingo to be heard.

I think 11mtrs maybe changing for the better?? Well at-least in my neck of the woods.

I had a listen over here around the CB channels. You're right. There seems to be a lot of "operators" these days. I think that they're largely wannabe Radio Hams who haven't got the technical chops to get the Licence.

Get a lot of taxis on the AM CB band from around Italy and East Europe all come piling in with the E-Skip.

I run a CRT SS 9900 here as a base , an albricht handheld and some other bits n bobs in the cars etc....

do get on '555 when the conditions are right (with an FB call), But most of the time use them to just
natter between ourselves...

Conditions should pickup for SSB/Overseas chats, BUT saying that, a few years ago I talked to
someone in Glasgow on Channel 19 from Kent.. Neither of us could believe it.... he was having
a few long distance chats...