Part one : Where's the mic? 

"Breaker breaker , any takers? This is the the one and only Delchi hunting for bear on I-95 South , keeping that double nickel and keeping the sunny side up & the greasy side down! We gone!" ¹

I was looking for some new gaming frontiers when I came across truck simulators! All the skill & thrill of a big rig from your PC. As with all simulators there are button boxes and realistic cockpits to buy, but one thing I didn't see was a CB radio mic! They expect us to use desktop mics, headsets or some other hoo-haw instead of the ol jabberjaw microphone! A little deeper digging showed that you can buy adapters, but they ranged from $180 to $300! ( Granted the $300 one is an awesome button box and has a lot of realistic controls along with the mCB mic.) 

Well the first thing I did was say "Belgium" to that, and pulled Rolling Thunder across the room to my workbench and got to work. This was going to be a project that would work with Truck simulators, sub simulators and more! Grab that soldering iron, the wire clippers and that drill over there! It's time to start making! 

 

Notes : 

1. CB radio jargon was around long before IRC , and was its own language designed to obfuscate communication and have a grand ol time. "Handles" were common, and yes CB radio handles are where the hacking community got the term handles for hacker aliases! 

Translation? Why not ? 

• "Breaker breaker , any takers?"
  • In cb radio ( less formal than ham radio ) it was common to ask permission before talking on an open channel. Calling for a "break" was like requesting permission to chime in , and was normally answered with "Go ahead breaker"
• "This is the the one and only Delchi"
  • Handles were a point of pride and very often unique, but when they did collide they politely adjusted to be like "The New Orleans Joker " vs "The Chicago Joker" and so on.
• "hunting for bear on I-95 South"
  • Truckers took great lengths to avoid being caught by the police in speed traps. "Smokey Bear" referred to the Smokey The Bear hat most often worn by police patrolling the interstates. If you were hunting for bear that meant you were on the lookout for police, and sometimes were asking for a "Smokey report" if anyone had seen any police.  You usually followed this with the interstate you were on and the direction you were traveling and sometimes the mile marker you had passed most recently.
• "keeping that double nickel"
  • This referred to the speed limit of 55 miles per hour that was enforced back then. Sadly there is no clever phrase for the 65 mph speed limit.
• "keeping the sunny side up & the greasy side down!"
  • Multiple meanings here, but for the most part this meant keeping your truck upright ( sunny side was the cabin, greasy side was the road ). It was like wishing someone safe travels and no accidents. 
• "We gone!"
  • When a conversation ended people would signal this with a number of phrases like "we gone" , or "On the side". Sometimes it also included the "10-code" messages such as "10-10 Till I see you again"

Related Links : 

• Truck Simulator
  • https://americantrucksimulator.com/
• Button Box
  • https://www.simpanel.com/ats
• 10- Code & other jargon
  • https://www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/newsletters/cb-radio-slang-and-10-codes

 

Part Two : Requirements

So then at the workbench with graph paper and pencil in hand ( or Lucidchart if you will ) let's determine what we need to make this CB mic project roll down the road : 

• Utilizing a CB Microphone
  • Be able to attach the microphone to the computer
  • Be able to use the button on the microphone to activate the  PTT ( Push to talk ) feature on the computer / in game
  • Make it look realistic! 
  • Make it as clean as possible ( minimum number of wires / software / configuration )

 

Ever wanted to have your space sound like the engineering department of the Enterprise D? Maybe the warp core of Voyager in your home theater? Maybe you are in the mood for a rainstorm in your bed as you sleep. These are the kinds of things that pop into my head, and on long winter nights I make come true. If this is your jam then come along on this adventure! 

 

Prerequisites

Home Assistant

This project requires some things that need to be already in place. We will be using Home Assistant . Home assistant is a home automation system that you can build from the ground up for free, or buy pre-installed on a Raspberry Pi platform. The advantage of Home Assistant over other systems is that it can be operated cloud-free. This is paramount for people who value their privacy. The set up and install of Home Assistant is out of scope here, but it is something I will revisit in the future. It's not terribly hard to set up and even easier if you purchase the pre-built ones. If you don't already have this in place drop by their website and have a look around. If you already have it installed and working then onward we go! 

A stereo system with speakers.

Next let's consider that we want to make this environmental. That means that hooking it up to your home stereo won't be an option because you don't want this to be interrupted by your usual habits of music listening or nightly bit of binge watching. This is a great task for that old stereo you kept in the closet for ages, or a small inexpensive amplifier with an AUX in. This is also a great way to upcycle older equipment that has aged out or can be bought at a swap meet or flea market. There is no need for large exotic speakers or subwoofers, but hey - if you have them hanging around why not use them? Remember that speaker kit you bought for your home computer ages ago that you no longer use? Time to repurpose it! Get creative with multiple speakers , room speakers, or entire house wide speakers. The only limits are your imagination!

 

 

Part One : What is a patch bay? 

In the movie By Dawn's Early Light, James Earl Jones asks to be patched through to the E-4 plane carrying the President. At home you might not be doing this ( unless you are seriously into Air Force nuclear war cosplay, and who isn't? ) but you might just need a patch bay and not know it.

Many of us love digging into the wires behind the racks or the furniture, plugging things in and making a maze of wires do our bidding. Every time some new gadget comes home or a friend wants to plug something in we dive into the back into a maze of wires and connectors that is a playground of its own. Don't forget the stickers! ¹

Many of us either do not like this, or have to face the wrath of our parents, partners or friends screaming about the mess and try to hide it all behind a potted plant. How can you get back there then? Upending the entire living room just to plug in the classic Nintendo? 

The solution is a device called a patch bay. This lets us have all the connectors everywhere in one location so we can plug, unplug and configure to our hearts content while making the room look as tidy as a spaceship. Without having to pull, push or uninstall anything we can match our outputs to our inputs with the east of a engineering wizard! Inputs and outputs are run from the devices to the back of the patch bay, and into special "barrel" plugs that allow you to match things up as you need them. 

There are as many kinds of patch bays as there are connectors out there. They are mostly commonly seen in recording studios, television stations, radio stations and my living room. There are digital ones that can be programmed from a keypad or analog ones requiring cables to make the connections. They can range from hundreds of dollars to the DIY geek-on-the-cheap that I will be showing you here. 

So, forget about that wire monster behind the entertainment center. Get out all that old gear and let's make a patch panel so that you can show off everything you have and as all wizards do , amaze your friends and family!

Huzzah!

¹ The sticker rundown!

• Radio Wabos : Old / defunct web radio station.
• NYCGOTH.NET : Old defunct NYC Gothic website. Schiit Audio : Awesome high end audio gear.
• Becca Makes Buttons : Awesome human being and maker of buttons! 
• Destiny City Comics : Awesome comic shop full of awesome people that carry my awesome comics!
• Ultrazone : Laser Tag Arena where I once dominated!
• Mina Olen Noiduttu : The name of my graphic novel! Free to read on the net! 

 

Part Three : The Parts!

In this project you will be using a series of parts known in the industry as "Keystone" jacks and panels.  Keystone refers to a technology of connectors designed to allow easy wiring and installation of modular wall plates. If you want to know more in depth about what Keystone parts are and how they are used check out THIS article at able Matters. 

So for this project I will be using two rack mount 24 port Keystone patch panels, and making them into a patch bay. After some searching about I found these to be the most reasonable ones.

A song you can take to karaoke!

With thanks to Sid, Nancy and Rebecca. My Aardvark Family. 

A long time ago I started making parody and original songs partnered with the amazing Kyrine ( also known as the voice of Bongo Cat )

One of the releases contained this song, which I think fits in here quite nicely!

Adafruit Can!

A parody / cover of "The Candy Man Can" 
Lyrics by : A.P. Delchi
Vocals : Kyrine

Who can take a resistor
Read the color code
Tell you about the tolerance and use it as a load?
Adafruit ... Adafruit Can

Who can take a diode
Make it shine so bright
Wire it in parallel and light up your bike?
Adafruit.... Adafruit can

Adafruit can 'cause she has all the parts to make your project complete. 

Adafruit makes everything she bakes
Technologically delicious
Bring to life electric wishes
There's nothing that is too ambitious

Who can take project
Make it easy as a breeze
Show you how to solder and to keep the joints clean? 
Adafruit can ... adafruit can! 

Adafruit can 'cause she has all the parts to make your project complete. 

'Cause she has all the parts to make your project compete!