Al, AKA "Rebel", was another long time CB'er, who I first met in 1974. Al originally was a diehard sidebander, who hung out on the lower side of Channel 16. He eventually hooked up with Whitey on Channel 16, and Whitey managed to rekindle Al's interest in AM operation. Al soon started hanging out with our Channel 11 group, and then formed a splinter group of older guys on Channel 8. Al was a somewhat solitary guy in his late 30's at the time, who still lived with his parents. This living arrangement allowed Al to have a decent amount of disposable income, so consequently, this permitted him to buy some top of the line radio gear over the years. When I first met Al, he was running a Cobra 135, but eventually would end up with an SBE Trinidad, a Hy-Gain 623, a Colt Excalibur, a Cobra 132 Mobile, and a few others. Al also erected a tower and had a few different antennas over the years, including a A/S Super scanner, a 4 element yagi, and a Jo-Gunn 3 element beam. Al also ran an assortment of amplifiers over the years as well, and once fell asleep on the mike button for a couple of hours with 500 watts running. It was surprising that he didn't smoke the amp, but it survived. He also managed to make a bunch of people upset on the channel as a result, a few of whom tracked him down. Al would fall asleep on the mike a few more times in his radio career, including once on 2 meters, with over 100 watts running.
Al was very opinionated and would not hesitate to tell you how he felt about a particular subject. Sometimes his strong opinions and seeming intolerance for opposing views, ended up alienating a few people. On the other hand, he was also a bit of a "Lady's Man", and had several on-air flings with a few of the female regulars, more than one of whom were married at the time. He had a few close calls, but that never seemed to deter him.
Al stayed on CB throughout the 80's, except for a fairly short span of time when he actually got married. He was then out of radio until the short marriage broke up, and he moved back home. He eventually ended up on 26.675 with what was left of our original group. He then passed his ham license exam and moved up to 2 meters in the late 80's, when the rest of us moved up to ham radio. Al became a big DX chaser for a while, and was consumed with this activity for quite a few years before finally discovering computers, and the internet. Initially, Al had poo-poo'ed the idea of computers, and questioned the sanity of those who became consumed with them. But then he got bit by the bug, and became in instant convert.
Al and I agree that when comparing the relative fun that we've had with radio over the years, that our time on CB was definitely the most fun. Ham radio, while interesting and fun in its own way, is a lot more "dry", and a little more reserved.
Today: Al is still somewhat active on Ham radio, although nowhere near what he once was. He works 2nd shift so we rarely cross paths over the air. He has also contracted the infamous computer bug, and spends more of his leisure time on the computer and the internet, than he does on radio these days.