big switch

English

Noun

big switch (plural big switches)

1. (CB radio slang) The switch controlling one's radio equipment.
   • 1968, CQ; the Radio Amateur's Journal, volume 24, numbers 7-12, page 52:

     I saw the thin pencil of smoke before I smelt the heated wax. Automatically I hit the big switch. Sitting mute, I watched the faint line of smoke fade into oblivion, and with it went the hopes of this CQ Contest... The Receiver power trannie had packed up.

   • 1986, 73 Amateur Radio, numbers 304-315, page 30:

     This is the cliché-er who will see you further down the log because he has to pull the big switch and modulate the mattress.

   • 1989, 73 Amateur Radio, numbers 340-351, page 92:

     I noted in a recent publication that the "sale of spectrum," the stuff we use every time we throw the big switch, was the subject of renewed efforts by President Reagan to charge "users" for access to the radio spectrum […]

Usage notes

• To pull, throw or flip the big switch usually implies turning off one's radio equipment at the end of a session.