Some clubs/organized trail rides require you have a CB radio....

 

I use my CB for talking with guys that I go offroading with. A lot more people use a CB than you think. I have places here were I live with no cell reception. I can run up and down the valley with my friends and talk to them without an issue because of my CB. I cant do that with a cell phone. And when I had my Wrangler I used to go to events up in Rausch Creek and some of the events like HeyYou said they require you to have a CB to run with them. Its easy and will last forever.

 

I am a amateur radio operator in my spare time. My call sign is KA9VQF.


There are legitimate uses for CB radios. CB's are supposed to operate between 26.965 and 27.405 in the 11 meter band. The frequency range is divided into channels. The channels are 10 mhz apart. There are a few gaps in the spacing that used to be used for remote control things like garage door openers and model airplanes and stuff.


If your radio has a 'slider' or If your CB operates outside these frequencies you are in violation of a Federal law.


As far as power out goes,... you are allowed 4 watts output even these days, but most out of the box brand new CB's show between 5 and 7 watts output.


No one really cares much anymore, the FCC deregulated the Citizens Band service many years ago. You can be a total *** on the air now and even if someone bothers to turn you in the FCC simply doesn't have the money or manpower to do anything about it. Rarely someone does get investigated and there are fines, confiscation of gear and even sometimes prison terms.


Not so long ago an old fart ham operator in California was transmitting on police and other emergency frequencies and he went to federal prison, he has since been released because of his health and medical problems.

You do not need to have a license to use your CB anymore, there is no test to use one. You don't even need a call sign anymore, but if you want to have one just use the letter K, your initials, and the last four digits of your zip code. Most folks just use an alias of some kind, more commonly called a handle. I'm old enough that I actually got an FCC issued call sign its KAEE6623. I can use that until I die.


In the mid 1970's there was a boom in the CB market. I had a shop where I sold and repaired them. You would not believe what some folks could and would do to their poor little radios.


Antennas can be a real can of worms. It doesn't matter much how much you paid for it, if you do not adjust the SWR {standing wave ratio} and set it up right, you will not get out worth a hoot. You can actually destroy your final amplifier tube or transistor by not tuning the antenna. You need a dedicated meter to check and set the SWR on your antenna.


As with most radios your antenna is what really makes your station. You can have a million dollar radio but it is worth nothing if you don't have a good antenna that is tuned for the frequencies you are trying to use it with.


I've built many antenna from wire or hard copper tubing that can do as well or sometimes out preform almost anything you can buy. Naturally wire antenna do not work out very well for mobile use unless you use stainless steel.


At one time I was a bigtimeprofessionalovertheroadtruckdrivingman
I drove for several trucking companies. Most of the companies I drove for already had some kind of a POC a CB in the truck attached to a pair of twin antenna. I had a Cobra 128 GTL with a Diesel brand noise canceling mic that I preferred to use.


I would disconnect the co-phased coax harness then use one of the whips for the CB and the other for my Radio Shack 10 meter SSB rig. It worked out fine. I made a lot of contacts with the 10 meter radio in the truck. County hunters look for mobile rigs to work so they can get a string of counties in their log books.

 

Like I said before, don't buy one if you don't need or want one. There are enough chatterboxes on the radidio as it is.
Walkie talkies...like those 2 watt palm sized things? Useless unless you're in line of sight.

 

I thought CBs had gone by the wayside like 8 track tapes for the most part. But ther still appear to be quite a few who still use them. I installed one in my RV that I rennovated last year (along with flat screen TV and wireless hot spot). My wife thought I was a little crazy (I am...but not for that reason). We take the RV to the valley several times a year, andthere are a large number of spots where cell phones do not provide coverage. And we have broken down in some of these sopts (blown tire on trailer and on RV one time). The CB allowed us to contact a trucker, who in turn contacted our RV Roadside Assistance service.

CB radios are like CIA, rocker, or any other mods. If you have a use for it, it is a good option, and may not be for someone else. I don't use one in my trucks (not since the 80's) but it appears to be of value in my RV.

One thing to remember is the older units had 19 channels. Newer ones have more. The one I bought for my RV also has NOAA Weather on it, which is invaluable when traveling and staying in unknown areas when and where weather conditions may prove critical. Truckers may not be on them all the time, but they do have them on and monitor them.

So....if you want to put one in, by all means...do it. you may be the person that helps out an old phart in an RV in addition to your other reasons for having one!

See you on the road, good buddy! 10-8!

 

Four alpha characters? The license ain't that old.

 

I agree. Ive used mine about 5 times since I bought it a year ago. Biggest waste of $50 I ever spent. Only reason I keep it is so I have a reason to have whips lol.

 

I believe in some areas around here when you go off roading they require you to have a CB in case you need assistance. We have a lot of acreage around here with ZERO cell phone reception... No Verizon, att, sprint, cricket, tmobile, etc..

 

In the beginning there were many citizen band radios that only had one crystal in them so they were one channel. As time passed three and 5 channel radios started to appear. I built a 5 channel Knight Kit mobile in the late '60's. The mic was also the speaker. Kinda handy in a noisy vehicle.


I suppose there were 4 channel and perhaps other ones with different amounts of channels too but I've never seen them.


Then came the 23 channel rigs the band segment ended at 26.255 at that time, then one fine day the FCC authorized the expansion to 27.405 and out came the 40 channel sets. I do not remember ever seeing 19 channel sets.


Most of the 23 channel rigs used a crystal lattice to generate the frequencies for the channels some of the early 40 channel sets used the same kind of frequency generators but soon enough the phase lock loop became small enough and stable enough to be put in the small radios.

But,... before all that 11 meters was an amateur radio band. When the FCC took that segment of the electromagnetic spectrum away from the hams there was much anguish and nashing of teeth in the ham community.


When it was still a ham band it was great for working skip as the CB'ber's found out once the segment was given to them. When band conditions are right you can work the world with just the 5 watts allowed. Of course the hams were allowed more power when the band what theirs.

 

Okay. A WHOLE BUNCH of posts have gone away here. We can stop demonstrating the size of our e-***** now. 4Honda, if you don't have anything to contribute to the thread, aside from snide remarks and such, please resist the urge to post.

Thank you.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.