Anyone have any luck finding active CB frequencies??

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fpapai

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I'm a newbie to this whole thing. I just bought a BC246T and using the self search feature which scans from channel 1 - 41 hasen't he come up with anything.

I'm in the ottawa area.

Should I searching in a shorter range?
Suggestions?
 

KE7JFF

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Don't all the Quebec truck drivers still use CB? I know with the NYS Thruway, you heard them talking on CB still.
 

IdleMonitor

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First off, what type of antenna are you using? Base Antenna? You should hear something, if anything atleast Ch. 19. Which end of the city are you in? Are you close to the Queensway at all? If you're just using the portable antenna then your sensitivity won't be as great as having a base antenna, particularly one that's tuned to that band.

Also, it only scans Ch. 1-40 not 41, you want to scan all the other frequencies, then you have to make a custom search then.

I live up the Valley a little bit, and the locals are on the radio here all the time.


fpapai said:
I'm a newbie to this whole thing. I just bought a BC246T and using the self search feature which scans from channel 1 - 41 hasen't he come up with anything.

I'm in the ottawa area.

Should I searching in a shorter range?
Suggestions?
 

mrweather

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If you're only using the supplied duck antenna that could be why you're not hearing anything.

CB uses much lower frequencies than VHF and UHF, and would require a bigger antenna for reliable reception.
 

IdleMonitor

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Hahaha,

Thats funny, however I'm sure it would work.

Mind you, if you use the BC246t as a base unit like I do, and use a base antenna then that would definitly still improve reception.

In town here, I only use a ducky on my window with a GRE Preamp, and well, I can pull in my local base stations ok, but it can be iffy though on the mobiles around town.

This radio basically isn't as good on those frequencies though like the regular vhf stuff that we're accustomed to usually be listening to.

slicerwizard said:
I'm sure he's not using a suitable antenna. He needs something like this:

http://home.ica.net/~phoenix/wap/BC246T/CB.jpg
 

fpapai

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Thanks all,
Yes, I am using the stock antenna. I'm guessing that will be the bigger part of my problem. I'm in the Stittsville area, but am going up and down the Queensway all the time, and haven't heard anything.
By the sounds of it, I'm not going to be getting much on these frequencies anyway. Probably not worth investing in one of them "full-wave" antenna's LOL.

I do travel the 416 quite often and I go up and down the 401 to Toronto. This is why I would like to tune into some of these conversations.

Are most trucker's using Trunking systems now a days?? What frequencies are they using?
 

Chrome69

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In Toronto you will find the Tow Truck Drivers use them but mostly CB's are used on Hwy's not around town... Or at least that was my findings.... Truckers have either gone to Cell or Amateur radio...
 

electricsheep

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Funny the topic of CB should come up. I had never thought of buying one before (I have my amateur license and 19 scanners), but I was in one of the Radio Shacks tonight that were closing down, and I got a Cobra 18 WX ST II, a four foot fibreglass whip, 30 feet of cable, a mounting bracket for my balcony along with a three foot whip on a magmount all for $80. Some things like the four foot fibreglass whip and magmount antenna were $9.99! Yikes... Yet more crap to add to my stack.

Nothing heard here yet though...
 

polkaroo

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I see someone was at the Morningside/401 RS. :p

Did it actually work? I love the shelf with all the customer returns, the boxes all have store stickers on them that read, "defective." There's one on a radio that says "it's REALLY defective."
 

MetalCarnage

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Definitly the size the the antenna, i learned this quickly with my Maxrad antenna (for 100-140mhz range or whatever) I was driving up highway 17 (to thunder bay) and there was 2 transport trucks coming the other way (this was in the middle of no where so i am 100% sure it was the trucks i saw) Anyways, i slowly went from static broken up speech to crystal clear when they were beside me, and then back to fragmented speech as they disappeared in the distance, i was basically getting about 800m of range tops witht he roof mounted antenna.....the antenna btw picks up the Fleetnet towers up to 50-60km away in some areas, so i know the antenna is good. I want to get one of those whips eventually though
 

MetalCarnage

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slicerwizard said:
I'm sure he's not using a suitable antenna. He needs something like this:

http://home.ica.net/~phoenix/wap/BC246T/CB.jpg

K, is there some sort of photography tricks going on there? Because i do not believe there is any way that radio could stand on its own with that antenna on it, lol

Please dont be mean if i am an idiot and do not realize u guys are joking around, lol
 

slicerwizard

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The radio weighs about 300 grams, with the heavy part (the batteries) at the bottom. The antenna weighs about 90 grams and it was a windless day. You figure it out.
 

VA3QRM

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slicerwizard said:
Indeed. The 246T is too small to impress anyone, so I did what I had to do.
Is that a full wavelength? Careful you don't poke someone down the block's eye out!!! Do you have the red marker lights on it as well, or are you far enough away from the airport?
 

MetalCarnage

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slicerwizard said:
The radio weighs about 300 grams, with the heavy part (the batteries) at the bottom. The antenna weighs about 90 grams and it was a windless day. You figure it out.

Sorry, i figured the antenna weighed much more then that
 

mrweather

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VA3QRM said:
Is that a full wavelength? Careful you don't poke someone down the block's eye out!!! Do you have the red marker lights on it as well, or are you far enough away from the airport?
Electrically it might be (notice the loading coil) but physically... no way in heck! :D

Though, even if it were it probably wouldn't work well since the feedpoint impedance would be quite high.
 
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