friskidog
Member
Just wondering if there's much activity up there these days. I'm running legal now but thinking about getting another export.
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Freeband
- Thread starter friskidog
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PrimeNumber
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PrimeNumber
Member
OK that was fun, but to answer your question for real, skip's been way down on CB and is only going to get worse over the next what 5 years. Unless there's somebody you want to talk to locally who's freebanding too, it's probably not worth the effort.
Token
Member
First, freeband = illegal. I don't do it, but I am not my brothers keeper. With that said...
It is absolutely true we are on the downward slope of a dismal Solar Cycle. Even at its peak it was not very good. And it will definitely get worse over the next few years. However, that does not mean that 11 and 10 M, and anything in between, will be a wasteland. While good conditions will not be an everyday thing they will happen. And possibly more often than some people realize.
15 minutes ago, at 0100 UTC or 1800 local, I took this shot of the spectrum:
A more detailed, and larger, version of this image is here:
http://www.pbase.com/token/image/163111447/original.jpg
Certainly the spectrum is not as full as it might be, but obviously there is activitiy there. Frequency is left to right, low to high. Channel 1 is marked, channel 6 is marked, and channel 40 is marked. Everything to the right of CH40 on that image would be "freeband", and there appear to be many conversations going on, I would say at least 20 in the 30 seconds represented in the image. I suspect earlier in the day there would have been more.
T!
It is absolutely true we are on the downward slope of a dismal Solar Cycle. Even at its peak it was not very good. And it will definitely get worse over the next few years. However, that does not mean that 11 and 10 M, and anything in between, will be a wasteland. While good conditions will not be an everyday thing they will happen. And possibly more often than some people realize.
15 minutes ago, at 0100 UTC or 1800 local, I took this shot of the spectrum:
A more detailed, and larger, version of this image is here:
http://www.pbase.com/token/image/163111447/original.jpg
Certainly the spectrum is not as full as it might be, but obviously there is activitiy there. Frequency is left to right, low to high. Channel 1 is marked, channel 6 is marked, and channel 40 is marked. Everything to the right of CH40 on that image would be "freeband", and there appear to be many conversations going on, I would say at least 20 in the 30 seconds represented in the image. I suspect earlier in the day there would have been more.
T!
KC2GIU
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15 minutes ago, at 0100 UTC or 1800 local, I took this shot of the spectrum:
A more detailed, and larger, version of this image is here:
http://www.pbase.com/token/image/163111447/original.jpg
T!
Neat chart. How does a person find charts like this on the web? Or was it some software that compiled the data as an output within a given band?
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Token
Member
This is a combined waterfall (the bottom part) and spectrum display (the top part) from SpectraVue which is looking at data from an RFSpace NetSDR, a software defined radio.
The NetSDR can look at pieces of spectrum up to 35 MHz wide, and show, in real time, all of the signals in that 35 MHz. In this case I set it to 1 MHz wide, from 26900 kHz to 27900 kHz. The waterfall portion is a running histogram of signals, frequency on the X axis (left to right, low freq on the left), time on the Y axis (up to down, newest signals at the top), and signal strength in the Z axis (stronger signals are lighter colors).
There are SDRs to be found online, WebSDR and SDR-Radio are a couple of examples, but this one was a local SDR at my home.
T!
RFI-EMI-GUY
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How much of the stuff below and above CH 40 is FM? Ch 40 and below would be UK hams, above CH 40 would be Part 90 and federal land mobile.
Here in Europe you have on CB AM, FM, SSB. Some country like UK and PL have an differed Frequency.
In Germany and CZ the also have CH 40 - 80.
Above CB are in Austria Commercial (?!) Channels and Amateur. Below? I dont know. There is nothing interesting. Police and Fire, Ambulance use Tetra Radio 380Mhz - 400Mhz.
In Germany and CZ the also have CH 40 - 80.
Above CB are in Austria Commercial (?!) Channels and Amateur. Below? I dont know. There is nothing interesting. Police and Fire, Ambulance use Tetra Radio 380Mhz - 400Mhz.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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I was asking Token because I am curious what activity can be heard in the US. Is there much UK or EU FM activity?
Token
Member
I did not realize you were asking me.
While there is some occasional FM activity both above channel 40 and below channel 1 I typically see very little here below 29500 kHz. In the image I posted there was no FM activity that I know of, it was all SSB and AM, naturally there may have been one or two FM signals buried in there that I missed, but nothing that stood out.
From 29500 kHz up I see FM. The 10 meter ham FM segment is 29500 to 29700 kHz, and various business, public service, military, etc, can be found from 29700 kHz up in FM mode.
T!
TheSpaceMann
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When the band is open, I can hear lots of European FM CB activity on my Uniden HR-2510 here in the US via skip!!
RFI-EMI-GUY
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It bugs me the FCC won't entertain some novel improvements to 11M CB to bring order. 1) phase out AM in preference for FM. 2) Permit CTCSS tone squelch 3) Permit Frequency Hop Spread Spectrum using a preset number of hopping codes. Now instead of 40 channels full of noise, you could have 512 hopping codes and reliable local (and DX) communications. This coukd be done within the pricepoint of a premium SSB radio or less.
You can tuck that dream under your pillow and wish for a NPRM in the morning but seriously, it's not going to happen. 11meters is not worth that kind of attention. Even allowing FM in the U.S. is not in the slightest of any interest to the FCC, much less tone squelch or FHSS. 73, n9zas
TheSpaceMann
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Way too many AM CB radios already out there! The have been selling AM CBs for almost 60 years!!
Token
Member
Not gonna happen, no matter how good an idea it might be.
The least intrusive suggestion you have is the replacement of AM with FM.
They can’t afford to police CB now more than a token amount, there is no way they could force the existing users to abandon their existing radios and buy all new gear to accommodate the new mandated mode. At BEST they could introduce FM as an allowed mode and only certificate FM only radios (no new certificated AM or SSB radios), possibly steering the users towards FM. And then you have this mish-mash of incompatible modes on the air.
As for replacement with FHSS, that just ain’t even in the wildest pipe dreams. Again, how would they force people to go to the new mode over their existing radios? And even if EVERY US user (the FCC being a US specific regulatory agency) did convert to FHSS CB the rest of the World would not, and so you would again have this mish-mash of modes, when South American, Central American, Pacific, Asian, and sometimes European stations skip into the US.
T!
There would be interesting disputes between the sidebanders and newer technologies.
Sent via Tapatalk
KC4RAF
Member
The changes suggested about altering
the 11 meter CB band just ain't gonna happen. That band has been a thorn in the side of the FCC for many years. They will not entertain the thoughts suggested. One, the cost will be very high; two, it would only be a very few CBers who would buy the over priced transceivers; three, why do such a thing as has been suggested?
CB is fine as it is now. And yes, some oversea countries do have FM and other modes in their 11 meter bands. We don't need those alterations. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
the 11 meter CB band just ain't gonna happen. That band has been a thorn in the side of the FCC for many years. They will not entertain the thoughts suggested. One, the cost will be very high; two, it would only be a very few CBers who would buy the over priced transceivers; three, why do such a thing as has been suggested?
CB is fine as it is now. And yes, some oversea countries do have FM and other modes in their 11 meter bands. We don't need those alterations. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Yes DMR and other stuff. Clease Voice and Data.
TheSpaceMann
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Those Freebanders are already using FM! Many of the "export" radios are 26 to 30 Mhz all mode,
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