Does anyone still use cb??

[Dcalgo]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to radio and was so excited to get into it, especially after hearing my dad's stories of how big CB radio was "back in the day". I decided to jump in with a budget setup to get started. I got a cobra (don't know the model) from Walmart, 4 ft antenna, truck bed mount, and coax and slapped on my truck just in time for a long road trip from the bay area to Oregon. I fired up the radio, switched to channel 19 and..... Nothing. The entire way, 5 or 6 hours on the road, not a peep from anyone. I was devastated. Months went by turning on my radio and not hearing any chatter at all.

I did a little research and found out about SWR meters. So I bought one and my SWRs were off the charts. Turns out my antenna was grounded. I had put the plastic washer below the antenna mount whereas (at least from what I've read) it needs to be on top. So I remedied the issue... Correctly installed the antenna, adjusted my SWR readings to less than 1.5 on channels 1 and 40 and......... Still nothing.

So is my setup fried and not able to pickup any transmissions??? Or is CB just a dead technology? Any insight would be much appreciated. Id still like to get into CB radio, but I don't want to invest in any more equipment if there's no one out there to talk to!

I've also been reading up on GMRS. Any thoughts there? At the very least I can buy my daughter a cheap FRS handled and talk to her :/

 

[KC5AKB]

You can get the frs and talk to your daughter without the GMRS license. As for cb there is activity but it depends on what area you are in .Ham radio is a option also.

 

[KB4MSZ]

If you where able to tune your SWR settings then there must be something left of the transmitter. The fact that you are not hearing anything can very well be because there isn't anything to hear right now. I seriously doubt your receiver is damaged. In about 3 months the sporadic E layer skip will start up and there will be a fair amount of traffic from around the country. This will last for about a month and a half to two months. Other than that it's just chance that someone near you happens to be on when you are listening.

Here in Tampa Bay there is a lot of CB activity, but unfortunately about 80% of it would be better off not being there.

 

[NC1]

In my area, there about 7 channels that are in regular use daily. It's a good bunch of people that mostly have their Amateur and GMRS licenses as well, so there's none of the jokers some other areas have. Since we have a lot of hills, mountains, and valleys, CB works better than GMRS because GMRS is mostly line of sight whereas CB tends to follow the ground a bit more.
I would say go ahead and use the CB option. Once other people hear activity then they may be more inclined to use it and they will see that it is a viable option.

 

[KB4MSZ]

Once other people hear activity then they may be more inclined to use it and they will see that it is a viable option.

This is a good point.

 

[WB9YBM]

CB's pretty quiet here in the northern & NW 'burbs of Chicago, too. CB usage dropped when a lot of truck drivers driving for companies went to business-band radios. Also several radio services--not just CB--took a hit when cell 'phones became cheap & easy to get (especially when almost every place has been swamped with cell towers), and people are also doing a lot of messaging with text, e-mail, & such.

 

[Ensnared]

Depending on what road you travel in Texas, channel 19 is alive and well. Temple, Texas has a fairly active CB community. I have been talking since 1973. I am running a $35 peaked out/talk back Cobra 29 that I once bought in the parking lot across from the IH44 Joplin Flying J. I am using a Tram 3500 with a RK56 or Ranger mike.

 

[joehawth]

If your CB rig also can receive NOAA weather channels (those are VHF but several CBs can do this) that might tell you if your radio is fried or not if you can hear them. I'm not sure if the radio uses a separate tuner for those frequencies though.

When there are 10m band openings you should be able to hear activity on 11m from far away.

best of luck

 

[mmckenna]

...road trip from the bay area to Oregon. I fired up the radio, switched to channel 19 and..... Nothing. The entire way, 5 or 6 hours on the road, not a peep from anyone.

I make that run frequently.
Even on a major interstate like 5, I found there was extremely little CB traffic.
After years of making that drive, I just gave up on CB. I didn't install it in the new truck. Occasionally I'll give it another try, but it's always been the same.

The days of CB are gone. Sure, there's some pockets of local usage. There are some intense fans that use it heavily. But the days of truckers and travelers talking all the time on CB like in the 70's and 80's are gone.

 

[press1280]

I still see most big rig trucks with CB antennas but I’m not sure how much they use these days. I live only a few minutes off a major interstate trucking route and I hear them pass by occasionally.
There are also a few locals that use the bands on occasion.
But it isn’t like it was in the late 80s or 90s when there was pretty much a party every night on the air.

 

[FPR1981]

I am friends with a dozen or more truckers and they all still run CB. There isn't and never will be a substitute on the interstate. Trucks cannot randomly call other drivers they dont know and get road reports. a lot of trucking companies that previously removed CBs are reinstalling them. There is a prevailing belief that pileups went up as CB usage went down.

As a CBer who got out of it for 21 years and got back into it only to ask the same question the OP did, I can tell you confidently that CB, while not in a state of craze, is still alive and well. Less bases on the air, yes, but tens of thousands of trucks with them are on the roads every day.

 

[KB4MSZ]

Maybe when this lazy light bulb in the sky gets it's act together we will hear the old familiar background of AM heterodyne on every channel.

 

[FPR1981]

I enjoy 11 meters, free from shame. I may catch hell for this, but so be it.

To me, the challenge of finding the right antenna and the right radio, tuning it properly, working out bugs, troubleshooting and maximizing simpler communications is fun for me. The thought of picking up any handheld, keying into a repeater and talking long distance does not hold the same magic.

CB can be fun, and it's where many hams started. Nothing is cooler than hearing seasoned hams revisit their CB glory days. I have brought many a ham back to 11 meters recently.

What I practice is more akin to "amateur radio lite," or applying science and thought to CB radio and building a knowledge base through dialog with others. I suppose you could call that advanced 11 meters if you wanted.

I can deal with the occasional untintelligent redneck on the air as a sacrifice to enjoy conversation with decent everyday folks. What I cannot deal with is an intelligent person who isn't humble, thinks they know everything, is not open to any ideas outside their own and thinks they're somehow superior.

You wanna light my fuse fast? Talk down to me and watch how I react.

I manage the lives of adult felons as a profession. If I can build rapport with them and treat them in a respectful manner, then there is no reason for someone who is intelligent to be a condescending jerk out of projecting superiority.

While that's a topic of its own, that is why I still love CB.

 

[KB4MSZ]

Humility is just one of my many fine qualities.

 

[WB9YBM]

I still see most big rig trucks with CB antennas but I’m not sure how much they use these days.

I've heard a few truckers complain about some of the nonsensical chatter on the CB so they either ignore it (do more listening than engaging in conversation) or turn their CB off entirely.

 

[KB4MSZ]

Ok Dcalgo, the CB Band just happens to be open right now. I hear a number of northern states.

 

[TailGator911]

Alive and well with the locals here in NE Dayton, OH. We have a Neighborhood Watch group active in our neck of the woods that relies heavily on CB radio. Neighborhood chats go way up on CB whenever there is a power outtage or severe weather. I, for one, relay SkyWarn info to those on our grid. In a toolbox of essential radios, CB is right at the top.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I see a lot of renewed interest in CB. There are a myriad of different makes and models in production. To be honest it is as limited as any other radio technology but it is autonomous and available to anyone who wants to install one. The problem is with the antennas. The short Fire Sticks are popular because nobody wants a 102 inch 1/4 wave whip or to drill a hole in their roof. Unfortunately the Fire Sticks are tricky to install, especially the "no ground plane" versions that actually use the cable as a ground plane and thus radiate unpredictably and are difficult to tune up.

This is why some of us push the Larsen NMO27 because apart from careful final trimming for VSWR, it is actually a foolproof installation a caveman can do . With a decent antenna you can actually start hearing and talking to people who also have a decent antenna. Otherwise you have the frustration of vehicle noise and high VSWR.

 

[NC1]

The problem is with the antennas.

I could not possibly agree more with that statement. Most people new to CB want to spend the big money on units that have a bunch of knobs and chrome, along with pretty lights and a custom blue display. Then, with the budget pretty much gone, they buy 120ft of RG-58 and hook it to a firestick that is laying sideways in the attic, which is 2 inches from wiring for the LED yard lights. Then they tune around for a few minutes and say the band is dead because all they get is noise. Same thing with a vehicle installation, the most time and money should be spent on the antenna system as a whole, it does not matter much what CB you install if that is not done correctly.

The antenna, coax cable, and grounding is where the big money should be spent. The proper installation and location of that should be the #1 priority without question. Then go buy the $30 CB from walmart, or the one you found at a garage sale.

 

[FPR1981]

RE: Antennas

One thing I love to do to new CB friends in order to show them the importance of the antenna is to use an antenna adapter and hook up my Realistic TRC-216 handheld CB to my Sirio ground plane that's 35 feet up. I then say, "Watch this," get on 19 and holler for a radio check to ask, is this "giant old tube type Tram D201 is gettin' out there?"

People reply telling me how big and loud it sounds, and I play it up, telling them I just re-tubed this big beast and it's taking up half of my work bench.

Then I look at my CB friends and say, there you have it - I am on a battery-powered handheld, throwing a giant signal out there and people believe the lie that I'm on a giant base station.

Many times I have passers through town on 19 when I'm talking, break in, and ask who the guy with the "big radio" is. Often times, it's beene nothing more than a small mobile CB hooked to a power supply.