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Activity on the Interstates

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slowmover

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I just made the drive from St Pete, FL to N.E. Ohio and must say that CH 19 had steady traffic; some was rather funny and some was bickering. The craziest was in Southern Ohio. Picture for a second the 2 nut jobs in the pickup truck from a scene in the Movie Christmas Vacation. There was 1 trucker who was just insane in his driving and talk. One trucker asked where he was buying his crack from. The nut job was just hammer down get the F out of my way.

While in West Virginia, I was getting great skip and was listening to a conversation from a local guy in St Pete with another guy in North Carolina.

I turned of the car radio. There was plenty of CB traffic to be informative in construction zones, keep my attention and entertain me the entire trip.

CB is its own world. Sounds bad at first (to some), and it’s not for the pleased-to-be-offended crowd with green hair and tattoos.

.
 

slowmover

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Yeah,that "construction" on I77 was a 1.5 delay and all they were doing was patching about a 6ft section of the edge of the road! I was expecting to see some hugh project. However they were making "boobie" reports as they were looking down at some other vehicles 😄

As said in other posts, I came out of Charlotte and had the heads-up on that one easily twenty-five miles out. Discussed alternates with locals and chose the less scenic bypass thru Winston-Salem via 421 to rejoin the Interstate at Mt Airy. An hour-long driving diversion that put me thirty-minutes ahead of where I’d been before the slowdown based on traffic I passed who stayed in the jam (and who passed me again).

All of y’all need to understand that road is NOT full of people like yourself. It’s a crowd you would not willingly join while on foot. Trapped in a backup — with no way out — means you’re one of the fish in a barrel.

.
 
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riverradio68

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The solar activity has been just horrible lately. When the sun bursts and the skip rolls, SSB is where the fun is. The good thing about truckers not using CB as much and the fact that kids are not interested anymore, means the airwaves ain't as saturated when the skip does roll in. Two springs ago it was pretty good, made a few Texas to Canada contacts on 38LSB and they old SSB friendliness was still intact (for the most part). It'll never be the insanity of the 70's again, which is good, but it is on the rise with FCC running so many out of amateur.
 

Hutch7344

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Drove about 40 miles through Colorado on i25 today and I was hearing chatter on 19 the entire time. Only thing is I don’t think a single one of them were in Colorado lol. The guys I were hearing clearest were talking about southern New Mexico and somewhere in California, sounded like they were 20 feet away it was so clear, couldn’t ever hear who they were talking to though. I figured the high power guys hung out on channel 6
 

AB5ID

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Drove about 40 miles through Colorado on i25 today and I was hearing chatter on 19 the entire time. Only thing is I don’t think a single one of them were in Colorado lol. The guys I were hearing clearest were talking about southern New Mexico and somewhere in California, sounded like they were 20 feet away it was so clear, couldn’t ever hear who they were talking to though. I figured the high power guys hung out on channel 6
If it's quiet, you you can work the world on 11/10 meters with very little power and good conditions.
 

slowmover

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Conditions for Skip can make for anomalous experience. Can be so strong at times can’t hear the men around you.
 
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FLA727

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I’m only 10 mins off 81. I hear some traffic, but certainly not what it was when I was originally messing around with radios back in the late 80s and early 90s in NOVA. Back then my buddies would have to move channels a lot to find one that was relatively clear. It seems the opposite now where I seem to only be able to find people on a select few channels.
Side note-I’ve been hearing a lot of Spanish on channel 9. Not sure if this is local traffic near me or what.
I've noticed a lot of Spanish traffic on CH 9 here in the Tampa Bay area also. Perhaps it is becoming the "Spanish Channel" :D

Overall during this trip both up to Ohio and back to Florida, I was happy I had the radio with me. I proved to be helpful in some traffic conditions and definitely provided some entertaining moments
 

RadioJonD

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To be fair, politics is a growing cancer spreading and destroying everything in modern life. Everything on the TV, then everything on the internet. Then chat rooms, BBS message boardes, and yes, even radio. To be even more fair, sometimes you turn on 80 meter LSB and listen in, on the big boi band reserved for General and above. The band for Prime Time Players, well dressed and rehearsed and ready to do great radio practice. And, even in the sacred land of Amateur, you get the SAME nonsense. Politics, rudeness, pig fighting, more politics.

You want to hear some of those guys talk about stuff beyond radio in tall HF bands. Until they ACTUALLY DO talk about something else. Because we all know where that goes....

I've noticed a lot of Spanish traffic on CH 9 here in the Tampa Bay area also. Perhaps it is becoming the "Spanish Channel" :D

Overall during this trip both up to Ohio and back to Florida, I was happy I had the radio with me. I proved to be helpful in some traffic conditions and definitely provided some entertaining moments

I don't come into contact with truck drivers very much. However, the two or three that I have helped (this after seeing them stopped or driving slowly in really rural areas apparently from bad GPS guidance) in the past couple of years didn't speak English as a first language. They weren't Hispanic either.

I am made to think that this is perhaps another reason for lack of CB radio activity? Is my observation valid?
 

bucks83

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I did not read through this entire thread but to the OP, I used the "Waze" app on my phone to get traffic, accident and police reports on my way to the New Jersey shore.
 

slowmover

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I don't come into contact with truck drivers very much. However, the two or three that I have helped (this after seeing them stopped or driving slowly in really rural areas apparently from bad GPS guidance) in the past couple of years didn't speak English as a first language. They weren't Hispanic either.

I am made to think that this is perhaps another reason for lack of CB radio activity? Is my observation valid?

It tells you about those who never belonged here. In some regions your assumption is correct. But low IQ and radio don’t go together when the group doesn’t have a ready source to fix this.
 

slowmover

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I did not read through this entire thread but to the OP, I used the "Waze" app on my phone to get traffic, accident and police reports on my way to the New Jersey shore.

WAZE (like Google Maps) is only useful in telling me what the stoopids will be doing. Useful to to correct alternative routing already underway.

Some problems one can’t avoid using the same routes (even if not EXACTLY the same from start to finish).

It’s not at all unusual I’m on the diversionary route (US or State highway versus the Interstate problem) and see the Woozies backed up 3/4-mile trying to get onto that Highway. Their detour may not be working for them at all in terms of Average MPH.

At long-term construction projects the alternates are already crowded. Using side roads may only give the impression of moving along as average mph shows it didn’t happen due to off-route congestion and extra distance traveled.

Evaluation is a mix of location (rural or metro) and experience. Using alternates to get there faster is bad thinking (not thinking; pure emotion) as separation from congestion is a better metric. Being able to maintain 1-200/yard separation is the ideal for all roads.

Traffic volume is ALWAYS the predictor for average mph. In same wise, allowing yourself to be boxed-in from all directions is the best predictor for vehicular accidents. Ergo, avoid crowds up the extent of doubling the distance. This may mean radically different departure times (arrive at work 45” early versus 15”; or greater).

Other truck drivers of my acquaintance use AM Traffic radio reports, public service scanners, and CB to get thru areas already familiar to them. I may go thru Nashville pretty often but local commercial AM is worthless as it doesn’t correlate problems via mile marker locations. (Dumbed down for the stoopids). State road departments are often no better (“incident ahead at Crowley Rd”, versus stating MM-326).

CB (AM-19) reports are predicated on the difficulties of moving a tractor-trailer which has greater constraints. Many alternatives open to cars are not available to trucks (street signs showing “Truck Route”). With permanent antenna & DSP audio one can hear quite far out and begin the plan considerations.

1). What is the problem (including extent of backup).
2). Where alternatives are being discussed (more than one).
3). How are those passable for big trucks (restrictions, lights, turns)

Read the thread

WAZE is not an answer. Only an option being used by all others. The appearance of “Best Routing” has to be examined.

If a typical American going on a road trip, planning the route plus stops IN ADVANCE is the key to success. USDOT plus state trans departments offer online info as to closures and construction. A Commercial Carriers Road Atlas shows “best” roads for off-Interstate travel PLUS are indispensable for tactical changes.

IOW, Woozie didn’t do that much for you per fixed problems. Those are known in advance.

Good planning skill means you can make a 1,200-mile trip and never be more than five-minutes off schedule (every stop). No electronics are needed past a CB. Controlling the length of stops (advance planned locations) and knowing average mph (58-mph high enough for cars given short stops; trucks use 50-mph) makes it pretty easy.

Start early and stop for the day, early. There’s literally no other way to maintain highest average mph.

AM-19 is going to be busiest up to around 1500 weekdays. The locals go home and the long distance guys get tired. Traffic volume is HIGH till past 2100, then tapering.

2300-1100 is overall lowest traffic volume nationwide. (The earlier your start, the easier your day).

.
 
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alcahuete

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I've noticed a lot of Spanish traffic on CH 9 here in the Tampa Bay area also. Perhaps it is becoming the "Spanish Channel" :D

Channel 9 has been the Spanish Channel here in California for over 30 years, when propagation is good. I assume it is from Mexico and South America, but who knows?
 

wwhitby

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Not like it used to be. Even as recent as the last 10-15 years I've noticed a decline in activity.

Same here. I noticed the decline after the economy went bad in 2008. CB traffic decreased considerably before then.

Prior to 2008, I used to drive a lot for business trips and family vacations. I always had a CB in the car, and there was always a lot of radio traffic on CB.
 

p1879

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A lot of folks in Latin America use CB and the adjacent frequencies. In few of these countries, if any, is Ch. 9 mandated as an "Emergency" channel. In many Latin American countries, before cell phones and other communications infrastructure arrived, 11 meter radio was used on many farms, ranches, mines--you name it. They too are plagued by other users on the band,--especially when skip is running-- and back in the day, millions of gringos were hollering on the 40 Channels up in the US. Some people found a quiet cb channel to use--- "our" Channel 9.

That being said, it is fantastic that someone is still monitoring Ch.9. I do understand some radios have a dual-watch function for this.
 

138BG

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I wonder how well the OP's radio is/was receiving. Granted the radio traffic on channel 19 is not what it once was, the amount of law enforcement he describes would have definitely caused a stir among the CB operating professional drivers on I-94. Having operated a big truck on the route he describes many times, I can say I was rarely surprised by bears in the median that I didn't have forewarning of. Proper installation can make a big improvement in Rx performance. And of course the radio matters also. Slapping an untuned mag mount on the roof and plugging a Walmart $29.95 Cobra 19 into the cigarette lighter is a recipe for lousy reception.
 
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