Anyone still use CB

[Danielsmith0793]

Hello all,

I'm in the wayne country north Carolina area and was wanting to know if anyone local is on the CB. I have some of my CB stuff hooked up but not picking up many people unless I'm on channel 6 or 28

 

[slowmover]

Base station?

Mobile?

NC has lots of good operators both mobile and base in my OTR experience.

Not enough antenna and/or obsolete radio gear is my first thought.

Second is terrain-difficulties.

Describe what you have.

.

 

[Danielsmith0793]

Mobile, I have a older RadioShack and a radioddity 606 pro with a mag mount antenna so somewhat obsolete. Terrain would be flat and mostly open. I'm thinking of getting a base station up and upgrading my mag mount antenna to a Wilson one

 

[DeeEx]

There’s more activity in the Carolinas and GA than anywhere else I’ve been.

Also one of the few remaining REACT groups in Cleveland County.

 

[Danielsmith0793]

Alright sounds like I need more antenna and tuning. Any homemade antenna ideas?

 

[slowmover]

Radioddity CB-606/CB-606 Pro CB Radio

Shop Radioddity CB-606/CB-606 Pro CB Radio, a CB radio with UHF, VOX, 4W and 40 channels. Built for ham operators, emergency prep and field use.

www.radioddity.com

We all start somewhere. At this level of radio performance and an antenna 3-4’ it’s good enough for 1-2/miles.

This linked thread starts off with the usual discouragement and dissuasion. Been reading this crap 26-years online. Some of that is paid. Enemy doesn’t want you to have man-to-man comms without his permission (Internet). I took what I’ve learned as OTR driver and made it as broad-based an understanding of Who, What & Where as you’ll find online.

Do truckers still use CB Radios?

I never hear any trucker chit-chat on Ch19, even with two different types of scanners monitoring. As a kid in the 70's, CB radios were cool!

forums.radioreference.com

After a few years at RR and experience behind it my recommendation for a man wants to bypass the learning curve of buy, sell, trade, experiment, start-over (all FAR more expensive and frustrating) to get right into high performance 11M mobile

Best Mobile 2025

A general: what should I recommend to friends who want high performance in Citizen Band? Let’s ballpark it at $500 entry. Will last longer than the time they own the automobile. Seatbelts, Concealed Carry, and CITIZEN BAND. This thread aimed at YOU, not the guy who knows even less. However...

forums.radioreference.com

Just four years ago this level was $1,200-plus.


@jctmadden started a year ago with a rig equivalent to yours up in Kentucky. Like me, it’s a business tool he uses daily. Wealth & Health.

New to CB and New to the Forum...

Just wired up my first budget friendly radio (read: cheap). To no real surprise I don't get out very well, and I get a ton of noise. I thought I would Amazon my way out of it by adding the "best CB antenna" to my cart, but come to find out that isn't so straight forward. TO THE GOOGLES!! Three...

forums.radioreference.com

Learn what goals are worth listing. Know what is meant by “high performance”. We do it systematically.

12V power
Antenna Design & Mount
Antenna Mount Location
Radio location & mount.
Coax system.

The radio itself (the individual component) is last and least.

The image (let’s not worry over accuracy just to illustrate a point) describes that we want our mobile rigs to capture as much of that “ground wave” as we can despite dealing with Skip when it interferes.




The Amateur Radio Mobile Installation Bible

“I jus wanna decent see-bee”.

It’s not so much a matter of how much money you put into it, it’s more a matter of how much you put yourself into it.

Plenty of good men here willing to help. Different than hand-holding. You avoid some of our expensive mistakes and get a HP radio we all of us have a better chance when far from home.

“Far from home” on a bad day could be less than five miles.

Enjoyment of camaraderie — gotta speak up, this ain’t passive entertainment — is what keeps us all in a shared awareness (“two or more gathered in My Name”).

.

 

[kc2asb]

Welcome to the forums! Just as a general comment, the amount of activity on the CB band is a fraction of what it was 25+ years ago. The rise of the internet and cellphones was a game changer.

I'm in NJ, near New York City, and got into CB in the late 80's. Back then, there was activity on nearly every channel 1 - 40. Lots of truckers, mobiles, and local groups on base stations talking away at just about any hour of the day. Even with a modest radio and antenna, you were guaranteed to hear a good amount of stations and chances are there were at least several nearby that would hear you.

Today, most of the channels in my area are empty. There are maybe 1 or 2 channels where there are local groups that are on regularly. Truckers are still heard on Ch 19, but it's a far cry from the wall to wall stations that were on back in the 80's/90's.

I would say that hearing activity on only 1 or 2 channels on average is normal in a given area. Some areas, of course, will have more activity than others. Also, try calling out on channels that appear empty. There could be people listening who will come back to you.

In any case, don't get discouraged and take the good advice on radio/antenna setup from the experienced users on this forum.

 

[Danielsmith0793]

Radioddity CB-606/CB-606 Pro CB Radio

Shop Radioddity CB-606/CB-606 Pro CB Radio, a CB radio with UHF, VOX, 4W and 40 channels. Built for ham operators, emergency prep and field use.

www.radioddity.com

We all start somewhere. At this level of radio performance and an antenna 3-4’ it’s good enough for 1-2/miles.

This linked thread starts off with the usual discouragement and dissuasion. Been reading this crap 26-years online. Some of that is paid. Enemy doesn’t want you to have man-to-man comms without his permission (Internet). I took what I’ve learned as OTR driver and made it as broad-based an understanding of Who, What & Where as you’ll find online.

Do truckers still use CB Radios?

I never hear any trucker chit-chat on Ch19, even with two different types of scanners monitoring. As a kid in the 70's, CB radios were cool!

forums.radioreference.com

After a few years at RR and experience behind it my recommendation for a man wants to bypass the learning curve of buy, sell, trade, experiment, start-over (all FAR more expensive and frustrating) to get right into high performance 11M mobile

Best Mobile 2025

A general: what should I recommend to friends who want high performance in Citizen Band? Let’s ballpark it at $500 entry. Will last longer than the time they own the automobile. Seatbelts, Concealed Carry, and CITIZEN BAND. This thread aimed at YOU, not the guy who knows even less. However...

forums.radioreference.com

Just four years ago this level was $1,200-plus.


@jctmadden started a year ago with a rig equivalent to yours up in Kentucky. Like me, it’s a business tool he uses daily. Wealth & Health.

New to CB and New to the Forum...

Just wired up my first budget friendly radio (read: cheap). To no real surprise I don't get out very well, and I get a ton of noise. I thought I would Amazon my way out of it by adding the "best CB antenna" to my cart, but come to find out that isn't so straight forward. TO THE GOOGLES!! Three...

forums.radioreference.com

Learn what goals are worth listing. Know what is meant by “high performance”. We do it systematically.

12V power
Antenna Design & Mount
Antenna Mount Location
Radio location & mount.
Coax system.

The radio itself (the individual component) is last and least.

The image (let’s not worry over accuracy just to illustrate a point) describes that we want our mobile rigs to capture as much of that “ground wave” as we can despite dealing with Skip when it interferes.

View attachment 183713


The Amateur Radio Mobile Installation Bible

“I jus wanna decent see-bee”.

It’s not so much a matter of how much money you put into it, it’s more a matter of how much you put yourself into it.

Plenty of good men here willing to help. Different than hand-holding. You avoid some of our expensive mistakes and get a HP radio we all of us have a better chance when far from home.

“Far from home” on a bad day could be less than five miles.

Enjoyment of camaraderie — gotta speak up, this ain’t passive entertainment — is what keeps us all in a shared awareness (“two or more gathered in My Name”).

.

Thanks slowmover, I will be reading up on those later today.

 

[Danielsmith0793]

Welcome to the forums! Just as a general comment, the amount of activity on the CB band is a fraction of what it was 25+ years ago. The rise of the internet and cellphones was a game changer.

I'm in NJ, near New York City, and got into CB in the late 80's. Back then, there was activity on nearly every channel 1 - 40. Lots of truckers, mobiles, and local groups on base stations talking away at just about any hour of the day. Even with a modest radio and antenna, you were guaranteed to hear a good amount of stations and chances are there were at least several nearby that would hear you.

Today, most of the channels in my area are empty. There are maybe 1 or 2 channels where there are local groups that are on regularly. Truckers are still heard on Ch 19, but it's a far cry from the wall to wall stations that were on back in the 80's/90's.

I would say that hearing activity on only 1 or 2 channels on average is normal in a given area. Some areas, of course, will have more activity than others. Also, try calling out on channels that appear empty. There could be people listening who will come back to you.

In any case, don't get discouraged and take the good advice on radio/antenna setup from the experienced users on this forum.

Thanks. Ill try calling on all the channels different times of the day and see if I pick up anybody.

 

[slowmover]

Thanks slowmover, I will be reading up on those later today.

You’re welcome.

It’s not easy to put into words the confidence which ensues from having a great radio system.

@jcrmadden does that better than me.

.

 

[kc2asb]

Thanks. Ill try calling on all the channels different times of the day and see if I pick up anybody.

No problem! Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Danielsmith0793]

Got a Wilson Lil wil antenna and adjusted it and tried calling on all channels on different parts of the day and I've been getting a few replies. Definitely going in the right direction

 

[ai8o]

Yes I just noticed a sign for incoming truckers, at a dairy products processing facility in High Point NC.
Use CB channel 17 to check in.

 

[Danielsmith0793]

Yes I just noticed a sign for incoming truckers, at a dairy products processing facility in High Point NC.
Use CB channel 17 to check in

That's cool