fischlerpromo
Member
But what's the range.... I am in L.A. and I don't think I could get out very far, what cha thiMk?
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Are CB Radio's fun?
- Thread starter ScannerSky
- Start date
- Status
But what's the range.... I am in L.A. and I don't think I could get out very far, what cha thiMk?
TheSpaceMan
Member
It depends on a lot of factors. The power of the radio, the type of antenna, where you are located, your height above ground, intervening obstructions, the station your are talking to, etc! I remember a guy way back when who went on top of a skyscraper with a 5 watt portable, and was able to hit base stations (without skip) quite a distance away. How far of a distance do you need to reach?
Allan_Love_Jr
Member
Use to be. No body talks on them anymore.
James_Bond_007
Member
SSB on CB is best. the people there run ham radios usually and act better then most hams i have heard of late.
they usually run about 100-200 watts on the legal 40 channels using modded ham radios (just fyi i don')t and studio grade processing and mics.
this has been my experience.
for in the car on the highways, i just leave it on 19, but as one poster said better not have any kids around.
SSB is a whole other worl from the AM side of CB.
they usually run about 100-200 watts on the legal 40 channels using modded ham radios (just fyi i don')t and studio grade processing and mics.
this has been my experience.
for in the car on the highways, i just leave it on 19, but as one poster said better not have any kids around.
SSB is a whole other worl from the AM side of CB.
freqs
Member
People still uses them I have one I use once in a while for use on trips or work .
In my area there is still a few good people on it if you stay away from 12 or 19
CB is what you make of it you dont like what you hear move on to other Channels .
There is alot of crap on CB its like Face Book on the Air .
Ive been on CB for a long time first started as a kid on my dads radios back in the 70's
alot has changed and not for the good .
Find a cheap radio and Antenna you can find a setup for well under $100 if you dont like it your not out a bunch of cash
In my area there is still a few good people on it if you stay away from 12 or 19
CB is what you make of it you dont like what you hear move on to other Channels .
There is alot of crap on CB its like Face Book on the Air .
Ive been on CB for a long time first started as a kid on my dads radios back in the 70's
alot has changed and not for the good .
Find a cheap radio and Antenna you can find a setup for well under $100 if you dont like it your not out a bunch of cash
N4JKD
Amateur Extra
CB used to have its perks for me before I got my ham license. CB is great for the ones looking for road conditions & "smokey reports" and general ragchew down the road. It was ok until I took a cb on a trip 3 years ago and our kids started repeating profanities they heard, so I turned the radio off and never turned it back on again. CB serves its purpose for long road trips & truck drivers. It is fun @ times, but not what I would use for a trip to town & back. This is where ham radio comes in, but I would not tell a person that ham is better than CB, because some people feel different. I say if you want free communication, get you a CB. If you want more channels to use, and be able to talk about further, than go get your ham license. The tech license is simple and no morse code required.
N4JKD
Amateur Extra
I'm sorry, I meant frequencies not channels
JimBobTerp
Member
I hope this link will help u with what u were looking for. Also check this link too. CB RADIO FREQUENCIES - CB FREQUENCY LIST channels 36- 39 are used for LSB ONLY I have NO IDEA what that is?? Maybe someone will know and be able to help u. & here is the 10 codes used for CB Radios.. CB RADIO 10 CODES Now Enjoy!
N4JKD
Amateur Extra
Depends to on what you are using it for? Just for a drive around town & use now & than, or are you going to use it all the time on long road trips or as a truck driver. If you are going to be in it for a lot of use, I would save and put money down on a good higher end rig like Galaxy, but Cobra or Uniden will be good and get a good antenna like K40 or Wilson. If you are going for a radio that you want to take in & out of the car from time to time, than a good cheaper radio and magmount antenna would be suffice. Online or even yard sales, you can probably get a cb & possibly antenna around $10
James_Bond_007
Member
stay far far away from k40. their antenna's are crap. spend the extra bucks for a wilson. the mounts on the k40's fall apart very quickly.
Although some favor Wilson antenna's, I hate them. I am still using my K40 that I purchased over 15 years ago. I threw my Wilson 1000 in the trash. I prefer having my antenna straight instead of bent. Based on my experience, the Wilson stinger was very easy to bend. I've not experienced such with the thicker stinger on my K40. I swear by K40. One of the worst antennas I've ever had dealings with was that piece of crap Lil' Wilson. I could never get the SWR set. With the K40, I have never had trouble setting the SWR.
TheSpaceMan
Member
Quite a bit of SSB activity in the New York area, mostly on the freeband and on the CB channels above 31.
TheSpaceMan
Member
Amazon and Radio Shack have new CBs for under $30! You can get a cheap power supply for the home, and build your own 11 meter dipole out of wire.
TheSpaceMan
Member
LSB means lower sideband! Sideband is a different mode of transmission from AM, and is the one most used by hams today on HF. There is a separate cult of CBers who have sideband radios and converse on CB and on the freeband. Sideband activity can be a great deal different from regular CB.
SteveInOregon
Member
CB's Fun ? > YES < read my exp & stats >>
Well it depends on were you are.
If You are in the big city, about 300,000 to 1 million well then perhaps not, because it is open to any anti social half drunk knuckle dragger with a neck bolt , ah "but" if You are in a very rural area or smaller outlying bedroom community then they can be a wonderful hobby and a great way to make true friends.
I have had both experiences,mentioned above , living in Los Angeles and San Diego, then in the mou8tain of southern California in 2k to 2003 and now living in semi rural Oregon, and I am a licensed Ham = amateur radio man.
I live in the largest town in far southern Oregon , a town with about 77,000 population, the county population is about 200,000, I live right along wise the north south 5 freeway. I am on the "side band" of CB channel 38, and on the "trucker" channel on the regular old AM .
I have a half dozen truly good friends who I speak with "every" day , and about another half dozen regulars who drop in for a chat every other day from all walks of life on CB channel 38 lower side band , one is a sheriff, one is a computer repair man, most are blue collar guys.
The population of CB'ers to citizens is very very low, probably 1 cb'er to every 10,000 so You will find mostly the CB'ers in the small communities are very polite because every one knows you anyways and if You were a jerk then you would have no one to talk to, lol.
I collect vintage American man cb gear and promote it as a nice old fasioned way to bond with local folks who like to do the same things as myself, I have organized everything from pizza parties & football games to fishing and bicycle rides.
No one is a foul mouth or an anti social type on my CB channel in my area, some have a few to many beers on Sat night, lol but they are always polite and fun to talk to.
The Ham bands were You have to have a license to operate on are nice for many reasons but they tend to be protocol oriented , slow in pace, with no off hand quips or remarks, basically not so "free wheeling" with mostly much older retired guys who are more white collar & tech oriented, you can get into some high end engineering talk on FM and Sideband Ham / amateur radio, and it is fun for what it is, so I switch back and forth almost every night.
Both types of radio have their positives and negatives.
Big city CB on the typical AM = Amplitude Modulation mode can be extremely noisy and have a lot of foul mouthed idiots on it, and so can the AM "trucker" channels so You have to know this, before You turn it on with Your kids in the room or in the RV or truck.
Almost any time of the day I can just grab the mic and say "hello" and I get 2 to 4 "hello's" back.
I will NEVER stop using the side band CB almost every day to chat with my local friends in the outlying rural areas this is were CB and specially Side Band CB in particular really shines.
regards
Steve KF7ARG
Well it depends on were you are.
If You are in the big city, about 300,000 to 1 million well then perhaps not, because it is open to any anti social half drunk knuckle dragger with a neck bolt , ah "but" if You are in a very rural area or smaller outlying bedroom community then they can be a wonderful hobby and a great way to make true friends.
I have had both experiences,mentioned above , living in Los Angeles and San Diego, then in the mou8tain of southern California in 2k to 2003 and now living in semi rural Oregon, and I am a licensed Ham = amateur radio man.
I live in the largest town in far southern Oregon , a town with about 77,000 population, the county population is about 200,000, I live right along wise the north south 5 freeway. I am on the "side band" of CB channel 38, and on the "trucker" channel on the regular old AM .
I have a half dozen truly good friends who I speak with "every" day , and about another half dozen regulars who drop in for a chat every other day from all walks of life on CB channel 38 lower side band , one is a sheriff, one is a computer repair man, most are blue collar guys.
The population of CB'ers to citizens is very very low, probably 1 cb'er to every 10,000 so You will find mostly the CB'ers in the small communities are very polite because every one knows you anyways and if You were a jerk then you would have no one to talk to, lol.
I collect vintage American man cb gear and promote it as a nice old fasioned way to bond with local folks who like to do the same things as myself, I have organized everything from pizza parties & football games to fishing and bicycle rides.
No one is a foul mouth or an anti social type on my CB channel in my area, some have a few to many beers on Sat night, lol but they are always polite and fun to talk to.
The Ham bands were You have to have a license to operate on are nice for many reasons but they tend to be protocol oriented , slow in pace, with no off hand quips or remarks, basically not so "free wheeling" with mostly much older retired guys who are more white collar & tech oriented, you can get into some high end engineering talk on FM and Sideband Ham / amateur radio, and it is fun for what it is, so I switch back and forth almost every night.
Both types of radio have their positives and negatives.
Big city CB on the typical AM = Amplitude Modulation mode can be extremely noisy and have a lot of foul mouthed idiots on it, and so can the AM "trucker" channels so You have to know this, before You turn it on with Your kids in the room or in the RV or truck.
Almost any time of the day I can just grab the mic and say "hello" and I get 2 to 4 "hello's" back.
I will NEVER stop using the side band CB almost every day to chat with my local friends in the outlying rural areas this is were CB and specially Side Band CB in particular really shines.
regards
Steve KF7ARG
Most times the kids won't hear anything they ain't already heard at home before.
It isn't like these kids now a days has virgin ears.
The problem with CB radio is that it is a outmoded form of communications.
The only way you can talk to someone is if two people has a CB turned on to the same channel and are in range of each other and actually wants to talk to each other.
The internet and the cell phones has all taken over.
The HAM radio - unless you make a big investment in time and money - all you are going to get is on the 2 meters and lower band
With the Echo Link - it is going to be nationwide pretty soon.
I have been picking up scanner traffic in my neck of the woods of repeaters / nodes connected to Echo Link - and as long as you know which node you want to talk to - you can talk clear across the country with 50 watts.
Radio to computer to uplink to downlink to radio to repeater.
The dual band radios - FM is the thing of the future - but then again, it will cost you your time to take a test and some money to get the license and some more money and time to join a club so you can use their repeater system.
If it gets too out of hand, the owner of the repeater can just shut it down and then it don't work no more.
Kind of like working for a business that is owned by one man - you never know when you are going to get fired if you do something wrong.
As others has said, I would invest in a decent Colbra radio and antenna and a SWR meter and have someone set up your rig for you in your car and if you don't like it - you can always sell it and recoop some of your money with a CB radio.
Ham radios - you are looking at anywhere from $100 for a used junker radio to $800 for a good radio and another $100 - $500 for a good automobile antenna and install.
The secret to CB radio is - if you don't like how someone is acting - just turn the dial to a different channel.
It isn't like these kids now a days has virgin ears.
The problem with CB radio is that it is a outmoded form of communications.
The only way you can talk to someone is if two people has a CB turned on to the same channel and are in range of each other and actually wants to talk to each other.
The internet and the cell phones has all taken over.
The HAM radio - unless you make a big investment in time and money - all you are going to get is on the 2 meters and lower band
With the Echo Link - it is going to be nationwide pretty soon.
I have been picking up scanner traffic in my neck of the woods of repeaters / nodes connected to Echo Link - and as long as you know which node you want to talk to - you can talk clear across the country with 50 watts.
Radio to computer to uplink to downlink to radio to repeater.
The dual band radios - FM is the thing of the future - but then again, it will cost you your time to take a test and some money to get the license and some more money and time to join a club so you can use their repeater system.
If it gets too out of hand, the owner of the repeater can just shut it down and then it don't work no more.
Kind of like working for a business that is owned by one man - you never know when you are going to get fired if you do something wrong.
As others has said, I would invest in a decent Colbra radio and antenna and a SWR meter and have someone set up your rig for you in your car and if you don't like it - you can always sell it and recoop some of your money with a CB radio.
Ham radios - you are looking at anywhere from $100 for a used junker radio to $800 for a good radio and another $100 - $500 for a good automobile antenna and install.
The secret to CB radio is - if you don't like how someone is acting - just turn the dial to a different channel.
All communications is line of sight - which means that a average radio with a really good antenna on 27 MHZ - CB and 4 watts should reach out about 1 - 18 miles depending on terrain.
The CB vs VHF FM - VHF is ground following - which means that it will go up one hill and down the next, around corners and over large areas with little effort.
You don't need 100 watts with a CB radio to talk to people across the street.
The VHF Ham is either Simplex radio to repeater- or half duplex - radio to radio.
What Is Simplex, Half Duplex Or Full Duplex?
The CB vs VHF FM - VHF is ground following - which means that it will go up one hill and down the next, around corners and over large areas with little effort.
You don't need 100 watts with a CB radio to talk to people across the street.
The VHF Ham is either Simplex radio to repeater- or half duplex - radio to radio.
What Is Simplex, Half Duplex Or Full Duplex?
SteveInOregon
Member
CB is "outmoded" , well it is mostly a social past time & hobby so its impossible to out mode a hobby.
Yes it "is" technologically outmoded, but then again so is text'ing, and almost every young person text each day and text is likened to a telegraph of the 1800's, lol.
CB to young 10 to 15 year old girls and boy's around us is fascinating to them , they pop on and talk with us when there is a "round table" on the air with about 5 of us when there is something interesting that we a speaking about.
The girls right now this very night, they want there own CB's for themselves so long as they don't have to do any technological set up and just turn it on and talk to each other , they do see that text'ing and cell phones are fine, but limited, and they actually love the idea of a "party line" & distant yet close virtual social gathering place while staying home at the same time that cell phones and text'ing cant quite provide.
We are talking about good kids with in tact families and close supervision, a CB station in the living room or next to dad's station in dad's radio / ham shack is a great bonding tool.
We are a 2 year old who pops on and say's hi , he knows us all.
So all we have to do is set it up and they will be kids and kids love to chat.
The know that there are people listening andf creeps listen and will talk back , but they know we "must" to monitor this for them
Kids being kids they will integrate text ( private message ) with public CB to give it even more flavor & have multiple cimmunications at the same time, much like I do when I have CB ch 38 lower side band on, and 80m Ham band on another rig , and my Email client running, "and" my cell phone on all at the same time "as" I watch a YouTube or post in a forum, lol
The simplicity of CB is actually its attraction, it is a local free connection , just ask any trucker, they know there is an instant party line social club at the push of a mic button.
Yes it "is" technologically outmoded, but then again so is text'ing, and almost every young person text each day and text is likened to a telegraph of the 1800's, lol.
CB to young 10 to 15 year old girls and boy's around us is fascinating to them , they pop on and talk with us when there is a "round table" on the air with about 5 of us when there is something interesting that we a speaking about.
The girls right now this very night, they want there own CB's for themselves so long as they don't have to do any technological set up and just turn it on and talk to each other , they do see that text'ing and cell phones are fine, but limited, and they actually love the idea of a "party line" & distant yet close virtual social gathering place while staying home at the same time that cell phones and text'ing cant quite provide.
We are talking about good kids with in tact families and close supervision, a CB station in the living room or next to dad's station in dad's radio / ham shack is a great bonding tool.
We are a 2 year old who pops on and say's hi , he knows us all.
So all we have to do is set it up and they will be kids and kids love to chat.
The know that there are people listening andf creeps listen and will talk back , but they know we "must" to monitor this for them
Kids being kids they will integrate text ( private message ) with public CB to give it even more flavor & have multiple cimmunications at the same time, much like I do when I have CB ch 38 lower side band on, and 80m Ham band on another rig , and my Email client running, "and" my cell phone on all at the same time "as" I watch a YouTube or post in a forum, lol
The simplicity of CB is actually its attraction, it is a local free connection , just ask any trucker, they know there is an instant party line social club at the push of a mic button.
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