CB in Winnipeg

[evansrj]

Just wondering if anyone is here from Winnipeg. I just picked up a new Cobra 19 Ultra III at a pawn shop in Fargo and hooked it up for the drive back home. During the entire 3.5 hour drive I didn't hear a single thing (mostly on 19). I did hear an awful lot from "John Deere" from the Carolinas... bye, buh, buh, bye, bye, bye.

I now realize that most likely had to do with the short antenna that I probably threw out of whack messing with it not understanding at the time about tuning.

I now have a Lil' Will antenna and am wondering if I will hear much around the city and should I be checking anything other than 19?

Also, is the Cobra I picked up any good? I understand that the most important component is the antenna and think I made a good choice other than the Wilson 1000 but the place I picked it up sells radios that are tuned and peaked to roughly 20 watts. Is this something I should consider? Also, I assume this will really only make a difference transmitting and very little receiving, correct?

Thanks for your input!

 

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.600 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

Not so sure about Manitoba, but here in Alberta and BC you are more likely to find the truckers on Vhf rather than CB. With the band openings we are currently experienceing, you will probably hear something, but really CB on a normal day is a rather short range radio. As you have already stated, the antenna is your most important part. If you do not know how to tune it, there are probably local ham operators that would be willing to help you get things up and working.

 

[evansrj]

Going to pick up a meter today to tune. I actually decided last night to get a licence for ham and began studying. Sounds like that may be a good addition as well as the CB. Thanks.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.600 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

Good luck with the license, I travelled from lethbridge to Edmonton today and at any point had someone to talk to while on my drive. Most of the folks I talked to were through networked repeaters. While travelling I would rather have a V/Uhf ham radio, or a commercial Vhf radio. CB was fun when I was a kid, and I'm sure people use it all the time, but for me ham radio really is the radio choice to take on any kind of trip for me.

 

[LarryWM9Z]

Getting a ham licence is the best thing,it will help you learn more about radios and antennas.
"Good Luck" & GO JETS.

 

[Smokeyblazerman]

Winnipeg cb clubs

Cb is active in Winnipeg, there is a club(Radio Canada) that likes to hang out on ch38 Lsb, which you won't. Be able to understand unless you have a ssb(single sideband) radio, you will be able to make contacts over a much larger distance. Just yesterday I had a 3 way conversation with British Columbia and new York with 15 watts of output. Of course I have a steel 102" whip on my truck which works great. I would look Into a sideband radio, cb is a great way to get started into radio, that's how I started!

 

[flaekingur]

I picked up a Cobra 18 WX recently to replace an older Radio Shack unit that quit working. Only problem, it does not have a mike. I have tried unsucessfully to find anyplace in Winnipeg that sells replacement mikes. I am using the Cobra as a receiver only by putting a jumper across the audio and shield pins on the mike socket but I need a mike. I used to deal with 40 Channels but they disapeared years ago. Who in Winnipeg sell CB mikes and parts these day?
Al

 

[flaekingur]

Another question, you mention the truckers are all going to VHF these days. What frequency bands are they using. If VHF is the way to go, I have a couple of Marine VHF radios that I might be able to make use of.
Al

 

[Smokeyblazerman]

Cb shops

Well I would recommend eleven meter radio, he has a number of radios and parts for sale. Search kijiji for cb radios as well. If you can't find the number I can pm you the #.