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CB Radio OK Nowadays?
- Thread starter K2GMZ
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russbrill
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I've noticed that also... Installing an antenna on the roof with a mast and guy wires Amazes the Smartphone crowd. Most youngster can't seem to do anything without an App
belvdr
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More than likely, it bores them. I find they don't seem to have any interest.I've noticed that also... Installing an antenna on the roof with a mast and guy wires Amazes the Smartphone crowd. Most youngster can't seem to do anything without an App
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Haha, funny... The only CB radio I have left in my Arsenal is my Juiced up Galaxy DX 2547... there was a time that Channel 20 and 21 was active with networking related to react. Trucks moved up and down at one time, as I say there is no CB antennas on any of the trucks. Channel 29 used to be a nice chat channel for four wheelers on the move but that's going back over 10 years.
No unfortunately CB is dead as a doornail here.
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russbrill
Member
Without the SCAN feature, you'll miss a lot of activity. I have heard several conversations between vehicles (Hwy 99) this morning, and none of them were on 19 or 17..
Radio Shack used to have CBs that scanned, but I think this goes back about 40 years. Sounds like there might be others out there I haven't heard about yet?
It sounds like there's at least a little bit of interest still out there--I don't know if it's enough to get a resurgence going. Maybe if a few of us started putting up a bit of a profile--a basic set-up in the car or at least a modest base station antenna maybe there'll be enough people asking what that's all about to get more people interested/active? We might not need the mobs like there used to be back in the '70s, but at least a few groups...?
Thanks!
russbrill
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p1879
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Hopefully 11m skip will pick up slowly over the next few years--it is now legal to communicate beyond 150 miles on CB. There are frequent openings where channels 30+ are active with skip conversations, mostly in LSB, even now, but there are seasonal variations on how often this happens. Someone here noted channel 38 is a good indicator of propagation openings, it can be pretty popular with DXers.
CB thrives in many rural areas, and it is an important safety measure on many USFS logging roads, which have the proper channel posted. As trucks come down the grade, they announce that they are coming because the roads are narrow and they are hauling big weight under the influence of gravity. They are trying to get out as many loads a day as possible, and logging trucks careening down a mountain road are best encountered when you are expecting them--or better yet safely off the road.
Some old CB radios and some easily erected antennas would have been a godsend to isolated villages in Puerto Rico after the hurricane devastation. Arguably, they had a more robust communications capability in the 1980's during the CB craze. Message handling and routing, however, would have been problematic though, but it beats no communication at all.
CB thrives in many rural areas, and it is an important safety measure on many USFS logging roads, which have the proper channel posted. As trucks come down the grade, they announce that they are coming because the roads are narrow and they are hauling big weight under the influence of gravity. They are trying to get out as many loads a day as possible, and logging trucks careening down a mountain road are best encountered when you are expecting them--or better yet safely off the road.
Some old CB radios and some easily erected antennas would have been a godsend to isolated villages in Puerto Rico after the hurricane devastation. Arguably, they had a more robust communications capability in the 1980's during the CB craze. Message handling and routing, however, would have been problematic though, but it beats no communication at all.
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Yep I always had a CB from the mid-60s to maybe early 90s. Always had one in the car through the 70s and 80s. I probably owned more 23 Channel units than 40 channel units.
My Galaxy DX 2547 has a feature that scans Channel 9 + 19. As I say for a while I would monitor the 11 meter CB band and programmed it so it scanned all 40 channels on my Icom r75. Since I live where the PA Turnpike meets the the Jersey Turnpike I would get a conversation once in a while between two trucks passing through. What amazes me is I'm in a heavy Trucking industrial area and I never see any CB antennas anymore.
russbrill
Member
It's about 50/50 here when it comes to CB antennas on Commercial Trucks.. I'll bet about 8 out of 10 Owner Operators have a radio installed in their trucks. However, when it comes to company drivers the number is probably much lower.
K9DWB
QRT
I was a truck driver for 11 years. All trucks I drove had a CB except those on the first job, which took up 4 years. Let's see, I started with a Cobra 29 NW with WX. I bought it with a questionable peak/tune. A week later it was modded to run a Texas Star 250. Next was I think it was called a Mirage DX48, similar to a Galaxy but it was all black. I traded that at Bob's CB I80 in PA to buy a Magnum S9. Later that got Nitro knobs at a truck stop in VA. Then I bought a Galaxy 98VHP but never used it as the truck company I worked at had a very strict "no touch battery" rule. Last radio and likely the one I liked best was the Stryker 497HP. Not to mention a lot of antennas, some dual and some with a single driver's side. I did all my own installs and SWR checks. The part I disliked was the way CB went downhill being overrun by ignorant foul mouthed idiots. When my back EA's injured too much to drive the trucks, I sold my radios. But I just found the Texas Star in a box of truck stuff recently in the shed. Just me, I'll likely not pick up a CB mic again.
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