Do truckers still use CB Radios?

[WSAC829]

Too bad MURS doesn't have a 20W limit

There is no limit if you don’t advertise what radio you are using.
Most of the people i’ve encountered on MURS are using old 25-45 watt commercial Kenwood or Motorola mobiles and/or cheap Baofeng handhelds. I try to stay as close to legal as i can with 5 watts, but even then the radio i’m using isn’t type accepted for MURS. However, much like CB/HF/2m in general, the FCC doesn’t give a hoot. Just don’t purposely interfere with any of the grandfathered in businesses still using the old “DOT” frequencies that became part of MURS.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Does that REACT group state that they monitor Ch 9 or is it just GMRS? MURS is an interesting thought. With higher power, REACT members on mobiles/bases would have greater range while motorists could keep an emergency type radio kit in their vehicles, complete with a mag mount antenna. A number of companies made CB radios in this style and they could be stashed in the trunk or glove box.

No more monitoring of channel 9, they're mostly on GMRS, and have HF/2M/70cm capabilities with a couple of repeaters.

Dallas County REACT

 

[EAFrizzle]

There is no limit if you don’t advertise what radio you are using.

Ssshhhh! Don't be telling folks my secrets!

 

[EAFrizzle]

I wonder how many people have squirreled up a CB amp trying to run VHF through it?

 

[mmckenna]

Too bad MURS doesn't have a 20W limit; it would be a great place for something like REACT/traveler's/emergency comms.

Quite a few of the old REACT groups used to run GMRS travelers assistance repeaters. "Back in the day", 462/467.675 with a 141.3Hz PL was known as the "Travelers Assistance" channel. Many had open repeaters on that frequency/tone pair.


So, really no reason to try to use MURS, or modify the MURS rules, when this already exists in a lot of places. If you look at mygmrs.com, you'll see a lot of open repeaters on this frequency pair/tone combination. Not sure how many REACT groups still exist to monitor, but the spirit of that system kind of lives on with the older/traditional GMRS guys. I always kept 462.675/141.3 simplex and 462/467.675/141.3 programmed in my GMRS radios for this purpose.


However, that frequency pair/tone set is -NOT- restricted to emergency or travelers assistance use. Some repeater owners could require that for their own system, but it is not a restriction that exists in the GMRS rules.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Quite a few of the old REACT groups used to run GMRS travelers assistance repeaters. "Back in the day", 462/467.675 with a 141.3Hz PL was known as the "Travelers Assistance" channel. Many had open repeaters on that frequency/tone pair.

Key there is "used to", ""Back in the day"", and "was". The oils of Yesterday do not butter the Parsnips of Tomorrow, dear Sir! 😉

However, that frequency pair/tone set is -NOT- restricted to emergency or travelers assistance use. Some repeater owners could require that for their own system, but it is not a restriction that exists in the GMRS rules.

No, and it shouldn't be a restricted channel, just one with an emergency caveat. Just require that a repeater on that designated pair be open for any emergency traffic on the designated pair/channel. That's not an onerous demand, just one that would prioritize the community over the repeater owner. Don't want to be interrupted by emergency traffic? Great! There are other pairs available.

So, really no reason to try to use MURS, or modify the MURS rules, when this already exists in a lot of places.

First point, one that I did leave out of this quote, is about mygmrs.com. That site is a joke; it may as well be on GeoCities for all its lack of usefulness to anyone traveling. It's little more than you and I BSing over beers by the fire at deer camp.

I agree that MURS as it is would be a waste of time and effort. I think there's a decent case for a rule modification, just to bring it into coherence with FRS/GMRS. 5-7 high-power pairs with appropriate interstitial channels would make a very useful service, especially West of the Mississippi.

I see absolutely no reason not to carve out a chunk of VHF for this, other that the PS sector wanting to keep control over a section of spectrum they claim is better served by 7/800 MHz. Sounds like a great idea to me. Get ALL Public Service comms out of VHF and UHF; you can have all of 7/8/and 900. 700 MHz only for Public Safety? Great! Get your carcasses up there. Put the spectrum that's useful to average folks back in their hands. Not enough room on 2 meters for your club's repeater? Pffffft. There's plenty of room from 148 to 156 once PS moves to 7/8/9. Same with UHF.


Sarcasm aside, there's absolutely no good reason that we can't have Citizen/Public Use segments in ALL useful bands AND have proper coordination for PS, business, and citizen use, other than inertia and crybaby-itis.

 

[mmckenna]

there's absolutely no good reason that we can't have Citizen/Public Use segments in ALL useful bands AND have proper coordination for PS, business, and citizen use, other than inertia and crybaby-itis.

They do, it's called amateur radio, and they have slices of spectrum all over the place. Most of it is underutilized. Not hard at all to pass a 35 question multiple choice test.

Want to play on VHF with lots of power? Get your ham license. Push the hams off their 25KHz bandwidth systems. Go to TDMA or very narrow digital FDMA. Kick all the paper repeaters out of the system. Any 2 meter repeater that doesn't see sufficient channel loading to be deemed to serve the good of the hobby gets removed from the air. Take that 4MHz of spectrum, use it efficiently, and there, you have your 8MHz worth of spectrum where you can run up to 1500 watts to your hearts content without refarming the 148-156MHz range for a wasteful use of spectrum.

But this is getting way outside the "Do truckers still use CB Radios?" discussion. Probably worth its own thread. Maybe just resurrect the old 38MHz CB band thread that got spun up a while back. Pretty much the same discussion.

 

[BrhatWeed]

Get ALL Public Service comms out of VHF and UHF; you can have all of 7/8/and 900. 700 MHz only for Public Safety?

Not going to happen as there are many areas that simply can not reliably use the 700/800 because of the topography, PA is one such example along with the western states. Lower frequencies carry better that is a fact and this is one reason shoving them to the high side is only going to cause more headaches.

I'm also with mmckenna regarding amateur spectrum. I've been active since the 3rd grade (1977) and have seen the ups & downs. Sure we could go NBFM & TDMA but what's the point? So everyone can have their own backyard repeater to talk to themselves? As it stands now most of what's out there is pretty quiet and I know of several repeaters that actually import traffic, what little there is. As for the need to run high power... rules state only the minimum power required to maintain contact, if that requires the full 1500 watts so be it. Until amateur radio specifically the VHF & UHF portions become active again I see no reason to carve out a chunk of the MURS or public safety band. Maybe we could change the topic to "Do Hams Still Use 2-meter FM?"

 

[kc2asb]

Maybe we could change the topic to "Do Hams Still Use 2-meter FM?"

I agree. The amateur bands are under-utilized today, especially compared to when I obtained my license in 1997.

No need to start a new thread - already under discussion:

Making the most of whats left of the VHF/UHF bands

I thought I would share some of my ideas on what can be done to squeeze a bit more life out of the old ham bands... Link all analog repeaters together so that they have activity on them, this way they'll be UK wide and with internet links they'll also be world wide rather than repeaters sitting...

forums.radioreference.com

Reviving amateur radio was: Since It's Marketed as a Ham Radio..,

Quansheng K6 is a neat little radio. I purchased one. Flashed Ezgumer v0.22 firmware onto it. Disabled transmit completely being non-licensed. I enjoy the radio for it's aircraft band coverage and other terrestrial signals. Ham radio in Oklahoma City on 2m/70cm is lacking in activity badly but I...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[mmckenna]

No need to start a new thread - already under discussion:

Too bad these gems are closed:

38 MHz CB Radio???

I was thinking about areas like Paradise California and how a new local/regional radio service may be a benefit. I know about FRS (short range), GMRS (poor in hilly terrain), and 27 MHz CB Radio (Local comms are Ground Wave, that = short range), none of these services work well in hilly or...

forums.radioreference.com

DUAL-BAND MURS Radios??? Would you buy one?

Would you spend your hard earned dollars on a dual-band MURS Radio??? What if the new radio had 15 channels instead of 5? Here's my idea for an expanded MURS service that everyone could enjoy.. U.S. 49 MHz VHF-Lo MURS Band Plan TX/RX Mode of Operation FM (4 Watts rms) Channel / Frequency /...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[kc2asb]

Too bad these gems are closed:

38 MHz CB Radio???

I was thinking about areas like Paradise California and how a new local/regional radio service may be a benefit. I know about FRS (short range), GMRS (poor in hilly terrain), and 27 MHz CB Radio (Local comms are Ground Wave, that = short range), none of these services work well in hilly or...

forums.radioreference.com

DUAL-BAND MURS Radios??? Would you buy one?

Would you spend your hard earned dollars on a dual-band MURS Radio??? What if the new radio had 15 channels instead of 5? Here's my idea for an expanded MURS service that everyone could enjoy.. U.S. 49 MHz VHF-Lo MURS Band Plan TX/RX Mode of Operation FM (4 Watts rms) Channel / Frequency /...

forums.radioreference.com

38MHz CB? Interesting ideas. Well, 38MHz will still have issues with skip during periods of favorable propagation.

I guess the question is - do we need new radio services or do we simply need more people interested in radio? It's the latter, IMHO.

 

[mmckenna]

38MHz CB? Interesting ideas. Well, 38MHz will still have issues with skip during periods of favorable propagation.

I guess the question is - do we need new radio services or do we simply need more people interested in radio? It's the latter, IMHO.

Read the thread. Another person creating a complex solution to an issue that didn't exist.

 

[kc2asb]

Read the thread. Another person creating a complex solution to an issue that didn't exist.

I skimmed through quickly but got the gist of it. Definitely a solution in search of a problem. You pointed out that 38MHz would still "suffer" from interference caused by skip. Another good point made was that this could be implemented on the current 27MHz band, by allowing higher power and FM.

These proposals seem to come and go when someone suddenly has a "eureka" moment! Bottom line, Americans already have cellphones and other alternatives for communicating, none of which requires buying a radio, setting up an antenna, etc. The radio services we already have (amateur, CB, GMRS, MURS, etc) are under-utilized and creating a new one is duplicative.

 

[mmckenna]

Further splintering the user base across more unnecessary services won't benefit everyone. Between CB, MURS, GMRS, FRS, 900MHz ISM, Part 15 devices and amateur radio, not to mention cellular, and satellite devices, there's plenty of resources available.

 

[BrhatWeed]

Between CB, MURS, GMRS, FRS, 900MHz ISM, Part 15 devices and amateur radio, not to mention cellular, and satellite devices, there's plenty of resources available.

Thinkin' we need to get our priorities in order...

 

[slowmover]

Thinkin' we need to get our priorities in order...

6,000-lb option to avoid having a good radio:

.

 

[slowmover]

Truck Driver Shortage?

There’s never been one.






But as with all endeavors the roads to success for everyone have gone awry.

Truck driving is hard work. The payoff was some independence.

This post included as importing H1B to tech companies doesn’t directly endanger others. This one does. Same as with non-domicile CDLs issued to non-residents (Canada & Mexico).

The systems which enable this corruption have made the roads more hazardous than ever.

Knowing Who, What, and Where you’ll encounter those with the savvy to have a good radio system should alter your driving plans to enable pre-dawn start and mid-afternoon stop. Borrow from experience you’ll never have.

Lower risk is associated with lower traffic volume (until 1100) and avoiding times when all drivers are tiring (post-1500) and serious accidents are most likely.

4-500/miles daily is adequate.
Get a room. A good meal. A good nights sleep.

Big truck runs about 500-miles/day. And does it 6-7/days. Dispatch is at 47-MPH (includes travel time, not just drive time). Means depart by 0500 and be finished by 1500. 500 in the bag.

Everyone feels great on Day One. Everyone is tired on awakening on Day Three. Steady pace is what matters.

Great radio system and a daily trip plan make for smooth sailing.

Run the hours which parallel the local drivers MOST AWARE of how things work in that area. And who are most likely to have good systems.

.

 

[BrhatWeed]

Last time I drove a "real" truck was 1986 for my neighbor who ran a large gravel operation. 1980 GMC Brigadier tandem dump with a 6-71 under the hood and SST-6 twin stick... I was a teenager having finished my junior year of high school and was asked if I could drive a stick... thinking it would be like my dad's 1972 Chevy C/10 with the 292 & granny first 4-speed. Yeah right. I learned the gearing and mastered the truck and getting paid $8.00/hr cash. Hard work for a teenage kid who didn't have the proper license but I got the experience and decided it wasn't the job I wanted after graduation. Truck had a CB in it, don't recall hearing anything over that buzzin' half-dozen but the light's came on and meter moved.

Job was hauling gravel for the county municipal roads and spreading it out evenly tilting the box... took me a while to master that one!

 

[slowmover]

Last time I drove a "real" truck was 1986 for my neighbor who ran a large gravel operation. 1980 GMC Brigadier tandem dump with a 6-71 under the hood and SST-6 twin stick... I was a teenager having finished my junior year of high school and was asked if I could drive a stick... thinking it would be like my dad's 1972 Chevy C/10 with the 292 & granny first 4-speed. Yeah right. I learned the gearing and mastered the truck and getting paid $8.00/hr cash. Hard work for a teenage kid who didn't have the proper license but I got the experience and decided it wasn't the job I wanted after graduation. Truck had a CB in it, don't recall hearing anything over that buzzin' half-dozen but the light's came on and meter moved.

Job was hauling gravel for the county municipal roads and spreading it out evenly tilting the box... took me a while to master that one!

It was rock haulers on air (AM-19) as I went up to town the other day (along Interstate 20).

— Had traffic been backed up at any time from dawn until past lunchtime there were those in that group would have been able to explain what-was-what to drivers on their way into and out of D/FW from the west as to this stretch of road.

One needs the minimum 5’ roof antenna and about 50W to speak over time & distance just long enough to enable several exchanges with locals.

Another tactic is in asking those on the way out what it’s like for one’s chosen route going across (three main ones East-West). D/FW is 100-miles wide.

One is approaching The City Gate.
Travelers enter as others issue forth in departure.

One eastbound has finished his thousand-plus mile sojourn across the American Desert from Los Angeles. From here it is traffic all the way thru Atlanta and the Eastern Seaboard.

To navigate:

Proper Gear.
Proper Timing.
Proper Questions.

Ability to divert.
Tools to make that quick & efficient.
Sense of at what cost (proper planning last night)

More roads, but sometimes fewer choices.

.

 

[robertwbob]

there was a shortage of GOOD drivers. steering wheel holders and towel on head in flipflops weren't good. read cdl book cant drive in flimsy shoes and speak understand write english proper was in rule books from day 1.