Does anyone still use cb??

[slowmover]

There are areas of the country with significant (non-stop) radio traffic almost 24/7. (Weekends are slowest)

Traffic volume has to do with:

1). Population density (areas feeding major metro regions).

2). Limited thruways (a few major routes).

3). Power-only operators (guys who pull someone else’s trailers/loads).

4). A strong mix of bulk commodity haulers (might be grain, might be construction gravel); these tend to operate as part of a team (X number of truckloads contracted).

5). Peer pressure to have a good radio is also an influence. (Americans, not half-Americans).

If someone says they are near center of a major metro (defined by Interstate intersections) but cannot hear much then the antenna system is deficient for that location and use. Mornings and late afternoons are always busy. Locals greeting one another plus traffic problems new or normal being questioned.

Any SSB radio as a performance minimum plus the right antenna system will do the job. (Whether or not that can be accomplished is another question; mobile or base).

In rural areas with 70-mph Interstate speed limits and low traffic volume one will have the fewest contacts. Forestry products only (example) may all be on business radio.

CA to WA they may be on 15,17 or 19.

Still, being able to scan the forty in rural areas will uncover locals using a channel of their preference. Especially at beer-thirty.

Plenty of SSB users on West Coast.


.

 

[GadgetGeek]

I still use cb, channel 38 LSB to be exact. So do a lot of other folks in my neck of the woods. I live in the NYC Metropolitan area. Depends on your location.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Humility is just one of my many fine qualities.

Nobody is better on humility than me . Everybody knows that.

 

[bill4long]

Does anyone still use cb??

I would only use a CB to pick up lot lizards.

 

[mmckenna]

Does anyone still use cb??

I would only use a CB to pick up lot lizards.

Careful, some of them are kind of heavy.

 

[kk9h]

I still use a CB primarily on road trips. While radio traffic on the Interstates is down significantly from years ago, partly due to the low period in the sunspot cycle, it is nice to have a fairly quiet radio until someone has something to broadcast. In recent years we have learned of traffic snarling lane reductions due to road construction, bad accidents and even an active tornado in enough time to avoid them. On occasion at home in the evening I will tune around the CB channels with my ham rig to see if there is any local activity. Some channels do seem to have activity on them and channel 38 LSB seems to be quite popular. I live in the Chicago area.

 

[MDYoungblood]

Here in Baltimore, CB radio is still quite active. There are a few channels that AM'ers congregate on and channel 38lsb has a good following in the evening hours. You can usually find me on 38lsb most days.

3's

MDY

 

[slowmover]

I still use a CB primarily on road trips. While radio traffic on the Interstates is down significantly from years ago, partly due to the low period in the sunspot cycle, it is nice to have a fairly quiet radio until someone has something to broadcast. In recent years we have learned of traffic snarling lane reductions due to road construction, bad accidents and even an active tornado in enough time to avoid them. On occasion at home in the evening I will tune around the CB channels with my ham rig to see if there is any local activity. Some channels do seem to have activity on them and channel 38 LSB seems to be quite popular. I live in the Chicago area.

For anyone:

Not accurate as a general statement to say traffic is down while mobile. I travel pretty much all of the US East of IH35, and — as in my post above — AM-19 can be alive hours at a time. From east of Atlanta to west of Birmingham yesterday significant accidents (hour-plus delays) kept things busy for several hundred miles in near-constant rain.

IOW, it’s a rare day I encounter silence the majority of hours (on 19). Scan function can locate other channels in use.

Sideband is a world of its own.

It’s simply the wrong way to characterize CB to make comparisons to eras now past. Majority of Americans alive don’t remember, say, 1996, because they were too young or not yet born (forget using 1979). As a qualifier it’s all they remember about your opinion: not worth pursuing; niche interest.

“Popularity” is the flat wrong response to whether CB is worthwhile. It has nothing to do with the subject.

Having a capable radio rig (not a joke of a radio plus a cheap mag mount) means opportunities to meet new people. New ways of perception.

My own interest is centered on business use (commercial driver), but I might more accurately say that the best people to know while on the road usually have very good radio rigs as they recognize it’s unique problem-solving capabilities.

An extremely bad wreck near Atlanta yesterday had car drivers following their AI boss to side roads as jammed as the Interstate. The real detour was far in advance of the wreck. It was 36-miles before the wreck, and 31-miles before the backup.

The better radios not surprisingly had alternative route advice not difficult to confirm on a map after pulling over.

Recognize that “time saved” isn’t everything in this example. Being trapped in a miles-long mass of vehicles just isn’t good common sense. (Making a U-turn across the Interstate to backtrack a ways is par; equivalence is to a lane-change).

Choose the subject: Local fishing. Best bakery. Local weather anomalies. Then consider higher-risk problems. Second and Third thinking, applied. Some others may be out ahead of you to relay that info. Literally & Metaphorically.

Citizen Band (means just that).

Take heart that the sheeple can’t act without being told what to do and how to do it. They’ve chosen the road of the already-dead. They’ll stay seated in the crashed and burning airliner. (They won’t be crowding the better detour).

When something nudges you to get yourself out of “normalcy” — gut feeling — reach for the microphone. (Someone else is already thinking the same, unrecognized). I think it funny that during a long dry-spell where I turn on music to fill the silence . . at that moment the CB will start up.

No coincidence.

There doesn’t have to be an approved excuse to key up (sometimes you’ll hear, “Man, sure is quiet out here”) as something may be brewing already and is engaging unconscious processes in quite a few people.

As language-use is a skill, knowing what’s common use on-air brings better, faster, results. Don’t assume someone has your answer, you’ll have to build one based on what you might be able to learn.

Practice is habit. Habit is the same greeting one has in passing a stranger on the street. With words versus expression. (Putative content not at issue). Get something said that’s a door-opener, maybe, and some other may help bring into focus what’s in the wind.

The better the rig and the more you use it, the better it becomes.

.

 

[slowmover]

“Oh, but CB is full of stoopid”

Compared to television it’s the Athens Academy.

Plenty are those don’t know what to say. They outnumber the genuine defectives by a factor. Don’t be thrown by it.

The difference between 2021 and 1981 is that we didn’t grow up as sidelined observers. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t experience (respectively) TV, Radio, Cinema until into their thirties, long past maturity. Older habits prevailed.

Only other people are real. The less the filter, the better the communication.

Someone tries the Bad Boomer excuse on you, note that agreement is equal to ****ting on your own children. It’ll come right back to you. (False).

CB will be what you make of it. AM-19 is the hailing channel. Take any conversation started to another channel. You’ll be surprised at how many follow.

Persevere.

Or stay in the airliner seat wearing your mask and clutching your vaxx card

Someone starts a thread on dead & dying CB ain’t anyone’s friend.
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[KB2GOM]

Nobody is better on humility than me . Everybody knows that.

Hey, I'm probably twice as humble as you are!

 

[kb7gjy]

CB isn't what it was even 15 years ago at least up here in far north Idaho. Drivers mostly keep their radios off except at a shipper or receiver and sometimes truck stops. Most have gone to cell phones, which is sad. As a prior OTR driver I still have a CB in my vehicles and have called out to other drivers when there was something they should be aware of (Accident, load limits, etc.). 99% of the time I only get silence in return. At accident scenes (If I'm working it) I might ask a driver if he had his CB on. The reply is mostly No, or they don't have one.

As others have said, your mileage may very, but locals use CB, but it isn't like it was. FRS/GMRS/Cellphones, etc have taken alot of the usage of CB but that isn't always a bad thing. You don't have as many radio Rambos, and the language has been toned down where children don't receive an education as there once was.

Use it and enjoy it. We have logging companies, gravel companies, concrete companies and the like still using CB even if they have company radios in their trucks if for nothing more then interop's between different company trucks.

Hope this helps

I will say, I don't miss the guys in the truck stop saying, "I ain't got no panties on" LOL

 

[KB2GOM]

I run the Commuter Assistance Net in the Capital District of New York State (Albany/Schenectady/Troy) -- Commuter Assistance Net . I used to run it on CB channel 9 and 2 meters, but some years ago, I realized that I hadn't taken a legitimate call on Ch. 9 in a couple of years, so I shut the CB down. We get ab out 50-60 checkins a week on 2 meters.

In addition, before I turned off the CB, I got tired of trying to convince Canadian truckers and others to stay off Ch 9 unless they had an emergency or needed traveler's assistance, which is what Ch 9 was supposed to be reserved for. Several times I was told: "Oh, the FCC canceled that years ago!" Which was hilarious, because (A) it wasn't true and (B) at the time, I was the CB Editor of Popular Communications and would have "gotten the word" if the FCC had taken any such action.

Recently, I tuned my HF receiver to the CB channels and didn't hear much. I hope CB is active in the OP's area; I enjoyed it when it was active in my area.

 

[GamerMason]

I put a CB in my vehicle long while ago, as I am starting to become a radio enthusiast thought I might just add that to the list of things I have. I do pickup radio traffic once in a while in a rural town of a population of around 25,000. Mainly it's conversation where I don't hear start to finish, but I do hear quite frequently (maybe 2-3 times a day) of CB getting used, and trust me, I listen to it at least 12 hours a day at least. I scan channel 9, 19 and 20. I know some people around in my town use 25 as a farm channel, but even then there is a farm channel on a business frequency, not sure how much use goes on that though. Never put that into my analog scanner before just doesn't interest me as much as CB traffic. I have helped truckers on CB19 that needed fuel, so I directed him to the closest fuel stop since no one else knew of a location. But other than that, not much conversation I do unless someone needs help with directions. Now that people have phones, not much asking for directions like it use to be on CB though.

It is quiet, but there are so many uses for CB,
road trips where you have multiple people
looking/giving directions or just looking for someone to talk to.
Also can be used for helping truckers get past you if you communicate well on the highways!

To be honest, I put the CB in my car just because I hate this type of hobby go, unfortunately I think with all the abuse that was said on the CB that's why most people don't like to use it. Sad to see it go to other forms of communication.

 

[WB9YBM]

Majority of Americans alive don’t remember, say, 1996, because they were too young or not yet born (forget using 1979).

“Popularity” is the flat wrong response to whether CB is worthwhile. It has nothing to do with the subject.

An extremely bad wreck near Atlanta yesterday had car drivers following their AI boss to side roads as jammed as the Interstate. The real detour was far in advance of the wreck. It was 36-miles before the wreck, and 31-miles before the backup.

Lotsa good points, Slowmover (even if slightly verbose ). Often I've been able to avoid a bottleneck in traffic (regardless of the cause) simply by following a truck driver taking a detour (after finding him via the CB). So I totally understand the benefits of CB.

I agree that "popularity" and "worthwhile" are two separate things (like: beer might be popular but a good Scotch is worthwhile! )--but do not need to be mutually exclusive.

As for people not remembering 1996 (your first point)--heck, most people can't remember this morning--thanks to fifteen-second long television commercials training the general population to have short attention spans! (Or do they make commercials that short because of everyone's short attention span?)

 

[FPR1981]

People who want to dog CB have not heard some of the absolutely backwoods hillbilly garbage on some ham bands, like the conversation on 80 meters the other evening about guys putting their tongues in unorthodox places, and I'll leave it at that.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

People who want to dog CB have not heard some of the absolutely backwoods hillbilly garbage on some ham bands, like the conversation on 80 meters the other evening about guys putting their tongues in unorthodox places, and I'll leave it at that.

Hopefully checking 808 tube plate voltages///

 

[trentbob]

So I live in Pennsylvania within eyesight of the Pennsylvania Turnpike where it meets the New Jersey Turnpike at the Delaware River and connects with I-95, I-295 & Route 1. For decades this was the busiest spot for CB radio and we still have as many 18 wheelers on the road as we do four wheelers and it's absolutely as quiet on Channel 19 as was for decades on Channel 9. Tons of truck stops, I'm sure with the lot lizards, but CB is quiet.

So this morning I heard me a caravan, I haven't heard a caravan since Justice T Buford was chasing the Bandit but sure enough for about 6 minutes I heard 5 at least, maybe more, trucks talking to each other on the turnpike heading in New Jersey. Just like the old days, but they were gone soon enough. Sigh.

 

[FPR1981]

A view of my radio desk tonight

 

[trentbob]

OMG, I love your CBS 1000!!!.

 

[FPR1981]

OMG, I love your CBS 1000!!!.

Thanks! Just got it, brand new in box.