How are call signs assigned for CB radio?

[mrweather]

In Canada we started with XM then a numeric combination.

Mine was XM71-23516. I think it was one of the last ones issued in my area before DOC gave up on GRS licencing.

 

[robertmac]

Just pick one. Are there any rules in CB today? Or any that are followed? So any "handle" can be had.

 

[Retroradio]

For those that may have wonderd DOC in the previous post stood for"Department of Communication".

 

[Token]

Hello,
I'm brand new to CB radio and I was wanting to ask how CB call signs are assigned? I'm under the impression that SSBer's (Single Side Band users) are the primary users of call signs and was wondering how they are assigned?

There are callsigns, and there are handles, and they are not the same thing.

As others have indicated, the FCC used to assign CB callsigns, but has not done that in more than 35 years. No official callsign is required for CB operation today.

But even when CB callsigns were required, and issued by the FCC, people also used “handles” to identify themselves. In general the classic CB handles, like Bandit, Rubber Duck, Coathanger, Louisiana Monkey Wrench, etc, were used by AM operators. SSB operators tended to use handles that were more callsign sounding, but still just made up. They often called these made up handles a person’s “numbers”. Triple 7, BB-440, FM-390, SW-329, 3089, etc. Often these were associated with radio clubs, for example the FM-390 in my example was from the “Fat Mouth” radio club, and the SW-329 was from the “Sidewalk” club. BB was just a bunch of Battleship sailors (BB being the Navy designation for a Battleship) and formers who talked on the radio.

And you still hear these used today, however the line between AM and SSB operators is less clear, so handles and numbers are used pretty much interchangeably.

So the answer is, pick something you want to be called on the CB and use it, that becomes your handle. Do not use your ham call though I would like to be able to claim I have never accidentally tossed my ham call out on 11 meters....but....DOH!

T!

 

[robertmac]

But let's not forget why "handles" came into being. That is, so one could illegally talk SKIP hopefully without being fined, etc.. When one was licensed, they didn't want to identify using their license. Then came "Convoy" and all heck broke out on CB, which caused a lot of us to abandon the sewer.

 

[Retroradio]

Interesting comment about the sewer. I found the opposite. The preponderance of CB enthusiasts promulgated an abundance of radio shops the woefully do not exist today. In other words it was a good thing as it made equipment more readily availble to those of us that took it seriously. I didn't find that the movies changed the on air dynamics in the Toronto area. AMers were what they were and SSBers were what they were and most had a good time. Good to hear different points of view though.
Cheers from snowy Canada

 

[robertmac]

Well, when I got into CB back in 1962 as a kid, in Canada we could only operate on AM and channels 4 to 22. There was no SSB. And most radios only had room for 5 to 8 crystals anyhow. Most truckers that we would talk to and listen to going up and down the highway, actually knew how to talk respectfully and we all identified with our call signs. Handles were used then to avoid DOC. Of course, a solar cycle hit around 1967 and just screwed up local communications. Just as this solar cycle was hitting a minimum and one could then again talk locally, the song "Convoy" came out. That was when CB got full of xxxx. By then, SSB and 1 to 23 were available in Canada, but I can't remember exactly when 1-40 came about. It seemed with the start of next solar cycle in about 1979 was when CB really took a turn for the worse. And I think this was about the time licenses were abandoned and "handles" took over. Yes, there were still some decent operators, but. That was when I tore out by CB radios in my vehicle and house, and threw them away. My family had started and I did not want them to be brought up hearing what was going on over the CB frequencies. My times about when licenses stopped and "handles" took over may be out but it was around this time. And people generally took the first "handle" that came to mind.

 

[Retroradio]

Good story! In the Toronto area I must admit that there was some interesting handles. The language was only occasionally foul. But I see your point. I came into it when 23 channels were the thing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mrweather]

For those that may have wonderd DOC in the previous post stood for"Department of Communication".

And GRS stood for "General Radio Service", which is what CB was officially called in Canada.

 

[zzdiesel]

Our local CB airways in Kennett, MO stayed pretty much family friendly till around 1990 or so. Then the drunks & druggies took it over and ruined it for a bunch of us. I sold out a souped up Cobra 2000 & a Phantom 500 with an Antron 99 and a three element beam in 1992 & paid down on a C-Band & Ku Satellite TV system & caught up on a bunch of TV for awhile, There was damn near a killing every Fri & Sat night. One drunk back then God rest his soul shot holes all through his roof over battling on the radio. He sold out the next day. He said that poor ole CB brought the devil out of him. LOL!

 

[Citywide173]

Thanks for all the information. I was casually reading an emergency communications chapter in a book on CB usage and I think it mentioned the callsign idea of using the initials of your name and zip code, etc...

When my father got a CB in 1975 or 76, the FCC application that was included in the box had directions to use K-(your initials)-(your zip code) as a temporary call sign until you received yours in the mail.

 

[zzdiesel]

I remember all that too Citywide.

 

[Retroradio]

I don't remember the inital and postal code option for Canada back then, anyone? Just curious.

I remember people talking about the DOC having the black vans that looked for perpetrators running illegal power, etc..... never saw one, anyone confirm these existed.. ( 70s- late 80s)
No issues these days locally with splatter or foul language as the band is dead except for skip. Odd as I am a whole 1km from a major truck stop. I keep hoping it will come back.....

 

[SouthernRoller]

I remember them days Citywide, i first got on the air in 1976, and yes my callsign was the KTH-22401. Then the assigned callsign came in the mail as KNA-4966... CB nowdays is more or less a romper room especially on Ch.19, then there is the "Super Bowl" on Ch.6. Being a trucker i live it day in, day out..Tank goodness for the squelch and RF gain knobs..LoL

 

[TheSpaceMann]

I don't remember the inital and postal code option for Canada back then, anyone? Just curious.

I remember people talking about the DOC having the black vans that looked for perpetrators running illegal power, etc..... never saw one, anyone confirm these existed.. ( 70s- late 80s)
No issues these days locally with splatter or foul language as the band is dead except for skip. Odd as I am a whole 1km from a major truck stop. I keep hoping it will come back.....

One of the biggest blows to CB came when the manufacturers stopped making those inexpensive 11 meter walkie talkies that every other kid had, and switched all their walkies to higher frequencies. The kids could hear lots of radio activity with those walkie talkie's wide open receivers, and that quickly motivated them to move up to one of those big "5 watt" CB rigs! Once the youth market was lost, the pipeline leading to new CBers was gone.

 

[mrweather]

I don't remember the inital and postal code option for Canada back then, anyone? Just curious.

I believe it was the same here too. XM"initials"-"postal code", until you got your official call.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

Our local CB airways in Kennett, MO stayed pretty much family friendly till around 1990 or so. Then the drunks & druggies took it over and ruined it for a bunch of us. I sold out a souped up Cobra 2000 & a Phantom 500 with an Antron 99 and a three element beam in 1992 & paid down on a C-Band & Ku Satellite TV system & caught up on a bunch of TV for awhile, There was damn near a killing every Fri & Sat night. One drunk back then God rest his soul shot holes all through his roof over battling on the radio. He sold out the next day. He said that poor ole CB brought the devil out of him. LOL!

I remember some huge CB fights back in the day. Guys trying to hit on other people's wives and daughters, CBers playing music and gooney birds, and even one guy who would preach over the air and call everyone a communist and a homosexual! They had antenna raiding parties where a group of "vigilante" CBers would try to tear down people's antennas! Once they actually went up to this guy's roof and yanked on his coaxial cable, pulling his rig and antenna right out of the window!!

 

[robertmac]

I believe it was the same here too. XM"initials"-"postal code", until you got your official call.

I didn't think it had anything to do with postal codes, but I was too young to care at the time. And I can only remember applying for a call and having to wait for the official call sign to be received in the mail. Could not get on the air until licensed received] I know that all calls started with XM followed by 2 letters which generally stood for the province. All I can remember at this time is XM11 and XM23 with the next 3 or 4 numbers being assigned numerically when they were issued [as in XM231290, XM231291 with first usually used for base and second for mobile if in same family]. And we were sure to pass information on the phone when we saw DOT [Department of Transportation] as I think it was DOT that was doing the inspection back in the early 60's. Used to call them Auntie Dot. They even inspected by dad's radio set up in his vehicle. Funny, but we used "handles" when talking skip instead of our call signs of course, but then send QSL cards that included both our "handles" and call signs.

 

[zzdiesel]

I remember some huge CB fights back in the day. Guys trying to hit on other people's wives and daughters, CBers playing music and gooney birds, and even one guy who would preach over the air and call everyone a communist and a homosexual! They had antenna raiding parties where a group of "vigilante" CBers would try to tear down people's antennas! Once they actually went up to this guy's roof and yanked on his coaxial cable, pulling his rig and antenna right out of the window!!

We went out & found some of these radical guys using the S-Meters in our mobiles. Some would stop just because of being pointed put publicly.

 

[mikewazowski]

XM followed by 2 letters which generally stood for the province.

The first two numbers were the office issuing the licence.