How common is HF CB (27 MHz Australia), specifically SSB compared to AM

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dan12345678

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I'm considering buying a HF CB radio along with some of my mates, for long range communication and listening. I am considering buying a TX2720, but I see that it is only AM and not SSB. How much will not having SSB impact my ability with others and would it be worth it to buy a second hand radio with AM and SSB. Thanks in advance as I am new to HF and modulation.

Cheers,
Dan.
 

TomLine

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Is that TX2720 radio VHF 27 mhz? AM 4 watts? Understand there may be a unlicensed "UHF CB" 476 Mhz band as well used down under? FM on that higher band would probably sound better. I'd recommend talking with truckers, radio clubs, and see what's really working there which may be important to know. What kind of distances and terrain are you talking about? Mobile or base? What kind of antenna space is available?

How about getting a low cost RTL-SDR usb stick, SDR# (sdr-sharp is free) a couple cheap vhf/uhf car antennas, or cheap telescoping antenna you can adjust to different lenghts, and listen to what's going on.
 
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dan12345678

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Is that TX2720 radio VHF 27 mhz? AM 4 watts? Understand there may be a unlicensed "UHF CB" 476 Mhz band as well used down under? FM on that higher band would probably sound better. I'd recommend talking with truckers, radio clubs, and see what's really working there which may be important to know. What kind of distances and terrain are you talking about? Mobile or base? What kind of antenna space is available?

How about getting a low cost RTL-SDR usb stick, SDR# (sdr-sharp is free) a couple cheap vhf/uhf car antennas, or cheap telescoping antenna you can adjust to different lenghts, and listen to what's going on.
Yeah its 27 MHz HF CB 40Ch. I didn't know you could get USB connectors for antennas and I think I might just do that. Thanks for your help.
 

TomLine

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A cheap usb stick and my sdr# free software. Watching and listening 20 meters ham band. The digital guys are on the left, and the side band guys are on the right.
 

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N8IAA

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A cheap usb stick and my sdr# free software. Watching and listening 20 meters ham band. The digital guys are on the left, and the side band guys are on the right.

You do understand that he wants to TALK, as well as, listen????
What good is a SDR for doing that???
 

TomLine

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You do understand that he wants to TALK, as well as, listen????
What good is a SDR for doing that???
Watching and listening with a low cost SDR will help him learn a great deal, encourage a journey to become a knowledgeable amatueur operator, and help him spend his money wisely on equipment to talk on bands which will actually be in use. In other words, it will answer his question, and give him knowledge. I have a very postive feeling about his ability and interest as we all should.
 

N8IAA

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Watching and listening with a low cost SDR will help him learn a great deal, encourage a journey to become a knowledgeable amatueur operator, and help him spend his money wisely on equipment to talk on bands which will actually be in use. In other words, it will answer his question, and give him knowledge. I have a very postive feeling about his ability and interest as we all should.

When you say 'amatuer' operator, is that as in ham radio? He and his buds want something to use while they are out and about.
Not evreyone wants to tie up a PC to just monitor AM CB radio, or, other frequencies you might believe are interesting.
Different country, different interests. Maybe we should wait and see what he posts in the future.
Just saying..........
 

ko6jw_2

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SSB will give you more efficiency watt for watt than AM. That's why the ham radio community uses SSB on phone for the most part. AM is limited to some enthusiasts using vintage equipment. On CB it gives you double the number of channels.

In Australia it would make more sense to get amateur licenses given that you would have access to more frequencies and higher power. Being able to switch bands depending on propagation conditions is very important. Due to the long distances involved, CB radio could be of limited use. But, perhaps you and your friends will always stay within range of each other.
 

TomLine

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When you say 'amatuer' operator, is that as in ham radio? He and his buds want something to use while they are out and about.
Not evreyone wants to tie up a PC to just monitor AM CB radio, or, other frequencies you might believe are interesting.
Different country, different interests. Maybe we should wait and see what he posts in the future.
Just saying..........
I agree. He's just getting started. The radio situation in Australia and is certainly very interesting. They have a large number of open public repeaters for their uhf "cb" band. They're very picky about which radios are permitted for sale. VHF is like 4 watts AM with band planned repeater and SSB channels, and UHF is like 5 watts. Normal operation seems very familiar, and "you might as well turn off the radio in town". Lots of beautiful country with no cell service still.
 

dan12345678

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I agree. He's just getting started. The radio situation in Australia and is certainly very interesting. They have a large number of open public repeaters for their uhf "cb" band. They're very picky about which radios are permitted for sale. VHF is like 4 watts AM with band planned repeater and SSB channels, and UHF is like 5 watts. Normal operation seems very familiar, and "you might as well turn off the radio in town". Lots of beautiful country with no cell service still.
When you say 'amatuer' operator, is that as in ham radio? He and his buds want something to use while they are out and about.
Not evreyone wants to tie up a PC to just monitor AM CB radio, or, other frequencies you might believe are interesting.
Different country, different interests. Maybe we should wait and see what he posts in the future.
Just saying..........

Thanks for your advice. I do want to eventually move into amateur, but at the moment that isn't really an option for me because of my location and the lockdown and I would like to get a better understanding of radio and before I move into amateur. My mates and I are already on UHF CB, but we're limited to using the local repeater to communicate, which is subject to shenanigans such as jamming.

The two main reasons I'm asking about AM and SSB are range and interoperability, but I think I'll just buy a Uniden 980 SSB, throw an antenna on the roof and hope it works.
 

cadmiumRED

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My mates and I are already on UHF CB, but we're limited to using the local repeater to communicate, which is subject to shenanigans such as jamming.
Sounds about right. There are two repeaters near me, one is crammed with construction site users with terrible signal quality speaking over each other between bursts of static, the other is 40-60 year old yobbos with 50 watt base stations that blast Bunnings ads when they're not arguing with each other over nothing.
 

TomLine

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Yobbos and Bunnings. Love talking to you guys... I think this means Yahoo's and Home Depot ?
I really like the 2 meter band in the US. It's a tech license, which requires minimal study actually. FM sounds clean. Short antenna (1 meter) goes about 50 miles. Maybe commercial would be an option?
I would have fun with a low cost RTL-SDR down there to make a study of what's the best option around the red-neck-peckerwoods and what sounds like a poorly managed system overall.
 

cadmiumRED

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Yobbos and Bunnings. Love talking to you guys... I think this means Yahoo's and Home Depot ?
I really like the 2 meter band in the US. It's a tech license, which requires minimal study actually. FM sounds clean. Short antenna (1 meter) goes about 50 miles. Maybe commercial would be an option?
I would have fun with a low cost RTL-SDR down there to make a study of what's the best option around the red-neck-peckerwoods and what sounds like a poorly managed system overall.
Yep, right on. My interest in radio is definitely VHF/UHF focused. We are lucky in Australia to have a UHF-CB, a license-free allocation in the UHF band with 80 channels at 5 watts FM allowing external antennas and with dedicated repeater channels. A lot of misuse but still pretty cool.
 

p1879

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Remembering a couple of solar cycles back, I recall ssb freebanders from Australia working DX into the USA on 27.440 LSB. One guy was using a Cobra 148 GTL at 20 watts and a hombrew 8 element quad antenna, and had a good signal into the US Southeast. I mention this because a "frequency agile" am/ssb/fm radio might give you more flexibility. A President Lincoln II, or a Ranger DX2950 might turn out to be more entrtaining than a plain Jane radio. Just having ssb capability gives you a lot more options. Does Australian marine radio still use some 26 MHZ allocations? This might be fun to monitor as well. In some future emergency situation, perhaps unimaginable at this point, you might like to have more capabilities....
 

melbourneradio

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If your chasing 27mhz action then its mostly centred around 35lsb
how ever there is still a little bit and the die hard skip chasers are still out there
there are a number of cb clubs or groups still kicking around ,
some now have migrated and supplement the action with digital means
have a trawl on Facebook , the likes of the Charlie baker group ,and others that i can not recall all have Facebook groups
 
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