skip conditions

[Anytone1234]

Since this started out as skip problems, and UHF has come up, we should probably talk about tropospheric enhancement and ducting. While not as common as VHF, the heat dome we're under has UHF enhanced every morning. Generally not a problem at those frequencies, but a decent repeater ducting in could cause some trouble.

Simplex range is where GMRS beats CB, given decent terrain and equal wattage. Add the fact that you can have a gain antenna on the band without looking like a rolling Tesla experiment. 25 watts does a good job; you're strokin' with the full 50.

As far as 11 meters, this week has been dang near silent. Only some short bursts of skip(caught Jamaica yesterday) and a very quiet groundwave at night. Very few distant stations making audio above the noise floor. X-ray flux has been in the low C/high B range with a couple of low M-class events. The expected Reiger cycle uptick seems to be fizzling out earlier than expected, which is good news for locals.

I'm rarely hearing WWV on 25 MHz recently which is usually a downer for hams, but 12 and 15 meters get really good at night, almost noise free. Once the cycle goes down further, it'll get even better.

CB skip will soon be going away for several years. GMRS will still have occasional bursts, but generally not a long lasting problem. For a reliable comms solution, GMRS is the way to go. It a lot easier to get a UHF antenna to couple to a ground plane than any CB antenna. If you just want comms in your family or a local group of people, GMRS is the way to. And you generally won't hear singing, cussing, quaking or 1111111111111111...

Yea, ch 19 is getting raunchy, just this afternoon, headed to work it was like 3 s units of nonsense, with some truckers talking real honest road conditions reports. Their is one base station in Jax, Florida where I pass through that has some sound bit or what ever you call it, that has a child's voice that has vulgar nonsense.

 

[slowmover]

AM-19 is — and will continue to be — where one is likeliest to ever contact someone nearby while on-road.

Don’t like what you hear? (blaming others). There’s nothing stops you from speaking up.

Skip makes AM-19 use harder due to the same paid agitators. On-air 7/52/365.

They’re the spur to have the best mobile radio rig by features and design. Once that’s done the table turns.

Tool, not Toy. 1970s rigs were almost all of them toys. It was a quieter era environmentally and with the autos it was easier to have a working install.

Skip is an excellent test of any rig, mobile or base. Git’er dun before it subsides.

Nothing wrong with other radio services.

But a man with a long commute can have friends waiting daily for his passing by on AM-19. Together, the oasis of those friendships extends outwards to others passing thru infrequently. I’ve experienced that many times.

Those exchanges lift everyone’s morale.
The roads are better for it.

With the radio rig you described you’re missing about 2/3 of what’s to be heard.
Best Mobile will open doors.

Start a thread when you’re ready.

I used to semi-regularly run the 301 up from Ocala to get to Savannah thru Jax for a different load. Stepped into HIGHTECH CB in Baldwin, FL a half dozen years ago and replenished my supply of SKIPSHOOTER antennas. IH-10 is fairly quiet back west to Pensacola . . but not going past the IH-75 & IH-95 junctions.

Ignore the Eeyores when it comes to CB.
It will be what you make of it.

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[Anytone1234]

AM-19 is — and will continue to be — where one is likeliest to ever contact someone nearby while on-road.

Don’t like what you hear? (blaming others). There’s nothing stops you from speaking up.

Skip makes AM-19 use harder due to the same paid agitators. On-air 7/52/365.

They’re the spur to have the best mobile radio rig by features and design. Once that’s done the table turns.

Tool, not Toy. 1970s rigs were almost all of them toys. It was a quieter era environmentally and with the autos it was easier to have a working install.

Skip is an excellent test of any rig, mobile or base. Git’er dun before it subsides.

Nothing wrong with other radio services.

But a man with a long commute can have friends waiting daily for his passing by on AM-19. Together, the oasis of those friendships extends outwards to others passing thru infrequently. I’ve experienced that many times.

Those exchanges lift everyone’s morale.
The roads are better for it.

With the radio rig you described you’re missing about 2/3 of what’s to be heard.
Best Mobile will open doors.

Start a thread when you’re ready.

I used to semi-regularly run the 301 up from Ocala to get to Savannah thru Jax for a different load. Stepped into HIGHTECH CB in Baldwin, FL a half dozen years ago and replenished my supply of SKIPSHOOTER antennas. IH-10 is fairly quiet back west to Pensacola . . but not going past the IH-75 & IH-95 junctions.

Ignore the Eeyores when it comes to CB.
It will be what you make of it.

.

Yes, I have a few people I talk to on ch. 21 and 28, 11 meters. Some are local and some are from a few states over if the conditions are right. All of them are talking on a base setup.

 

[KR4NIV]

For a reliable comms solution, GMRS is the way to go. It a lot easier to get a UHF antenna to couple to a ground plane than any CB antenna. If you just want comms in your family or a local group of people, GMRS is the way to. And you generally won't hear singing, cussing, quaking or 1111111111111111...

Just got a pair of Radioddity GM-30 Plus radios last week. 5 watts output. One for me and one for my wife. We'll keep them in the cars for emergency comms. Just last week a big storm passed through with heavy rain and high winds. She was on teh road and cell service was out. (This was one day before we got the radios.) Would have been handy then as she was at a fire station riding out the storm. She did manage to contact me on their land line.
Fairly easy operation of these right out of the box. Got the license a few weeks ago. I've decided to leave the 11 meter band alone. Just too filled with nonsense and noise.

 

[K6GBW]

I think you'll find GMRS much more pleasent to work with. A nice 50 watt base with a good antenna up as high as you can reasonably put it and you will have a very useful set up. It will talk reliably over distances that CB users wish for but rarely achieves. There may be repeaters in your area as well. Where you live the repeaters might be actually useable so take full advantage if you can. Here in LaLa land repeaters are targeted by nincompoops with mush for brains. Just the way it is. Something else to consider, just yesterday I had a simplex conversation on 2 meter ham radio with a friend that was 32 miles away. We were both running base radios at 50 watts and it worked great. Just something to think about.

 

[K9KLC]

I've told myself several times I would listen to the 10 meter on my Anytone 5555 N II radio

It amazed me, about 2 years ago I guess, when the solar cycle was much hotter, the guys (many if not most) not in this country, that said they were running that radio on 10 meters. During one of the contests (don't remember which one) I probably worked 50 or so people running that radio. The audio was crisp and clear, and you would have been hard pressed to tell they were not on some 100 watt "honest ham" radio. Frankly, I enjoyed working those guys and I think they always appreciated the signal reports I gave them.

I've never cared if a guy was running a TS 990 Kenwood or Anytone or HR 2510 (on 10 meters) or whatever. If he's got a good signal and good audio that's what he has, brands aside. With rare exceptions, I'm not a brand snob, If it's legal as far as spurious emissions, and clean sounding, and not a splatter box, work that radio.

 

[K9KLC]

Just got a pair of Radioddity GM-30 Plus radios last week. 5 watts output. One for me and one for my wife. We'll keep them in the cars for emergency comms. Just last week a big storm passed through with heavy rain and high winds. She was on teh road and cell service was out. (This was one day before we got the radios.) Would have been handy then as she was at a fire station riding out the storm. She did manage to contact me on their land line.
Fairly easy operation of these right out of the box. Got the license a few weeks ago. I've decided to leave the 11 meter band alone. Just too filled with nonsense and noise.

Might want to look into GMRS repeaters near Asheville, looks like 3 by a quick check, and two of them are listed as open for use. That may greatly extend the range of your 5 watt HT's which won't be much without some help for any distance at all. (HT to HT).
EDIT:
Ya you need to look into a couple of those the Fletcher .700 one says it has 100 mile radius. Now then that's likely assuming either a base or 50 watt mobile but still, that's nuts. There's another one that's a 50 mile radius (again all claimed) and then one downtown that's for private users but it says it's free just contact him I guess it looks. It's showing 10 mile radius.

 

[KR4NIV]

There are indeed repeaters neaby. Closest is one Spivey Mt. 10 miles distant. There are 7 others in Buncombe county. All within 12 -20 miles. Pretty much should be able to atvivate one anywhere in the county.

 

[K9KLC]

There are indeed repeaters neaby. Closest is one Spivey Mt. 10 miles distant. There are 7 others in Buncombe county. All within 12 -20 miles. Pretty much should be able to atvivate one anywhere in the county.

Shy of the XYL getting her ham license, that's gonna be your best bet most likely to stay in touch via radio.

 

[KR4NIV]

Shy of the XYL getting her ham license, that's gonna be your best bet most likely to stay in touch via radio.

She could totally pass a tech test with a bit of study. She's smart, a quick study on things. Will probably do that at some point.

 

[kb2hpw]

I can honestly say I was never "bothered" by the skip conditions when I was wheeling big trucks in the 80s and 90s. All I ever had was 4w AM radios like the Realistic TRC radio I had in a few conventional cab equipment trucks (I called them "the horse" hitched to detatchable lowboys). When skip was roaring in, you had to tighten up the squelch a bit, right at that magic threshold. But you had to sharpen your listening skills, be a bit more discerning to what you hear. Skip was never a deterent for local comms, again comms on the road or on sites within a few miles were never a problem. Slowmover mentioned I-90 in NYS, I ran than numerous times out of the Albany area here. The old Beech-Nut plant dock in Canajoharie was on CB 13 if I remember, Town of Colonie landfill used CH10 at the scale house (still does), they all tightened up their squelch too during the strong skip conditions. Because...that's all we had, so we made it work. Which is how I look at it today.....but we have radios now that way outperform those old Cb's we ran. We had to make it work with those old radios, every driver whether local tri-axle dump trucks or the decked out 359 with a load of bananas looking for the Grand Union warehouse in Waterford, NY. There were a few people at homes at base stations on Ch19 always helping giving out directions on how to find the various warehouses or sites. When I got into Ham radion in the late 80s I absolutely looked to the CB channels to gauge on how 10M would be. Still is my #1 band condition measure: CB Ch19.

 

[slowmover]

A real CB isn’t an either/or choice among the radio services. They all complement each other.

But HF is the one that’ll be operable when repeaters aren’t, or short-range choices aren’t viable.

It’s Ace-in-the-Hole.

As noted just above by @kb2hpw use of the service is ahead of determining whether it’s a good thing as the learning curve can take awhile.

An active user is not the same as a passive listener. The dynamic is different and Universe responds to that.

“ . . Because...that's all we had, so we made it work”.

Funny . . how a pretty fair amount of cr*p just goes away when those who are gathered in His Name (so to speak; as men going about their legitimate business are exactly that) clears things adequately.

The problems persist . . but that’s in their nature. It’s weak excuse by which to give up be it trolls or environmental challenges or both. (The Enemy doesn’t sleep; always has a vote).

Modern radio circuitry (post 2021) has given the mobile operator cost-effective / high-performing radios (Export) which — with best antenna system & install — is an experience unlike what came before. A truly effective tool.


A). Comms with men in my vicinity;
B). Among family vehicles or on foot;
C). Mobile to Base.

All three are the desired minimum.


VHF/UHF is only a form of liberty.
Permission required (dependent).

HF is actual freedom.

This repeater coverage map N of ATL looks great . . unless access denied or power goes out:

RadioMobile Online Coverage Plots

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[slowmover]

“ . . There were a few people at home on base stations on Ch19 always helping giving out directions on how to find the various warehouses or sites”.

America is supposedly short of welders, plumbers, electricians, etc.

Here’s another “job category” which during the morning can be a suitable occupation. GPS has taken much of the burden, but it cannot always account for immediate problems.

The cities where it exists are better in ways I’d be pressed to wholly differentiate from where it doesn’t . . but there’s no question that active participation is far higher, and trolls a much lower irritation.

Automobile drivers aren’t skilled enough to note that when the big trucks sort themselves more easily (a result of this on-air activity) that traffic moves much more easily. GPS won’t do this by itself.

And:

A base station can crack through the problems Skip creates for mobile users.

All benefit.

.

 

[kb2hpw]

"Automobile drivers aren’t skilled enough to note that when the big trucks sort themselves more easily (a result of this on-air activity) that traffic moves much more easily. GPS won’t do this by itself." Geez Ain't that the truth. More than a few times in the big truck on the big roads, there would be a stoppage somewhere up ahead. Because we were ALL on CH19, even with skip rolling in, someone up ahead would notify to all what lane to avoid, what was going on, etc. I actually remember a time hauling equipment into PA (I-81 south) when all lanes ahead were just brake lights. It was a long stretch before the next exit....creeping along in a low gear on that 10speed is not as much fun as you think! the chatter on CH19 was about an accident actually in the center grassy median at least a couple miles ahead. One driver familiar with the area gave really good advice, get off the next exit, follow signs thru that town, stay on the truck-route, after about 20 miles you can get back on again. I tell you what, it was good advice, and when you're in a "convoy" of other big trucks on the same unfamiliar route, having CH19 is a must. On the accident: once we got up ahead enough on the big road.....there was a Freightliner Cascadia all busted up in grass, with a camper trailer rolled over near-by. More than a few witnesses saw the brain-dead camper driver change lanes right into the path of the Cascadia.....nowhere to go but into the grass. I was in a hotel later that night watching the news, apparently the truck driver was pretty banged up, but all survived. I say all of this because "CB stories" are not just about radio-alone. We're out there making a living, but also trying to stay alive. Skip conditions never were a problem, even back in the "old days" with basic 4w radios.

 

[slowmover]

“ . . One driver familiar with the area gave really good advice, get off the next exit, follow signs thru that town, stay on the truck-route, after about 20 miles you can get back on again”


Only, today, versus circa 1989 one can have for a lower true price a far better radio & antenna system.

A re-route has to be understood with a Commercial Motor Carrier Atlas, maybe a GPS as well . . telephone map won’t show big truck hazard or prohibition.

The Internet has made it possible to access information that a guy assigned to a fleet truck can actually use for a very good radio rig.

And some products that with minor adjustments can “fit” a good pair of antennas (22-degree tilt, not what’s shown).




Once in earshot of the local & regional drivers aware of the off-Interstate roads & their problems do options exist.

Safety is high on that list when the accident (pile-up) is still underway.

NRC radios handle Skip far better. So, a minimum of 13.3V at all times and a pair of 7’ antennas is unreal performance compared to what was common not so long ago.

A large S-Meter is how to define Skip from local. Especially in a state like PA or OH where adjacent roads also carry heavy traffic. Who’s on my road?, isn’t obvious all too often.

Front panel control knobs for VOL, RF-G, and SQ goes without saying.




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