That would eliminate 3/4 of the problem right there and tones would fix the other quarter.
But it’s not 1956 and we aren’t starting from scratch.
CB is the forty channel wonder. 120 if SSB. More yet with Freeband.
Best results are?
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That would eliminate 3/4 of the problem right there and tones would fix the other quarter.
More like 80 channels with SSB when operating LSB or USB. AM or FM on the same frequency is unusable to anyone else within range. 120 channels is a marketing lie. It's sort of like FRS radios with 14 channels suddenly get 532 channels because they can use 1 of 38 CTCSS tones per frequency. If FRS radios on the same frequency use different CTCSS tones and they are close to each other, they are still going to interfere with each other even if the squelch doesn't open if they are transmitting at the same time, whoever is receiving the intended transmission may get blocked by the other transmission. If by saying Freeband you mean operating on frequencies above or below the normal CB 40 channels then such transmission is unauthorized operation. Sure people usually don't get caught, but if they do the penalties are quite steep. You can Google and find reports of fines for freeband and power amplifiers. Violators usually get a warning, but then they are foolish enough to continue after a target is on their back. Base fines start at $10,000. I sure wouldn't want to risk it just to talk on a radio.But it’s not 1956 and we aren’t starting from scratch.
CB is the forty channel wonder. 120 if SSB. More yet with Freeband.
Best results are?
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Regardless of political opinion, the risk still exists. The roadways we travel are far more regulated than the airwaves we talk on. Current governmental control is indeed excessive, but being a limited resource some form of regulation is necessary to the free utilization of the limited RF spectrum. Freebanding encroaches into the utilization of the RF spectrum of other users. Some sort of regulation is unfortunately necessary being that many will encroach upon the rights of others for their own purposes without any regard for the needs of others. This is why the US constitution was ratified. Wisdom of the time knew men would naturally disregard the rights of others in a free society for their own benefit. The primary purpose of the Bill of Rights is to insure everyone has equal opportunity, not equal outcome. Freebanding only insures the opportunity to waste a resource for ones personal gain.“ . . If by saying Freeband you mean operating on frequencies above or below the normal CB 40 channels then such transmission is unauthorized operation. Sure people usually don't get caught, but if they do the penalties are quite steep. You can Google and find reports of fines for freeband and power amplifiers. Violators usually get a warning, but then they are foolish enough to continue after a target is on their back. Base fines start at $10,000.
I sure wouldn't want to risk it just to talk on a radio.”
Using bureaucracy to circumvent the Bill of Rights is nothing new after FDR. Nor legal.
In a couple of days I’ll be just over a thousand miles from home. And I execute plans to get back. Radio is part of that planning. Speaking with fellow citizens to solve problems occurring on the roads is part of that. Inalienable.
Your tech points are appreciated. Your experience in solving Skip interference problems while mobile is what’s being solicited in this thread.
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Regardless of political opinion, the risk still exists. The roadways we travel are far more regulated than the airwaves we talk on. Current governmental control is indeed excessive, but being a limited resource some form of regulation is necessary to the free utilization of the limited RF spectrum. Freebanding encroaches into the utilization of the RF spectrum of other users. Some sort of regulation is unfortunately necessary being that many will encroach upon the rights of others for their own purposes without any regard for the needs of others. This is why the US constitution was ratified. Wisdom of the time knew men would naturally disregard the rights of others in a free society for their own benefit. The primary purpose of the Bill of Rights is to insure everyone has equal opportunity, not equal outcome. Freebanding only insures the opportunity to waste a resource for ones personal gain.
The Bill of Rights has everything to do with opportunity. Ones opportunities are limited by others that will encroach on their opportunities. The Bill of Rights itself is a regulation on government, it doesn't neuter government. The Bill of Rights is worthless without men agreeing on certain regulations to insure the equal rights of all, otherwise the Bill of Rights are just words without a foundation to insure rights.No argument here on merit. Except that the Bill of Rights has zero to do with opportunity compared to its prohibition against governmental encroachment.
Only that circumstances may render the foundation invalid was this brought up.
Besides, it’s not the point of the thread. Mentioned in passing as it is a phenomenon of CB of which newcomers should be aware.
“Regulation of the roads” has become a joke. Won't go into that either.
CB is the chance to stay abreast of changing circumstance.
Nothing else comes close (WAZE, etc, is for the herd who’ll too late realize it wasn’t NEARLY enough).
Skip makes monitoring CB difficult over a long day. What have you done to temper it’s effects?
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Reducing gain will often not help, nore will tighter squelch. Electrical noise mitigation will make the skip clearer. It is more than probable and happens quite often that a skip signal hundreds of miles away can be stronger than a line of sight signal a mile away. It may be possible to reduce gain and tighten squelch enough to only receive something a couple thousand feet away without hearing any skip, but not always.All that . . . and zip, nada, about how to deal with Skip.
Did you earn some points somewhere?
A bit of cash for that meaningless diversion?
At least your final sentence tells the story: prejudiced; lacks relevant experience.
Troll
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Reducing gain will often not help, nore will tighter squelch. Electrical noise mitigation will make the skip clearer. It is more than probable and happens quite often that a skip signal hundreds of miles away can be stronger than a line of sight signal a mile away. It may be possible to reduce gain and tighten squelch enough to only receive something a couple thousand feet away without hearing any skip, but not always.
Two operators within a mile or two of each other may not be able to communicate, but each of them able to talk to the same operator hundreds or thousands of miles away.
There is much more interference on CB from splatter across multiple channels and talking over others than skip itself. CB has become a useless communication method due to irresponsible operation. Mainly overmodulation, excess power and taking over the channel.
If skip is what you are so concerned about, you will have to move to higher frequencies to avoid it. Basically above the VHF aviation band.
Seriously, if I were a truck driver I would want to push communications to GMRS, or using the power of the industry to lobby the FCC and congress to carve out a service for the industry to have a free use common frequency band. Yeah spectrum is limited, but it wouldn't take much space and 40 channels is overkill. You would only need a few if it were used wisely. A primary channel and a few to move off to once
contact was made on the primary. With narrow channel spacing made possible by modern electronics you could get about 15 channels out of a bit less than 1/4 megahertz band.
The next hurdle though would be getting manufacturers to make affordable radios for it, which is why GMRS may be the easiest route. GMRS mobiles cost no more than some of the expensive CB radios. Have we not learned during covid how vital trucking is to the supply chains? And little is understood by the current administration how diesel fuel prices are affecting inflation. It's as though they get up each morning wondering what they can do today to make things worse.
That would eliminate 3/4 of the problem right there and tones would fix the other quarter.
Being that it is necessary for mobile operations to use a vertical antenna, makes any HF radio very vulnerable to noise from all sorts of electromagnetic sources. Sometimes it is quite a challenge to overcome it. Many times there is nothing you can do. Mobile amateur radio deals with this daily. Natural and man made. Power transmission lines, traffic signal devices, other vehicles and anything with lights or electric motors, and the atmosphere. Anytime in recent years that I have attempted to listen in for traffic on CB 19, it was either useless due to all the impolite and improper operation or too exhausting to listen so I couldn't listen more than a couple minutes. I am used to listening to varying degrees of noise and heavy traffic on HF, but CB beats all of it. I can't imagine why anyone would want to stick with it. Years ago before entering into amateur radio I used CB in the car when on long business trips. It worked fine back then. Most people were still courteous and only a few would overmodulate or hog the channel with their space heaters. And what the heck is the purpose of a roger beep!?Again, those running golden screwdrivered splatter boxes at excessive power are the major cause of the increased noise floor regardless of whether enhanced propagation conditions exist or not. Nothing you do to your receive setup is going to mitigate the effects of illegal rouge operators. The single most effective way to reduce the noise floor would be for everyone to operate a quality, properly aligned transmitter at a legal power level.
You can have the best receiver it is possible for mankind to manufacture with a perfect installation, the near local S5 signal is still going to covered up by the S9+20 signal bouncing in from ten states away transmitted by the guy with the 10 pill foot warmer.
The discourtesy of screwing up AM-19. The understood Truckers Channel.
Recall that during the height of the CV-19 hoax that no one published any articles on how to buy, sell, or trade using radio to conduct negotiations in fear of contagion.
There is no interest now nor has there been at US government levels to create any citizens radio spectrum that doesn't go through a cash register somewhere. The existing spectrum excepting MURS has existed for 40 years. As Slowmover says, it is what we have and we must make the best use of it. The Anytone looks cool and I may make it my next radio purchase.
Sorry to hear that people are not leaving 19-AM alone. Skipshooters like me are just doing a hobby; 19-AM is there for people who are doing a job--big difference. I'm loving my new CB skipshooting hobby, but I do confine myself to 37/38/39 sideband.
You've mentioned several times before that CB can give you a heads-up on traffic problems and allows you to avoid collisions like the photo you posted. I was out playing skip in the parking lot when I saw two fire trucks and a police car pull into the parking lot, so something was going on. Inspired by your posts, I flipped to 19 AM and let people know what I saw and where I saw it, and that they might want to reroute to avoid that intersection if they are headed that way. If it were not for you, it would simply have never crossed my mind to do that. Who knows, it may have helped someone.
And thank you for the tips on improving reception and the link to KØBG.COM. On your recommendations, I just bought a West Mountain Radio CLRSPKR. Hasn't come in yet; I'll post my experience when it does, though. At the moment, I'm pretty happy with the clarity of the President McKinley already; it's much better than my Yaesu FT-819 ham radio. So I'm really buying the CLRSPKR for the Yaesu, but also want to see what it does to the McKinley.
Interesting--and good point; a missed opportunity. Ham radio is awash with nets, but I have yet to hear anything similar on CB. Not saying it does not exist, just that I haven't heard it. A local CB net (and not on 19 AM!) would be useful to share info on practical things in a grid-down or social disruption situation: things like local weather, status of utilities, which gas stations have fuel, as well as more general topics like backup power options, gardening and food preservation, etc. Or, heck, a study group reviewing 19th century Papal encyclicals. CB is a tool admirably suited to local community connections at a time of social disruptions. It is far more accessible than ham radio (no tests, less expensive equipment).