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SSB CB vs 10 meter

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kasubinski

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I travelled with a CB since early 80's. Trying to figure out what will work best for me now. Traveling US highways every weekend. Trying to decide between a SSB radio or moving up to 10 meter. I will have my ham license in a month.

I'm looking for thoughts and comments.

Thanks
 

KC4RAF

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That'll be great if you get your license for the amateur radios.
But, if I were you, I'd travel with BOTH. Some locations the amateur bands may be quiet and CB active. Or vise versa. Or both dead. Doesn't hurt to have both unless your vehicle is space limited for 2 (or more) radios.
 

movinon

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I always kept a CB near after getting my ham license. It is the only thing to keep you informed in bad weather. Trucker for 35 years ham was a lot of fun but I shut it down in bad weather.

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Hydrogen18

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I second the two above, I would definitely have two radios, because in some places ham radio is barely used and the same for cb. As for the cb, it will also likely have weather stations programmed in to it, and plenty of others to talk to.

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chief21

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I might also mention that 10 meters may not be very active at this time as we are approaching the solar minimum. Sunspots (and better HF propagation) are not expected to begin to increase until 2019 or 2020.

John
 

JayMojave

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Yo Kasubinski: I suggest having a radio like a Stryker 955 that did both 10 and 11 meters, can use the same antenna. Also I use another radio for 2 meters with 440 ham bands as this allows talking with the locals on repeaters or simplex. This allows quit a bit of radio band coverage, the CB and the ham bands are a help to me when driving across country. Especially when traffic jams or severe weather hit.

I also have Sires XM satellite radio, and a good radar/laser detector. The VHF/UHF radio will also hear NOAA weather broadcasts. On long trips I get a AAA Map and program in on the ham radio the cities and towns repeaters and mark the channel on the map they are programed into for that area, makes traveling easy to monitor the locals.

Jay in the Great Mojave Desert
 

DJ11DLN

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I might also mention that 10 meters may not be very active at this time as we are approaching the solar minimum. Sunspots (and better HF propagation) are not expected to begin to increase until 2019 or 2020.

John
True, but there are always exceptions. Yesterday morning I copied a Dallas/Ft. Worth 10M repeater (K5DFW?) ID'ing on one of my scanners. Same output as a semi-local machine that is silent 99.9% of the time and I don't have a PL set for it. I usually have a RH77ca on that box but when I checked I remembered swapping it out for a RS 800 duck a couple of days earlier. So the antenna wasn't even close to resonant, was indoors on the ground (only) floor, was at about waist height, and was located near Terre Haute, IN. I'd call that just a bit of a band opening!:lol:
 

Rred

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Kas-
Are you trying to phone home? Idle away the empty hours?
Or perhaps, to be able to speak to other road travelers and get that occasionally useful information like "Hey northbounders, you better get off while you can, al six lanes are closed at exit 43".
The road information comes from CB, not ten meter. Yeah, that's a lot of crap on CB, but like panning for gold, no shortcut to get to the good stuff.
 

Hydrogen18

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Kas-
Are you trying to phone home? Idle away the empty hours?
Or perhaps, to be able to speak to other road travelers and get that occasionally useful information like "Hey northbounders, you better get off while you can, al six lanes are closed at exit 43".
The road information comes from CB, not ten meter. Yeah, that's a lot of crap on CB, but like panning for gold, no shortcut to get to the good stuff.
I completely agree

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wyShack

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Leave the CB in and add a duel band (2 meter and 440) radio for ham. If you are getting your technician license, those two bands are likely to be the most active. Better look at a repeater book (so you can look up repeaters while on the road) also.
 

TheSpaceMann

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You can have fun on 10 meters when the band is open. Of course, there are a lot more CBers than hams, so you will generally find more activity on 11 meters.
 

krokus

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Leave the CB in and add a duel band (2 meter and 440) radio for ham. If you are getting your technician license, those two bands are likely to be the most active. Better look at a repeater book (so you can look up repeaters while on the road) also.

This arrangement worked well for me, in the Jeep I had in 37 states, and two provinces. The repeater directory can be replaced by a modern equivalent, but the paper always works.

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TheStonerGuy

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Use both. I've been a HAM now since 1984, but I've used my CB when travelling more than anything else.

- The StonerGuy
 

TheStonerGuy

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11m vs 10m

I travelled with a CB since early 80's. Trying to figure out what will work best for me now. Traveling US highways every weekend. Trying to decide between a SSB radio or moving up to 10 meter. I will have my ham license in a month.

I'm looking for thoughts and comments.

Thanks

If you're looking for road info, etc. then 11m is the way to go. If the band is open, ch.38 will be full with skip-shooters, but switching to 10m may seem dead.

I'd either have:

1. Small all-mode HAM rig with vhf/uhf
or
2. Quality CB, and a VHF/UHF handheld.
 

DJ11DLN

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Mudhole, IN
Hey DJ11DLN...you mean this monster?
W5DFW
Yup, that's the one...bangs in here every now and again, more frequently with these weather systems we've been having lately! It still amazes me that I hear it at all with such a "poor" antenna.

But I well recall the sunspot maximums and CB of 30-40 years ago and talking to people a thousand miles away on a stock mobile with a K40 on the roof of my old pickup, so it shouldn't be a surprise, I guess. 10M and 11M are after all pretty much cheek-by-jowl in the spectrum.:)
 
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