New CB. First Impressions

[Hoppyjr]

 
So much truth.  While I have a CB it is performs very well, I only hook it up if I need to use it with the occasional person I'm wheeling with who doesn't have FRS or GMRS.

I agree. I find no use for CB, especially with the goofballs out there these days.

[warthog74]

Being that i travel quite often, i still find it useful. A lot of truck drivers still use them to inform other drivers of accidents, lane closures, dead deer carcasses in the road etc. I like knowing this stuff and reroute as needed. As for "skip" or the "over powered stations", most aren't overpowered or illegal. Those guys mainly stay on 6 or 28. It's just the atmosphere playing games with us that makes every normal "legal" user boom in from 10 states away. Soon enough the solar cycle will be over, and the cb will be back to dead silent and boring again for another decade.

Annnnnd "i'm back to the bench". 

[WRXB215]

13 hours ago, warthog74 said:

A lot of truck drivers still use them to inform other drivers of accidents, lane closures, dead deer carcasses in the road etc.

Some of the reasons I'm considering that CB you mentioned with the jumper for 10M.

Edit:
Whew! 667 posts. Nice to get off of that "666." 

[WRHS218]

32 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:

Edit:
Whew! 667 posts. Nice to get off of that "666." 

You are now the neighbor of the beast...

[Davichko5650]

59 minutes ago, WRHS218 said:

You are now the neighbor of the beast...

And the mailman, er, um, letter carrier, will probably still bring you some of his mail!

[Hoppyjr]

Some of the reasons I'm considering that CB you mentioned with the jumper for 10M.
Edit:
Whew! 667 posts. Nice to get off of that "666." 

When the topic first came back up, I did some video watching on the YouTube and I found there are some interesting options. There are a handful of guys modding radios to do CB (10 & 11m) and doing a “peak & tune” with other options to make it perform better. The Stryker SR25 was the one I was considering, due to its very small footprint. After talking with (LesComm) “Lester’s Customs” he suggested the Anytone Apollo 2 with enhancements and MOSFET 5 & 6 finals. That would give you better power and stronger signal. Not cheap, but if I were to go down that road I’d want the power to get the job done. I was looking at that radio with a Larsen NMO antenna on a hood lip mount.

[AdmiralCochrane]

I had a CB in my work truck to get traffic info from the truckers around Washington DC for a while, but too much time with it on 19 listening to them started to lower my IQ and I had to stop.  Democracy is a scary idea.

[WRXR255]

2 hours ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

I had a CB in my work truck to get traffic info from the truckers around Washington DC for a while, but too much time with it on 19 listening to them started to lower my IQ and I had to stop.  Democracy is a scary idea.

I just remember that for a time, at least once a week, a VW with a magnesium block would overheat and catch fire on the DC beltway destroying traffic.

[LeoG]

Been a loooong time since I played with a CB radio.   But that's what got me to want to try GMRS just recently.  Licensing was easy and it was for family.  Use to have a 40 channel SSB midland and a ground plane antenna on the backside of my Dads house.  Ya, that's how long ago.

So do they still use handles?  Mine was "The Suicide Jockey", everyone had one and no one went by their real name.  Just like now more or less where you go by your license call sign instead of a name.

[marcspaz]

36 minutes ago, LeoG said:

So do they still use handles?

 

Oh yeah... and they have different handles for local and DX, too. I go by Papa Spaz locally and 410 on DX.  My buddy goes by Porch Honky (he's a huge Moccasin Creek fan). I can't tell you how much dust that stirs up on the air. LoL

[LeoG]

Fantastic.  I wouldn't doubt it I searched through my junk piles I could find the CB unit.  But no antennas I bet.

[WRQC527]

5 hours ago, LeoG said:

Been a loooong time since I played with a CB radio.   But that's what got me to want to try GMRS just recently.  Licensing was easy and it was for family.  Use to have a 40 channel SSB midland and a ground plane antenna on the backside of my Dads house.  Ya, that's how long ago.

So do they still use handles?  Mine was "The Suicide Jockey", everyone had one and no one went by their real name.  Just like now more or less where you go by your license call sign instead of a name.

I went by Viking back in the 80s. Now I hear all the big guns from back east booming in to the west coast using 3-digit numbers. 

[BoxCar]

6 hours ago, LeoG said:

Been a loooong time since I played with a CB radio.   Use to have a 40 channel SSB midland and a ground plane antenna on the backside of my house.  Ya, that's how long ago.

I ran a Starduster back in the mid 70's and went by Bit Bucket locally. I also had Whiskey numbers for three states and a slew of others.

[Goldstar]

Anybody ever get tired of hearing that guy out in the Desert?

”Aaaah, sounds like you’re running a splatterbox—shut up, you windowlicker!”

”I told you, these people don’t have any integrity!”

”Rollin’ and strollin’ down the highways and byways.”

”You all play nice now, okay?”

”I’m down in the Desert now, back to the bench.”

Maybe I’m just ignorant but it seems to me that there ain’t no way that guy is operating within legal limits! Plus he just gets on to irritate people…if you listen to him, he isn’t even giving anyone a chance to talk…he “replies” to no one most of the time and repeats the same phrases so often that it sounds like he’s reading a script.

Sure, there’s good days on skip when the atmosphere is charged just right. But then there’s those renegades….

Still, CB can be fun when you’ve got your RF gain turned down and your squelch turned up so you just hear the local stuff.

[LeoG]

You know Freddy?

[marcspaz]

BBI has a 10kw amp he drives with an 1.8kw amp.  Thing is loud as heck.

[Goldstar]

47 minutes ago, LeoG said:

You know Freddy?

Freddy Kruger

[LeoG]

Freddy's the guy on one of my semi local repeaters that likes to hear himself talk.  If no one answers him he'll just continue on.  It comical at times.

[Goldstar]

That has to be entertaining!

There’s a guy in my area who is putting out some serious power on CB Ch. 18 and he bleeds over into the surrounding channels pretty badly. I wouldn’t say he likes to hear himself talk, but he makes sure everyone else can hear him for sure. But I’d rather hear him all day than Mr. Down-in-the-Desert. 

[WSDD519]

On 6/17/2024 at 9:28 PM, WRQC527 said:

I went by Viking back in the 80s. Now I hear all the big guns from back east booming in to the west coast using 3-digit numbers. 

I haven't played with CB in many, many years.  I went by "Cobra" back in the 80s.  We had quite a large group of locals on the radio around my area.

By the way, what's with the 3 digit numbers?

[WRQC527]

2 hours ago, WSDD519 said:

By the way, what's with the 3 digit numbers?

Somewhere along the line people stopped using "handles" and started with numbers. I'm not sure why, maybe it's easier to say and remember and fairly anonymous. I go by 674 because that's my employee number. 

[WRXR255]

32 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

Somewhere along the line people stopped using "handles" and started with numbers. I'm not sure why, maybe it's easier to say and remember and fairly anonymous. I go by 674 because that's my employee number. 

 

[marcspaz]

When people are talking locally, they still use a handle, but in noisy DX pile-ups, it's easier to hear a number.

 

Also, there are some really stupid rules, like you are not allowed to talk to people in other countries and you're not allowed to have a conversation for more than 5 minutes, then there is a mandatory 1 minute break, etc. So people have a tendency to use a number instead of a handle to make it harder to ID who's talking. Was it 401 in New Hampshire or 401 in New Mexico kind of mindset. 

[WRYZ926]

I will sometimes scroll through the CB channels just to listen. My 10m inverted V antenna actually works quite well for 11 meters. I hear a guy from Puerto Rico on channel 9 quite often. He must be running a lot of power since he has an extremely strong signal. If I do get a CB radio, I want one that does AM, FM, and SSB.

I guess no one cares that the guy is on the emergency channel. I remember a time when one would get told to stay off channel 9 except for emergencies. 

[Davichko5650]

3 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

 

I guess no one cares that the guy is on the emergency channel. I remember a time when one would get told to stay off channel 9 except for emergencies. 

Outside the US, Channel 9 is not designated as an Emergency or Traveler Assistance Frequency for the most part..  Lots of Mexico and other SA DX users on the channel at times...