CB Radio......useful?

[Marie]

10-4 back door,
Put the pedal to the metal -
And let 'er ROAR!!!

 

[akrvbob]

One of the things I did was hit garage sales looking for treasures--and I did really well! I got a brand new RV vent still in the box for $5 and a band new, never used Weber portable barbecue grill for $5, I've still got it but it is very well used.

So I totally agree to be looking for many of the things you will need in the next year. But, only if you can get them cheap enough you can sell them at a garage sale later and not get hurt too bad.

Remember, all those treasures at the garage sales were once somebody's great idea for "later" except later never came. A valuable lesson there. It's much too easy for "I gotta have it!" to become "Why did I buy this!?"
Bob

 

[LeeRevell]

My next CB radio, IF I buy one, will be a portable unit I can carry, and connect to the external antenna.  Easier to move to another vehicle when the time comes, or carry in a friend's vehicle.

 

[Patrick46]

My next CB radio, IF I buy one, will be a portable unit I can carry, and connect to the external antenna.  Easier to move to another vehicle when the time comes, or carry in a friend's vehicle.

that's easy enough to do

simply have the CB wired so that it plugs into a cigarette lighter jack, and use a magnetic mount antenna. Done!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I carry a handheld CB radio only because I have it.  It is packed away in the camper.  I would not go out and buy one if I didn't have one.  IMHO you chances of raising someone on a CB in a place you cannot get a boosted cell signal is poor (although better than nonexistent).  So unless you have another reason for getting a CB, it is a poor choice as an emergency communicator.  Unfortunately, your better options are more expensive.

My plan for emergency communication (in the order that I am implementing them):

 - iPhone 5S on Verizon plan (best coverage in places I go),
 - Smartalk hotspot on AT&T towers (sometimes will have signal where Verizon doesn't),
 - Cell booster (weBoost 4G-M) with supplied antenna (just implementing),
 - Directional YAGI antenna on 20 foot mast (future),
 - Personal Locating Device (communication anywhere you can see the sky).

-- Spiff

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Oddly enough, one of the places that CBs are still useful is in some of the northern parts of Canada.  There are logging tractor-trailers there that all use them as they run on the gravel roads up there.  It's supposed to be very useful to monitor your CB on those roads.  You get enough warning to pull way over to your side and slow down as those trucks go screaming past you the other way at 60+ mph. Or so I've read, in various places.

Regards
John

 

[Goshawk]

Older CB radios could be modified. These unfortunately violates FCC rules for TYPE SPECIFIC USE. If you use a modified CB radio you might be found and fined. eBay will not let you sell an older CB radio due to this issue. Plus anything over a couple watts of RF energy will be dangerous in a modified radio. Just make sure it works right if buying used. And make sure it's not modified.

 

[Patrick46]

Do you really think that the FCC is chasing down and fining people for modified CB use?? In all my years, I've never heard of such a thing. (nor an I condoning it.)

Back when I ran OTR, coast-to-coast, I had acouple 'extra' chips in my radio, plus a linear amp, and I yacked on Sideband quite a bit too. Heck, there were lots of drivers back then who spent all their time on sideband channels. (less BS and noise)

I'm all down for HAM these days, but I still never travel without a CB (though I rarely use it like I used to.)

 

[compassrose]

Do you really think that the FCC is chasing down and fining people for modified CB use?? In all my years, I've never heard of such a thing. (nor an I condoning it.)

Back when I ran OTR, coast-to-coast, I had acouple 'extra' chips in my radio, plus a linear amp, and I yacked on Sideband quite a bit too. Heck, there were lots of drivers back then who spent all their time on sideband channels. (less BS and noise)

I'm all down for HAM these days, but I still never travel without a CB (though I rarely use it like I used to.)

They used to sit about a half block from my house back in the early 70's. Waiting for my Dad to turn his linear on. Us kids would go and sit on their car. And ask them questions (Who are you? What are you doing just sitting here? Who are you visiting in the neighbourhood?). Pissed them off. We called the cops on them a few times for being "perverts or thieves". It was funny. Back then CB's only had 23 channels. His had 45. He would shift antennas to the big beams and talk around the world late at night. We would get QSL cards (post cards) from all around the world (cool stamps). Mom would pin them to the wall in the room where he had his CB's at. Of course this was also back when you had to have a license too. So all the QSL cards had the call numbers on them. I still remember my Dad's... KFL-9962. One of the guys (Panama) he spoke to all the time came to visit us when he got back to the States. He was so homesick. That was the deal with a lot of the folks Dad spoke to. Americans in other countries just wanting to hear an American voice. The Japanese were practicing their English I think. He spoke to a lot of ships.


I have a Radio Shack TRC-446 in the bus. Not hooked up right now. I need to buy an SWR meter (mine went missing). It has a weather channel/alert on it. I want to wire it into the house batteries (and the CD/Radio) so that it can run while parked. I've been in a campground and did not know a tornado was nearby until the sirens sounded. I knew about the outbreak since I had been watching it on the Weather Channel (DISH) but considering they were out of Atlanta, they gave shitty coverage. I didn't know how big or what way the tornado was going until I was standing outside watching the sky turn yellow and heard the noise. I was 15 miles east of Americus. That's too close to be near an EF4 Tornado in my opinion. I want that weather alert (Just put one on my cell phone).

 

[darude]

I guess cheli wants to be one of the boys

 

[rvpopeye]

There were just as many girls on CB as guys back in the glory days.
I met my first girl on the CB. Lady Viking , she talked on it more than I did !
I used to joke that I let Bluto have Olive cause I found a Lady Viking ! skuh kuh kuh kuh

The FCC never wasted any time on us up here in Maine and most everyone had opened up radios(extra channels) and big kickers , Running off the truck battery and wanting to not kill it while parked , I always went for lower power ,sometimes turning them down to 2 watts ,way more modulation ,,,(the nearest FCC office was in Boston , 125 miles away)

 

[arctic cat]

I had own CB Radios all my life, but haven't really used them in a way that most people use them. As Ex LEO we used to have them in a car as we did monitor the chit chat on the road for possible illegal activities. In a personal level I had found the best bargain, some trucker got an extra box o cheese cake and he is let them go for dirt. Sometimes I found about accidents ahead of from the incoming conversations that truckers are having which in turn allow me to take the next exit to avoid the bottleneck ahead. In an emergency some LEO State and Federal LEO agency monitor the airwaves and if you have a bonafide emergency they are required to respond. If you have a Jeep and want to go 4 wheeling, most required one. I'm installing one on my project van with a auto scanning NOAA radio. last year I almost got caught in a situation with a flash flood because I accidentally tune to a small NOAA Radio, turn around and avoided the flash flood. Yeas there is fouled language and trash talk. I just don't talk, just listen. It's little extra insurance.

 

[Goshawk]

If you get a two meter ham radio with NOAA channels built in you might have something useful for emergency. Even if you are not a ham radio operator. It's legal to use it if life and limb are at stake. Just Listen other time s.


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[speedhighway46]

Goshawk is correct . . .

But better yet, get your ham license so you can enjoy 2 meters while on the road or when camping. There no longer is a code requirement, and the technician class license exam is pretty easy. More information is available at arrl.org.

Ham radio is as much fun as camping/van dwelling!

 

[ZoNiE]

2 meters and 70cm dual band handhelds are available new for $26. We used a pair on the cruise ship as walkie talkies and were able to tune away from all the kids with FRS radios. Get your ham ticket and you can use the repeaters and talk to a lot of people, even access the phone patch if it has one.

K7CHO

 

[Txjaybird]

I'm glad to hear that some folks still have, use, or just listen to C.B.'s.  In the early seventies my husband set up a base station in our dining room.  By the mid seventies we'd added one on each of our 3 vehicles.

  During the late seventies up thru the mid nineties I never left home with out one.  While driving OTR for a living they were helpful for all the reasons others have mentioned....also good to help stay awake.

   I never had a problem until I began driving solo and that was only twice that I can remember.  One ol' boy hounded me from east of Abilene TX clear into Ft. Worth TX.  I was running with a group of friends and we couldn't figure out what rig numb nuts was driving.  By the time we hit the old 28th street truck stop we were talking about tar, feathers, rails. and a rope  was mentioned more than once!  We never found out who it was.  After the guys at the truck stop chimed in he was probably too scared to talk.  

Down in Houston TX in my Hot Shot truck & trailer I had almost pulled out of town without refueling.  So I had to pull into the dreaded Rankin Road Truck Stop....commonly referred to at that time  as the Rankin Road Whore House.  Someone  started in on me before I could even pull in and stop at the pumps.  This was not the end to a long bad day however I was at the end of my rope.  The only thing I said to him was  " that he was a pencil p****ed pervert with nothing to do all day and he should really leave me alone and let me fuel up and I would go on up the road.......otherwise I was going to go pervert hunting and my Papa said I was a real good shot.     I didn't hear another word. 

 As I was fueling up two guys came over with windex and paper towels  and started cleaning every glass surface on my truck including the lights and mirrors!!  We talked back and forth some......then one of them said they had been there all day because of a problem with the load they were waiting on and he had listened to his partner try to start some BS with others all day long.  Then he Thanked Me as I was the only person who talked back so bad that I shut his buddy up!  The "talker" apologized and said my red hair should have been a warning to him! 

 Mama was right,  I should always be polite, speak plainly and never forget that I am a delicate southern flower........This is where people that know me well laugh, very quietly as Papa was also right.   :angel:  


I think CBs are useful and entertaining...... with a note of warning, as we never know who is listening, it is a good idea to disclose as little info as possible such as type of vehicle and who/how many we are traveling with...unless it is an emergency situation and then we can only hope it's someone with good intentions that gets there first. There used to be a designated emergency band that was often monitored by local people and some LEOs and firefighters both on and off duty.  Due to brain vapor lock I can't recall the band at this time, I want to say 14 however I may be mistaken.

Keep the shiny side up!             TJB

 

[highdesertranger]

channel 9 is the emergency band. highdesertranger

 

[speedhighway46]

Emergency "channel" on CB

146.52 is the National Calling Frequency on 2m

 

[Goshawk]

Emergency "channel" on CB

146.52 is the National Calling Frequency on 2m

That's 146.52 MHz if you have a 2m ham radio. They are about $30 on Amazon.


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[DannyB1954]

I agree with get an amatuer radio licence. One thing about 2 meter band is there are repeaters in many areas that will relay your communications for miles. Many truck drivers have gone to it for that reason. Some repeaters are tied to the internet and you can talk around the world. Google WIN radio for more info. Like has been said the test is not hard, and someone in your area is probably giving free classes. I studied for my test using Youtube videos.

CB's are also fun and useful. Especially if you are traveling with others that have them. They will work where there is no cell phone coverage, (as long as you are only a few miles from each other).
We used to use them 4 wheeling all the time. The Unidens are very good radios, and they are very compact. The Firestick brand antennas work well, and you can probably spot one at a yard sale.


73 (Best Regards) K7EED shutting down station.