CB radios, useful or not..

mowermech wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

mowermech wrote:

Now that the distance limit has been done away with, it is even more versatile. .

please expand on this.
thanks,
bumpy

I wish I could, but I think I deleted the email I got from the ARRL discussing the rule changes. I'm pretty sure it wasn't in QST magazine, it was an email: I just checked, it is gone.
It is always possible I did not understand all that I read. Your best bet is to go to the FCC website and check it out.
Keep in mind that for Hams and CBers, in a true emergency situation the rules can be bent or broken as the situation requires.

I found a reference: https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2017/04/fcc_reforms_part_95_rules_for_personal_radio_services.aspx

Scroll down to Citizen's Band Radio Service. IIRC, the changes went into effect 1 Sep 17.

I see distance limits are eliminated/extended? but power was not increased. I never knew how far my radio was getting out before but I guess this might affect some antennas??

bumpy

bucky wrote:
They have their uses, but if the the profanity and racial arguing by truckers have not slowed considerably since I last listened they are not family friendly.

gee, I see this complaint often on here. I can honestly say that my CB is on everytime I drive up I-85/95 and it has been years since I heard profanity. it has happened sure, is it regular, no. but how do you know it has not slowed if you stopped listening?
bumpy

They have their uses, but if the the profanity and racial arguing by truckers have not slowed considerably since I last listened they are not family friendly.

Bumpyroad wrote:

mowermech wrote:

Now that the distance limit has been done away with, it is even more versatile. .

please expand on this.
thanks,
bumpy

I wish I could, but I think I deleted the email I got from the ARRL discussing the rule changes. I'm pretty sure it wasn't in QST magazine, it was an email: I just checked, it is gone.
It is always possible I did not understand all that I read. Your best bet is to go to the FCC website and check it out.
Keep in mind that for Hams and CBers, in a true emergency situation the rules can be bent or broken as the situation requires.

I found a reference: https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2017/04/fcc_reforms_part_95_rules_for_personal_radio_services.aspx

Scroll down to Citizen's Band Radio Service. IIRC, the changes went into effect 1 Sep 17.

MarkTwain wrote:
CB- Those cute little stick on the window antennas are useless and a waste of money

gee, I am successfully using them on multiple vehicles.
I did discover that you can't use them on dual pain windows, however.
bumpy

CB-
The antenna is the key to an effective CB use. The best is the Wilson Antenna. I use the Wilson magnet based antenna as I choose not to have a hole drilled in the top of the roof. Those cute little stick on the window antennas are useless and a waste of money

mowermech wrote:

Now that the distance limit has been done away with, it is even more versatile. .

please expand on this.
thanks,
bumpy

"For an ordinary vacationer, sure,, there'll never be a day Internet & phone service is unavailable."
Coming to Montana will be s shock to you, if you truly believe that. There are vast stretches of highways in this state where cell service is poor to non-existent. There are campgrounds where the wifi is so slow or spotty that it might as well not be available.
However, there are campgrounds where they have installed a "cell phone amplifier" so that if you stand in exactly the right spot, you can make a call.
A CB radio is like any other "just in case" tool. Now that the distance limit has been done away with, it is even more versatile. Maybe there won't be anybody local to talk to, but you just might get in touch with somebody hundreds of miles away who can make a phone call for you. Just remember, the key to effective communications is not so much the radio as it is a good antenna mounted in a good location on the vehicle.
That radio just might save your life someday. CB has saved lives in the past, and I have no doubt it will again.

rockhillmanor wrote:

Slowmover wrote:
I use one for work. 10-12,000 miles/month. Wouldn't occur to me to be without it. Not a week goes by without it making or saving money for me. Rarely turned off. As to what's heard, one learns to separate wheat from chaff as part of the background of getting down the road.

Knowing what lane to be in, confirming that an alternate route will work, etc, lessens stress.

And both my pickup and TT have them.

For an ordinary vacationer, sure,,

there'll never be a day Internet & phone service is unavailable.

.........

Well, there IS one place in the USA where there is absolutely NO cell service, and NO internet!!!!

ALBANY, GA

Had a sporting event there. It was at a historical plantation site. .

I never laughed so hard as everyone pulled in and realized there was zip zero service. When everyone got out of their RV's and started walking all around the site with their phones held above their head trying to get service.

All those people walking around aimlessly trying to get bars on their phones! It reminded me of the movie Night of the Living Dead! Perhaps the confederate ghosts were just getting even. :B

We stayed at the Albany RV Resort last fall for a couple of nights, and our Tracfone/Verizone phones worked fine as I recall. The AT&T signal for our hotspot in the coach was not the fastest we've seen, but it was adequate. Our Max Amp RV booster may have been helping out there. One of the reviews on RVParkReviews also mentions the good Verizon service. I wonder if the poor/no service was mostly in just a pocket where your event was...

rockhillmanor wrote:

All those people walking around aimlessly trying to get bars on their phones! It reminded me of the movie Night of the Living Dead! Perhaps the confederate ghosts were just getting even. :B

there was an interesting cartoon in the sept. 10, 2017, washington post by "WUMO" showing some zombies walking with one fella staring at his cell phone with the caption "when the zombie apocalypse came, the smartphone turned out to be the perfect cover".
bumpy