CB Radios??

We use ours for weather and traffic updates.

twodownzero wrote:
...It is not legal to transmit on the CB bands with a radio that is capable of transmitting outside of band. In other words, there is no legal radio that can transmit on the CB frequencies and the 10 meter amateur bands. All CB radios must be type accepted by the FCC; the radio you describe is obviously not...

true enough but it is not illegal to listen to CB frequencies on any radio capable of receiving them.

We have one that I connect up but not on usually. It's an old Teaberry.
Truckers don't use it much anymore.
When we get nearer to places like Indy we turn it on.
Truckers, a lot of them have switched to a different channel, I think I heard.
Thinking of a new 10 meter with CB too. The antenna is also the fm/am antennae, so that needs some changes too probably.
I doubt I can reach beyond two miles either way with the antennae plus I had the meter replaced some years ago and they took out the high powered crystal.I guess they wanted it for their own.
If just the other RVers would use the CB perhaps on our own channel we might be able to avoid three hour and more delays from wrecks etc.
We had a Lady with a bathroom emergency knock on our door while stopped,for who knows how long one time. Yes we let her use our facilities.
She was a lady. I think we had much or dinner, the wait was so long.

We used to carry one, a hand held with a magnetic antennae. The last time I used it had to be more than 10 years ago. We started carrying it for safety reasons and when we traveled with others caravan style.

Cell phones have pretty much done away with the need for one.

Just completed a 4,200 mile round trip and this is the first time I left the CB at home. With phones and app based maps with traffic it just didn't make the list of things to bring.

Our last trip of 2,000 miles I took it and didn't hear one call while it scanned the entire time!

I still use one on the road. It has saved me a lot of time due to road stoppages that I was able to avoid by taking alternate routes.

Many truckers still use Channel 19 for such information.

I’ve replied at length on other threads with this subject.

I’d no more leave home without a CB than without (fill in blank).

I’m sitting in OKC now. A “barely above stock” radio set-up. Listening to several familiar voices I know to be 12-14/miles away.

Much of the disappointment with CB comes from expecting poor installation and/or equipment to do a decent job.

If you’re an RV’er, then a pro quality install is, IMO, a requirement. The point to an RV is to get away. At some point you actually will be (no cell phone coverage, etc). Maybe that CB will reach someone. You’d willingly give that money or more at that point. There’s no guarantee you’ll be heard, but it’s frustrating to WANT to communicate but are without the means.

There’s not a week a CB Radio hasn’t saved me time, trouble or aggravation. I’m 14-days into the current trip. It’s also been a great source of amusement, but that’s partly due to the nature of the job and understanding others.

Amateur Radio has its adherents for travel, but few if any I’ve known travel without a CB as well.

Millions of CBs have been sold in this country. If cell phones fail, what then?

A proper thru-roof mount antenna on your tow vehicle will cause it to outperform nearly every big truck. I’d consider an AM/SSB Radio the minimum (UNIDEN 980 or PRESIDENT McKINLEY) and with an RM ITALY KL203 Amp — runs off 15A circuit; ck eBay — you’ll “get out” as far as you can receive. A SIRIO 5000 antenna. WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO CLEARSPEAKER to decipher faintest signals.

Looks expensive but spending more won’t really GET more. Not until you’re into Amateur quality.

More than once I’ve been about to leave a truckstop. And heard of a road stoppage ahead. So have the other drivers. I think I’ll keep my parking spot awhile.

Or because I have had (and in a different truck am working towards) high performance, I’m able to sidestep that problem far ahead of others. That I have a choice is what matters.

If it’s a wreck with fatalities (road closure) you work on why you ain’t interested in allowing tax parasites to use your RV bathroom. Or food, water and the rest. That’s your lawful obligation, isn’t it? A working lifetime of supporting the ones crowding your vehicle who can’t get by even when times are good.

Consider this example a preview; thus,

Be able to communicate with others already prepared.

“Wrong place at wrong time”, has many connotations.

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Slowmover wrote:

A proper thru-roof mount antenna on your tow vehicle will cause it to outperform nearly every big truck. I’d consider an AM/SSB Radio the minimum (UNIDEN 980 or PRESIDENT McKINLEY) and with an RM ITALY KL203 Amp — runs off 15A circuit; ck eBay — you’ll “get out” as far as you can receive. A SIRIO 5000 antenna. WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO CLEARSPEAKER to decipher faintest signals.

Aside from being illegal, that sounds like a fine setup.

The FCC imposes limits the output power of a CB radio; exceed those, and you're broadcasting without a license, and potentially liable to pay quite substantial fines. Many do get away with operating illegally powerful CB radios, but personally I would not chance it; the potential repercussions are far too great.

DrewE wrote:

Slowmover wrote:

A proper thru-roof mount antenna on your tow vehicle will cause it to outperform nearly every big truck. I’d consider an AM/SSB Radio the minimum (UNIDEN 980 or PRESIDENT McKINLEY) and with an RM ITALY KL203 Amp — runs off 15A circuit; ck eBay — you’ll “get out” as far as you can receive. A SIRIO 5000 antenna. WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO CLEARSPEAKER to decipher faintest signals.

Aside from being illegal, that sounds like a fine setup.

The FCC imposes limits the output power of a CB radio; exceed those, and you're broadcasting without a license, and potentially liable to pay quite substantial fines. Many do get away with operating illegally powerful CB radios, but personally I would not chance it; the potential repercussions are far too great.

You let us know when that has happened. There’s a few million big trucks on the road and probably a half-million or more with higher-powered equipment. Some of them on the same roads at the same hours every weekday. For years. Easily found. But with zero problems. FCC ignores CB.

And, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, the baby amp has an on/off switch. So the amp is insurance. Up to 100W is great. But it’ll take 600W or more to increase the range past that. Even then it’s not impressive on the receiving end. The antenna system is what REALLY matters.

Ever run past the speed limit? Paid a substantial fine every single time you ran 33 in a 30? Fought it in court the times you did, didn’t you?

It’s a non-starter. And it would be plain stoopid to do without. In major metros and incrasingly rural, one can’t get heard AT ALL without some juice. It ain’t 1958 electromagnetically any more out there.

The guys who’ve gotten nailed have done things like hook up 100,000 watt TV broadcast amps.

What’s the difference between making incorrect change for a dollar and embezzling millions? (Only one rightfully gets the attention of law enforcement).




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twodownzero wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
I have one as well but mine s a Single Side Band 10 meter radio and CB combined. We use ours in conjunction with handheld units when camping in the forest to communicate. Not so much on the road. Hard to distill the gibberish from factual information.

It is not legal to transmit on the CB bands with a radio that is capable of transmitting outside of band. In other words, there is no legal radio that can transmit on the CB frequencies and the 10 meter amateur bands. All CB radios must be type accepted by the FCC; the radio you describe is obviously not.

I took the CB out of my truck because I don't have any interest in talking on it. I do have a CB in my offroad truck because other offroaders use it.

Find us an Amateur Radio without a MARS/CAP mod NOT performed. Seems stupid (IS stupid) to not be able to TX/RX on the one band with millions of radios actually in use.

We all appreciate Radio license holders to obey the rules. Even if only in word, and not deed.

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