CB Radios??

philh wrote:
And Waze will quickly report "Smokey's" location.

WAZE is only good for knowing where the cars will slow and jam up both lanes. 70-mph has always been fast enough as an upper limit. But today’s idjits think it’s a minimum to maintain.

Illegal to travel in Interstate left lane. Or block access from right lane EXCEPT during the limited range of a pass. Always fun to watch them when I signal I’m coming over. And do. (There is zero R.O.W. In left lane. That’s travel lane ONLY . . . why did you think we built 43k miles of two-lane roads. Only the stoopid think the left lane is the fast lane as there isn’t one).

What WAZE won’t do is tell you anything worth knowing. GARMIN GPS and a UNIDEN 885 with built-in scanner trumps it handily.

Part of the value of CB is knowing how to use it. WHAT questions to ask. WHEN to ask them. Etc. Plenty of us have them on, but aren’t roused to yakkity-yak all day. So just listening opens doors to usage.

Traffic coming to a standstill in a metro area? My question is always, “Hey, is this normal?” if I don’t hear any chatter. (It often IS a norm on that road at that time of day). The GARMIN shows me the length and estimated time of the backup, but knowing the REASON is helpful. As in, what lane to be in. Etc.

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1320Fastback wrote:
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!

Scan function is variable. Depends on how much RF Gain and Squelch you have dialed in. If you have any at all, your system is too low performance to use Scan.

I run 400-650/miles per day. There isn’t any such thing as no signal available. Sure, some areas more so than others.

I’ve added Digital Signal Processing to my CB (nearly eliminating QRM; an increasing problem world-wide) and there are times I can hear SO MANY VOICES I have to back off the receiving range of the radio. Separately, during atmospheric skip conditions it can be a handful to keep reception to the local area.

About the only days when reception is next to nothing is Sunday morning and until noon the day of a major holiday. That’s it.

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I had one in the MH when I bought it so I kept it, I would not go out of my way to buy another one in a new MH. Having said that it is useful when coming into a traffic areas, the truckers usually know the best routes to avoid traffic delays. Usually the trucks coming from the opposite direction give you a good description of what is happening. I also use it when traveling in a group to communicate with fellow travelers. There were many areas out west and in Canada and Alaska where we had no cell phone service and the CB was very useful. The fellow I went to Alaska with was a full timer and he had been there several times before and he traveled ahead of me and gave me a blow by blow description like a tour guide which helped past the time of a long trip.

As I have said. I've had cases where the CB alerted me to an accident or other obstruction and I was able to route around or otherwise avoid it (at least 3 times in all the years) as well as the odd long term chat while a group of us were all headed the same way.. I consider them well worth the cost.

Just one time avoiding a multi-hour traffic backup due to a fatal accident

Just one time avoiding a leaky radiator from rear ending someone on black ice

PAID FOR.

I had a CB in my old tow vehicle and should install it in my new - just have not gotten around to researching the specifics where to mount, where to run the wire, where to mounnt antenna, etc.

Around here in GA, I've not found much traffic on CB in early mornings, but would sometimes pick up around lunch time. I believe many use SSB these days which mine didn't have.

There was the occasional foul language but most often, it was just 'normal' conversations - alot of local drivers and some OTR drivers. And, frequently, I'd pick up skip from all over - California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Alabama, even picked up a one sided conversation from one of the islands in the Bahamas. Most times I couldn't talk back but could hear full conversations. The furthest conversation I had was with someone 30-40 miles as the crow flies (nice chat about trout fishing in north GA).

It was useful for traffic (specifically when it comes to identifying which lane was blocked). Most of the conversations I was involved was related to which exit had travel plazas or when was the best time to drive through Atlanta as to avoid the majority of the traffic.

I did have a couple conversations about where Cabela's was located when it first opened :D

For me, it was more of the joy of conversation and helpfulness then learning about accidents/speed traps.

As noted, the CB has been very useful to me avoiding traffic hold-ups due to accidents, etc.

But even if I can't avoid the problem and I'm stuck in a long traffic jam waiting for the problem to be cleared, the CB chatter from other stuck truck drivers on Channel 19 is interesting to listen to, and it allows me to pass the time with much less aggravation.

A good example occurred a year or two ago when I found myself in one of those unavoidable traffic problems that turned the Interstate into a parking lot for a while. I was several miles behind the source of the problem, but it was very helpful listening to truckers on the CB who were up at the front of the line at the source of the problem. I sequentially learned from the guys in front a few miles ahead that:

there was a car and truck overturned in the northbound lane

police are on scene

there are injuries

looks like the truck is a haz-mat carrier with its cargo spread all about

ambulance is now on scene

a med-e-vac helicopter is arriving

the medics are busy

the med-e-vac and ambulance have departed with passengers

it will be awhile because of the haz-mat cleanup needed and accident investigation

state police have established a crossover lane in the medium to allow northbound to make a u-turn into southbound lanes

northbound traffic is now moving slowly to and through the u-turn

after you make the u-turn and are in the south-bound lanes, you'll see the Opelousas exit to US 190 a few miles down; make a right at the exit and another right on US 190, go a mile or two to the red light and take another right and stay on LA 182 and in a few miles it will intersect with I-49 northbound on the other side of the wreckage.

Besides this helpful information, there was a lot of truckers' banner going on, joking about the world in general and the situation in particular. One trucker broke into the banner, asked if anybody had any toilet paper; he said he needed it really bad. He was told to use pages from his Trucker's Atlas. I don't know if they were kidding. The guy making the request didn't say how it all came out for him.

Just another day in the life of a CBer riding on Channel 19 somewhere out there in the wild.

Uniden 980 AM/SSB on sale at Amazon at $99.00.
MSRP is $179.00.

This is today’s basic radio. Digital construction (don’t let anyone open the case), excellent receive. SSB means longer-range transmission in those settings. Don’t buy a radio without it.

To turn it into a giant killer:

1). West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker $200.00

- features what the $1,000+ HAM equipment has, and that’s DSP (digital signal processing). Bye-bye noise. The radio has better ears than you suspected, but now with the noise removed, you can hear what you couldn’t before. (Also equipped with headphone jack).

I’ve had mine over five years and 400k miles including the first 100 through the oilfield. I regularly listen to transmissions other around me can’t hear. So much so that in distant rural areas I may have to back off the RF Gain as three conversations are all I can follow.

2). RM Italy KL-203 amp $75.00 eBay

— a realistic 70W amp size of a cigarette pack that will run WITH the radio and speaker off of a 15A circuit.

I’ve had one about three years. It’s cheap and dependable. Anything goes wrong, just buy another. Mines velcroed to the top of the radio.

With these two you can hear, and get heard like never before.

The high-zoot tweaked & peaked $600 10-meter export can’t match it in overall performance. And you’ve no need to let any backwoods tech touch your gear.

As always, the antenna SYSTEM is the thing. The SIRIO 5000 series on a BREEDLOVE roof puck is your choice. (Your truck has dozens of holes already; do this part right). The quality of both is such that they’re both WELL known to the HAM world.

Access to a pickup rooftop center can be thru an overhead interior light. Just snake higher quality coax down the passenger side.

A system of this caliber will dumbfound those who think they know what CB is and isn’t.

It’s also the best thing thing available should cell service fail.

Most radio gear lasts in excess of ten years. Twenty, when taken care of.

To that end, a Harbor Freight APACHE 3800 foam-lined transport case. $29 on sale. Compare to Pelican at over $100. (Radio gear gets damaged moved in and out of vehicle.)

Set up home and travel trailer with same. This radio price a steal.

I’ve decided this is the best back-up radio to fancier Yaesu and such where the hard work of an antenna system goes to naught if a problem occurs. Therefore, a minimum of three for my needs. It just sleeps in the transport case until I need it. Big truck, pickup, travel trailer.

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The 70 watt amp might just get you in trouble if anybody authoritative is reading this. otherwise not a bad set up. Don't know about the antenna a I've no experience with that make.

Though I do agree SSB gives you a lot more 'Punch' than straight AM. it's only good if both stations are using it If you are on SSB and I'm on AM you are noise to me and likely the reverse (though if we are within a few hertz it might work)... I use SSB a lot on 80 and 40 meters.

And that West Mountain DSP speaker... Oh yes... That one is a first class product. It outperforms many of those thousand dollar ham radio DSP units.

On my way to a hamfest I am.

No one pays attention to CB (FCC). Those guys regulate to keep profit in the hands of the few. The exception is some guy with a 100K watt TV transmitter re-purposed to ruin CB for hundreds of miles around. Etc.

I figure we’ll use SSB with a hailing channel. 38-lsb , then off to somewhere else. Regional and local.

There are a few million CBs operable, and 10’s of thousands with some extra juice to run them. The airwaves are full of noise not present in 1957, thus, a little power goes a long way. (Takes 600W to make the next step in performance from 100W).

See eHam reviews on any gear.

Setup, gear, tools and tests are all part of a VG system. I have a dedicated GP bag with those items. Radio-only.

And a hamfest sounds great. Can I use your $$ card, mines empty from this hobby (ha!)