CB radio's anyone?

I still have all my old CB stuff from back in the day. Haven't used any of it in 15 or so years. Now that I'm in a rural area, I may hook up the CB again and see what the local rednecks are up to around here. Might be fun again. :)

I used to run my Galaxy DX99V and Texas Star 350 or Palomar 250 in the truck, with a 102" steel whip. Talked all on AM. Had alot of fun with it. I had my President HR2510 and Messenger 400 set up in the house, with a 102" fiberglass whip in the attic. Used it mostly on SSB and some on FM. Had other radios before those, Cobra 148GTL tuned with funnies, Uniden PC76XL, Cobra 29, couple of old Midlands, a RatShack special, an old JC Penny too. Have used most types of antennas and the old stand-by 102" whip is always my favorite. :)

Been a few times lately on the interstate it would have been nice to find out what the traffic jams were about. Cant get that info on my fancy smart phone with internet, GPS, etc. Good 'ol CB radio is best. Always some truckers on it that are in the know.

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This is rather interesting. I have mothballed all the old CB radios during the last noisy solar interference, but maybe it would be worth resurrecting them. We do occasionally use clear, quiet Family Radio channels for convoy. I believe Motorola works best unless other brands got better. But I can see by this thread, CB does open up other useful possibilities.

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Running side band LSB=lower side band and USB=upper side band it is a ferq between the CB ferq. If you go to the higher channels you may notice a grabbled talk. That would be someone on one of the side band frequencies.

Don

Don,

Actually, FYI, you are quite correct in your quick and simple summarization.

A SSB transmission is always a transmission of frequencies between the center channels, either between the channel frequency above, or below the selected channel. Mowermech is also mostly technically correct, all except where he said, "Actually, no.", seeming to entirely disagree with you.

Mowermech also wasn't quite right that a modulated transmission follows the precise center frequency. This is as in, I quote him, "If you are on Channel 40, 27.405 MHz, you are broadcasting and receiving on 27.405 MHz whether you are on USB, LSB, or AM.".

The way SSB actually works is that it suppresses the carrier as mowermech stated, and you would be receiving on 27.405 MHz, but the sideband transmission broadcast is a band of frequencies always above the center for USB, always below for LSB, and both upper and lower bands plus the carrier for full AM. The advantage to SSB is that SSB doesn't waste power on transmitting the center carrier or a double sideband frequencies. SSB transmits only one side-band difference frequency per audio modulation, and all allowed FCC wattage is concentrated in this near 27.405 MHz band info. Find more at Wikipedia.

Borrowed from Wikipedia:

Illustration of the spectrum of AM and SSB signals. The lower side band (LSB) spectrum is inverted compared to the baseband. As an example, a 2 kHz audio baseband signal modulated onto a 5 MHz carrier will produce a frequency of 5.002 MHz if upper side band (USB) is used or 4.998 MHz if LSB is used.

A mixture of audio frequencies, such as in speech, will create a multitude of nearby frequencies in the selected half-band which is detected by the exact center channel frequency that the receiver is locked/tuned to.

Wes
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Such a good response here on the forum, why not put a sign on the rear window "CH13" or "CH19" to let others know your listening. If I miss the chance to chat with one or two of you, I will switch my 2m ham radio to my CB. I have a sign already on my rear window with ".520" for the 2M call freq. Usually only Hams know what it means. So far, no talkers there either.

Yep don't leave home without them , now it's ll happy-camping

I looked for the sequel to "Convoy" (Around the world with rubber duck), but all I could find was the lyrics.
Surely there is a video of it, somewhere!

Actually, no.
An AM transmission is made up of a carrier, the Upper Sideband, and the Lower Sideband.
A Single Side Band transmission is the Upper or Lower Sideband, with NO carrier. That is why, when you watch a watt meter, there is NO output on SSB unless there is modulation.
If you are on Channel 40, 27.405 MHz, you are broadcasting and receiving on 27.405 MHz whether you are on USB, LSB, or AM. Of course, the Clarifier can make minor changes in the frequency for fine tuning purposes.
I verified this years ago with my Stoner Pro 40 SSB CB radio. Switching modes did not change the frequency.
I can verify it today, using my Yaesu FT-897D all band all mode transceiver. Whatever frequency I set it on, I can scroll through the various modes (AM, FM, USB, LSB, CW, Digital, Packet, CWR, etc.) and the digital frequency readout does not change.
A 40 channel SSB CB radio does not have 120 channels. It has three different modes of operation on 40 channels.
The SSB operation does have the advantage of 12 watts Peak Envelope Power at 100% modulation (the power output will vary according to per cent of modulation, from 0 to 12 watts), which is much better than the 4 watts output of AM mode.

Running side band LSB=lower side band and USB=upper side band it is a ferq between the CB ferq. If you go to the higher channels you may notice a grabbled talk. That would be someone on one of the side band frequencies.

Don

I had mine on last week on I 81 in Va-W Va and all I heard every sentence was the F Bomb. Wonder if they want their children to say that at the table? I have a Bearcat Scanner and can usually hear about a wreck before the CB. You have to listen as calls will be given 2 X, once is the initial call, then dispatch will say Ambulance 690, Rescue truck 770 responding to a 3 vehicle accident mile marker 183, time out .... if you stay sharp, you can avoid it.
Bumpy, you obviously haven't been to Leesburg, Winchester or Martinsburg lately. I can tape it for you if you'd like. I would'nt let my grandkids get on 19 here.