CB Radio - needed?

[C-Bears]

I have went back and forth with this for over a year. Do I really need a CB in my tow vehicle or not?

This year there has been two or three times where we were stopped in traffic out in the middle of no where and wondered what could be happening up ahead and/or how much longer would traffic be stopped. It would have been nice to have a CB then.

I finally broke down and got a HH Cobra unit. Haven't tried it out yet on the road.

How many full timers, or folks that travel a lot have CB's in their vehicle? Do you have regular hard wired CB units, or HH (hand held)?

[Helmsey]

I have small Cobra unit in the truck. I rarely use it, but glad to have it when I need it.

[Crabbypatty]

TMcarthur

"I since removed the CB after listing to some Trucker curse and yell at me because I did not launch myself off the highway so he could continue at 80+ MPH. I figure if I can't hear them, they can't ruin my day"

Yes they have called me a "Mohron" however who is the Mohron? Im going on vacation and he was just miserable cuz he was working. I keep it low as they can be filthy, but when traffic starts to check up I listen in.

[Crabbypatty]

Depends on what traffic is like on your routes. Here in the Northeast going southbound, then back northbound on I95 can be challenging. I have put it in park, turned the key off and played frisbee with my daughter when an accident closed the interstate down for miles and there was no where for any of us to go. I now use a CB for that route and its mostly quiet on 19 until something is up. The truckers start talking about problems and workarounds. It has saved us many what could be miserable hours sitting in jams.

So I cant speak to the rest of the country or even westbound, but I have been up and down I95 for 11 years and its part of my setup when I go that way.

Happy Trails

[Bumpyroad]

TMcArthur wrote:

For emergency use you can pickup a handheld HAM radio (although license is require to broadcast, I doubt you would get in trouble if it were an emergency)

I'll have to get one so the next time I want to ask a trucker if I should take the North bypass, the South bypass, or straight thru town I can contact one in China or South America.
bumpy

[cwdavis]

RoyB wrote:
...
We also carry the FRS radios when at camping sites... They work like gang busters and have private line etc. Only hear each other... Also have noticed some towns like Gatlinburg has a FRS repeater network which really covers the whole town from the close-by mountains...

You might want to be careful with your conversations on FRS, as they are definitely not private: Wikipedia/FRS

Most likely, there are few users where you use the radios, but still it's best to know it is possible for others to listen in.

[TMcArthur]

I will second that the CB is mostly static now-a-days. Sometimes you hear some truckers talking to each other. I thought it would be nice when camping somewhere, but it never got used that way.

Only once have I picked up state broadcast road warnings (ch 19) which told me which lane I wanted to be in on the Interstate in the traffic jam ahead. This meant I did not have to change lanes in heavy traffic, which is great for truckers and RVrs alike.

Only once have I run into another RVr on the CB. Some Class-A who had his stairs still out. I radio'd, he answered, and that was that.

I since removed the CB after listing to some Trucker curse and yell at me because I did not launch myself off the highway so he could continue at 80+ MPH. I figure if I can't hear them, they can't ruin my day 🙂

For emergency use you can pickup a handheld HAM radio (although license is require to broadcast, I doubt you would get in trouble if it were an emergency)

[edbehnke]

no

[robsouth]

I still use mine. As stated, language from truckers is not nearly as bad as it once was as many truckers are not using it anymore. Channels are not nearly as busy as they once were.

[jorbill2or]

we use it with the good sam chapter I belong to if we are running together ..so yes I use it but not often.
I'm a "trucker" in real life so I had several older ones (cobra 29's ) and just mounted one of them in the RV .. It was already prewired. Since I can talk the" lingo" and no young ones are present I can" filter" the info i need in traffic situations 😉 C'mon driver lol

[noplace2]

They still make those? 🙂

[ford_truck_guy]

I used to keep a cobra with a magnetic mount K40 antenna in the truck... got to a point that I had to turn the squelch all the way up so my kids (2 daughters) did not hear... Once they stop going with me , I will use it again. Very helpful when it comes to accidents and stoppages . .

[Bumpyroad]

you know I would bet that if they had a CB app for smart phones, every body here would have one. 🙂
bumpy

[lanerd]

When we had our truck and TT back at the turn of the century, I bought a real nice Cobra unit and made a special mount for it to rest on the console. Had it all the years we had the TT and I really can't remember one time that it came in handy. When we sold the trailer and got the first motor home, I decided it just wasn't worth the effort to install it.

It's now setting on a shelf in my garage....anybody need one cheap?

Ron

[pa_traveler]

Have one,its helped out a lot of times.

[Bumpyroad]

deltamaster wrote:
Back in the 70's and 80's it was all the rage.

I have always had one in my vehicles. When we bought this rig I bought one of those that has all the controls ans speaker and such on the microphone and the rest is really small and hidden under the dash. I have used it a couple of times but not much out there like it used to be. Mine is still there and it comes on every time the ignition switch is on but I rarely hear much going on.

It does have a nice feature of the weather broadcast. I use that occasionally.

bought one of those all in the mike, hated it. way too big for small hands, inconvenient to use. had to plug in an external speaker since the speaker in it is so tiny.
I have a better one in my car at all times. I can't remember the last time I heard some naughty talk on mine. no reason not to have one.
bumpy