CB Radios Handy For Emergency Information

Probably pick up the direction that is away from the camper. I have used them before and if the antenna is blocked lets say to the rear the reception is almost nil if I recall correctly.

So it works mostly by line of site then? Thank you.

covered wagon wrote:
Are there any channels that they are not allowed to talk so foul?

Nope. CB doesn't have a police force to police how people use it.

4 watts on the CB freqs from a mobile antenna only a few feet long is never going to work that well. Just run it.

And yes, CB is pretty much line of sight.

CB is a pretty much dead medium. I wouldn't count on that fo emergency anything these days.
But as a former radio head from way back, I can tell you what woks and how well.
CB isn't necessarily line of sight like higher frequency FM is, but the power is low and the antenna is everything. The bigger the better, and the higher it's mounted the better.

The setup you're describing will be very poor. If you have a camper on, the best thing is to mount a CB antenna on top of it, at least a 4'. If you don't get the antenna up there, you''ll be amazed at how ineffective your radio is.

The air conditioner is a good place to mount a CB antenna, or there are mounts designed to clamp onto tubular mirror brackets that work well on camper roof racks. Use a spring on the bottom of the antenna so it doesn't break when you whack a tree branch.

The only real good I get out of mine is when I am on the big roads mixing in with the big truckers. Never talk on it just listen...

It has the squelch turned all the way ON so I only hear what is real close to me.

We use the FRS radios when camping and wandering around the towns window shopping...

Roy Ken

Thank you all for the information and help understanding with how they work. It's fun getting a new project to do.

CB is a pretty much dead medium. I wouldn't count on that fo emergency anything these days.
But as a former radio head from way back, I can tell you what woks and how well.

....talking about CBs. I had the use of a CB with an antenna aerial about ~40 feet long mounted on top of a building, the roof of at about 30 feet high, in the mountains north of San Marcos (Guatemala; near/within sight of Tajumulco volcano), at appx 10,000 feet elevation. I was able to converse with recipients in Arizona. It was easier to make coms at night. However, I think the aerial and altitude and atmospheric conditions are just about everything to get long distances...and that would be impractical on top of a TC rig....unless, you can assemble the huge aerial at your destination, then disassemble when on the way.

We have used it all over the years. CB is still in rig just for Road information. Our cell phones are on a plan that allows unlimited talk between member of plan, so we use those more than anything now. Really useful when parking, between outside observer and driver. Speakerphone allows hands free talk.

CB has been a real PITA for years now, basically just "toys"
Usefull for chatting between rigs in convoy though, and alerting one another to road hazards etc. That's about all I ever used it for over in my 30+ years OTR trucking.