CB Radios Handy For Emergency Information

[covered_wagon]

A couple questions:

My antenna is below the camper by 2-3 feet but, 18 inches away. Will it work okay for more local use?

[MarkTwain]

finsruskw wrote:
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.

The CB via the truckers can also give you advance warning and the location of "smokey Bears". Some of us are not as desciplined and vigalient as those who drive "55" MPH:):)

[silversand]

BurningMan wrote:
What you were doing is called "skip shooting". You were bouncing your signal off the ionosphere. Sunspots affect how well that works and it goes on 11-year cycles, lots of "skip" to little "skip". It's also unreliable and unpredictable...

...ya, that DX would sound right. If memory serves, the time was back in '93ish.

[TxGearhead]

If you are really in the backwoods and really need, or want, to talk to someone, get a satellite phone. It won't be cheap.
Or get an EPIRB/PLB for emergencies.

[covered_wagon]

Do they allow Ham radios to be mobile?

btw I usually go where there is no cell service. Those places are usually tall mountains or Pristine wilds.

[burningman]

What you were doing is called "skip shooting". You were bouncing your signal off the ionosphere. Sunspots affect how well that works and it goes on 11-year cycles, lots of "skip" to little "skip".
It's also unreliable and unpredictable, you don't know exactly where you'll bounce your signal.
Horizontal antennas work better for skip shooting. So does 500 or more watts.
I drive up and down the west coast at work and hear pretty much nothing on CB nowadays. The CB days are over.
If you want emergency communication beyond a cell phone, get a 2-meter ham radio. The license is easy to get now, you don't have to learn Morse code and advanced radio theory for a basic license anymore.

[ford_truck_guy]

I drove over the road flatbeds for years... cb's back in the day were needed.... now, its full of trash mouth drivers who like to here themselves talk... ( and that's only makes up a very small amount of drivers).. but they are the loudest....

Its a shame, there is so much good info out there, i just couldn't stand listening to it anymore.... and then the kids came, and there was no way they were gonna hear that babble....

[MarkTwain]

deltabravo wrote:

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.

Generally speaking, don't use channel 17 or 19 which are trucker channels. But, these are the 2 channels that will give you information on current road conditions , emergencies, wrecks. I use 17 and 19 only when I want current road information then I turn the squelch all the way up and the volume all the way down to protective my "sensitive" ears. Actually I have heard more foul language on a High School campus then on Ch. 17 & 19.

[finsruskw]

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.

[Johno02]

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.

[silversand]

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.

[covered_wagon]

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

[RoyB]

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

[burningman]

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.

[twodownzero]

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.