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does anyone still use CB?

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I just bought 2 Cobra HH-35 handheld portable 40 channel CB radios at my local thrift store. Vintage 1995, they are like new and both work, but I don't hear anyone on them. MY GCHQ about five miles west of downtown San Antonio, TX. Now that everyone and their dog uses cellphones, Ipods and wifi whatsits, does anyone still use CB and is channel 9 still used for emergencies only?
 
2 or 3 people left using CB. Still very useful for truck drivers and anyone on the road.
 
I live about 3 miles off a busy Interstate and can hear traffic using CB's. Seems most useful as truck-to-truck mobile info swapping.

Couple years ago I had a CB-equipped motorcycle and used it often on group rides.
 
Channel 19 is still in use by truckers. Traffic is down a bit, due to the availability of cell phones and small FRS/GMRS walkie-talkies. But if you're anywhere near an interstate or other major highway, you should hear quite a bit of activity.

Channel 6 is as congested as ever when the skip rolls in. This is known in CB circles as "The Super Bowl." Most of the stations heard here are running several thousands of watts. The only purpose is to "be heard" above the noise and interference.

I've also heard the upper channels (35-40) active in some areas with single sideband operators. And, if you can receive above the "legal 40", you will hear comms on lower sideband when the skip is in. Particularily on and around 27.555Mhz.
 
Sunspot cycle is still down so there is not a lot of 'skip'. FRS has taken most of the local communication. And anyone who wants to go distance legally has gotten their ham radio license since the code was removed as a requirement. So that leaves the truckers mostly.
 
Thing is, FRS is line of sight and very low-power, limiting it to about a mile or so over relatively flat terrain. CB sigs can get out for several miles and aren't as LOS as a UHF FRS signal is (FRS exists in the 469 MHz band if I remember correctly.) Thus, you can use CB across town, especially in very hilly areas like Vancouver and Portland, and still be audible where you couldn't if you are on FRS. That's why I consider FRS to be useless if CB handhelds are available! About the only advantage to FRS, in my opinion anyways (as is most of this paragraph, but still) is that the handhelds that I have used tend to be very compact and can be easily slipped into a pants pocket. Of the CB handhelds I have, or have used, they tend to be quite bulky and use more batteries.

(And please don't get me started on the matter of areas where there's no (or very little) reliable cellular telephone coverage......)

I live near the intersection of a major interstate freeway and a major state highway, and occasionally hear stuff on the CB. Mainly truckers (especially on 19 & 23, the latter of which seems to be a "de facto" truck channel around here) but there are also these few, quite foul-mouthed guys that seem to enjoy the thrill of taking over channel 11 for hours at a time. (No, I am not one of them. ;o) The truck communications can be quite interesting to listen to sometimes, especially if I am on the highways myself for extended periods of time and there's nothing else to do.

I have wondered about channels 35-40. Is it legal to run AM mode there or is it strictly limited to SSB? Both my rigs are the standard 40-channel type but are full-AM on all channels, no SSB.
 
If I recall, it is legal to use any mode on any channel, but it was a highly suggested "band plan" to keep the upper channels SSB only.
The FCC washed their hands of almost ALL CB complaints 30 years ago. Now you really have to be getting into phone lines or
putting out harmoncs and spurs on aviation frequencies to get their attention.
Once they dropped the licensing requirements for CB, they had given up any attempts at controlling the service.
 
"(And please don't get me started on the matter of areas where there's no (or very little) reliable cellular telephone coverage......)"

Which is why when I spent a lot of time out hiking with the Boy Scouts I always bought my HT. While we did not have cell phone coverage out in the woods, I could always (or at least 95% of the time) reach a mountain top repeater. Fortunately I never had to use it to call for help. Mostly just to have a mesage relayed when we were going to be late via the autopatch.
 
I was a trucker for ten years, I used my CB maybe 5 times in that time. The last 5 or so, I didn't even have one. They're still used at some warehouses to call trucks in, but in those cases I just gave my cell number to the clerk or asked someone to come out and tell me. The CB band is dead.
 
Back in the late 60's and early 70's, well before the "good buddy explosion", most CB operators put a lot of time and effort to design their stations with the best antenna and ground systems like a 5/8 wave ground plane and GOOD RG/8U coax. And they also bought the best transceiver and microphone systems as well, like the Lafayette Comstat 25B with a Turner Plus 2 or 3 microphone. All legal. (But of course.... some added a linear to add a little "UMPH" to their signal). The conversations were somewhat reminiscent to some of the AM'ers on 3885 kHz (80 meter ham). CB at that time was not exactly mainstream, yet. Then the "good buddy" stuff happened and overnight practically, everybody had a CB. The band was so congested, the FCC added Channels 24-40 effective on January 1, 1977. Three years later, most of the good buddy stuff faded to obscurity. Today, CB is a vast wasteland with a few holdouts spewing more F-bombs than "Slap Shot".

I still have a CB rig. No, I don't use it for two-way. I use it as a barometer to see if the skip is in. 27.025 MHz (CB Channel 6) is the best channel for that purpose. The alligators down south, those over-modulated, 10,000+ watt one-way broadcasters that you would never understand a word edgewise provide the perfect barometer to see if the skip is in and if it may go into the 10 meter band. Very effective and cheap!

I was on CB from 1969 through 1977. Once the good buddy crap took over what used to be a sensible band of operators, I called it quits and worked on getting my ham ticket. I never looked back. Obviously, 99% of the operators did the same thing and left.


Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts

formerly KACG-1233 and KDO-9550
Handle: "Panther One"
 
Thing is, FRS is line of sight and very low-power, limiting it to about a mile or so over relatively flat terrain.

That's not what the package says....up to 30 miles depending on terrain. ;D
 
Like the gas mileage on cars - your results may vary :)

They don't allow repeaters on FRS so the closest I can come with repect to distance is with my HT on 70cm where I have gotten the Signal Hill repeater from Pt. Loma (over 100 miles) with 0.5 watt. But then that was almost an entirely over water path.
 
"That's not what the package says....up to 30 miles depending on terrain."

Of course that's not what the package says. If the package said that, the company wouldn't be able to sell it. It's called "bait & switch", and that happens a LOT more often in the market than most will let on!

Now, if you were in an area where there's completely (for the most part) flat terrain--most of the upper midwest comes to my mind, or the ocean assuming it's relatively calm--then I could see how something like that *might* be possible. Or if you were on a mountain-top and trying to make contact with someone else on a mountain-top 30 miles down, assuming the weather's decent and no other mountains stand between you.

Around my part of the country, you'd be doing really great if you could get out that far on FRS, even at the higher elevations. Once you overcome one high hill, there's another even higher one yet that you'd have to overcome. FRS exists on 460-something MHz, which is UHF, and UHF signals, at that high of frequency (and higher) are line of sight.

In other words: If you are on the side of a hill and you are talking to someone on the other side of another hill, well, good luck getting through to the other guy, 'coz ya ain't!

I haven't really checked (don't even really know where on FCC to look) but is it legal to run repeaters on CB? I know you can't run remotes there (although I bet lots of people probably do.....)
 
I was only being facetious. I know those packages are complete crap, but I was wondering, I would think it would be classed as misleading or misrepresented. For those who do not know radio characteristics.....I'm sure there's alot of dissapointed people.
The only thing you can get any further results from a half-watt is being on salt water and the most on average would be 5 miles...or use licensed GMRS repeaters. And that of course requires a license.
 
No, you can't use a repeater on CB. It really depends....there are local pockets where CB is still active. Go by any interstate and the CB band is always hopping. FRS radios for the most part are a joke.
 
I use my mobile cb setup all the time there are still a decent amount of cb traffic I do not see cb going away any time soon
 
I haven't hooked up a CB in years, I think I still have one around that works. When I was on the air years ago and for many many years I was KHM2739 known as the Antenna Man. I worked on CB radios for many years from Okeechobee, FL thru South Florida and all over South Carolina. It was a really good time in my life. I moved on to ham radio (it overlaped for many years) long before the code was removed and became a 2meter repeater trustee with my own repeater. It was an impressive signal machine for our part of the country 146.880 out of Orangeburg, SC and was a lot of fun and headaches at the same time. I had an FRS repeater for a short time but didn't see a need for it much in our area. I have thought about hooking up a CB and a 2 meter rig just to see whats still going on but haven't yet. A lot of my ham friends have passed away in the last few years sometimes I can't believe how quickly some things change and then others take a while.
 
Hey good buddies!

For a hilarious interlude, if you want to see why good old 27 megacycle CB is vastly superior to what the hamradio guys like to use, go http://lidlist.com, scroll about halfway down and watch the YouTube video of the guy in the orange shirt with the "redneck" flag on the wall. It don't get no better than this!

Gotta love it!

Cal
 
I can't remember exactly when (probably over 2 years ago...) but the last time I tuned around the ex-11 meter band I didn't hear much. However, just a few months ago I travelled along Interstate 5 to S. CA and happened to check out a big truck stop on the way; it had a HUGE CB section with over a dozen models of old-school-looking CB rigs, and more modern types, plus all kinds of antennas and other related things, as if CB is very alive and well amongst truckers.
 
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