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Finally heard a little CB skip this afternoon

gar hi

gar hi

This is my first video from my new CB radio and antenna set up.

Someone here on the Big Island with a super powerful signal was talking to a few people on the mainland.

They didn't mention their locations until someone from Los Angeles checked in and I heard him give his '20'.


I made an attempt to see if anyone could hear me but no responses from anyone and this guy here on the Big Island was the center of the show.

I will likely have to wait for even better conditions for any possibility of being heard with my set up.
 
gar hi said:
This is my first video from my new CB radio and antenna set up.

Someone here on the Big Island with a super powerful signal was talking to a few people on the mainland.

They didn't mention their locations until someone from Los Angeles checked in and I heard him give his '20'.


I made an attempt to see if anyone could hear me but no responses from anyone and this guy here on the Big Island was the center of the show.

I will likely have to wait for even better conditions for any possibility of being heard with my set up.
Click to expand...
You need to get a big amplifier, but your neighbors won't like it.
 
I'm not going to do anything illegal.

Some of these people I've heard in the past listening to the Maui SDR coming in loud from as far as the Carolinas probably broadcast well over the 4 watt legal limit.

But I know 4 watts can be heard at long skip distances, as it's happened many times on my father's CB radio back in the 70's.
 
Gar Hi wouldn't necessarily need an amplifier. A quad loop antenna would give him enough gain to hit the mainland possibly, and they're easy enough to make. He would have a better chance hitting the mainland on sideband, though.

RE: Channel 6: I used to hear them when other channels were seemingly down. A lot of those guys seem to make their own propagation. :)
 
gar hi said:
I'm not going to do anything illegal.

Some of these people I've heard in the past listening to the Maui SDR coming in loud from as far as the Carolinas probably broadcast well over the 4 watt legal limit.

But I know 4 watts can be heard at long skip distances, as it's happened many times on my father's CB radio back in the 70's.
Click to expand...
I was just joking about the amplifier. A better antenna would help if you could put one up.
 
gar hi said:
I'm not going to do anything illegal.

Some of these people I've heard in the past listening to the Maui SDR coming in loud from as far as the Carolinas probably broadcast well over the 4 watt legal limit.

But I know 4 watts can be heard at long skip distances, as it's happened many times on my father's CB radio back in the
Click to expand...
Get a ham license and do more...I've worked the world on converted CBs to 10m running barefoot mobile. The Tech license has SSB and CW on 10m...General is not much harder to get
 
Skip and talking great distances is a normal occurrence on the frequencies ham operators use so it's not much of a challenge, IMO.

What makes CB interesting to me is that communication is normally intended for only 5 to 10 miles and then suddenly it can be in the thousands.

That's also why I've always focused my DXing on AM at night (or over saltwater in the day) and FM during tropo and E Skip.
 
Gar Hi could work the world with a sideband CB and a decent loop antenna when conditions are good, and bag getting the license. The main problem with ham radio is the added expense. The cheapest way to go ham would be 10 meters only, although some of the 10 meter rigs are questionable, if the ham forum guys take on them is accurate. But the problem with 10 meters is that it is often dead when the sideband CB channels are active. I considered studying for a Tech license a few years back, but the recession hit, and money was too tight. And money's still been tight since then.

I still monitor the ham bands now and then, CW and sideband. If I were going to do the ham thing I'd get the Tech, and find the cheapest name brand HF rig and put up a dipole, and do CW. Kenwood used to have a small, all HF band, low power transceiver that was decently priced (for a ham rig). I don't think they make them anymore. Most of the ham rigs I see on the market are going for $1000 plus. Anything used you risk somebody having used the golden screwdriver. It's cheaper just to monitor HF.
 
I thought FM was already an option for some of the more expensive CB radios.

And I was also wondering if some of what's assumed to be multi hop E skip on CB may actually be F2.

I've noticed that often the more distant voices fading in and out will sound scrambled at times as they do on medium wave and shortwave at night and the closer voices, such as from the west coast, fade in and out only with signal strength like on FM E Skip.
 
gar hi said:
I thought FM was already an option for some of the more expensive CB radios.

And I was also wondering if some of what's assumed to be multi hop E skip on CB may actually be F2.

I've noticed that often the more distant voices fading in and out will sound scrambled at times as they do on medium wave and shortwave at night and the closer voices, such as from the west coast, fade in and out only with signal strength like on FM E Skip.
Click to expand...
Some of the more expensive CB radios are 'export rigs', i.e. illegal to transmit with in the US, but some do it anyway. They'll go in between channels, go from below the CB band to 27600 khz and higher... FM, that kind of thing.
 
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