The future of CB radio

[MickeyD]

My name is Lee from Ontario, Canada and I recently bought a Cobra hand-held HH 38 WX ST C Citizens Band radio at Canadian Tire and I can still receive CB'ers from the United States. I have another hand-held one here at home that I bought about 14 years ago and is still in good shape.

Does anyone know what the future of CB radio will be like? will CB radio ever phase out? will it ever become regulated?

In my opinion, I think CB radio should be around for a long time yet or even possibly long after our time. It's a great communication via analog other than cellphones, the internet, etc. which are more popular these days. I also like it because I can receive signals from the southern States or even beyond...it's great for DX'ing.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! All the best in 2012.

Happy DX'ing!

What is CB like in Canada these days?

 

[Darth_vader]

Italy on a walkie? THAT'S pretty awesome right there.

Was the radio a Realistic, by chance? Some of the older Realistic walkie-talkies can put out a rather bizarre amount of power for such an outfit. I've been able to get out to San Francisco at least once on my completely barefoot TRC-217, in Vancouver (so I'm two states away) with no more power than what I can squeeze out of a set of 12 Duracell AAs.

That happened last October when we were having all that crazy skip for a while. Usually I can't get much farther than central-southern Oregon (Bend being my farthest contact, usually, although I've also gotten a guy in Florence a few times) but that's still quite a long haul for that sort of equipment.

 

[Bud50]

FYI, guys...27 MHz is a FORMER Ham radio band, TAKEN from Amateurs by the FCC in 1958 or '59, in lieu of giving a regulated, "short range" personal business band to no-fee license holders (i.e. Joe Public). The FCC, as uninformed then as they are now, couldn't see that 27 MHz is a long-range frequency band, NOT stopping at the town limits, like they thought it would. Dimwits, they should have left 27 MHz alone and gave them the UHF Citizen's Band, like they eventually did later. Too late, no sense in barring the barn door once the horse got out...27 MHz is a useless outlaw band now.

There are some legitimate uses now; where cell phones, FRS/GMRS, et. al. DON'T work, 27 MHz AM/SSB still penetrates into valleys and through woods (proven by hunters in our deep brush) where the others WON'T.

Again, FORMER Ham band, NOT an unlicensed/unregulated Ham band!

Bud, KC4HGH

 

[rtc]

The 27 Mhz 11 meter ham band supposedly came about as a

result of the 1947 WRC.Hams lost the upper 300 khz of the 10 meter

band to land mobile.

In recompense the Commission gave them secondary use of the

11 meter ISM (Industrial,Scientific,Medical) "diathermy" band,

opening around 1952.

There were some fans of 11 meters but most could not stand the hash

from the medical office diathermy RF heating machines.

A popular name of the time was coined-"the Crud Band" which

would be repurposed on 9-11-1958 as the Citizens Radio Service.

The Commission did not figure on the radio hobby press seeing this as

a long-awaited code/exam free ham band.

When Tom Kneitel named it "the Citizen's Band" in a 1960 article

and wondered who would be the first to earn "WAS-CB" (worked all

states cb), the rest was history.

 

[Darth_vader]

"FYI, guys...27 MHz is a FORMER Ham radio band" and don't you forget it! A HAM band with all the starchiness, formality and stiff-as-a-board regulation removed, where operators can just be, and not worry about getting rigor mortis by the time they hit 40. That's why it's valuable.

.....And I say this as a FORMER (sometime) HAM operator myself, who discovered CB and completely lost interest in the other. No, I don't have any plans on going back. Watch for this to happen more with the present and coming generations.

 

[Darth_vader]

In fact, this brings us to another rather controversial point (which I actually just finished arguing with somebody on IRC a little while ago): in a strict matter of semantics CB *is* still amateur radio, whether or not the HAM fanboiz want to accept it. True, it may not appear as amateur radio on the surface, especially when taking into account the political and bureaucratic formalities "regulated" HAM radio is subject to (licencing, operating procedures, traditions etc.) Yet when put in contrast to professional radio implementations such as mediumwave or 800 MHz, it is very much so.

A domestic dog may not seem much like a wolf when you look into your Fido's little eyes, but look a little farther into them and you'll find your Fido is still is very much a wolf, just in a different package. Point is, CB and HAM radio are still very, very much one and the same thing, despite that they're still very, very different in their goals and approaches.

Just something to think about. Like it or not, we are all in this together, after all.

 

[KeithE4]

In fact, this brings us to another rather controversial point (which I actually just finished arguing with somebody on IRC a little while ago): in a strict matter of semantics CB *is* still amateur radio, whether or not the HAM fanboiz want to accept it. True, it may not appear as amateur radio on the surface, especially when taking into account the political and bureaucratic formalities "regulated" HAM radio is subject to (licencing, operating procedures, traditions etc.) Yet when put in contrast to professional radio implementations such as mediumwave or 800 MHz, it is very much so.

A domestic dog may not seem much like a wolf when you look into your Fido's little eyes, but look a little farther into them and you'll find your Fido is still is very much a wolf, just in a different package. Point is, CB and HAM radio are still very, very much one and the same thing, despite that they're still very, very different in their goals and approaches.

Just something to think about. Like it or not, we are all in this together, after all.

Ham operators are purebreds. CBers are mutts. ;D

73 DE WW7KE EX-KPH9020

 

[Darth_vader]

Nope, we're ALL from one and the same litter. Only that some pups have chosen to hunt with one pack whilst the other pups are hunting in another. As I said, same beast, just different bureaucratic hoops to have to jump through to achieve the same end result.

73 DE Wildcat, EX-KA7ΧΨΩ

 

[K6JHU]

An amateur radio operator running 1000 watts on 10 meters is legal

A CB running 1000 watts on 11 meters is ......

 

[KeithE4]

An amateur radio operator running 1000 watts on 10 meters is legal

A CB running 1000 watts on 11 meters is ......

...not all that unusual, unfortunately. :

But since the FCC couldn't give a rat's you-know-what about anything below 88 MHz, nothing will be enforced. The only reason the ham bands aren't worse than they already are (and there have been plenty of bad apples on the bands for decades - and I've been licensed since 1970) is that there is that element of self-enforcement that still exists.

 

[Darth_vader]

...... technically illegal, yet never enforced. So it's popularly considered legal as well.

(Just taking the liberty.)

And there is a degree of self-enforcement of good standards amongst CB, at least around here. (Can't speak to the conditions around your area, but that's how it is here.) On the other hand, once you stumble across that nightmare known locally as channel 17, especially during the daytime hours, practically anything and everything goes.

(And shouldn't that actually say they don't give a rat's --- about anything between 88 MHz and 1711 kHz? I think they *do* still sort of give a rat's --- about mediumwave at least, but not enough to make any significant difference either way. Just saying...)

 

[KeithE4]

...... technically illegal, yet never enforced. So it's popularly considered legal as well.

(Just taking the liberty.)

And there is a degree of self-enforcement of good standards amongst CB, at least around here. (Can't speak to the conditions around your area, but that's how it is here.) On the other hand, once you stumble across that nightmare known locally as channel 17, especially during the daytime hours, practically anything and everything goes.

I'm quite sure there are still quite a few CBers that use the band for its intended purpose (personal and small-business use). Even if they use it as a ham band-lite, some probably are still decent operators. I haven't listened to 11 meters in several years so I can't say for sure what's going on there nowadays. My CB days were back in the '70s but I still fired up the old rigs on occasion well into the '90s.

(And shouldn't that actually say they don't give a rat's --- about anything between 88 MHz and 1711 kHz? Just saying...)

Probably 88 MHz down to 525 kHz, what with their lax enforcement of daytime AM stations' power-downs/offs in recent years.

But if a piece of spectrum doesn't support digital audio and/or video (and the ionosphere makes complex phase-modulation schemes all but impossible, therefore making HF useless for anything but analog and narrowband digital modes), then it has little to no monetary value at a gummint license auction. With broadcasting and the fixed services fading away, a good portion of the HF and low-VHF spectrum hopefully might be turned over to hams in the next 20 years. The Feds own a good portion of the 25-28 MHz spectrum, so CB expansion in that area is probably out.

 

[Darth_vader]

>> > "I haven't listened to 11 meters in several years so I can't say for sure what's going on there nowadays. My CB days were back in the '70s but I still fired up the old rigs on occasion well into the '90s."

I think it just depends on where you are. Generally speaking, in areas situated around a major highway or interstate you're more likely to get CB activity (read: truckers) than in one that's not. Or if you're in a major city (read: truckers, businesses and yakkers) as opposed to a rural area. At least that's what I have noticed on the west coast. Granted, it's not as jam-crowded as it was 30 years ago (heck, even 20 years ago it was still pretty busy) but it still seems to hold its head up.

>> > "With broadcasting and the fixed services fading away, a good portion of the HF and low-VHF spectrum hopefully might be turned over to hams in the next 20 years. The Feds own a good portion of the 25-28 MHz spectrum, so CB expansion in that area is probably out."

I don't really see that happening. My prediction: as future generations continue to lose interest in or awareness of shortwave and VHF, it'll probably all end up being deregulated altogether (at least domestically) with probably the exception of the HAM bands that are already there and established, and maybe the occasional "god station". Thus, it might become like "extended CB", but it'll probably just be deregulated, only to dry up and die out because all the man-made environmental noise pollution on the bands would render them useless for pretty much anything, period. (We complain about how bad the powerline buzz on HF is today, but I'd hate to imagine what it would be like 20 years from now.)

Guess we'll have to wait and see, but I just don't think it'll happen.

 

[nocomradio]

I think it just depends on where you are. Generally speaking, in areas situated around a major highway or interstate you're more likely to get CB activity (read: truckers) than in one that's not. Or if you're in a major city (read: truckers, businesses and yakkers) as opposed to a rural area. At least that's what I have noticed on the west coast. Granted, it's not as jam-crowded as it was 30 years ago (heck, even 20 years ago it was still pretty busy) but it still seems to hold its head up.

The last time I turned on my CB for anything other than vehicle to vehicle communication when off-roading in the mountains 20-30 feet from the other trucks, it was fairly well dead. Granted, as you stated I live around 30 miles from the nearest interstate. No one out here uses a CB for anything. Cell coverage is pretty decent, although a few well placed mountains leave a few dead spots, but overall I think that is where everybody went. The conversations are a bit more private that way too.

 

[Darth_vader]

I have, surprisingly enough, found that having a good line of sight can improve reception/transmission on CB considerably. I honestly didn't really realise this in years past, mostly because it was hammered into my head that this phenomenon is only supposed to affect frequencies >30 MHz. (Learn it by doing it, I suppose.) Apparently being mostly on 27 MHz is still close enough that it makes a difference.

I can imagine those few well-placed mountains could definitely have affected it!

 

[joebtsflk1]

Channel 6 (27.025 MHz) is considered as the "Superbowl" channel. Why? Because people fire up mega-powered rigs just to put their voices for the whole world to hear. Conversations? No way! It's a channel for one-way talk. "WORLDWIDE" they say!!!! I believe it. I actually listened to 27.025 MHz using one of those on-line GlobalTuners from Johannesburg, South Africa. Those gators from down South from Florida and points all around the States came in like locals in South Africa!!! Channel 6 is a veritable "pig pile" of operators who splatter the dial with a language I could never understand. Try Channel 6 sometime and you'll see what I mean. 73!

Brings back memories from the late 60s when I was just 8 or 9. My dad used CB radio to talk between our office and our fuel delivery truck that served primarily farmers with a few fuel oil customers. We used channel 6. Finally, the skip got so bad he just gave up on CB altogether. I couldn't imagine how bad it would be today. A few years later he went to the business bands somewhere above 150 MHz. Other than a ready-mix plant 40 miles away, it was usually quiet.

 

[Darth_vader]

Yeah, I can't imagine how 6 could even remotely be considered useful for local communications these days. You'll almost always get trampled by guys with their boots on shouting at other guys with *their* boots on on the opposite side of the nation. Then the skip comes in and brings more such operations with it. (That's the reason why I think 6 is so interesting to listen to.)

Even with skip, though, CB can be fairly quiet at times around here. Depends on where you are, I guess (e.g., being on a hill in Camas overlooking Portland and Troutdale reveals a helluvalotmore on CB than, say, listening in downtown Portland) but it's still pretty useful for local communications, with the obvious exceptions. Get out way farther with it than FRS, for certain. Your results may vary......

 

[crainbebo]

CB will just be a trucker, unlicensed band-after 2012. Tune in channel 6 any day there's skip and not only can I not understand what these Georgia and Texas truckers are saying, but they splatter 50 khz away!!! Pretty much any AM channel has truckers talking dirty (yes, 19 too.) I only check it when there's skip.

-crainbebo

 

[Bud50]

Having a separate CB tuned to an open frequency could be a good indicator of 12 and 10 meter skip. Don't tune to ch. 6 ("Superbowl"), it's a high-powered wasteland and isn't a good indicator of skip....

...or just tune up & down a few kHz below 28.300 and listen for the CW beacons...

 

[Darth_vader]

"Don't tune to ch. 6 ("Superbowl"); it's a high-powered wasteland and isn't a good indicator of skip."

...Or to 17 when you're in this area. ESPECIALLY when "Fisherman" and a more recent contender, "Robocop" have their equipment/noise generators running. (And 6 was unusually quiet [for once] yesterday. Normally it's completely jammed on Sundays!)

[size=8pt]And "wasteland" is actually the complete opposite description of 6, since with rare exceptions it tends to be so jammed full of activity. If you want to hear what a wasteland sounds like, next time you come out here bring an SCA radio with you and tune any part of the band above 90.7 MHz. *That* is a wasteland!