I used to like my CB radio, had some good laughs many moons ago, I believe they should be revived as there are way too many truck drivers nowadays who have lost the art of conversation and sit glaring at a smart phone screen. We used to meet up regular and have a brief conversation before going out of range. At what point was the down fall of CB radio. I actually do miss having one. Never felt alone with one switched permanently on. Why did they die a death?
Wasn’t it a change in the licensing/frequencies?
TiredAndEmotional:
Wasn’t it a change in the licensing/frequencies?
Yes from AM to FM but I think now they allow both frequencies? Unsure to be honest. But bring them back I say.
Think a lot of the poles still use them…i got fed up with all the kids banter on there, so dumped it…dont think they will ever make a comeback today…unless we have some way of locking idiots out…bit like facebook with a ban this sign…ha ha
Think a lot of the poles still use them…i got fed up with all the kids banter on there, so dumped it…dont think they will ever make a comeback today…unless we have some way of locking idiots out…bit like facebook with a ban this sign…ha ha
over
UKtramp:
TiredAndEmotional:
Wasn’t it a change in the licensing/frequencies?Yes from AM to FM but I think now they allow both frequencies? Unsure to be honest. But bring them back I say.
People used to say AM was better tan FM years ago but believe me it’s not, I had amazing range on FM because FM radio signals follow the earths curvature whereas AM signals travel in straight lines, this is why on AM you get skip, the signal travels and hits the atmosphere and bounces down and we hear people many miles away but not where you really need to hear them, if you want to talk to another driver 60 miles away but all you can hear is either locals or someone in Texas it’s no good. Back in the UK I could sit in my cab at Wooley Edge and talk to a mate who was at Leicester Forrest East as clear as a bell on FM, couldn’t do that on AM. If I could get a couple of good FM radios here and give one to a mate we could be a couple of hundred mile apart and chat easily because there would be no others between us.
CB radio over here is a major part of trucking, most companies we go to still use CB to give drivers instructions like what bay to go to.
Here’s mine, just above the elog screen.
Actually that’s an old photo, this is the CB I bought recently.
Pat Hasler:
People used to say AM was better tan FM years ago but believe me it’s not, I had amazing range on FM because FM radio signals follow the earths curvature whereas AM signals travel in straight lines, this is why on AM you get skip, the signal travels and hits the atmosphere and bounces down and we hear people many miles away but not where you really need to hear them, if you want to talk to another driver 60 miles away but all you can hear is either locals or someone in Texas it’s no good. Back in the UK I could sit in my cab at Wooley Edge and talk to a mate who was at Leicester Forrest East as clear as a bell on FM, couldn’t do that on AM. If I could get a couple of good FM radios here and give one to a mate we could be a couple of hundred mile apart and chat easily because there would be no others between us.
CB radio over here is a major part of trucking, most companies we go to still use CB to give drivers instructions like what bay to go to.
Here’s mine, just above the elog screen.0
Where are you driving now Pat?
UKtramp:
Pat Hasler:
People used to say AM was better tan FM years ago but believe me it’s not, I had amazing range on FM because FM radio signals follow the earths curvature whereas AM signals travel in straight lines, this is why on AM you get skip, the signal travels and hits the atmosphere and bounces down and we hear people many miles away but not where you really need to hear them, if you want to talk to another driver 60 miles away but all you can hear is either locals or someone in Texas it’s no good. Back in the UK I could sit in my cab at Wooley Edge and talk to a mate who was at Leicester Forrest East as clear as a bell on FM, couldn’t do that on AM. If I could get a couple of good FM radios here and give one to a mate we could be a couple of hundred mile apart and chat easily because there would be no others between us.
CB radio over here is a major part of trucking, most companies we go to still use CB to give drivers instructions like what bay to go to.
Here’s mine, just above the elog screen.0
Where are you driving now Pat?
North eastern USA, sometimes out west.
Skip is caused by the signal bouncing of the Ionosphere not the Atmosphere, at the height of the11 year sun spot cycle has a big bearing on the range of both AM and FM …
To many trolls these days , there every were. 19 for a troll good buddy
It’s so quite on the cb.nowdays few of us have them when running together, occasionally you hear a voice on them, be handy to get people to fit them again, so to find out about road delays, and a bit of chat.
I would be able to fire up the 500w burner, get the Wilson dusted off, and put the multimode back in. Was something else to do when parked up at night, nice bit of Dx’ing,
Maybe the gay Cavalier,and gorgeous George, and the backdoor bandit, might still be out there “good buddies”
Never had a licence, never been asked for one,
UKtramp:
At what point was the down fall of CB radio. I actually do miss having one. Never felt alone with one switched permanently on. Why did they die a death?
Unlimited calls on mobile phones. When mobile phones became affordable and companies like One2One brought out monthly tariffs with 1200 minutes for £20 the end of CBs was pretty much guaranteed.
Pat Hasler:
I had amazing range on FM because FM radio signals follow the earths curvature whereas AM signals travel in straight lines,
You’re talking rubbish. The only signals that follow the earth’s curvature are groundwave ones and groundwave signals stop at no more than 3MHz or so. They’re certainly not at 27MHz where CB is.
this is why on AM you get skip, the signal travels and hits the atmosphere and bounces down and we hear people many miles away but not where you really need to hear them,
No, you get skip because the various layers of the ionosphere have sufficient ionisation that they can reflect signals on the frequency you’re transmitting on instead of those signals continuing out into space. How far it goes depends on which layer of the ionosphere is doing the reflection. During summer it is typically the E-layer for CB which will give you short range skip of a few hundred to a thousand miles.
The same happens on FM, CW and SSB. It isn’t the mode that counts, it is the frequency. RF doesn’t know or care what mode it is. The ionosphere it is being reflected off neither knows nor cares.
The thing is though, with a mobile phone you have to know the persons number to speak to them. The CB was a sociable thing in my view, I used to know loads of truckers on it, now I simply flash and wave to the ones I know whereas with a CB I would say a few words. As you can imagine, I was a very strong character on it and enjoyed the crack on them. Now imagine if CBs were back in vogue, how many would be shouting of me now from this forum alone even if it was to call me a ■■■■■ I would never get any rest. Lets get them back
UKtramp:
I used to like my CB radio, had some good laughs many moons ago,
This is odd… He’s only been driving trucks for a year or two…
biggriffin:
It’s so quite on the cb.nowdays few of us have them when running together, occasionally you hear a voice on them, be handy to get people to fit them again, so to find out about road delays, and a bit of chat.I would be able to fire up the 500w burner, get the Wilson dusted off, and put the multimode back in. Was something else to do when parked up at night, nice bit of Dx’ing,
Maybe the gay Cavalier,and gorgeous George, and the backdoor bandit, might still be out there “good buddies”
Never had a licence, never been asked for one,
Sounds like when they first came out in early 80s, the users were so scarce, you used to look out for a truck ‘flying a twig’ and give them a shout.
We used to buy the illegal AM American sets from the Paddys, then the FM came out and were never as good for range.
I used one from 81ish, to about 15 yrs ago until the airwaves became awash with d/heads on home sets hogging the Trucker’s channel 1 9.
I was about to say I might just dig my old one out, but I don’t know if I fancy talking to ‘‘Gorgeous George’’…and certainly NOT to ‘‘The Backdoor Bandit’’ 
Doubled up post.
robroy:
biggriffin:
It’s so quite on the cb.nowdays few of us have them when running together, occasionally you hear a voice on them, be handy to get people to fit them again, so to find out about road delays, and a bit of chat.I would be able to fire up the 500w burner, get the Wilson dusted off, and put the multimode back in. Was something else to do when parked up at night, nice bit of Dx’ing,
Maybe the gay Cavalier,and gorgeous George, and the backdoor bandit, might still be out there “good buddies”
Never had a licence, never been asked for one,
Sounds like when they first came out in early 80s, the users were so scarce, you used to look out for a truck ‘flying a twig’ and give them a shout.
We used to buy the illegal AM American sets from the Paddys, then the FM came out and were never as good for range.
I used one from 81ish, to about 15 yrs ago until the airwaves became awash with d/heads on home sets hogging the Trucker’s channel 1 9.I was about to say I might just dig my old one out, but I don’t know if I fancy talking to ‘‘Gorgeous George’’…and certainly NOT to ‘‘The Backdoor Bandit’’
Another one to avoid would be the graphically described “■■■■■■ stretcher”
What’s wrong with that, and how did you know it was my old handle?