UKtramp:
I used to like my CB radio, had some good laughs many moons ago,
Most tippers have em on channel 33 or 4
mrcreosote90:
Most tippers have em on channel 33 or 4
Is that for work or social chat though?
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,
You don’t need a burner, I used to prove that quite regularly, it’s the twig you use that counts. There used to be two guys who ran the Ferguison TV company run from Northampton to Portsmouth every night and they used burners which wiped people out, I remember having a row with them one night about how pointless the burners were, I was in Cheltemham at the time and they boasted about me being able to hear them, I pointed out that they could hear me and I used a 4 watt Maxicom and a modulator twig, they had no answer.
Conor:
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.
You sir are a mouthy git, I know what I I was taught about FM from experts. Don’t insult me because you think you know something.
Pat Hasler:
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.
Actually that is wrong Pat
FM has a certain amount of noise reduction because the noise is AM in nature. Also the strength of the signal (down to a certain level) doesn’t affect the loudness of the audio.
Yes I agree that FM seems to carry better.
As for when CB died, Christmas 1980 when everybody and their whiney kid got one. Then later the Internet and mobile phones nearly completely killed off CB and amateur radio.
The muppets tend to hog ch 19 UKFM and not QSY but complain if anybody puts a call out. Farmers and hauliers tend to have their own frequencies.
The enthusiasts tend to go on ssb (Which is legal on the CEPT, American, Mid Band)
Personally not heard much AM at all unless the band is open
Well this is turning all technical isn’t it. So if all the kids jumped on it and have now left, why does nobody use it anymore? seems to me all those kids who were ruining the CB airwaves have jumped on here now.
hardyd44:
over
Now that’s funny.
Still use one! In fact until recently I always had two, fm and am sets. We run on fm19 or 8, but it’s handy having am19 when running on the A75. Noticed in the last couple of years the amount of Irish wagons using cb has dropped. Either that or they just don’t like talking to us “beans”
I am on high ground in the midlands with an arial thats about 40ft up 50 to the tip used to hear just about everything from Grimsby /Manchester down to Isle of Wight on a good day on FM and mid block.Regular “networks” on mid but these days theres nothing no “dummy brummies” or “garbage gobs” ■■■■■■ and blinding occasional tipper men and farmers and thats it.With the Ham Foundation Licence so easy to get some CBers have moved up as 10 watts on SSB gives a better coverage.
Pat Hasler:
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” se
Never had a licence, never been asked for one,
You don’t need a burner, I used to prove that quite regularly, it’s the twig you use that counts. There used to be two guys who ran the Ferguison TV company run from Northampton to Portsmouth every night and they used burners which wiped people out, I remember having a row with them one night about how pointless the burners were, I was in Cheltemham at the time and they boasted about me being able to hear them, I pointed out that they could hear me and I used a 4 watt Maxicom and a modulator twig, they had no answer.
You can never have too much power, just ask the Italians, 1000w minimum when home based, still got my zetagi 24v 500w am/fm , peak of 900w on ssb.
Hello cq.
Pat Hasler:
…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…
After reading this, my bullshitmeter broke.
lolipop:
With the Ham Foundation Licence so easy to get some CBers have moved up as 10 watts on SSB gives a better coverage.
Most have moved onto VHF/UHF with many on PMR446 because it has a lower noise floor and far less interference than you get on CB frequencies so you can talk further. Also has the added advantage of not needing an antenna 6ft long in order to get any distance and the price of entry can be as low as £20 for a brand new handheld.
Just read this on the CB shack site (Lymm services)
Recently, the EU has seen reason and finally legalised the American channels throughout Europe,
You can now legally use 4 Watts AM, or 12 Watts SSB, (Single Side Band,) or as mentioned previously, FM. PLUS we have still got the UK channels released in the 80’s - By far our most popular band.
So am I correct in thinking the old AM frequencies that were outlawed are now legal?
Had one until the mid nineties, they were becoming pretty useless with all the bollox being spouted, along with all the belching and ■■■■■■■ down the mic…although that could have been interference i dont know… so binned it. Was fully working but you couldnt give them away…
CBs were great for a chat or finding out what was happening up ahead. I always thought they died out with the rise of the distribution model where you didn’t get your own truck, just drive a different one each day. Not worth installing one just for a day.
happysack:
Still use one! In fact until recently I always had two, fm and am sets. We run on fm19 or 8, but it’s handy having am19 when running on the A75. Noticed in the last couple of years the amount of Irish wagons using cb has dropped. Either that or they just don’t like talking to us “beans”
all new wagons,and the mobiles make it easier if you know whos runnning up front or back… theres still plenty on 19am but unless your tramping on at warp factor 9 then theres not a lot of craic left other than where the big cars been seen,whats on the font door,and happy days. 
AndrewG:
, along with all the ■■■■■■■ down the mic…although that could have been interference i dont know…
There are definitely a lot of sophisticated intellectuals in the world of trucking eh Andrew.
ive 1 of these lying wrapped up at home…apparantly covers as much as poss on a cb (and a bit more) too involved and expensive for the truck so 40 on am does fine there.il need to bung it on ebay as i see them going for well over 200 quid( memo to self,sell this and cash it in).even if the skip is poor,you can guarantee itl ruin the months of solitude and self abuse from your local radio control aeroplane anorak once you find what channel he is on,and watch his pride and joy plummet earthwards as max speed.
Even though I have my full ham ticket, I am at the moment cosidering buying another cb, although it will be of the ssb variety now it is legal. I can’t be arsed to have a ham set in the truck, even though I have a vhf/uhf dual bander. Nowadays, uhf digital is king in the UK, and the vhf analogue is slowly dying. Reason being is because the uhf is using the internet to make contacts with other countries, much like what vhf nodes were just about 5 years ago, only thing is because it’s digital and it’s clearer.
My take on it is using the internet is cheating insofar as radio is concerned, and while it has not crept down to cb yet, I reckon it won’t be long in going the same way. Gateways are already used on 446mhz pmr to get further, and there is also Echolink which is another way to communicate using the internet…Confused?
Ken. G8FSO.