Anyone still use/own a CB radio?

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I have them in plow trucks,but they never get used.Also have a base station.The short range is near useless....
 
I still have one of the GE models that are hand held, plug into a cigarette lighter and have the magnetic antenna. The whole thing folds into a case and was referred to as a HELP series. Kind of a neat way of packaging one. Have not used in years.
 
I don't think I've used mine in about 10 years.

Maybe I'll break it out when we go to DC this summer
smile.gif


Mine is set up to plug into a cigarette lighter and I have a magnetic mount antenna.
 
I have a few. Love it for road trips. Dont talk much, but listen a lot. Good info sometimes for speed traps, accidents, bad conditions, and more dynamic than listening to the radio and commercials.

Kind of the first electronic forum...

Youre not going to get out well in a car, or even with a roof mount for the antenna with that.

Id personally go with a Uniden PC68 LTW, get it peaked and tuned by a CB shop, and then use a Wilson Little Wil antenna, tuned for SWR if you want to be a little bit serious.

The only real problem I have with CB is that the antenna mounts can scratch your paint.

Dont expect anything comms wise leaving the antenna on and trying to operate INSIDE your car.

My BMW has weather channels built into the head unit. I never understood why this isnt the case for all car radios...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2

Id personally go with a Uniden PC68 LTW, get it peaked and tuned by a CB shop,


Will he need a time machine to go back to 1975 and actually find a CB shop?
crazy2.gif
 
My friends and I all had them in our cars back in high school. We used to drive around to places talking to each other along the way. I put my CB in my truck a while back, mostly because I was bored and it was just sitting in the garage. I don't use it often, but sometimes I like to listen. It also has a PA feature, which I've been known to take advantage of in certain road rage incidents.
 
My CB is just sitting in the garage. I had it in my old truck, but I never really used it since getting into ham radio so I never bothered to put it in my new truck. I do have my ham radio installed though.
 
I have a Cobra 129 with blue tooth for cellphone use still in the box. Been peaked & tuned. Never have used it.
Also have a Browning Mark 4-A & a Mark 3-A that haven't been used in over 20 years.
 
I use mine quite a bit- off roading any any sort of highway travel.

In the Jeeps we always communicate with each other with the CB radios.

As pointed out above - they are great information for accidents, speed traps, weather, etc. I wouldn't be caught without one on the highway.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I have a few. Love it for road trips. Dont talk much, but listen a lot. Good info sometimes for speed traps, accidents, bad conditions, and more dynamic than listening to the radio and commercials.

Kind of the first electronic forum...

Youre not going to get out well in a car, or even with a roof mount for the antenna with that.

Id personally go with a Uniden PC68 LTW, get it peaked and tuned by a CB shop, and then use a Wilson Little Wil antenna, tuned for SWR if you want to be a little bit serious.

The only real problem I have with CB is that the antenna mounts can scratch your paint.

Dont expect anything comms wise leaving the antenna on and trying to operate INSIDE your car.

My BMW has weather channels built into the head unit. I never understood why this isnt the case for all car radios...


Somehow i bet JHZR2 knows about linear amplifiers too!
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieW618
I have a Cobra 129 with blue tooth for cellphone use still in the box. Been peaked & tuned. Never have used it.
Also have a Browning Mark 4-A & a Mark 3-A that haven't been used in over 20 years.




Golden Eagle, awesome

Great memories
 
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Away from the big cities, on the interstates, the devices have some utility, in Maine , for example, you need one to co-exist with the big trucks on the private logging roads. Near the cities the "band' degrades into a haven for those with their own page in the DSM, shrinks would have a field day just tuning in. Truckers, once a source of traffic info, have shifted in some areas to the 400 MHZ "family radio" band, they usually don't want long range, or "entertainment" from "Slacko the Skip Shooter". It is a classic example of the FCC bureaucrats creating a monster and walking away from it.
Ham radio is a whole different ball game. The equipment is far more versatile, and there are some very interesting conversations to be had, locally or all over the world. You don't need to know Morse Code any longer, now that it is optional, though,it's making a comeback. For what one might spend on the "high end"
smile.gif
CB stuff, you can buy very good ham gear.
 
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I have one on the 2008 Goldwing ABS/NAV.

Mainly used for bike to bike communication when traveling in groups. Also comes in handy when the traffic on the interstate comes to a dead stop, to find out what is going on... and how bad it is.
 
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My brother hunts in Maine in the logging areas. I set him up with a really simple used CB so he could stay out of the way of the loggers. (Those are private roads) When he got back from a hunting trip he started talking in an interested way about all the distant stations he heard. (Another CB problem, when the sunspots are hot, the band can open for 1000's of miles) I asked him if he now understood what my ham radio hobby was all about.
 
Originally Posted By: Doog
Originally Posted By: JHZR2

Id personally go with a Uniden PC68 LTW, get it peaked and tuned by a CB shop,


Will he need a time machine to go back to 1975 and actually find a CB shop?
crazy2.gif

there's still lots of cb shops around truckstops here on the west coast.both of my cars have a cb and fire in the wire. Still many cbs in use here nightly. Going to use mine Sunday on a jeep run.
 
You want a roof antenna b/c the roof metal becomes a ground plane and really helps your range.

Magnets are okay. What really used to work good were the ones you bolted into your trunk lid, helping the conductivity. You see state troopers with these as they really cover long mileage.

In my state you can have a police scanner in your car, wired up, turned on if and only if you have a ham license or a couple other prerequisites (news media, tow truck etc). Those are a fun listen.

Also ham licensees are sometimes exempted from cell phone laws... handsfree, texting, whatever. Not that I condone it. But they're an old boy lobbying group useful for some side benefits.

"hamfest" flea markets can be pretty good computer shows. There are more to computers than what's on the shelf at best buy. They're a little lamer than their heyday just b/c of all the old junk and the low prices of new machines. You don't need to be a ham to go to a hamfest but you hear about them better.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Doog
Originally Posted By: JHZR2

Id personally go with a Uniden PC68 LTW, get it peaked and tuned by a CB shop,


Will he need a time machine to go back to 1975 and actually find a CB shop?
crazy2.gif



Just a ride down any interstate that has regular, old fashioned truck stops... (not the NYT).

No need to go back in time either, google is your friend!!
48.gif
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
My brother hunts in Maine in the logging areas. I set him up with a really simple used CB so he could stay out of the way of the loggers. (Those are private roads) When he got back from a hunting trip he started talking in an interested way about all the distant stations he heard. (Another CB problem, when the sunspots are hot, the band can open for 1000's of miles) I asked him if he now understood what my ham radio hobby was all about.


Yup! One morning to work I picked up some people from Tenesee! I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me.

That was pretty cool!
 
I still own a CeeBee radio but sitting in the garage unused since 2003....I've been on VHF and GMRS radios now for my needs.

Q.
 
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