A friend of mine in the office in my
night job has a CB in his truck.
He is a great guy and I lent him a
scanner and an HF general coverage
receiver. He is the first young person
A friend of mine in the office in my
night job has a CB in his truck.
He is a great guy and I lent him a
scanner and an HF general coverage
receiver. He is the first young person
(he's 26) that I have seen who is
interested (REALLY INTERESTED) in radio
that I have seen in years. I will
show him Part 15 radio, too.
There is a chance that he and I might
talk on CB a bit.
I took out my vintage CB sets. I have
2 TRC-11 "mobile" 6 channel, crystal "plug in"
radios from 1976, and a 1968 TRC-1B
100 milliwatt walkie talkie. I love
these radios for strictly sentimental
reasons. I had some other CBs that had
no sentimental value, so I gave them away
years ago.
So, if this guy and I get on CB and talk
a bit (he drives near my house) well - I was
wondering what the CB band is like now,
in 2012.
Here's the little bit that I know. There are
still tons of truckers on channel 19. i don't
know if channel 9 is still for emergencies -
I doubt it, actually.
I have heard that channel 6 and 11 are sort of
for guys who run high power and echo mikes and
that sort of thing. I have heard that channel
13 is a "good buddy" channel. I don't know what
that means. I have also heard that channel 13 is
for RVs. I know that 36 through 40 are supposed
to be for sideband.
It would be cool to get on CB and talk to him, if
only to get him more interested in radio. Also,
I love my old CB rigs that I mentioned above. For
sentimental reasons, it would be cool to put them
on the air a bit. I dropped CB radio for ham radio
in 1978, but kept the CB radios that I really like.
Now, in 2012, when the skip isn't happening, most of the 40 channels are dead quiet.
Is anybody reading this active on CB now? Any current
info? I might have a chance here to get somebody interested
in radio communications in general, including Part 15.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
I have one in my living room. D-104 (Modified with an electret type mic element), Antron ~6' off the ground.. (My elevation is 1420' per GPS) Cobra 200 "modified".. Nice Radio.. 😉
Had a 30' tower mounted on a skid, isolated from the earth. Installed 60-36' ground radials around the base. Built a gamma match to match the ground/tower as an antenna. Had a V.S.W.R. of around 1:3. Mounted my Antron on top of that. Ran the coax up the tower to the Antron. Put a 50 ohm load on the gamma match at the base of the tower that I built.. That sucker jammed!
Built a J-Pole with 3/4" conduit.. Built several quads with bamboo and used 2x2's for the boom.. Had dual 102" whips mounted to the back of the cab of my pick-'um-up, Co-Phased 180 degrees out of phase.. Converted many Moonrakers to "True" quads..
Had my own repair shop. Made a small livin' fixin' mic limiter circuits that the truck stop butchers were cuttin' out.. LOL
Had a CB since I was 14. KEY 3433.. Paid $20 for a licence. (Well, my dad did.. I was too young!) Do ya remember KDW 6076.. U.C.B.A.?
Every hillbilly has a CB around here..
Well, you have shown again that
you are a great tech! A 27 MHz
J-Pole must be HUGE!
Regarding the 40 channels, do you
notice anything interesting in your
area, or when there is skip?
There has been E-skip in the summer
in this range, and hopefully - F skip
is coming back in the fall. (Sunspot
cycle # 24 is really teeny, though,
compared to just about all of the sunspot
cycles in the last 100 years.)
I have a D-104 also. But it has a HI FI
element in it for my Part 15 station.
Thank you for the info!
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
It's Bruce again. I read your
post again, and the stuff you
did was truly amazing.
My FCC CB callsign from 1977
was KBJK4953, one of the later
ones with 4 letters in the prefix
instead of 3.
Best Wishes,
Bruce
After a brief run with CB in the very early days which ended before it began because I got a professional job in radio, I now plan to return to CB.
I have a 2nd hand Uniden PRO 510 XL which I will install in my one control point where I edit programs for part 15 radio.
About once a month I scan the CB channels on my Sangean receiver and have never heard anyone, even though I'm two blocks from a major highway.
The FCC rules designate channel 9 as an emergency channel, so it cannot be legally used for other communication, but it isn't clear whether anybody monitors it in the event of an emergence call.
The "old guy" (according to MICRO1700) who appears on the "Breakfast Conversation" radio show, always drives over with his CB which he uses for highway trips. I'll be able to start speaking with him before he arrives.
The antenna will go up on the chimney.
I first got on the CB with a 3 transistor Essex walkie talkie in 1962. By this time I was also doing Part 15 AM first with a Remco Caravelle and then a home brew 1 transistor transmitter.
I got a Lafayette HB-115A in 1965. 8 transmit crystals and a receiver that would let you tune 23 channels. The receiver was very "wide".
My first call was KNN-7431. When that expired my renewal was KBPG-0551.
I had a 1/4 wave ground plane antenna. Later I put up a 3 element beam.
About 4 months ago I found an HB-115A on Ebay. Of course I had to buy it to add to my "Youth" collection.
Ahhh, it was a simpler time...
Hi Carl! Yup, I remember "The Old
Guy" - at first I was confused, but
then I remembered that it was the name
I made up to identify the gentleman you
interviewed in the restaurant. (For
episodes of Blare On Air.) Your
memory is better than mine.
OK. If that first paragraph made any
sense, I'll got on to the next one. And
the next one.
You might really enjoy talking to him
on CB. I had an absolute blast in the
1970s with my friend who lived nearby.
We were 3000 feet apart each using 5 watt
radios with terrible antennas, and we were
talking through tons of skip interference.
We both had CB channel 5. That was lucky.
It was very goofy and fun. And we REALLY
used our CB callsigns.
To MRAM: Congratulations on your Lafayette
HB-115A. Don't you have some other vintage
CB equipment as well?
I have a Lafayette VHF LO/ VHF HI/ UHF public
service monitor from the late 1960s or early
1970s. it is a model PF-300. It is a beautiful
radio, and works fine. It's tunable on the
3 bands and is very stable. And built like a tank.
I think the Lafayette gear was wonderful!
I have to go catch a ride. No time to check for
typos.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
I love the old CB radios that used
plug in crystals for each channel.
I had two 40 channel CB radios I
gave away. I didn't need them.
The old radios with the plug in
crystals were from that "magic" time.
I guess that's why I still have them.
The TRC-1B 100 mW walkie talkie from 1968 has
channel 11. The crystals are soldered
to the board. It would be nice to put
in crystal sockets, but for me that would
be a big project.
One of my TRC-11 mobile six channel CB radios
from 1976 has five channels filled. Let's
see: channels 5, 14, 19, 30, and 40. Heck, I
don't think it was type accepted to use
any channel above 23. Not that I am using it.
And channel 5 was always my channel of choice.
The other TRC-11 has just channel 14 in channel
position A, and that's it.
There is a guy on E-Bay that sells those small
crystals. I think they are about 5 or 10 dollars
a pair. He is out of most of the channels below
channel 20, I think, but has pretty much everything
above that. Then again, channel 5 has always suited me
fine. Oh, and also, channel 14 is my second choice.
Man, if it wasn't for the kid in the office who has
the CB in his truck, I wouldn't even be thinking
about this stuff.
When I was 12 years old, I made up a fake CB callsign,
because 100 mW Part 15 CB walkie talkies were not supposed to
talk to the 5 watt licensed radios. That would have
been 1967. The fake callsign was KQA-3210. Pretty
goofy, when I think of it now. I guess the statute of
limitations has run out on that one.
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
Someday I will go to Washington DC and visit the famous Statue of Limitations.
The last antenna I have left is
a random wire, that goes from
my second floor, to a tree. If/when
we move away from here, that will be
gone, too.
I have been using that for a CB
receiving antenna just to test
these old relics. It's not rigged
to transmit on 27 MHz. But I am hearing
a lot of truckers on channel 19. I
think that you really have to have an
outside antenna to hear things on CB.
Some hams monitor the CB band for skip.
Then they go up to 10 or 6 meters and
work DX, hopefully. E-skip gets up to
6 meters in the summer, but 6 meter F-skip
is very very rare.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
You must have a million goofy
jokes in your brain, Carl.
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
Oh the old days of CB were fun,
I still have my old Sideband rig and have gave some thought to hooking it up for old times sake.
BTW Sorry I have not been around of late , Been working mega overtime .
In fact I have to be back at it in six hours from the time I have posted.
KCKN 0103 Out.
Hi Lefty:
Sorry you have to work so much
but I guess that's good. I'm
doing the same but not making
enough money. Oh well!
I have heard guys on CB SSB on
those top channels. I don't know
if it's supposed to be 35 through 40
or 36 through 40... (These guys don't
use the old CB slang from the 1970s.
They don't even say "10-4." They say
"Roger.")
I think in the 23 channel days, channel
16 was the SSB channel. I don't know how
old your SSB radio is. I'm wondering if
it does 40 channels or if it's even older
and does just 23.
Well, I guess a lot of us went through the
same thing.
"Those were the days, my friend, we thought
they'd never end." That was from a song from
about 1968. I can't remember the name of the
female vocalist. (I bet RFB would know immediately.)
It's a good thing we are having fun NOW with the
Part 15 stuff.
Thank you for the input!
Bruce, 90.9, 88.3
There are still CB'ers around (nothing like the 70s or 80s, though). I don't use CB at all; however I have a Midland radio in my car that I use on 10 meters SSB and FM, and occasionally listen on the CB frequencies. When the conditions are right, skip rolls in on Channel 6 and 11 and you can hear those high powered guys, mainly from the South. It may just be me, but even though the signal comes in clearly, I can never understand them 🙂 19 tends to be used by truckers, at least in my area.
I like the fact that in an emergency, I can use CB as well as amateur radio if necessary.
I just had less than expected result with an AM antenna experiment, so I need a distraction and CB is good for that.
I am looking at FCC 95.407 which gives the frequencies and some guidelines.
The frequency band is 26.965 to 27.405, with 10kHz spacings in most cases, but a few larger spaces in some cases.
Each channel's frequency is higher than the one before it, until you get to channel 23, 27.255
Channel 24 - 27.235
Channel 25 - 27.245
Channel 26 - 27.265
Everytime I see that I think some typist years ago must have gotten the numbers out of order.
(b) Channel 9 may only be used for emergency communications or for traveler assistance.
(g) The FCC will not assign any channel for the private or exclusive use of CB stations transmitting single sideband or AM.
I'll look up some more rules later.