CB Radios

I wonder if there's room to go old school. I still have the bracket from when I had it installed in my TR-3 Triumph.

 

Damn that's old school.

 

I love my Uniden 880 SSB Bearcat.. apparently some folks would be surprised how many people still use them up in the sticks down in deep canyons here in CO where you can't pick up a relay....

 

Wasn’t looking for another radio but found a guy with a camo Cobra 29 LX I just had to have

 

Radios have changed since I drove big truck in 1997

 

@Squatting Pigeon Would like to see some pics of your set up once it's all installed. Need more ideas. Thanks

 

@Squatting Pigeon Looks good. Did you use screws into the console or double sided tape? I was thinking I might try placing mine inside the console but, your set up probably makes the most sense. Definitely, don't want it sitting on the dashboard. Not many options with this interior. Thanks for the pic

 

Yeah, my grandma had an FM stereo radio back in the 60's. Surprised to hear people still use them.

 

No, the FCC will issue you a "notice of apparent liability," which have been backed up by the courts. You will have to prove it wasn't you and/or you weren't violating the rules. By the way, the fines are quite steep, thousands of dollars for a single violation.

 

trust me. I'm not worried about it

 

Hey, no skin off my back. I don't make the rules, nor enforce them. Just pointing out the facts I've now witnessed on several occasions. For me, breaking these rules are just not worth it, especially when there are so many more reasonable alternatives. Take care.

 

BS. You're telling me that you actually witnessed someone using a simplex channel for basic communication get busted. I don't believe it for a second

 

Yes, I have. Actually twice (known CB friends - I'm a CB'er). Long stories, so believe what you want. I'm not here to argue with you.

 

https://hamexam.org/

https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v1-1.pdf

This is what I used to get my Technicians license last October.
Its easy , costs $15 and takes about an hour of your time down at the local American Legion Hall.
I have a BaoFeng 8w handheld , I may buy a set up for my truck at some point , but we mostly used Midland handhelds on our caravan road trips.

 

And I've had a technician license for almost twenty years (expires for the last time, no more, this year). I'm not interested in ham radio, or ham radio operators. For local communications (base station, etc), over-the-road communications (traffic reports, etc), backwoods communication (off-roading with friends, etc), and similar, CB radio is simply superior (which is why I returned to it). Real people, real talk. For remote camp site communications, FRS/GMRS radio is better. Heck, if you're within range of a cell tower ("repeater"), a simple phone is better.

 

Honest question here: what makes CB radio superior for the situations you mention?

 

The short answer is right in the comment - "real people, real talk." Ham radio operators are too busy trying to be "radio operators" - short contacts, no substance, and no depth. It's virtually impossible to carry on a real conversation. Heck, if you even tried, you'd more likely have some jerk pipe up to lecture you about something said.

My wife had that happen to her. I was trying to explain how to store frequencies in the memory channels of her radio, when some jerk jumped in to very nastily lecture (her, not me) about how "we" don't have "channels" on ham radio and to "take that damn shit back to CB, you stupid bitch," his words. That was more than a decade ago and she hasn't talked on the radio since.

Ham radio operators are not friendly people, nice people. They have their own little clique and you have to play by their rules to fit into that, with all others (CB'ers, etc) inferior/excluded. I just don't want to hang around with people like that.

As for the rest, I could get into the technical details (far more CB'ers to talk to, etc), but will let it go with that.

 

It must be regional. I left CB after experiencing the same treatment you received on the Ham frequencies. There are jerks all around. In this area, long chats are common and if you were having trouble with the radio, someone would have offered to help. I sold most of the gear when channel 19 was populated by truckers that spent more time barking and making funny noises with their "roger beep" microphones than they did talking, and when groups with high powered amplifiers (linny-yars) started jamming various channels when people tried to talk. I've met a few hams that were jerks, but they're in the minority and easily dealt with.

 

I am fortunate to be in an area which has a great GMRS repeater network covering 31,000 square miles. Users are licensed and respectful with minimum
rif-raf interference. Area coverage includes Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. https://nggmrs.org/

 

Well, if it's regional, it must be the northwest region (Seattle/Tacoma, where the one incident I described occurred), the northeast region, the southeast region, and the midwest region. I've seen/experienced similar in each. And the FCC rules frown on long chats within the UHF/VHF frequencies, especially on the repeaters (used by technician class licensees). Finally, I've seen behavior similar to what you describe (noise, interference, etc) by ham operators on the HF frequencies (less so on UHF/VHF frequencies). CB is no paradise, but it is in fact workable if you're willing to make it workable.

By the way, you missed a key part of my point - the people in general. This is a discussion about mounting "CB Radios" in a Tundra, so why did ham operators feel a need to butt in and spout off? Of course, in their minds, they're superior with a right to do so (just as that guy had a right to butt in and cuss out my wife). This is one example of the personally rude, pompous, behavior I was talking about.

 

I grew up shooting large bore, wheel guns, loaded hot, and I have big forearms, wrists, and hands.

Any woman that shoots a .454 Casull, I will both open the door for and SALUTE!

[I GUARANTEE you my wife couldn't shoot one--or want to shoot one for that matter--BOOM!]

Whatta' ya' hunt with it?

Super Redhawk, Smith and Wesson, Taurus Raging Bull, whatta' ya' got?

Thanks to you, I am now browsing revolvers ... sigh ... oh, well!

 

It’s interesting to me that in 4 pages of discussion (primarily about ham and obviously from knowledgeable people) NO ONE mentions SWR meters for CB??

Just like with HAM (and my knowledge there’s is little to 0) you have to tune a CB radio to make it actually work well and you use an SWR meter to do so.

I used to have a cobra 19 in my Taco and installed an SWR in line on the antenna wire so I could periodically retune it and I never had issues with range or interference. They’re cheap and easy to understand with about a half hours time and will significantly increase the usability of your radios

 

Overkill would be a Stryker or Galaxy. Good radios. I like both. I have a Wilson 5000 magnetic mount that's nice. Can take it down for low clearance.

 

Usually about $25