AM and SSB at night...

[ND88]

I've noticed that all am and ssb stations are generally dead at night on my cb. There is a lot more background noise than in the day. Is this because the e layer disappears when the sun goes down?

Though I also read about radio operators staying up into the night making contacts on the CB. I am not able to do this. Last night I hopped in the truck to see if i could make a contact and I got lucky, Talked to a guy who i think was in town, though he was faint and there was a lot of noise. This was the first time I've made contact with someone at night, at 10PM, since I got into CB radio a year ago.

I am running a stock Galaxy DX959 and a Wilson 1000 antenna. about 10 years ago I would talk on this little handheld GE CB from inside my house and I could talk to locals at night. Now that I am back on the air with even better equipment, these late night chats are gone, and so are the locals that used to key up all over town every night.

 

[W5LZ]

Guess they lost interest...

 

[Mudfoot]

We have plenty of late night local traffic around here.

 

[AL567]

Don't feel bad no locals here either other than a few older gentleman early in the morning around 4 or 5 o'clock. DX is where most the action is around here. The more the better.

 

[ND88]

I'd just like to find some local folks to share in the hobby with, I need mentors. and a referral of someone who can tune a radio.

Haven't made a DX contact yet with my setup, I try daily. I just don't have the power to get out of the mud, even with the wilson. It's just frustrating not getting to make a whole lot of contacts yet, except with the truckers passing through town.
I hear tons of DX most days. Northern Canada, England, and Trinidad even. but it always disappears at night.

 

[CTStallion]

We recently experienced a particularly strong solar flare that resulted in a geomagnetic storm which pretty much 'broke' the upper HF frequencies of about 15-30 MHz or so. This occurred on the heels of some pretty decent daytime 10-12 meter propagation, even from the mobile. This may be the cause of some of your lack of local activities, as even THEY were down in the mud. I noticed that it began clearing up today, and expect (hope) that there will be some decent skip from the mobile tomorrow.

Likewise, here in CT, have barely heard a 'soul' on the radio after dark, except for the occasional trucker on CH 19. However, I am at a considerable distance from the nearest Interstate and as such, I usually hear them way better than they hear me, with only 4W AM output power and a low (20' at the feedpoint) antenna.

 

[ND88]

That could explain it then. I had what I would consider my best day of communication yesterday, I was getting reports all around town. Today I couldn't get anything, and the only skip I could hear today was Mexicans on nearly every channel, and the splatterboxes on Channel 6. Weren't very good conditions here, but we had a front moving in and high winds, that could have something to do with it.

 

[AL567]

Just be patient you'll start finding a local or two before long. If you see another vehicle with an antenna at the local store strike up a conversation with him sometimes that's all it takes. I don't know how early you get up but try to get on the air around 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. You may get a big surprise and find a group of 5 or 6 older guys that are on a certain channel. That's the case here anyway.

 

[Unit 194]

I've noticed that all am and ssb stations are generally dead at night on my cb. There is a lot more background noise than in the day. Is this because the e layer disappears when the sun goes down?

Though I also read about radio operators staying up into the night making contacts on the CB. I am not able to do this. Last night I hopped in the truck to see if i could make a contact and I got lucky, Talked to a guy who i think was in town, though he was faint and there was a lot of noise. This was the first time I've made contact with someone at night, at 10PM, since I got into CB radio a year ago.

I am running a stock Galaxy DX959 and a Wilson 1000 antenna. about 10 years ago I would talk on this little handheld GE CB from inside my house and I could talk to locals at night. Now that I am back on the air with even better equipment, these late night chats are gone, and so are the locals that used to key up all over town every night.

This thread might help explain the lack of stations on the air: http://www.worldwidedx.com/general-cb-services-discussion/163763-cb-really-dying-out.html

 

[ND88]

Got on Channel 19 today and found a local, same guy who i talked briefly with while I was driving around a few days ago. I'm able to talk to him from my driveway I found out, his base station is about 2 or 3 miles away, comes in really clear, said I sounded good.
I compared a Cobra 29 LTD Classic that has been peaked and tuned with a stock Galaxy 959 for him. According to him, the 959 was clearer while the Cobra was a bit more muffled, but both sounded good. Also said he'd be able to tune it for me if I wanted sometime. This is great.

 

[hotrod]

Got on Channel 19 today and found a local, same guy who i talked briefly with while I was driving around a few days ago. I'm able to talk to him from my driveway I found out, his base station is about 2 or 3 miles away, comes in really clear, said I sounded good.
I compared a Cobra 29 LTD Classic that has been peaked and tuned with a stock Galaxy 959 for him. According to him, the 959 was clearer while the Cobra was a bit more muffled, but both sounded good. Also said he'd be able to tune it for me if I wanted sometime. This is great.

see you can find them . when i moved here i just scanned the channels and tried
at different times of the day. years ago there was guys up till 1-2am talking
but not anymore. i found guys early in the mourning 5-7am usually . and you
can ask him abiut other locals or even cb clubs if they have any.

 

[cbradiomagazine.com]

DX on 11 meters does generally quiet down at night but at certain times will continue to roll through the evening.

My longest contacts have come at sunrise or sunset

If you're looking to make your first DX contacts I'd suggest a couple of things - if you're running a Galaxy 959 (no amplifier) you'll mostly likely need to call quite a few times on busy channels....I'm talking 30-40 before you get your numbers called. Your best chance to make a DX contact will be on SSB (use LSB mode).

Additionally - when choosing a station to try to contact it's best to go for the loudest stations in many cases, often DX acts like a two way street so if they sound loud to you you'll probably sound pretty loud to them (this is excluding stations running high power who sound loud to everybody)

While channel 38 LSB is the popular call frequency you might try 36,37,39,40 when the DX is strong. Often you'll hear only 2-3 loud stations on those channels compared with 100 on 38. Less competition=better chance of making a contact.

Make sure to use a consistent calling technique...CQ CQ DX this is 702 NW Missouri etc, and repeat it twice.

If you use your numbers (that you make up) and your location it's much easier for other stations to come back to you compared to the guy yelling "How about it DX land? Anyone hear this station?"

Depending on where you live the DX effects can work a little differently. On the West coast during the winter we might get some europe early in the morning then US/Canada/South America throughout the day and in the evening we'll get Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and sometimes Japan and Asia depending on conditions.

During the winter the DX usually runs from sunrise to sunset although sometimes you will get night DX.

In the summer the DX will often work more North/South and restrict itself to the west coast. You'll have stretches where all you hear are stations on the West coast. Lots of California. But during the summer there is also more often DX in the evenings after it gets dark and sometimes late into the night.

These are just some basic trends and they can change drastically day to day and area to area so you never really know what to expect until you turn on the radio.

We've had very strong DX here for weeks but yesterday I could barely hear a couple of stations way out at the static level. Today it was back to normal and John in Iowa was booming in as usual

Just keep trying and you'll make some DX contacts.

As for locals - you'll eventually find them or the channel they talk on regularly. In some cases you're probably better off not meeting any locals And definitely don't let them touch your radio

 

[Grogan]

many people sand bag as we call it, listen while they play on the computer or watch TV. Spend some time and spin the dial call out on chanel 19 and move up or down a few channels if you find someone to talk to. if you spend a little time talking someone may hear you and join in. There are 10 to 15 regulars here now and other small groups in the area on other channels we all jump in on other channels to say hello. most traffic is in the evening when the skip slows down and some people talk late into the night.

 

[loosecannon]

Got on Channel 19 today and found a local, same guy who i talked briefly with while I was driving around a few days ago. I'm able to talk to him from my driveway I found out, his base station is about 2 or 3 miles away, comes in really clear, said I sounded good.
I compared a Cobra 29 LTD Classic that has been peaked and tuned with a stock Galaxy 959 for him. According to him, the 959 was clearer while the Cobra was a bit more muffled, but both sounded good. Also said he'd be able to tune it for me if I wanted sometime. This is great.

be careful who you let work on your radio.

sure, there are lots of mods you can have done to your radio, but there are also a bunch of things that should not be done.

if it were my radio, and i had zero modding experience, i would have him turn up the modulation pot (VR16) while i was standing there, and thats it.

anything else, have a real shop do it.

i just had a 959 come through my shop and the guy told me he had another local work on it.

one of the coils in the radio had been stretched beyond belief.
(this will fool a wattmeter into showing a higher reading than is actually being put out by the radio)
the guy had no idea this was done to his radio.

just be careful.
LC

 

[ND88]

Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing.
Is it that hard to turn up VR16 without a power meter and scope? Something someone with basic common sense could do on their own? I've watched videos of it on youtube, doesn't look like rocket science. That's the main thing I want to do to my galaxy right now, get it putting out its max power.