IS CB REALLY DYING OUT ???

[Captain Kilowatt]

But of course I don't run power so dxing on my part is very limited.

DXing on AM is a jungle at any power level however even barefoot on SSB can readily produce tons of worldwide contacts. Not sure what your power output level is but assuming 25 watts you are only one S-unit down from someone running 100 watts. How many times have you heard a 100 watt station get an S-10+ signal? Lots I'll bet. I used to DX with 12 watts pep on SSB confined to the old regular 23 channels and a 5/8 groundplane and logged contacts all over the eastern USA, Caribbean, and Europe as far north as Greenland. Nowadays on the freeband it is even easier because stations are spread out more. After I got the Shooting Star beam I worked a guy in Mossel Bay South Africa. He was barefoot with a 1/2 wave groundplane. Got the QSL to prove it. Don't discount what a barefoot radio will do on SSB.

 

[w9cll]

Don't discount what a barefoot radio will do on SSB.

Barefoot and CB, I have not heard those two terms together in a long time

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

SSB is where I make most of my contacts. Of course I don't bray all day trying make a contact. Several nights ago I was sitting in my mobile after work eating dinner. I was talking to a local ham that frequents 27.285 MHz AM and a another base operator 18 miles down the road on my DTB tuned Uniden 505 with my Road Devil mic. DX was in a north/south pattern. We all went up to channel 30 am to talk and 44 John from up around Nova Scotia who was 28 followed us up to 30 said a couple of things. I mentioned to my local contact that was 44 John. Well, 44 John answered me back. We all has a short conversation with him. Those are the times I like when conditions are right.

 

[GnG8d]

Barefoot and CB, I have not heard those two terms together in a long time

I'm running my Cobra29 with the covers off, does that count?

 

[M0GVZ]

in my part of Pennsylvania its been dead for years .i hung in there shooting skip for awhile but when the price of gas forced me to buy a 4cyl car i pretty much stopped driving my skip shooting truck .

The fact that you are using a smaller car makes no difference. I've worked from UK to the Falklands on 28mhz with 100w from my car. That's 9000 miles.

 

[psycho]

If CB dies out completely, I am going to be stuck with a bunch of top of the line radios.
Superhawk will have to find a real job!!!
It'll never completely die out but I do miss the days when drunks and foul mouths would get things started.....that's better than listening to nothing.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Barefoot and CB, I have not heard those two terms together in a long time

Yeah it seemed a little strange to me too when I typed that. :laugh: To be honest a great deal of people think you need to run power in order to DX simply because so many people do run power. It seems to be a self fulfilling prophesy. So many people run power so it must be necessary and therefore since so many people are running power I need too also.

A few years ago, before the solar peak mind you, I was sitting in a mall parking lot running 25 watts on SSB. I worked another mobile in Luxor Egypt 5300 miles away. He was using a President Lincoln with 25 watts also and a mobile antenna. Once you move into something like 15 or 20m it becomes even easier to work DX with less than 100 watts. Some of my best DX has been from the mobile with usually 25 watts and a maximum of 100 watts. Rodriguez Island (3B9C) via longpath 15,000 miles, Swaziland,Argentina, South Africa, Japan, Botswana, Reunion Island,Norfolk Island, Kuwait and eastern Australia were all worked with a maximum of 100 watts and while mobile.

 

[GnG8d]

This 10 watts, while mobile, 10,000 mile theme is pretty popular here. I wonder how well that'll work on 27.025 AM?

 

[w9cll]

This 10 watts, while mobile, 10,000 mile theme is pretty popular here. I wonder how well that'll work on 27.025 AM?

it wont...why? Because everyone on that freq is running high power and ssb goes further hence the problem...

 

[GnG8d]

it wont...why? Because everyone on that freq is running high power and ssb goes further hence the problem...

SSB goes further? You mean it propagates different than AM?

The apples and oranges comparisons just humor me sometimes I guess.

 

[NorthStar]

CB isn't going anywhere!

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

This 10 watts, while mobile, 10,000 mile theme is pretty popular here. I wonder how well that'll work on 27.025 AM?

It won't. AM is just a jungle and 27.025 is a cluster f***.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

it wont...why? Because everyone on that freq is running high power and ssb goes further hence the problem...

SSB doesn't go any further. It can be heard better due to the lower noise floor and narrower bandwidth but it only propagates as far as any other mode on the same frequency at the same time.

 

[KC9Q]

We used to have a saying at work: 100 Watts, 100 feet, 100 miles.

 

[w9cll]

SSB doesn't go any further. It can be heard better due to the lower noise floor and narrower bandwidth but it only propagates as far as any other mode on the same frequency at the same time.

Yes you are correct and basically that is what I meant just didn't word it properly.