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Time is now to revive CB Radio
- Thread starter NorthStar
- Start date
CB radio will not be "revived" unless for some reason it becomes a cultural phenomenon again like it did in the 70's. if some very popular movies were to come out that made CB radio "retro vintage cool", it might take a very short, very minimal upswing. maybe...
the only thing CB really has going for it is that EVERYONE and their grandpa has/had one.
they are gathering dust in garages and storage units all over the US.
If (and this is a very big if) all communication in the US or at least a large part of the US was broken down, there is one place you know you might find a few folks that are not too far from you.
CHANNEL 19.
sure, the ham guys might find eachother on the 2m band or something, but for the everyday joe, who feels cut off from the world and wants to know whats going on in his neck of the woods; channel 19 is the smartest place for him to go.
thats it. thats what CB has to offer the world of the future.
the fact that they have been cheap and available for a long time, combined with the fact that everybody on the CB has converged on channel 19 in the last 10-15 years makes a CB radio a very good thing to have in your "conspiracy theory/ post-apocalypse/ emergency" kit.
of course, even though you may always find someone on channel 19, you may not like the kind of "help" you are offered. LOL
LC
the only thing CB really has going for it is that EVERYONE and their grandpa has/had one.
they are gathering dust in garages and storage units all over the US.
If (and this is a very big if) all communication in the US or at least a large part of the US was broken down, there is one place you know you might find a few folks that are not too far from you.
CHANNEL 19.
sure, the ham guys might find eachother on the 2m band or something, but for the everyday joe, who feels cut off from the world and wants to know whats going on in his neck of the woods; channel 19 is the smartest place for him to go.
thats it. thats what CB has to offer the world of the future.
the fact that they have been cheap and available for a long time, combined with the fact that everybody on the CB has converged on channel 19 in the last 10-15 years makes a CB radio a very good thing to have in your "conspiracy theory/ post-apocalypse/ emergency" kit.
of course, even though you may always find someone on channel 19, you may not like the kind of "help" you are offered. LOL
LC
If the manufacturers started making cheap CB Walkie Talkies like the ones they made in the '60s and '70s, kids would rediscover the CB experience, along with the local chatter and the skip! Those old Walkies with their regenerative receivers, could hear just about everything! Lots of kids with Walkies got bit by the radio bug back then, including many who eventually became today's Ham operators!
I think that everyone needs to drag out the old Siltronix 1011D & C's and fire up. I am personally in the process of doing just that. I think that I will try to wake up South Central Missouri. Thanks for the Idea!!!
Missouri Redneck
Missouri Redneck
nextel PTT about killed the CB in my part of the country, but it aint completely dead. Hunters, 4x4 clubs, truckers and a handful of grumpy old bastards with base stations still use it.
Not much else besides a high power CB will go beyond the 5 or 6 mile horizon. Lower frequencies diffract more over obstacles, my house is in a holler and I can easily talk barefoot 20 miles, isnt groundwave wonderful. UHF, sorry, its pretty much direct wave only, murs, vhf, not with FM are you going past your line of site. Shortwave, yeah it works even better if you dont mind having a goddamn piece of water pipe on the back of your car.
2 meter and 440 ham with repeaters is cool, but with a callsign you loose any anonymity you might have had with CB, not to mention alot of uses typical of CB would be frowned upon with ham. And can you really convert every member of your hunt club, 4x4 group, etc into a technician class ham, good luck with that one.
CB will and is coming back, but not in its FCC approved form, the 4 watts they gave you is about good enough to talk direct wave or about 5 miles under average conditions.
Not much else besides a high power CB will go beyond the 5 or 6 mile horizon. Lower frequencies diffract more over obstacles, my house is in a holler and I can easily talk barefoot 20 miles, isnt groundwave wonderful. UHF, sorry, its pretty much direct wave only, murs, vhf, not with FM are you going past your line of site. Shortwave, yeah it works even better if you dont mind having a goddamn piece of water pipe on the back of your car.
2 meter and 440 ham with repeaters is cool, but with a callsign you loose any anonymity you might have had with CB, not to mention alot of uses typical of CB would be frowned upon with ham. And can you really convert every member of your hunt club, 4x4 group, etc into a technician class ham, good luck with that one.
CB will and is coming back, but not in its FCC approved form, the 4 watts they gave you is about good enough to talk direct wave or about 5 miles under average conditions.
Cogitation can be a slow process.
(What’s nice about getting old is that, Year 2012 was, yesterday. I have a few “projects” from then I’m bound to get to. Soon.)
Anyone ever decide if there’s a correlation between solar cycles and interest in CB radio?
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Its time reboot of Convoy for COVID-19 crisis. Chris Hemsworth can be Rubber Duck. Samuel L. Jackson can be Spider Mike. Robert Downey Jr. can be Love Machine. William Shatner can be Dirty Lyle.
I had a 1011D & I traded it for an old ICOM 2 meter 25 watt FM mobile with no tone board at a local Hamfest just to get rid of it.It drifted worse than any Export CB & I must say,I HATED IT.Had I not traded it that day it was headed to the gun range with me the next time I went to be used as a target.It would have looked great full of bullet holes & it would have felt great putting each of them there.It ranks right up there as being near the top of being the worst dollars I have ever spent on an Amateur Radio.Did I mention I HATED that radio?
As far as CB making a come back there is a better chance that you will learn to fly without an airplane,helicopter,or rocket ship.Maybe even a better chance that everyone in the entire world will actually get along with each other forever. LOL 11 meters is a Disaster & it will always be just that.It's a Sad Truth but the Truth none the less.
SIX-SHOOTER
"Duck! There are snakes in my truck break break!"
My last "CB" was an ICOM 720a.. I really liked that radio but traded it for a Yaesu FT-102(I was a ham by then)
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