Weak solar cycles = another big decline of the 11 meter local & DX population

[Rick330man]

The CB band is just about dead quiet down here. There's one station about 6 miles NE of me. That's about it. Everything is either tourists or truckers on 19. The good thing about that is that CB becomes a great way to communicate between house and boat. When you get about 10 miles out from a cell phone tower you lose service. The CB from house to boat covers that easily.

 

[autotuner]

Been dead for a long time here in Oz. Get some Asian fishing vessels on lower channels AM, but apart from a few die hards that sit on 35 LSB it's just natural noise everywhere. Then again, Hams seem to be thin on the ground as well. Gone are the days of big drivetime nets on 2m and 70cm. HF bands still have some activity but nowhere near the old days.

 

[Bearcat]

Its the ebb and flow of radio...I just got my General but I have a ton of cb gear that I won't part with because it will come back around. My v58 will go back up and the prez 2510 will fire up too! Hold your horses cb allways comes back

 

[Hankwesty]

I'm new to dxing but it's rewarding to me every time a contact is made, that being said there is this guy on 15 who bleeds or whatever on all 40 and just makes it really hard to enjoy the hobby. I tried talking to him once but he race bated me so I just gave up trying to resolve it.
Funny though I hear them brag about their setups and how good they are.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

11 Meter's been dead in North Texas too for sometime now...If it wasn't for being able to talk to the guys down-under, and over in the Caribbean, every afternoon, I would think my set-up was broke.

 

[Robb]

For about two hours last week, we had skip from Australia to Florida.

 

[Sarasota Slim]

What's frustrating to me, is it doesn't seem like anyone is awake for chit-chat, when I'm awake. I generally get up around the time that folks are winding down. By the time I've made a couple phone calls to friends or family, it's long past bed time for normal people. Then, of course, around the time normal people arise, I'm headed to bed.

I was fairly amazed, today. I had to run a day shift, (I hate that. Daytime traffic sucks.) and people were talking on the radio all day. Channel 19 is... colorful, during the day. Quite colorful.

 

[BJ radionut]

Its the ebb and flow of radio...I just got my General but I have a ton of cb gear that I won't part with because it will come back around. My v58 will go back up and the prez 2510 will fire up too! Hold your horses cb allways comes back

Might as well pack it away...from predictions and actual measurements it will be 5 to 7 years before we see any significant improvement (If then) on any band above 15 meters...
Best to concentrate on the best 17/20 and 40m antennas you can get in the air...that is if you want to work any DX (I don't consider anything in North America DX)...
Even 17/20 meters are falling off, the paths are shorter as well as the duration of openings.
Worst conditions on the bands I have ever seen since I got my ticket 37 years+ ago...and we are still headed down hill in the present cycle.
All the Best
Gary

 

[undertaker]

Where I live in west texas there is very little radio traffic. Even on 19 there are some locals on channel 28 am . sometimes.

 

[bassman21]

Made several contacts in my mobile to TN, GA and the Carolina's yesterday from Houston. This was the first time in over a month other than one contact last week to Puerto Rico.

 

[Mustang 131]

Hawaii is in and out in the afternoon on west side.

 

[jwilkers]

I was on a recent vacation and had a CB on. For an 800 mile drive, I heard TWO people on channel 19..... The drivers are sick of all the trash on the band.... both bad behavior and the skip crap that makes local comms impossible. Maybe with the solar cycle declining, you'll see more use as it was intended... I don't know.

I use electronics to track traffic jams and such, so my CB needs really have been superseded by better technology.

With the NEW FCC Part 95 rules scheduled for a vote in May, the distance rule will be eliminated, making skip talking legal, the band will only get worse for local comms when the next solar cycle happens.

 

[unit_399]

Way back on page one of this thread, someone mentioned that today's kids don't even know what a CB is. My son was one of those. One weekend, he went off-roading with his friends, and I loaned a cb and a mag mount antenna to each of them to use for the weekend. When they returned Sunday night, my son asked if they could keep the CBs. The radios sold themselves.

The thing is, each of them drove a 4x4 truck, and a Cb antenna didn't look out of place. There was plenty of room under the dash to mount the radio. On today's tiny automobiles, a Cb antenna looks like a toothpick in an hors d'oeuvre. Also with the cramped interior there isn't any room for a radio. Even in my Toyota Hilux 4x4, it was difficult to find a place for a cb. A 148GTL-sized Cb looks totally out of place inside,say, a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Focus. IMHO the Uniden 980SSb is the only decent small size am/ssb mobile on the market. But it has its limitations (read ... no frequency mod).

So, cb has taken a back seat to the chat rooms and forums on the 'net. You can carry your smartphone in your pocket for instant worldwide communications wherever you are (almost).

I've been Cbin' for almost 50 years, and it seems like most of the people I talk to on-the-air are old-timers like myself. When we're gone, I suppose Cb will die with us.

- 399

 

[Robb]

Think that as long as there are still truck drivers, cars on the interstate with a destination hundreds/thousands of miles, rural homes in the mountains or the plains, or boating enthusiasts; then CB radio will be indispensable.

I will agree that a small car needs a smaller breed of radio. Put a Galaxy 959 in my brother's Toyota Corolla, and it was tough finding the right spot. Kinda bulky. I might just take it out and put in a PC-122 that I just rebuilt. Git 'er done. . . .

 

[space cowboy]

With the NEW FCC Part 95 rules scheduled for a vote in May, the distance rule will be eliminated, making skip talking legal, the band will only get worse for local comms when the next solar cycle happens.

So you actually think there are people out there not talking skip because it's illegal?
I find that hard to imagine.