CB Radio -Anybody living on the "Fringe" and NEED them ?

Okay , I'm gonna post it here since I own a 94' EB . I'm wanting to install a CB in our truck and get a Base Staion set-up as well . I remember reading about tuning your antenna . Is that crucial , what is used to tune it ? I've been looking on eBay and have seen alot of units so it's kind of "information overload" . I'm considering a Cobra Radio with the "Old School" face . I've also looked at Midland .

 

I remeber some "Good Ol Boys" in Panama City Fl. using these "Reverb Mics" they cleaned up the voice real nice . What are they about ?

 

We live in a seriously hilly region . Would a linear amp help calling in or out ?

I was also considering a 12 volt CB on a battery and a Solar Charger for the Base Station

With the weather getting worse every year the news channel was saying that CB's may have some advantages if cell towers are damaged . We got SLAMMED last Thursday with 80 mph+ Straight Line Winds and a Tornado 10 miles away . We were trapped for several hours down here in the Hollar from downed trees , first time in 3 years for us . The winds yanked rootballs and all from the ground on 4-5' tree trunks , it was INSANE .

According to some of the Old Sod Busters here this has been the worst weather in decades . This year there has been over 900 Tornados in the Mid-West so far , and Tornado Season started this weekend just past . Over 100 in our area since Dec. and over 20" rain . It's comin down now "Like a Cow ******' on a Flat Rock" !

We LIKE to be prepared , Chains, saws, come-alongs , full tanks of fuel and great running trucks . Our house is well supplied ,scanners,weather radios, oil lamps, water, propane stoves .

So how many of you live in the sticks and use CB's on a regular basis ?

Thanks ,

Steve

Ozark Hauler said:

We live in a seriously hilly region . Would a linear amp help calling in or out ? I was also considering a 12 volt CB on a battery and a Solar Charger for the Base Station

With the weather getting worse every year the news channel was saying that CB's may have some advantages if cell towers are damaged .

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Steve,

You may want to look into short wave radio.

It has a MUCH greater range than CB.

You can speak a thousand miles away, whereas CBs are limited to a couple of miles.

Short wave, (and short wave operators) is being integrated into the CERT Civilian Emergency Response Team in many communities.

joe

i live in a small town of cullman alabama and i do use a CB a lot and it works fine for me here but as bronco joe said short waves are comin in havnt made it here yet all of out cops and emergency responce teams are still using the old school CB's

Thanks guys , I'm going to look into the SW option . We live 7 miles from any town and 40 mls. RT to the store . We love it out here . But a person really needs to have their "Collective ******" together if they choose to live out and away . We have a Cell Tower about 2 miles away as the crow flies . But it's up on a hill and wide open . With the weather the way it's been it's only a matter of time . We don't have a land line , senseless to pay 2 phone bills . It took about 2 months to figure that out !

Maybe we're a "bit' paranoid but things are really in the crapper and going to get worse . So we're going "off-line" as much as finacially possible , gardens , green house , canning , chickens , hunting .

My wife wants to have another well drilled and a Windmill built by the local Amish Folk . We have steady , daily winds until after sundown . Never fails.

This SW system sounds sensible . Are "First Responders" going to convert to SW ? I need to make some local inquiries .

Thanks ,

Steve

i use a c.b. all thime around here to talk to truck drivers and my nudds when were mudding in the country and what not and have no problems at all.mines just a reg one my granpa gave me that plugs in the cigg lighter.it helps i have a 12ft ant.with triple power coils though!lol

muddinlate86 said:

i use a c.b. all thime around here to talk to truck drivers and my nudds when were mudding in the country and what not and have no problems at all.mines just a reg one my granpa gave me that plugs in the cigg lighter.it helps i have a 12ft ant.with triple power coils though!lol

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Yeah , I remember those "whip" Antennas' from the 70's ! &lt I lived in Nevada back in those "daze" , and you REALLY needed CB's when in the "Hills", average hills were at 6,000' +++ elevation and the old roads go forever .

How about linear Amps , do they help you reach out and "touch" someone ?

Are CB's and CB's with SSB's basically a "Line of Sight" Radio ? I was looking at a few on eBay with SSB's for $140-180 . They were Rangers and Galaxys .

I did some reading on SW , and it was kind of Mind Boggleing ! And as Important as CERT is I don't know if I have the time to learn the "Craft" and participate in the events . It seems that it would be time intensive . But it had some cool stuff that was discussed in "Wiki" . DX-peditions etc. I've picked up some Ham Radio Traffic on my scanner . No telling where from ,but it must have been local , my scanner is nothing special . I can pick up to about 50 miles or so on it .

Steve

Ozark Hauler said:

Yeah , I remember those "whip" Antennas' from the 70's ! &lt I lived in Nevada back in those "daze" , and you REALLY needed CB's when in the "Hills", average hills were at 6,000' +++ elevation and the old roads go forever . How about linear Amps , do they help you reach out and "touch" someone ?

Are CB's and CB's with SSB's basically a "Line of Sight" Radio ? I was looking at a few on eBay with SSB's for $140-180 . They were Rangers and Galaxys .

I did some reading on SW , and it was kind of Mind Boggleing ! And as Important as CERT is I don't know if I have the time to learn the "Craft" and participate in the events . It seems that it would be time intensive . But it had some cool stuff that was discussed in "Wiki" . DX-peditions etc. I've picked up some Ham Radio Traffic on my scanner . No telling where from ,but it must have been local , my scanner is nothing special . I can pick up to about 50 miles or so on it .

Steve

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i have a lil cobra 40 channel.. i wanna get a wider range and better siganal.

what should i do. and how do you set up dual intenna's i dont know how to link the 2.

love_my_bronco said:

i have a lil cobra 40 channel.. i wanna get a wider range and better siganal.what should i do. and how do you set up dual intenna's i dont know how to link the 2.

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Regarding CB:

I am far from an expert in this area, but had a 23 channel CB before they went to 40 channels.

I am pretty sure that it was a 3 watt unit and that was the max permitted by law.

The newer units are 4 watts. That is the current max permitted by law. (Newer *may* mean for the past 20 years, I don't know when the Feds raised the limit.)

It is my understanding that those long stainless whip antenna's are the best. Whatever they are... 118 inches or so, is 1/4 the length of the wavelength of CB.

Then next best is the approx 4' fiberglass with the 118 inches of wire wrapped around it, finally followed by one of those shorter ones with a coil at the base.

Here is a short article that gives more infomation:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question490.htm

Regarding linear:

I think they are illegal. I recall back in the day, that it seemed that some guys really had more power than others, and could walk all over everyone else. SO I guess in an emergency, a linear unit may allow one to reach out and touch someone; however, it may be a one way conversation, because unless he also had a linear unit, they would not be able to touch back.

Shortwave:

Shortwave requires a license.

I am sure that there is a certain jargon used, and a certain protocol that should not be too difficult to learn. My understanding is that it is NOT Framework dependant, and for that reason is excellent for communication uses should the $hit hit the fan. Communication sattelites can be taken out and they will still work. The local power company can be shut down and they will still work, all of the cell towers, and the electricity that powers them can be disrupted, and guess what?

This will do ya.

http://www.claysradioshop.com/cobra200GTL.htm

If not they will have something that will. They also have the SWR meters that you use to tune your antenna. The radio above is single side band that stock puts out 25 watts and is legal. They go through them and up that to 100 watts if you want. Ya it's illegal but 95% of the big trucks on the road have big radios in them. Unless you scramble the neighbors TV every time you key the mike you'll be fine.

I have a midland 40 channel, and it is hooked directly into my battery. I have noticed that I get a pretty high pitched whine from the engine when it is running. I am planning on getting a filter to help with this. Also if you are way back in th woods you may want to look into an HF radio for your base station. We used them a lot in the Army and can talk for LONG ranges. I have recently read that a lot of people are forming HF radio clubs and try to see how far they can talk. Based on my limited experience, I would reccomend a 7 meter copper wire. Those seem to work the best with HF during the day and the night... I don't want to get into antenna wave propogation theory too much.... but you might want to check on ebay and see if they have any ManPack HF radios....

Hey Joe , The 23 channels had 7 watts , FCC decided for one reason or another that 23 channels wasn't enough so along comes 40 channel CBs' with 4 watts . A prime case of more for less . <_<

As far as Linear Amps,,,,

Check these out :

http://cgi.ebay.com/Palomar-300-Elite-Line...1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't like his feedback rating , but there are several sellers on eBag selling Linear Amps .

Ahh , A man who thinks like me ; That things are bad and getting worse by the day ! I heard about CB's/SWR's on the local news last week . They said "if" (ie: I will insert when " "The Defecation hits the Rotary Occilator" that these radios will be the only way to communicate . So my idea is - 12 volt car batteries and solar panel chargers or wind mills , depending on where you are .What would be cool if there is a way to use an OLD Car Generator (many old farm tractors had them too) ans some way to use wind power to power them up . The hard part would be to get them to their cut-in rpm . I love makin "Stuff" , this may become a project !

B-Cack ;

My B-Inlaw was a Marine Radio Man in Nam' . He and his buddies discovered by "accident" that if a bird ( happened to be a Sea Gull) flew in the near vacinity of their radio antenna when they "keyed" the Mic that said bird would explode :lol: Sick , I'm sorry ,, NOT . So after they discovered this they would "bait" birds in close and hit the switch ,hehehe .

Hey , Yer over there gettin' yer ass shot off , yah gotta have some way to unwind after a hard day of suckin mud ! He said that radio had enough power , that if possible it would circle the globe . Now that's what I call "reachin' out and touching someone " !

How long were you in the Army ? I was able to pull off 10 years in the AF mostly over seas .

Generally speaking , SWR's are pricey , it seems . Also a bit complicated to understand . I saw some on ebay but then they needed power supplies/mics/antennas . The price started adding up REAL quick .

Steve

Just wanted to add that be careful when you by a radio. The 10 meter radio you are suppose to have a license for. It is AM but not a CB. I have heard that you can get them worked on so they will operate on the CB frequencies.

Ozark Hauler said:

Okay , I'm gonna post it here since I own a 94' EB . I'm wanting to install a CB in our truck and get a Base Staion set-up as well . I remember reading about tuning your antenna . Is that crucial , what is used to tune it ? I've been looking on eBay and have seen alot of units so it's kind of "information overload" . I'm considering a Cobra Radio with the "Old School" face . I've also looked at Midland . 

I remeber some "Good Ol Boys" in Panama City Fl. using these "Reverb Mics" they cleaned up the voice real nice . What are they about ?

 

We live in a seriously hilly region . Would a linear amp help calling in or out ?

I was also considering a 12 volt CB on a battery and a Solar Charger for the Base Station

With the weather getting worse every year the news channel was saying that CB's may have some advantages if cell towers are damaged . We got SLAMMED last Thursday with 80 mph+ Straight Line Winds and a Tornado 10 miles away . We were trapped for several hours down here in the Hollar from downed trees , first time in 3 years for us . The winds yanked rootballs and all from the ground on 4-5' tree trunks , it was INSANE .

According to some of the Old Sod Busters here this has been the worst weather in decades . This year there has been over 900 Tornados in the Mid-West so far , and Tornado Season started this weekend just past . Over 100 in our area since Dec. and over 20" rain . It's comin down now "Like a Cow ******' on a Flat Rock" !

We LIKE to be prepared , Chains, saws, come-alongs , full tanks of fuel and great running trucks . Our house is well supplied ,scanners,weather radios, oil lamps, water, propane stoves .

So how many of you live in the sticks and use CB's on a regular basis ?

Thanks ,

Steve

Click to expand...

I ran them for years, home base stations and mobiles. You asked alot of questions there.

You are looking for a meter to check the "Standing Wave" on your raido, if its off too much you burn up equipment, especially amps.

Reverb, or "echo mics" are good but you need to have a good, clean powerful sound to make them work like that, just dumping echo on a cheap raido is anoying and makes it hard for people to understand you. If you get one, send someone a couple miles away with your radio and listen to the sound. A little goes a long way with echo.

Linear amps push power out, they don't help your ears any. Some have a 'pre amp' button that pulls in some weaker signals but your best bet is to get a quality antena, that is where your range to listen comes in, and it will also help with pushing out power. Get a 'full wave' antena.

If you want to run a mobile as a base, just buy a power converter at radio shack.

If your thinking about range for emergency communication a CB is good, but the guys who network world wide are Ham Raido Operators for emergency response. Don't get me wrong, we did the same thing and liked it much better, so I'm a CB fan not a Ham fan at all. I have talked from upstate SC to Melbourne Australia on a CB base station. Granted I was running almost 2 thousand watts at the time, but I did it, and routinely talked all over north and south America on my base. Another plus is most Police Officres, which I used to be, have CB raidos in their patrol cars, for talking to each other and for times when the raidos go out, so you can probably catch one if you need to.

When I moved to the city I got rid of all my stuff, my neighbors here would not appreciate what my equipment could do to their electronics, I used to come over phones, tvs, answering machines and raidos for a mile around, that was back in the upstate of SC. Here my neighbor is 10 feet away.

Email me if I can help more. [email protected]

Hope this helps

Rick in Orlando

Does anyone know how to tune their CB antenna with a multi-meter instead of an SWR? I am just being cheap and don't want to buy an SWR. Hope someone can help, I seem to be having some trouble transmitting with my antenna mounted to the spare tire rack. Thanks

Rick ,

Thanks for all the info. You being in L.E. me in the Military for many a year , we both like to have our "Ducks in a row" . So I ask alot of q's hoping the entire post gets read .

That way I end up with just enough knowledge to be dangerous ! Alot of great info has been posted and I appreciate all of it .

Does Radio Shack carry the Full Wave Antennas ? Is there any specific brand better than the others ?

What about SSB any reason to have that function , or is it a "toy" ?

When I was getting a HH Scanner I checked up on a "Trunking" Scanner ,but was told first responders in our rural area don't use them yet .

I had a neighbor back in CC, Nv. that had power like you mentioned . One afternoon I was in my room and he came over my stereo speakers and the stereo was off ! Once I figured out it was him I went over and told him what happened and he might want to turn down the power a notch or two considering the P.D. was 2 blocks away .

Thanks , I'll post ,more as I get wired up .

Steve

Rick ,

Two more questions that hasn't been addressed . How high should I go with an antenna ? We get serious lightning here and our house exterior is all metal . How can I protect us from a strike ?

Thanks ,

Steve

Ozark Hauler said:

Rick , Thanks for all the info. You being in L.E. me in the Military for many a year , we both like to have our "Ducks in a row" . So I ask alot of q's hoping the entire post gets read .

That way I end up with just enough knowledge to be dangerous ! Alot of great info has been posted and I appreciate all of it .

Does Radio Shack carry the Full Wave Antennas ? Is there any specific brand better than the others ?

What about SSB any reason to have that function , or is it a "toy" ?

When I was getting a HH Scanner I checked up on a "Trunking" Scanner ,but was told first responders in our rural area don't use them yet .

I had a neighbor back in CC, Nv. that had power like you mentioned . One afternoon I was in my room and he came over my stereo speakers and the stereo was off ! Once I figured out it was him I went over and told him what happened and he might want to turn down the power a notch or two considering the P.D. was 2 blocks away .

Thanks , I'll post ,more as I get wired up .

Steve

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Sounds like a good way to ask, put it all out there and see what comes back. Raido Shack might, the two brands of fiberglass I recommend are Firestick and Midland, both make "Full Wave" antennas with coiled copper wire inside and they talk and hear good. The Firesticks have a tuning wire on top, but the Midlands I ran for years never needed tuning as long as my coax was good and measured in 3 foot increments. Strange but it works. The old 8' coat hanger whips are ok but they pick up ALOT of ambient noise and don't have really good ears, plus you want over half of any antenna over the roof of your truck or your shooting yourself in the foot.

SSB (Switched Side Band) is great for talking long distance, and most people who talk across the country on a regular basis use it because of the range it offers. If your talking on it people on the channels around you will only hear distortion, not what your saying, so there can be some privacy there too. I loved the SSB.

Yeah, the FCC allows a maximum of 5 watts now with something like 50% modulation. I always have mine 'peaked and clipped' and usually put a modulation variable **** in to turn it up and down as desired.

Rick ,Two more questions that hasn't been addressed . How high should I go with an antenna ? We get serious lightning here and our house exterior is all metal . How can I protect us from a strike ?

Thanks ,

Steve

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I used a straight fiberglass stick antenna at home running about 30' on a metal pole, it was an "Antron 99" which worked beautifully. I also had a 60' metal tower with a set of PDL2 directional beam antenna on top, both of which were strapped straight to the house for support. Neither one ever caused a lightning problem. When storms came I pulled the coax out of my equipment and dropped it out the window. You can ground the tower with metal rods in the ground too.

Hope this helped some

Rick in Orlando

Ozark Hauler said:

Rick ,Two more questions that hasn't been addressed . How high should I go with an antenna ? We get serious lightning here and our house exterior is all metal . How can I protect us from a strike ?

Thanks ,

Steve

Click to expand...

Hey Steve,

You shouldn't get a lightning strike from an antenna. In fact, they are a bit of a lightning deterrent. Pointy objects "leak" charge instead of accumulating it like other shaped objects do. It's the buildup of charge on an object that causes lightning strikes. Just be sure to have some pointy metal on your tower.

Sounds stupid, but the physics is sound. I've experimented with it in the lab quite a bit.

It's also why lightning rods work. Most folks think that the lightning will strike the rod saving the house - not true. They keep the house and the surrounding soil from building too great of a charge which prevents the lightning from striking in the first place.

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