CB radio in 2024 worth it
- Thread starter Ixon
- Start date
Commissario
OcUK don't sell CB radios, you can say Amazon.
Soldato
But if you put "Got a great big aerial" you'll get more calls...
Oh my
I didn't set out to be this puerile, the terms just seemed to become more and more explicit as I read, honest!
Soldato
Lad at work was well into it. He had a voice that would get the knicker off a nun - One young lady was so taken by his voice she asked him to marry her which he did.
A BIG tip to anyone - Do not marry anyone you havent layed eyes on.
This lad came into rest room at dinner time with his lunch box and in it he had a chunk of cheese -apple -onion -He sat down and his T shirt rose above his belly button - He then demolished his lunch eating onion like an apple and big chunks of cheese.
Worst bit was his black teeth.
She did leave him.
That was closest I got to CB
A BIG tip to anyone - Do not marry anyone you havent layed eyes on.
This lad came into rest room at dinner time with his lunch box and in it he had a chunk of cheese -apple -onion -He sat down and his T shirt rose above his belly button - He then demolished his lunch eating onion like an apple and big chunks of cheese.
Worst bit was his black teeth.
She did leave him.
That was closest I got to CB
Will never forget when i was a kid in the early 90`s and me and a mate were on CB radio.
What i can only describe as perverts were on there doing what i guess was CB sex lol.
Mid way through their session we would absolutely take the mickey out of them and laugh our heads off at their furious response.
What i can only describe as perverts were on there doing what i guess was CB sex lol.
Mid way through their session we would absolutely take the mickey out of them and laugh our heads off at their furious response.
Somebody on another forum told me CB radio has returned back from the dead saying that there were 5 channels busy... I thought no way... even in the early 2000s channel 19 was the only channel that had activity so I wanted to see if CB radio was really alive so I dug out an old Midland from 1982 I soldered in a new power lead and cleaned the switches, potentiometers and got it working. I put together a wire dipole and sure enough two channels busy, channel 35 & channel 19.
More channels busy during lift conditions when America and Europe come crashing into the noise.
More channels busy during lift conditions when America and Europe come crashing into the noise.
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CB Antennas... unfortunately I can not put up an 18 foot CB antenna because I have no roof access, no antennas allowed, no garden or outdoor space to get one up either.
The only way is going out of the window with a mobile CB antenna which is a lot shorter but I will have no ground plane, even when I build a plane plane for it, I just don't know if I could make one good enough. A car body for example makes a good ground plane and becomes a big part of the antenna so much so that the car body adds gain and can give it the performance of a 5/8 wave 18 foot homebase antenna. I don't think my ground plane would come anywhere near to the performance of a car body...
The days of the CB mag mount on a biscuit tin are long gone and wont do anything in todays world as fewer people have them now. There is also a lot of noise on the band so people run power to be heard over the noise and also to improve range because 4 watts from an old CB will be very short range, you'd need at least 20 or more to be heard plus a power mic.
Cb radios were designed to be short range 1 to 2 miles, low modulation, often very poor and 4 watts. Back in the 80s/90s this was fine, you;d be heard because there was no noise on the band to get over and more people had them locally so 4 watts and low modulation was all you really needed to talk to your friend down the road and your other mates a few streets away.
These days people run 50 to 100 watts with power mics and 18 foot antennas mounted onto tall poles often on tower blocks, there is a lot of noise on the band so a good antenna is needed. Mobile whips work very well but thats only when they are on car bodies not hanging out of a window in a house so making a good ground plane is very important otherwise the signal could be very crappy.
The only way is going out of the window with a mobile CB antenna which is a lot shorter but I will have no ground plane, even when I build a plane plane for it, I just don't know if I could make one good enough. A car body for example makes a good ground plane and becomes a big part of the antenna so much so that the car body adds gain and can give it the performance of a 5/8 wave 18 foot homebase antenna. I don't think my ground plane would come anywhere near to the performance of a car body...
The days of the CB mag mount on a biscuit tin are long gone and wont do anything in todays world as fewer people have them now. There is also a lot of noise on the band so people run power to be heard over the noise and also to improve range because 4 watts from an old CB will be very short range, you'd need at least 20 or more to be heard plus a power mic.
Cb radios were designed to be short range 1 to 2 miles, low modulation, often very poor and 4 watts. Back in the 80s/90s this was fine, you;d be heard because there was no noise on the band to get over and more people had them locally so 4 watts and low modulation was all you really needed to talk to your friend down the road and your other mates a few streets away.
These days people run 50 to 100 watts with power mics and 18 foot antennas mounted onto tall poles often on tower blocks, there is a lot of noise on the band so a good antenna is needed. Mobile whips work very well but thats only when they are on car bodies not hanging out of a window in a house so making a good ground plane is very important otherwise the signal could be very crappy.
![[FnG]magnolia](/styles/overclockers/avatars/9.png){kind=avatar}
Caporegime
We should have more threads like this. Less people asking things and more people spitting facts. Hell yeah.
Feek will be along shortly. He has a large antenna so I hear
Edit: CB is nothing like amateur radio it seems. Why 2 threads in one night mind?
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I've gone and bought myself a cheap mobile setup for the car from Amazon 
, and surprisingly just sat on my drive there I was picking up a few locals on 19, took a drive upto Parbold Hill then it really came alive, went on the EU channels and was picking up the likes of France & Spain no problem this has got me kinda hooked now, shall take a couple more trips up next week while I'm off work might even build a T2LT and stick it in the tree, or get a 10m pole and see where I get with that.
, and surprisingly just sat on my drive there I was picking up a few locals on 19, took a drive upto Parbold Hill then it really came alive, went on the EU channels and was picking up the likes of France & Spain no problem this has got me kinda hooked now, shall take a couple more trips up next week while I'm off work might even build a T2LT and stick it in the tree, or get a 10m pole and see where I get with that.
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Most definitely... its certainly different.Feek will be along shortly. He has a large antenna so I hear
Edit: CB is nothing like amateur radio it seems. Why 2 threads in one night mind?
You need a decent signal, decent 18 footer or shortened 7ft loaded coil mobile antennas can work or full size quarter wave 9ft mobile antennas can work but only with a good ground plane to match that of a car body. They speak over one another and will ignore and trample over any weak signal, you practically got to be 5 & 9 all over on CB otherwise nobody will speak to you. You also need to get out reasonably decent for when the skip comes in if you want to make contacts over seas.
Ham radio is different because people will speak to you regardless what your signal is like obviously being readable and there are many bands to choose from. HF for example there are people who manage to work the world on random long bits of wire's hidden in guttering and down drain pipes, some can work the world with a contraption of wires in the attic but this wont work for CB because its mostly local FM/AM and signals have got to be super strong locally which also helps with the skip as well.
You can work the world on a magnetic loop antenna with just 5 watts on 40 & 20 meters or any band below 20 MHz but try a mag loop on CB and its rubbish. Then there is VHF/UHF a lot more easier and manageable antenna wise and you don't need an antenna farm to operate VHF/UHF.
Where I am its not so antenna friendly and I will never be able to get an 18 foot antenna up dominating the building so a mobile antenna whip on a ground plane is the only way.
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Associate
Manchester, North wales and Liverpool are all still busy.
As long as you can brave the abuse...
As long as you can brave the abuse...
Associate
Boomerang out the window?
Can't go wrong with a vertical dipole. I made one out of two tank whips. Very thin. Did well. Has lasted me years...
Can't go wrong with a vertical dipole. I made one out of two tank whips. Very thin. Did well. Has lasted me years...
Decided gonna try a T2LT setup in Garden, gonna cost me roughly about the same as it would sticking a silver rod on the side of the house, as I now intend on buying a pre made T2LT, but with the added advantage of taking it down whenever the weather bad or not in use, plus it keep the Wife happy as it not permanent fixture.
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Commissario
DV27 on a biscuit tin. Also, threads merged.
At this point in the solar cycle, pretty much anything will work well on 27 MHz.
At this point in the solar cycle, pretty much anything will work well on 27 MHz.
You need a bit more than that in today's CB world, you'll only be making ripples in a toilet bowl with a mag mount on a biscuit tin. A car body becomes a big part of the antenna so the antenna whip itself is only really a small part of the antenna and putting it on a biscuit tin isn't going to do anything 2 miles at best. Ground plane got to be big if using a mobile whip otherwise its dipoles with two whips but then becomes 18 foot in length about the same or not far off from an A99 or silver rod, I don't think there is any getting away with going shorter because range can drop dramatically if its too compromised. A boomerang CB antenna might be the only thing that could work, I am going to get one or build one and try it out to see if it performs well enough.
Commissario
I worked PY a couple of days ago on a literal bit of wire I dangled out the window on 10m with 20W. Yes, I've got a decent SteppIR up but this was an experiment to see how well the bands are working at the (almost) peak of the cycle.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2013
- Posts
- 12,391
I have the kit, but get nothing where I am. I once heard a couple of people talking, but couldn't transmit back to them.