CB 2013

[N2NH]

I don't know if I would bother with SSB this time. I had base and mobile SSB radios when i was active. The range of my HT up here is up to 60 miles and nearly 80 with repeater linking. Without interference too. SSB would be a big step backwards. But I could see getting the cheapo special for $30. Small and unobtrusive. 3 watts is 3 watts whether you spend $30 or $300.

[kb2vxa]

"From a social interaction/party line standpoint the entire CB scene isn't as popular as it once was (thank you Compuserve and the Internet in general) but it still has a core group of users."

Don't blame the internet, that's a common ham fallacy concocted to explain away the waning interest in Amateur Radio. It's because of crowded band conditions that rapidly deteriorated beginning with the CB boom that made it nearly impossible to communicate even across town on any channel. Then the solar cycle peaked adding QRM from everywhere to the mix, every 10KHz from 25-28MH was jammed. There was such a feeding frenzy the sharks ate each other and CB never recovered. I was one, no sense having a radio you can't use so I sold my Heathkit twins (evil grin with horns) for a pretty penny, donated my Ringo to a camp for disabled kids where it was re-tuned and used on 10M and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of which U.S. truckers are a dwindling quantity, having become disgusted at the outlandish and at times vulgar scene which they helped to create."
Careful, you know how to spell ASS U ME. From the horse's mouth, a ham/trucker, the FCC put the kibosh on trucker CB. You probably heard of the only mass enforcement they could make stick, camping out at truck stops and weigh stations and inspecting truck stop shops and cab radio equipment. Naturally they uncovered tons of illegal equipment and fined the truck stops for selling it and the trucking companies for having it in company trucks. (Possession is illegal regardless of ownership, connected or not.) They quickly got fed up and many banned all after market radios, some went farther and banned anything connected to the truck's electrical system so bye bye microwaves, refrigerators and the like too. For what it's worth I've heard of plenty of cases where CB and ham rigs caused RFI problems with vehicle electronics creating safety issues, a good reason for a voluntary self imposed ban so "the blue screen of death" doesn't become literal at highway speed.

"For nostalgia's sake try tuning CH5 (27.015) some time where there's a band opening to the SW. It's the Mexican/Latin American trucker channel and it sounds a lot like U.S. CH19 did back in the boom days."
Time for a Wall Of Voodoo!

I'm on a Mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican - whoah - radio
I dial it in and tune the station
They talk about the U.S. inflation
I understand just a little
No comprende, it's a riddle

I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
Radio radio... What does he say?

[WX7P]

"From a social interaction/party line standpoint the entire CB scene isn't as popular as it once was (thank you Compuserve and the Internet in general) but it still has a core group of users."

Don't blame the internet, that's a common ham fallacy concocted to explain away the waning interest in Amateur Radio. It's because of crowded band conditions that rapidly deteriorated beginning with the CB boom that made it nearly impossible to communicate even across town on any channel. Then the solar cycle peaked adding QRM from everywhere to the mix, every 10KHz from 25-28MH was jammed. There was such a feeding frenzy the sharks ate each other and CB never recovered. I was one, no sense having a radio you can't use so I sold my Heathkit twins (evil grin with horns) for a pretty penny, donated my Ringo to a camp for disabled kids where it was re-tuned and used on 10M and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of which U.S. truckers are a dwindling quantity, having become disgusted at the outlandish and at times vulgar scene which they helped to create."
Careful, you know how to spell ASS U ME. From the horse's mouth, a ham/trucker, the FCC put the kibosh on trucker CB. You probably heard of the only mass enforcement they could make stick, camping out at truck stops and weigh stations and inspecting truck stop shops and cab radio equipment. Naturally they uncovered tons of illegal equipment and fined the truck stops for selling it and the trucking companies for having it in company trucks. (Possession is illegal regardless of ownership, connected or not.) They quickly got fed up and many banned all after market radios, some went farther and banned anything connected to the truck's electrical system so bye bye microwaves, refrigerators and the like too. For what it's worth I've heard of plenty of cases where CB and ham rigs caused RFI problems with vehicle electronics creating safety issues, a good reason for a voluntary self imposed ban so "the blue screen of death" doesn't become literal at highway speed.

"For nostalgia's sake try tuning CH5 (27.015) some time where there's a band opening to the SW. It's the Mexican/Latin American trucker channel and it sounds a lot like U.S. CH19 did back in the boom days."
Time for a Wall Of Voodoo!

I'm on a Mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican - whoah - radio
I dial it in and tune the station
They talk about the U.S. inflation
I understand just a little
No comprende, it's a riddle

I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
I'm on a mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican, whoa-Oh, radio
Radio radio... What does he say?

Can't understand, what does he say?

Wall of Voodoo.

[N8YX]

"From a social interaction/party line standpoint the entire CB scene isn't as popular as it once was (thank you Compuserve and the Internet in general) but it still has a core group of users."

Don't blame the internet, that's a common ham fallacy concocted to explain away the waning interest in Amateur Radio.

Wrong.

I watched this unfold with my own eyes. You have two basic groups of CBers - the radio enthusiast/business user and the social butterfly. In this (NEOH) area, the latter outnumbered the former by ~10:1. I'm not kidding. If you weren't consistently (ahem) 'meeting' new and interesting people via the medium on a typical weekend you were seriously off-base with your game. We're talking parity - even-Steven - between women and men. 11M was the primo hunting ground here, even better than the bars.

In 1983 a pronounced uptick in online chat-room growth began to draw a large number of our local CB contingent off the air and into cyberspace. A couple folks I know actually built part of that regional infrastructure and once it was implemented - several years AFTER the peak of the sunspot cycle, mind you - local CB began circling the drain. Sure, the skip-shooters and true radio-electronics nuts remained but the hookup crowd went in search of much greener, anonymous pastures...and found them in the form of multi-line BBSes which we had been constructing.

"Of which U.S. truckers are a dwindling quantity, having become disgusted at the outlandish and at times vulgar scene which they helped to create."
Careful, you know how to spell ASS U ME. From the horse's mouth, a ham/trucker, the FCC put the kibosh on trucker CB. You probably heard of the only mass enforcement they could make stick, camping out at truck stops and weigh stations and inspecting truck stop shops and cab radio equipment. Naturally they uncovered tons of illegal equipment and fined the truck stops for selling it and the trucking companies for having it in company trucks. (Possession is illegal regardless of ownership, connected or not.) They quickly got fed up and many banned all after market radios, some went farther and banned anything connected to the truck's electrical system so bye bye microwaves, refrigerators and the like too. For what it's worth I've heard of plenty of cases where CB and ham rigs caused RFI problems with vehicle electronics creating safety issues, a good reason for a voluntary self imposed ban so "the blue screen of death" doesn't become literal at highway speed.

Again, wrong. Your premise might explain the company driver but the many owner-operators can do anything they please with their trucks...and those whom I know personally have become fed up with the sheer volume of garbage which is prevalent on the band these days.

I see a fair amount of fleet trucks with CB whips. I see a lot more independently owned equipment with them, and I rarely hear the drivers using CB to communicate. Why? A neat little thing called Nextel two-way. All of the benefits; none of the fsckers and chuckers.

[kb2vxa]

You seem to forget you live in Ohio, I live in New Jersey. I watched it unfold with my own ears ringing from mass heterodyne and constant S9+ noise level. While your observation may be valid for your area please give credit for mine being valid in my area.

"11M was the primo hunting ground here, even better than the bars."
Are you kidding me? Rilly? (;->) Horny housewives were lined up at my door, need I say more? Hey, that rhymes.

Perhaps due to the greater population density (an antenna on nearly every house, land vehicle and boat) CB went down the drain before 1983 which BTW was around the time I got fed up and sold out for reasons previously stated. The "hookup crowd" was already dead in the water and most that I knew didn't have computers, just went back to traditional methods. Ah yes, the popular land line dial up BBSes, some out California way had 800 numbers and a far greater number of ports so they were used most heavily. My friend Larry N2HGY was the last in NJ to shut his down, talk about a die hard. As an aside I'm chuckling over their demise at the hands of the internet while the internet enhances the Amateur Radio equivalent, the worldwide packet radio BBS network in which I am active. Here's a funny, someone on the Island recently started a thread about our discussions of non Amateur topics. She'd have a fit if someone tells her how much non ham stuff is discussed on packet and ham radio in general. <hint hint>

"Again, wrong."
Yeah OK, call my friend a liar and me as well if you like, I don't mind. He told me about the company fleets, he being one of the drivers and I reading the NALs and putting 2 and 2 together came up with the reason stated. I didn't mention the few remaining independents because you're perfectly capable of separating sheep from goats but you surprisingly have them grazing in the same pasture. Sure they can do what they like with their own property, duh? Sure you see a fair amount of fleet trucks with antennas, not all companies banned aftermarket radios, again duh? Please, I gave you credit for a little common sense but apparently in your zeal to contradict me it went by the wayside. Speaking of the wayside, news has it that's where Nextel is headed so now what?

Nothing personal, only business but the thing is business is not the same nationwide. When it comes to Who Killed Roger Rabbit it all depends on the local rabbits. Since trucking companies are interstate regional separation doesn't apply but separation by company and contractor (independent trucker) surely does. When you paint all with the same brush there is a problem as I have just pointed out but it's a common problem I have encountered many times before on other internet forums whenever this topic comes up. Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion, like they say in Italian; t'each izzone calzone.

[W2NAP]

I can tell you here where I live CB was big. Channel 33 was like LA 435. Channel 16 was like 14.313 and Channel 8 was like 3843.

However it all came crashing down when the amount of stupid overtook the amount of sane.

[kb2vxa]

Yup, around here CB was big until the stupids killed it. When I lived "up north" on "the dirty side" across the Arthur Kill from Static Island screwballs were everywhere but various groups had their home channels so I knew where to find everybody. We really had some great fun talking about everything from soup to nuts and the technically minded which were most of my friends had fun and learned a lot experimenting with all sorts of things, frankly it laid the foundation for many of us who moved up to Amateur Radio. Not only that but it played a big part in my turning a hobby into a career, spending money is one thing but earning money is much better. If I had to live those days over I wouldn't change a thing, it was the time of my life.

"Channel 16 was like 14.313..."
Pardon me for the chuckles, when SSB came on the scene it was still 23 channels and that was the only SSB channel. Historically SSB ops were the only bolts in a box full of nuts, quite the opposite of the 20M hash mash and trash.

[W2NAP]

16 here was AM'ers. we used 33 FM alot of times with our super dooper exports.

[K8PG]

The Best CB radio is in the Landfill.

[N2CHX]

The Best CB radio is in the Landfill.

You're either Burt's offspring or his best friend.