Page 1 of 7 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 61

Thread: Getting Back Into CB

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Orca Whisperer n2ize's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Crestwood, New York
    Posts
    33,899

    Getting Back Into CB

    Have any former CB'ers turned Ham's thought about getting back into CB ?
    I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.

  2. #2
    La Rata Del Desierto K7SGJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    The Desert
    Posts
    16,791
    No
    A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory

    RIP ALBI-W3MIV RIP RUSS-W5RB RIP BOB-VK3ZL





  3. #3
    Orca Whisperer
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Buffalo, NY
    Posts
    22,593
    Quote Originally Posted by n2ize View Post
    Have any former CB'ers turned Ham's thought about getting back into CB ?
    I do both. CB radio channel 11 here can be rather interesting later at night, with some good folk chatting. No noise toys, super power (I think one person runs 50W sometimes), etc etc. Channel 21 on the weekends can be a hoot, there's one old codger who is pretty hilarious when drinking.

    Depending on location, MURS can be fun too sometimes. Especially when in close proximity to a Walmart.
    Big Giant Meteor 2020 - We need to make Earth Great Again

    http://www.coreyreichle.com

  4. #4
    Administrator N8YX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Out in the sticks
    Posts
    26,070
    Quote Originally Posted by KC2UGV View Post
    I do both.
    Likewise. I'm a radio enthusiast, not just a "ham operator"...and those motorcycle-mounted CB sets come in handy when traveling with a group of bikes.

    CB radio channel 11 here can be rather interesting later at night, with some good folk chatting.
    32 in this area, although I rarely frequent it. Most of my 11M activity is on CH38 LSB or on CH1 AM (the motorcycle mobile calling frequency).


    No noise toys, super power (I think one person runs 50W sometimes), etc etc. Channel 21 on the weekends can be a hoot, there's one old codger who is pretty hilarious when drinking.
    In the Stoner thread I mention one of the locals with a mistuned Ranger product. Most of the crowd in this area doesn't understand the "minimum power" bit. If I was one of them (and didn't value my amateur license) I could easily bring any number of HF rigs plus amplifiers to bear on those frequencies. Alas, I keep it legal and try to maximize signal through antenna work. Hence the search for the perfect type-accepted set.

    Depending on location, MURS can be fun too sometimes. Especially when in close proximity to a Walmart.
    I have a 19-1210 mobile rig plus 4 SV-220 handhelds around the shack. The mobile rig is tied into one of my tri-band Comet verticals and the Spirits are set up to track its channel and PL scheme. Anywhere in the general neighborhood vicinity is doable as far as communications between base and handhelds is concerned.
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."

  5. #5
    Conch Master W2NAP's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    W2NAP
    Posts
    5,942
    Quote Originally Posted by KC2UGV View Post
    I do both. CB radio channel 11 here can be rather interesting later at night, with some good folk chatting. No noise toys, super power (I think one person runs 50W sometimes), etc etc. Channel 21 on the weekends can be a hoot, there's one old codger who is pretty hilarious when drinking.

    Depending on location, MURS can be fun too sometimes. Especially when in close proximity to a Walmart.
    I dont mess with 11m around here all that is left is pretty much the bottom of the barrel.
    I dont always do MURS but when I do its always channel 4 or 5 close to a china-mart

  6. #6
    Mystical Drummer NY4Q's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Dahlonega, GA
    Posts
    729
    For kicks, I just scanned from 28.0 down to 26.8. I never heard one word of English. 27.025 was just a roar of noise.

    Have at it!
    أبدا ستعمل تعطيك ما يصل

  7. #7
    Administrator N8YX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Out in the sticks
    Posts
    26,070
    Quote Originally Posted by N4BBQ View Post
    For kicks, I just scanned from 28.0 down to 26.8. I never heard one word of English. 27.025 was just a roar of noise.

    Have at it!
    There is a goodly amount of "sane" (note qualifier) activity on the SSB spots. When the band rolls up for the night I turn the BC2000's preamp on and see what there is to see in the way of weak signals from CH36-40.

    Back in the waning days of the boom (say, from 1980 onwards) many of the regulars didn't bother to turn their radios on until well after sunset local time. After the omnipresent summer Es racket died off and things quieted down, we routinely worked stations which were 60-100mi away. If you've ever played around with weak-signal 2 and 6M SSB, the experience was much like that. A good receiver and a good directional antenna were a must. Many people (myself included) slaved high(er) performance communications receivers to our Class D transceivers and used them to dig out weak signals.

    Mind you, this was back in the days where the average 11M operator was running one of three classes of equipment: An older crystal-controlled transceiver such as a Browning Mark III or Tram D201 in conjunction with an external VFO, an early generation synthesized transceiver (23 or 40CH) or some model of ham transceiver. Of the latter, the most popular set by far was the FT-101 series and the Drake TR7 brought up a close second...though other amateur equipment was heard 'round the band at times.

    The key thing to remember is that unless Dr. Diddlesticks got his fat fingers into a "vintage" radio, almost none of them would create splatter to the point which required one to lean heavily on the filtering provided by a commercial-grade receiver in order to hear those weak signals. The current crop of garbage "export" radios flooding the U.S. have noisy synthesizers (which results in an increase in transmitted wide-band noise) and many don't incorporate an optimally designed PA. Thus, good luck working those distant neighbors late at night if the Power Rangers (and Galaxys too!) set up shop in your vicinity.
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."

  8. #8
    Orca Whisperer n2ize's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Crestwood, New York
    Posts
    33,899
    Quote Originally Posted by N8YX View Post

    Mind you, this was back in the days where the average 11M operator was running one of three classes of equipment: An older crystal-controlled transceiver such as a Browning Mark III or Tram D201 in conjunction with an external VFO, an early generation synthesized transceiver (23 or 40CH) or some model of ham transceiver. Of the latter, the most popular set by far was the FT-101 series and the Drake TR7 brought up a close second...though other amateur equipment was heard 'round the band at times.
    Including a Johnson Desk Kilowatt in Brooklyn.
    I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.

  9. #9
    Mystical Drummer NY4Q's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Dahlonega, GA
    Posts
    729
    I enjoyed a lot of the CB band, but mostly used "THE FREE BAND". On CB, I remember "459 Bakersville" and The old "North Carolina Moonshiner". Ahh those days. Mom would get up at 3AM and find me in the laundry room where I had my CB and run my ass to bed.

    I had a Realistic TRC-458 (uPD858 PLL), modified the clarifier circuit for TX/RX "slide", modded the 1st RF amp for a wider bandwidth. The radio could actually RX pretty good from about 26.8 to 27.9, and I built a fairly decent amp with a pair of 6HF5s and a power transformer from an RCA TV that died. I still have those tubes.

    Nightly, we'd get on 27.505 LSB and have great fun. I was in high school then, so let's say that was about 1979. OH, and I had a Starduster in a Pine tree in the front yard. I would guess it was up there about 50 feet.
    أبدا ستعمل تعطيك ما يصل

  10. #10
    Master Navigator K4PIH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Posts
    1,287
    Oh yeah, Starduster. Works good on 10!
    "Don't put it on the plate if you can't eat it!"

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •