Are we better off without CB? We have FRS....

[WA7PBE]

So for the record I do have a CB radio (for that just in case situation) but it seems like its just an abused band for lonely old truckers and well nothing really good. Wouldn't we almost be better off without it and just have it for amatuer pourpeses?

[KG4CGC]

Too many rigs out there for it to ever be a viable amateur band.
The FCC will not do anything about it except for the most egregious rule breakers and those who VERY openly sell non type accepted gear.
Better to focus on 2m bootleggers.
FRS radios are not an appealing alternative for those who are used to being able to cover greater distances OTA.

[WA7PBE]

could it be worth it if somehow they opened the band to amateurs and unlicensed users and maybe that would help stop the abuse? kind of like GMRS how those radios are able to communicate on FRS.

[W3WN]

Ah, you do realize that FRS is a Part 95 radio service.

In other words... it IS CB.

So's GMRS, for that matter. Once upon a time, what these two services evolved from where called Class A & Class B Citizens Radio Service...

So, the question is kind of, well, moot. How can you replace CB with CB?

(I know, you probalby meant Class D CRS, aka the 11 meter band, when you said CB. But one must be clear.)

[WN9HJW]

I recently drove from northern Virginia out to Iowa and back. I put a CB in the car and listened much of the time driving.

It was really only through PA, WV, MD and VA that it really seemed totally out of control. Practically everyone sounded like a cross between Wolfman Jack and Cleetis from Smokey & The Bandit. Plus all the hooting and belching noises, music, profanity, splattering over 2 or 3 adjacent channels, and so on ... Channel 9 which I always thought was supposed to be respected as an emergency channel, was a free-for all spanish language version of channel 19.

But it really wasn's bad once I got into Ohio and westward. A lot of generally normal conversation and some unoffensive banter. I was surprised at how few loons were on the CB during that portion of the trip.

Hard to say if it was geography (east of appalachians versus midwest) or part of the week (Most of my time east was weekends, most of my time west was weekdays).

But basically, I was surprised that CB was NOT as bad as everyone makes it out to be. At least in the midwest. It still serves it's purpose. I'd leave it alone.

[K7SGJ]

I say, since the hams lost it so long ago, and will never get it back anyway, just let the maroons continue to use/abuse it. It cuts down on the 10 meter BS from bootlegging loons. And, let's face it, the FCC would never be able to put the toothpaste back in the tube, anyway. Of course, I might be as full of shit as a Christmas goose, too.

[KG4CGC]

Let's just put forth a hypothetical situation.

Let's say the FCC decides that, if you hold a "ham ticket," you may run full legal limit on 11 meters. Some will say that this would be a good incentive to get some people into the amateur ranks and perhaps promote better operating practices and worldwide goodwill.

Then you will have the Bircher crowd who will put forth all the conspiracy theories. The government wants to know who owns a radio so that they will know who to round up first to throw in the FEMA camps before they can get the word out that people are being held prisoner in FEMA camps, being tortured and used for medical experiments, before being placed in Rubbermaid coffins and buried.

[K7SGJ]

Let's just put forth a hypothetical situation.

Let's say the FCC decides that, if you hold a "ham ticket," you may run full legal limit on 11 meters. Some will say that this would be a good incentive to get some people into the amateur ranks and perhaps promote better operating practices and worldwide goodwill.

Then you will have the Bircher crowd who will put forth all the conspiracy theories. The government wants to know who owns a radio so that they will know who to round up first to throw in the FEMA camps before they can get the word out that people are being held prisoner in FEMA camps, being tortured and used for medical experiments, before being placed in Rubbermaid coffins and buried.

Hypothetical? Hah! This is already happening. I know several people, mostly in Minnesota, that have vanished, and all that was found was a Rubbermaid UPC sticker at the place they were last seen.

Hypothetical, indeed.

[kb2vxa]

"I know, you probalby meant Class D CRS..."
That's me, Class DUH Can't Remember Shit.

"Let's say the FCC decides that, if you hold a "ham ticket," you may run full legal limit on 11 meters."
Let's not say. How would you feel if you were a QRP station with a dummy load against the California Kilowatt Iron Curtain or the East Coast Berlin Wall?

"Some will say that this would be a good incentive to get some people into the amateur ranks and perhaps promote better operating practices and worldwide goodwill."
Most will say that this would be a good incentive to get some big tubes with handles, solar power (a 93 million mile extension cord plugged into the sun), and a potpourri of sound effects and noisemakers. Oh, it helps to practice your best Cletus the slack jaw yokel and babble on with the power mic cranked to 11 for a half hour without inhaling.

On edit:
We have enough Kooky Karols, Jackass Gerritsens, and Glenn Bastards on the air, and you want mmmmMMMORE?! Great googly moogly, feets don't fail me now!

[KG4CGC]

"I know, you probalby meant Class D CRS..."
That's me, Class DUH Can't Remember Shit.

"Let's say the FCC decides that, if you hold a "ham ticket," you may run full legal limit on 11 meters."
Let's not say. How would you feel if you were a QRP station with a dummy load against the California Kilowatt Iron Curtain or the East Coast Berlin Wall?

"Some will say that this would be a good incentive to get some people into the amateur ranks and perhaps promote better operating practices and worldwide goodwill."
Most will say that this would be a good incentive to get some big tubes with handles, solar power (a 93 million mile extension cord plugged into the sun), and a potpourri of sound effects and noisemakers. Oh, it helps to practice your best Cletus the slack jaw yokel and babble on with the power mic cranked to 11 for a half hour without inhaling.

Totally went over your head. If I had driven a lawnmower over it you wouldn't have noticed.