CB radio, tscchhhhhh, good buddy

turbolag · Post by **turbolag** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:46 pm

Chatting to a colleague today...he's had a clearout and found his old CB radio in the loft. Somewhere in my very own loft is my old CB radio and mag mount.

Now, before I rush up into the loft and get covered in dust and cobwebs and waste an afternoon blu tacking it to the '05 or '06, does anyone still actually use the old CB? anyone on here use it at all, or is it just the domain of kids, and 21 stone, suspender wearing lorry drivers that like to be known as 'Shirley'?

Basically, in this modern, satellite guided, internet & cellular age, is it still of any use, fun or interest?

TooT · Post by **TooT** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:53 pm

Breaker Breaker thats a big 10-4 good buddy.

I used to have a home base CB radio with an 18ft wip arial howling in the wind on the top of mar and pars house when i was a young lad.

Youve got me thiking now, i cant remenber my handle (name) now.

Out. Tssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh

406 express · Post by **406 express** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:08 pm

I still use cb radios when working on british cycling federation races, have a range of up to 5 miles! work good

Blue406 · Post by **Blue406** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 10:07 pm

Ahhh... CB

I so fondly remember the chatter on the air when I accompanied my Dad on a few of his cross UK hauling trips in his big red articulated Volvo. Some of the stuff people came up with was priceless.
Endless updates where women in short skirts and Cabriolets were.

Some great times during that summer in 95.

Come to think of it, there were atleast 2 people at a home base chatting on CB

Post by **DaiRees** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:32 am

I still use a CB in my 4X4, in fact I've got 2, one fitted in there and one handheld. Couldn't do without it!

They'd be great if we were going to have a 406 get-together and all go out for a drive

turbolag · Post by **turbolag** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 5:56 pm

Dai, when you're using it for your 'roadies', do you hear much chatter from other users?

Post by **DaiRees** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:39 pm

Nah, it's very rare to get someone else on the same channel as our group, but if we do we just change channels.

They are still used a bit. Both my radios have a scan function, so they will scan all 40 channels and stop if it finds some activity, so If I'm out in the truck on my own I'll often have a little scan to see what I can come up with, and always manage to find someone. Usually it's either truckers to have a chat with or taxis to ignore

, but I sometimes find recreational users out there.

Came in vary handy in the snow, live traffic reports!

turbolag · Post by **turbolag** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:45 pm

Cheers mate. i'm gonna slip it into the Mi this week. I don't live far from either the M1 or A5, so hopefully should find someone to listen to, even if they're just fat string vest wearing truckers telling us where the blonde birds in the convertibles are!

Post by **Welly** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:54 am

I wanted to reply here, but you keep breaking up. Try switching to [fade]CHANNEL 12[/fade]

GeordieBoy · Post by **GeordieBoy** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:24 am

I used to have 1 years ago, often got the coppers talking on there tho. Was good to listen to.

I could do with 1 now like.

Post by **DaiRees** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:27 am

Actually turbo, thinking about it, how old is your CB? Haven't they changed the frequencies we're allowed to use? hang on....

Right it's longer back than I though. Apparently you're only allowed to use FM these days, not AM, and they banned some of the frequencies in 1995.

Everything you need to know can be found here but I can't be arsed to read it all. As both my units are less than a couple of years old I know they're compliant. Best bit of news is that as of last Dec you don't need a license anymore (no that anyone ever bought one anyway

).

Playtime_Fontayne · Post by **Playtime_Fontayne** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:44 pm

Can anyone recommend a decent set to get? Farly cheapish?!

Post by **DaiRees** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:33 pm

Well Play good buddy, what do you want to use it for? And what do you call cheapish? You can get a decent rig, magmount & whip brand new for less than a ton easy. If you want cheaper go to ebay, that way you should be able to get all the kit (used) for about £50 delivered.

If you want to be able to use it in whatever vehicle you happen to be in at the time, try to get hold of a handheld (e.g. Midland 42 - mine is ex display off eblag for about £70) with a car kit, just plugs into the lighter socket and also enables you to use an external aerial. When it's running off 12V it's just as powerful as a normal unit.

If you're gonna fit it in the car and leave it there get a normal unit, Midland 38 is quite good for about £60 brand new, but I've just got a Midland 78 , much better featured for just a bit more money. Of course there are other makes out there but I like Midland stuff, so that's all I know about!

One thing I would recommend is getting it properly SWR'd (essentially this means "tuning" the aerial to the rig by adjusting it to the right length, usually by trimming it) because poorly set up stuff tends to get a shyte range and can damage the radio itself. To this end I wouldn't get a used aerial in case it's already been trimmed too much. I rolled down to the local shop where all the truckers and and taxis go, bought an aerial for about £9.99 and the guy came out to the truck with me and set it up for an extra £2

! Now I get great range even though I've got a poor ground plane ('cos the zook is a rag top).

Oh and it you're going for a full size aerial with a mag mount, make sure you get at least a 7" mag, don't believe the ads for these 4" or 5" ones, they're alright if you have one of those silly short aerials, but if you put a full size whip on there it will fall off at speed.

Have a look at this site, lots of helpful info as well as the shop!

http://www.4x4cb.com/index.cfm - Yes I know pugs aren't 4X4s