Salop Matt Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Hay folks, Do any of you use CB radios ? if so what range are ou getting on them ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonevo Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 depends on your setup ,some 1-3 mile others 1000s of miles but on average 5- 10 miles no problem tell me what you have got and I will guess the distance you may achieve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salop Matt Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 I dont have any CB equipment ATM but the current base station radios ( licensed channels) that I work with are very poor with 1.5 mile range at best . Am just looking what outher options are out there to improve communications and there range ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codling99 Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 it all depends on the aerial and height of it,most cb s are 4 watts ,get ya twig up as high as possible that will help,and if your down in a dip you will struggle,where i live im basically on top of a mountain,and i used to get out 30 / 40 miles no problem and in the evenings even further,with the right propergation and weather ive spoke to people all over the world on 4 watts of power,and regularly spoke to people in devon and dorset from s-wales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libs Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Are there that many people still on these days, all that 10-4 stuff seems like something that would have died out when the mobile was mass produced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 we use CBs when driving green lanes or to keep in touch with the other team of guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 (edited) Are there that many people still on these days, all that 10-4 stuff seems like something that would have died out when the mobile was mass produced? Yes there are, lots of truckers for a start, and I use cb while in Scotland stalking, because although I have a mobile, the coverage in the highlands is abysmal and cb works besides which, with the phone you can only ring someone you know, you can talk to anyone with a cb Edited April 8, 2009 by fullbore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markb Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 sorry for being dull but if mobile phone coverage isn't good why would cb radio be any better, isn't it all based on radio signals, like here in Wales mobile phones are a waste of time unless you live in the towns, basicly because of the hills presumably the same reason in Scotland?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 sorry for being dull but if mobile phone coverage isn't good why would cb radio be any better, isn't it all based on radio signals, like here in Wales mobile phones are a waste of time unless you live in the towns, basicly because of the hills presumably the same reason in Scotland?? No it's very different, mobile phones work through a repeater mast or relay station and if you are out of range of that you are snookered. In America they have a system that lets you use your mobi like a walky talky, but not here in the UK and if it does come here, you can bet your boots it won't be free like it is in the states cb transmits directly between the radios, which is what a mobile phone is after all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AIRARMSTX200 Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 hi i used to have a uniden uniace 1000 and 30ft silver rod on a 60 ft scaffolding pole got out miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotland rifles Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Just go careful. if you are deemed/found to be using them for business use you will be prosecuted, in the good old days of CB it was ok as no one gave a shoot but then things started to happen, i left the CB scene and went to ham radio and havent looked back since. bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffolk shooter Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I've got a number of sets (5), some legal and some not. It all depends on the groundplane that you're ariel generates, and the "skip" presnt. Skip is the term for the signal bounceability from the ionosphere, which is dependant on temperature, weather, time of year etc. You also need to SWR your arial to 1.2 or better to ensure frequency of signal in and out is good, difficult to do at home let alone in vehicles. When using an incar set up, I have a set of "boots", this is an amplifier which is illegal, but means it ampliefies your signal to gain better range. YOu can get varying strength "boots", but you have to be careful as it can generate disruption to other electronic items such as TV's, radios etc. I remember setting up a 30 ft silver pole at home, with legal rig and boots connected running off mains converted power and switching the channel on our TV downstairs when keying up whilst causing our neighbours TV picture to distort to snow!! During the summer months I have sat in the car in Suffolk, not reknowned for having hills or being high above sealevel and have spoken to people in Wales, Ireland, Holland, Germany and even America on a couple of occasions. There aren't as many people on CB as there used to be these days though. And don't think for what you thinking of using it for it would be a viable option as signal strength can vary greatly even at a base station, also as Scotland rifles has said its for public use only, and not to be used for buisness use. You are supposed to buy a license, but I have never met anyone that has had one! Its a bit like the game license scenario the actual cost of a license doesn't even come close to the actual cost of the administration of it. Damn good fun though if yuou are Green laning or just messing about as teenageers in your souped up novas SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Just go careful. if you are deemed/found to be using them for business use you will be prosecuted, in the good old days of CB it was ok as no one gave a shoot but then things started to happen, i left the CB scene and went to ham radio and havent looked back since. bob. I have my ham radio license too, but it's not as useful as cb in Scotland in as much as all the logging truck drivers have cb and if you get stuck they're the boys to get hold of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I have a cobra 148 in the atic, not been switched on in years! And come to think of it, I also have a tristar 777.... those were the bad boys of the day! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotland rifles Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) I have a cobra 148 in the atic, not been switched on in years!And come to think of it, I also have a tristar 777.... those were the bad boys of the day! Adam well i had the same as you but the best one i had was a super scooper 380 with 35 watts out the back, then i had a zitagi rl505 burner in the boot, but i then went to the ham stuff and you don't what to know what that costs, i had a licence variation 4 year ago when i was running a special event station from home, and it allowed me to run my ft 1000 mp and quadra linear amp and 3 element 5 band cubical quad antenna at full tilt ( just over 1400 watts erp ) i had reports from OZ of 5/9+ 12 to 15 DB. now that's what i call a good signal report. anyway what ever you get, it will suffer, as there is more crud on air now than ever, bob./g0wyd/kf4gbl. Edited April 9, 2009 by scotland rifles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I remember staying at a caravan park in Llanstefan (sp?) in Wales back in the 60's, at the time when CB's were very popular. A group use to gather at some old ruins on a nearby hill/mountain some evenings and talk to truckers in the USA on their CB's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I remember staying at a caravan park in Llanstefan (sp?) in Wales back in the 60's, at the time when CB's were very popular.A group use to gather at some old ruins on a nearby hill/mountain some evenings and talk to truckers in the USA on their CB's. CB has the capabilty, due to the frequency it operates on, an ability to talk around the world using a phenomenon known as "skip" where the signal bounces off the atmosphere. It is also luck of the draw, you cannont say for instance, right I'm going to contact Genghis in Ulan Bator tonight, because if conditions are not exactly right, it ain't gonna happen. However, direct line communication, ie between you and your mate in the next town, is a lot shorter, 3 or 4 miles ish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apbuild Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Got a President Johnson II in my office with a Wilson 1000 car aerial bolted onto an old metal water tank in my loft. Also have, in line, a 500 watt burner which I rarely use at full power. However, on full power, I can get contact from europe when the solar skip is on! Not bad for a six foot aerial on a water tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I used to get on the CB a lot as a lad. I had a standard 4w setup but with a Sirio 5/8 wave (about 18 feet if I remember rightly) arial on a 20ft scafolding pole in the garden. That would do ten miles on a good day and I wasn't high up. From a car I had mates that could do ten miles too on a reasonable day. They used Sirio antennas too. They are quite good but quite expensive. I had a wound arial so you could have a 5/8 wave winding on a 6ft arial mounted to the car which helps. A good ground plane is a must. A low SWR is also a big thing. Good co-ax helps. Don't run a burner on home base as you can get caught. I had a 500w burner on my home rig for a year or so and could push out miles, but what's the point if the people that can hear you can't reply? I got a stern warning from some official dude one evening for running mine, and he took my burner! Turned out every telly in a 100 yard radius of my house used to go snowy and buzz loudly every time I talked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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