CB

[TheTravellingTree]

Is it actually worth the time and effort involved in getting a CB rig working ? Will thee be anyone else to talk to ?
My brother was a very keen 'Ham' (Licenced amateur radio operator) in the day, and spent a fortune on top-end kit. The whole thing has now faded to almost nothing with the proliferation of mobile phones. Why use an expensive radio to talk to someone when you can Face-time them in an instant ?

Its a good question to be honest, let's face it.. thanks to the technology we have now days, CBs are no where near as busy as they once was in the UK at least.. I think there is a fair amount going on down south way, I watch guy on YT called 'Fred In A Shed' and he covers a bit about what you are asking.

Admittedly its a bit of a gamble I would say, but like i say its not completely dead .. think its mainly down to your location and what setup you intend to run if your going to pick people up especially at a distance.

The HAM equipment is quite pricey compared to CB imo, its not as layed back as CB all depends on what you want to achieve i guess, ide say its turned into more of an acquired taste in hobby now rather than a main means on coms.

 

[GeraldTheBonsai]

Was going to ask is CB still a thing? i'm looking at alternatives for comms - PMR is cheap but rubbish range, meshcore is still too immature, so was thinking about CB.

 

[JonathanD]

Haha cant beat a bit of Bon Jovi, what kind of setup did you have?

Its good you stayed in contact, yea CB still has a bit of action on it i think it depends on the area though as it can be rather quiet here, but as you say its all down to power, the antenna size definitely makes a massive difference

I know its ment to be really good conditions for DXing at the moment, I haven't been on the CB for a while now might give it a crak at the weekend

I had an Audioline Homebase. With the biggest most ridiculous aerial you’ve ever seen. When I had my burner attached, it blew everyone’s TV reception out two houses each side of ours. So that put a stop to my domination of the airwaves.

 

[TheTravellingTree]

Was going to ask is CB still a thing? i'm looking at alternatives for comms - PMR is cheap but rubbish range, meshcore is still too immature, so was thinking about CB.

Yeah I've heard of this meshcore seems a bit to complicated to set up and run from a few people's comments I've read, as for PMR its ok depending on what you want to use it for i guess, the range isn't the best no, my BF-25E PMR's distance specs are: -

Real-World Distance Expectations

Open Terrain / Line of Sight (Mountain peaks, flat fields): Up to 6–10 km.

Wooded or Rolling Hills: About 3–5 km.

Urban Areas / Heavy Obstacles (Towns, dense forests): Roughly 1–2 km.

Inside Buildings: Mostly restricted to a few hundred metres as signals struggle to penetrate thick concrete and steel walls

So ideal if your hiking with a few friends and split off from each other, plus as you say they are affordable i think mine as a pair cost £30odd so definitely don't have to remortgage the house to obtain some.

CB however dose have a much better range if set up correctly, and to be fair its not overly expensive to get started, and on the plus side with the joys of a small portable battery and a T2LT antenna you can throw together a pretty smart portable setup.

 

[johnbaz]

I have a Midland somewhere in the loft, I set it up a few years ago and there was no one on! (It was the illegal one that everyone was using years ago (1980's AM I think), I also have a 40ch handheld somewhere with a massive ariel that has about twelve AA batteries in!

I also had two 40ch Kraco units that were covered in a wood grain plastic, Not seen them in an age!!

Decades ago I was sat in my car many years ago in a carpark at Mablethorpe with my wife, Her sister and bro in law listening to a very loud American claiming he was in Pensivania Avenue, Pensilvania, Man that was loud and powerful, He was very Yank accented and really believable until he dropped one word that was in Barnsley-ese!!

Can't recall what the word was now!

I feel positive that him AND the two giggly girls that he was impressing were in the same carpark as us!!