CB questions

[p m]

Jack, P.T.,

why not SSB? You have legally 12W PEP, and SSB wins by far and large as far as spectrum bandwidth is used. I have an older SSB-enabled unit, and it works great. More so, you can actually use it when there are hundreds of trucks within 5-mile radius.
FRS/GMRS is nearly completely useless in the mountains near the ski season, or in the desert when there's any sizeable off-road event. Crowded beyond hope. Also, the sound quality that a vehicle-mounted CB unit offers is by far superior to "digitally-enhanced" FRS sound.
BTW, P.T., what's wrong with a no-code tech license? Personally, I couldn't care less of the Morse code, neither do most of the ham operators. 5WPM or 25WPM - who cares? Nobody's really using it anymore. When was the last time you actually used the "real" key (not side-to-side gizmo)? People use computers to send and receive the goddamn Morse code - you could hear the rate being near 100 WPM - who on the earth could read that?

 

[koby]

Peter, I disagree about CB sound quality.

I much prefer FM voice than I do CB, which is AM.

Transmission power probably has a lot to do with it, but I can't argue with the off-the-shelf results.

 

[p m]

Craig,

it's not FM vs AM, it's the size of the speaker that severely limits FRS handhelds' quality. Just can't beat the volume of the enclosure.

 

[koby]

enclosure, schmenclosure. I use an external speaker on my 2M mobile and my Yaesu (Jack, HA!) HT is loud and clear enough to be heard when outside of the vehicle.

 

[p m]

I was talking about F/GMRS handhelds, Koby.

 

[koby]

Yeah, well, you get what you pay for...

I've always thought discussing how to make CB and FRS better was analogous to trying to polish a turd. No matter what you do, it's still a turd.

 

[syoung]

How many people using GMRS actually got their license?

My Yeasu dual bander was modified to cover FRS/GMRS, so it comes in right handy. With that and the CB in the truck, I can wheel with anyone and communicate. The whole "this one is better" thing is a little silly since people have different needs. To talk to the guy right behind them on a trail, I don't fault someone for buying a $20 pair of cheap radios. Too many of the HAM guys seem to measure their manhood by the size of their antenna and how many watts they can push.

 

[koby]

I have both a Technician's license and a GMRS license.

 

[spydrjon]

Very technical peeps here. It has been my experience with CB that 5-7 miles of clear talk and reception come from two things, wattage and standing wave ratio. Max wattage for CB is 4 watts and as far as I know they all have that or very close to it. Mount you antenna high, 10oz magnet will hold through anything, well almost anything. the most important thing though is to "tune" your antenna. You need a SWR meter for this. If there is a local hobby shop around that sells cb then that is the place to go. the closer you can get the SWR (standing wave ratio) to 1:1 at chanel 20 then the better off you are on the whole spectrum used. I have a 36" whip on a magnet mount tuned to 1.1:1 and it works perfectly.

 

[koby]

Incidentally Steve, I have CB and FRS in my truck for the exact same reason you do. However, I prefer 2m / 440 for inter-truck communication to anything else.

 

[syoung]

I'd prefer 2M as well, but most off-road dudes aren't licensed to run it. Getting a HAM license is easy if you have even just a basic understanding of electronics and stuff.

 

[p m]

Steve, for me, getting any license means making a 30-mile trip (one-way) in the middle of a workday. I can pass no-code tech exam any time, but it just puts me out. I believe, most people are in the similar situation.

Koby, for anything other LOS with a 2-m you're at the mercy of someone running a repeater - there are a lot of them, but not where you'd potentially need one the most. But, I have no personal experience here. CB is somewhat like an analog cell phone - it is unlikely to fail you completely.

 

[syoung]

The GMRS license is a mail-in, no test needed. I think the over-the-counter sales of GMRS will ensure that the freq's will be flooded and almost nobody has a license. Either they don't know they need it or just don't care. I really don't even understand why people are supposed to get one, since they don't require the formalities of broadcasting on HAM stuff like station ID etc.
The "real" licensing is a pain in the tail as far as the limited scheduling etc- I'm with ya on that. When I went to take mine, the worst part was all the self-important hyper-nerds with pocket protectors all trying to 'one-up' each other with their radio exploits.

 

[AndrewClarke]

Like many others, I have both a CB mounted in my truck and a pair of Motorola handheld FRS/GMRS radios. In my experience, the CB sounds FAR FAR better than the FRS/GMRS radios. I have to have my little handheld radio turned to full volume and stuck right up against my ear to understand someone in the truck right next to me. If my window's down, I can just forget about it.

With the CB, I have the volume and clarity I need to communicate with other vehicles. I got my CB for $15 shipped off eBay, and had it professionally installed by a shop in La Habra, CA for **$35**. That included mounting the antenna, putting a hole in my rear door, running the coax, mounting the radio on the centre console (including hardware) and wiring it into the truck, and tuning the antenna. It's a very professional job. Add to that a $30 antenna and a $10 cable and an extra bit to the installer because a $35 charge for 2 hours of work is ridiculously low, and the CB is far more useful dollar for dollar than the GMRS/FRS radios. My handhelds weren't total cheapos either - maybe $60 for the pair.

Like others have said, it's important to have both since so many people don't have CBs, but the FRS/GMRS units run a distant second to CB in my preference.

Regarding sat phones, yeah that's great, except when you need to set up a $$$ conference call with the 8 other trucks in your group just to discuss which direction to turn at the fork in the road

- Andrew.

 

[koby]

Peter, I'm not a wealth of experience here either, but I can say that I was able to maintain simplex communication with another rig at over an 11 mile distance from Anaheim to Diamond Bar. For those of you not from SoCal, there's a nice hill range between those two cities that definitely makes that not LOS communication.

 

[p m]

Koby, I am constantly amazed at being able to listen to KLON 88.1 based in Long Beach, while being in San Diego (not one, but multiple hills between these locations), as well as watching KTLA via rabbit-ear technology. But, those are rather exceptions - like propagation flukes in fog.

Steve, yes, I was talking about "real" license. Nobody bothers these days to pay $85 for a 5-year GMRS license, and nobody seems to enforce that - so folks who wheel near ski slopes know that the entire band is "wiped out."

 

[ptschram]

Peter:
The demise of the CW requirement drastically lowered the bar to obtain an amateur radio license.

To a great degree, I make the comment to drag the trolls out and tease them. (erik took the bait!) Having passed my first test in 1977 and continuously upgrading since is something I am very proud of. Amateur radio drew me into a scientific field and gave me huge headstart in my engineering/scientific studies. How many elementary students understand scientific notation? I had to learn the difference between megacycles (talk about dating oneself) and kilocycles early on.

The sad part is that it took me many years to develop the math skills to fully understand the mathematical basis of many of the principles I had been trying to apply.

Furthermore, Amateur radio and my engineering/scientific background and my industrial background make me a better wrench bender.

Radio is not difficult, but there is a lot of misinformation floating around and somebody has to correct it before it propagates and gets worse and discourages someone from pursuing their interests.

Peace,
PT

(ps-haven't we had this discussion before? pre-ban, and I don't mean the AWB)

 

[p m]

Paul - I don't think knowledge of Morse code represents anything about radio communications; I don't know what the requirements were in the years past (except for those in the good ole U.S.S.R.) - guess now a good one would be to memorize the frequency allocation table from 100k to 10GHz - whatever you remember is open for you

 

[ptschram]

Paul - I don't think knowledge of Morse code represents anything about radio communications; I don't know what the requirements were in the years past (except for those in the good ole U.S.S.R.) - guess now a good one would be to memorize the frequency allocation table from 100k to 10GHz - whatever you remember is open for you

Regardless, it's a rite of passage

100K? let's go DC to daylight LOL.

 

[rovercanus]

Yeah, well, you get what you pay for...

I've always thought discussing how to make CB and FRS better was analogous to trying to polish a turd. No matter what you do, it's still a turd.

You DO get a very shiny turd!
The poor guy asked about CB and got a lecture in ham!
Apex, if you do go with a cb and don't mount a microwave communication tower to your disco, I've got an SWR meter. Bring your truck up here for a run sometime and we'll tune it real quick.