Is CB dead?
 

I have not had an 11 meter antenna up in the air since around 1972 or so. I
have a clear memory of all the heterodynes and yacking on every channel that
used to go on. I plugged one in again around 1985 or so, because a buddy of
mine had one in his boat, and used it keep it on channel 5. Not much
difference.
Anyway, last weekend...for yucks, I hooked one up to a longwire. I did not
hear a single person on any channel! Perhaps it is the cross polarized wire
antenna.
So, I shot a wire over a branch, and hoisted a CB vertical antenna ..Astron
or Antron...something like that...a pretty good fiberglass antenna!
Still, other than a general high noise level...no signals!
Channel 19 used to be jammed...even with a handheld whip antenna!

Is CB no longer??

Perhaps it might be useful again!!!

Anyone check the band out lately?

.....Dave

Is CB dead?
 

Dave Edwards wrote:
I have not had an 11 meter antenna up in the air since around 1972 or so. I
have a clear memory of all the heterodynes and yacking on every channel that
used to go on. I plugged one in again around 1985 or so, because a buddy of
mine had one in his boat, and used it keep it on channel 5. Not much
difference.
Anyway, last weekend...for yucks, I hooked one up to a longwire. I did not
hear a single person on any channel! Perhaps it is the cross polarized wire
antenna.
So, I shot a wire over a branch, and hoisted a CB vertical antenna ..Astron
or Antron...something like that...a pretty good fiberglass antenna!
Still, other than a general high noise level...no signals!
Channel 19 used to be jammed...even with a handheld whip antenna!

Is CB no longer??

Perhaps it might be useful again!!!

Anyone check the band out lately?

....Dave

Is CB dead?
 

I've got one in the car. No idea if the transmitter works, but I get the
best traffic reports available by listening to the truckers. The accuracy of
of the broadcast station's reports leaves much to be desired.

Besides, it is always helpful to know where Smoky is hiding out :)

Is CB dead?
 

"Dave Edwards" wrote in message
...

Anyone check the band out lately?

I don't check it real often but I live less than a mile from I-44 were it
passes through Tulsa and about all I hear on ch 19 (27.185) is an occasional
trucker gabbing with another, nothing out of line as it once was. RM~

Is CB dead?
 

We are near the bottom of the 11 year solar cycle
thus very poor "skip" conditions on the upper bands
See URL:
http://www.dxlc.com/solar/solcycle.html
Or

http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/2006/04/mid.pdf

One might hear some local line of sight signals but not like the "old" days
--
CL -- I doubt, therefore I might be !






"Dave Edwards" wrote in message
...
I have not had an 11 meter antenna up in the air since around 1972 or so. I
have a clear memory of all the heterodynes and yacking on every channel
that used to go on. I plugged one in again around 1985 or so, because a
buddy of mine had one in his boat, and used it keep it on channel 5. Not
much difference.
Anyway, last weekend...for yucks, I hooked one up to a longwire. I did not
hear a single person on any channel! Perhaps it is the cross polarized
wire antenna.
So, I shot a wire over a branch, and hoisted a CB vertical antenna
..Astron or Antron...something like that...a pretty good fiberglass
antenna!
Still, other than a general high noise level...no signals!
Channel 19 used to be jammed...even with a handheld whip antenna!

Is CB no longer??

Perhaps it might be useful again!!!

Anyone check the band out lately?

....Dave

Is CB dead?
 

"Jerry McCarty" wrote in message
...

I get the best traffic reports available by listening to the truckers.

I'm a retired driver (Sears) and spent a lot of time driving at night in the
Ozark country of N.E. Okla, S.W. Mo and N.W. Ark back in the 60's and 70's.
In those days they still had open range, winding narrow roads that trucks
mirror brackets wouldn't each other by 6 in.. The big danger were "cows in
the road" or "truck jack knifed" just around that next curve. I'm convinced
I would have never survived that job with out the warnings I got over the CB
radio. RM~

PS, All truckers get a bad rap because of a very small minority who act like
idiots on the radio. Most are like you, they don't or rarely xmit.

Is CB dead?
 

"Dave Edwards" wrote in message
...
I have not had an 11 meter antenna up in the air since around 1972 or so. I
have a clear memory of all the heterodynes and yacking on every channel
that used to go on. I plugged one in again around 1985 or so, because a
buddy of mine had one in his boat, and used it keep it on channel 5. Not
much difference.
Anyway, last weekend...for yucks, I hooked one up to a longwire. I did not
hear a single person on any channel! Perhaps it is the cross polarized
wire antenna.
So, I shot a wire over a branch, and hoisted a CB vertical antenna
..Astron or Antron...something like that...a pretty good fiberglass
antenna!
Still, other than a general high noise level...no signals!
Channel 19 used to be jammed...even with a handheld whip antenna!

Is CB no longer??


The Citizens Band (CB) is one of several Personal Radio Services, regulated
by the FCC.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/ind...personal_radio

Outside of usage by trucking industry on the highway, "CB" as known by the
general public during the craze of the 1970s - is as dead as 8-track tapes
(still seen on TV series That 70s Show). Why?

Technology, Politics and Public has moved on .......the original needs
(requirements) that attracted the general public to CB have largely been met
by BETTER solutions for the general public.

1.) Reagan / Bush [41] Administrations, 1980s.
Low tolerance for foul language and unreliability of the communications that
the CB service became in late 1970s - especially with conservative family &
religious groups.
A number of new services were proposed and approved that targeted specific
requirements (e.g. groups that required personal communications
[short-range] without the "non-family" language and behaviors) -- this
became the Family Radio Service (FRS). GMRS and MURS added for small
businesses and organizations.
Most of these changes were completed around 1990.

REQUIREMENT: Quiet, safe communications for families - MET (FRS)
REQUIREMENT: Realizable safe short-distance communications for volunteer,
community and small business usage - MET (GMRS, MURS)

2.) Cellular Telephone development.
Motorola pioneered development of an "analog" (AMPS) cellular telephone
system in late 1970s and early 1980s.
As the nationwide cellular network was built up over the next 15 years --
the ability to have a mobile or car telephone became affordable to anyone.
Today, there are more mobile (cellular) telephones than wired phones in the
US.
In conjunction with the development of "911" centers throughout the US in
the late 1980s and 1990s.

REQUIREMENT: Emergency communications when traveling. MET
Cellular telephones provide a telephone that can call anywhere in the world.
911 service centers provides instant communications to local public-service
agencies.

3.) Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
Originally developed for the military by defense contractors
(Rockwell-Collins was one) in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Civilian usage of GPS was expanded in the 1990s. With President Clinton's
executive order in 1990s - the accuracy of the GPS system (only available to
the military) became available to the general public - worldwide. GPS
systems coupled with a map database is a common automobile option or feature
and readily available as a handheld device (e.g hikers, campers).

REQUIREMENT: Need for directions, when lost or in an unknown area. MET
(GPS)
In addition GM's OnStar system (as advertised on radio & TV) - combines # 2
and # 3 -- 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week.

4.) National WX Service Broadcast Service - Weather Radio
The small National WX broadcast system of the early 1980s was expanded to
cover the entire US. Additional system enhancements included digital alerts
and encoding - for textual information - in addition to the audio broadcast.
Handheld and home receivers readily available. Not yet see as option in US
automobiles.

REQUIREMENT: Notification of severe weather events MET (Expanded NWS)

5.) Internet - expansion and widespread usage.
Another military and research network, it was expended and made accessible
to the public in 1990s. Internet explosion occurs when coupled with
personal computers and with development of HTTP language (web pages) and
browser technologies (Mosaic, Explorer, Firefox). "WiFi" is the mobile
version. New solutions coming to market before end of 2008.

REQUIREMENT: Desire to public to congregate in small groups for incidental
communications and information sharing (including gossip). PARTIALLY MET
Internet Access, Bandwidth and Coverage is still expanding worldwide.

That's a start. Of course there is always propagation (solar cycle) - which
as you may have heard last week - we are better prepared to predict thanks
to observations satellites in solar orbit and computer models (originally
developed for military/Cold War and weather forecasting are applied solar
observation data.

w9gb

Is CB dead?
 

gb wrote:


The Citizens Band (CB) is one of several Personal Radio Services, regulated
by the FCC.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/ind...personal_radio

Outside of usage by trucking industry on the highway, "CB" as known by the
general public during the craze of the 1970s - is as dead as 8-track tapes
(still seen on TV series That 70s Show). Why?

1.) Reagan / Bush [41] Administrations, 1980s.
Low tolerance for foul language and unreliability of the communications that
the CB service became in late 1970s - especially with conservative family &
religious groups.

Oh my, I never realized that was the problem.

-Bill

Is CB dead?
 

"- exray -" wrote in message
...

Oh my, I never realized that was the problem.

-Bill

Congressional record is open for all citizens to read.

gb

Is CB dead?
 

"gb" wrote in message
...
"Dave Edwards" wrote in message
...
I have not had an 11 meter antenna up in the air since around 1972 or so.
I have a clear memory of all the heterodynes and yacking on every channel
that used to go on. I plugged one in again around 1985 or so, because a
buddy of mine had one in his boat, and used it keep it on channel 5. Not
much difference.
Anyway, last weekend...for yucks, I hooked one up to a longwire. I did
not hear a single person on any channel! Perhaps it is the cross
polarized wire antenna.
So, I shot a wire over a branch, and hoisted a CB vertical antenna
..Astron or Antron...something like that...a pretty good fiberglass
antenna!
Still, other than a general high noise level...no signals!
Channel 19 used to be jammed...even with a handheld whip antenna!

Is CB no longer??


The Citizens Band (CB) is one of several Personal Radio Services,
regulated by the FCC.

No **** Columbo. You are an asshat.