About a year ago i started into the world of radio prepping. My main focus was a reliable radio system to communicate between my home and my vehicles. In the US you can go ham or you can go cb, frs, gmrs. In the interest to keep my prepping off the grid as much as possible i settled onto CB. My firm belief is that if you are under the understanding that there are limitations to CB and are inherently not the best radio system, you will still be surprised and pleased with the capabilities of CB. For my own preps, i have a Midland 78-22 that can be a handheld or a mobile with additional mag mount. I have a Uniden 980SSB in my truck that i use daily for traffic and weather and to talk to local cb'ers, up to 15-20 miles away. I have a Galaxy 2517 10 meter convert as my base station with an A-99 antenna. This gets me out a farther than my mobile. Recently i finished my go box project which includes cb, amp, swr meter, speaker, pa horn two antenna mounts, anderson powerpole power distribution. This go box runs off a 40 ah bioenno LiFePo4 battery for extended use. All of this is in a hefty tool box and will serve as a portable base station when camping, hunting, and SHTF. Again my main focus is local contact and communication reliable communication between my home and mobile locations. Skip allows further contacts when possible. Once everything is dialed in i find it a reliable and effective means of communication. Again, i am realistic in knowing my CB is not a Ham, but it serves a purpose. I am also not ignorant to the fact that there are some crazy's out there (channel 6 etc) but locally i have found that there are many truckers still using cb, as well as a dedicated few cb base stations that are like minded. Things that can defiantly come in handy.
CB is a great local communications tool. I got my first one when I was 14, a Lafayette LM-300, followed by a President Jackson. During the height of a solar cycle it will skip worldwide. Right now, not so often... I am sure I will end up buying another one some time, A president Grant II probably.
Gil.
I picked up a Uniden Pro 510xl and a Hustler mag mount from a guy on craigslist the other day for $25. I was amazed at how well it works. All of it was band new in the original packaging. I heard some truck drivers loading gravel at a local quarry about 12 miles from my house, they gave me a 59 signal report. I also was surprised to hear them talking like 'normal' people, no CB slang. The 510 is still rated the best CB for the price in 2017. All in all a good experience.
Joel
N6ALT
Quote from: caulktel on November 08, 2017, 09:44:57 AM
I picked up a Uniden Pro 510xl and a Hustler mag mount from a guy on craigslist the other day for $25. I was amazed at how well it works. All of it was band new in the original packaging. I heard some truck drivers loading gravel at a local quarry about 12 miles from my house, they gave me a 59 signal report. I also was surprised to hear them talking like 'normal' people, no CB slang. The 510 is still rated the best CB for the price in 2017. All in all a good experience.
Joel
N6ALT
I hear local quarrys and loading docks all the time. Usually on channel 11. I don't know if that is standard but my Uniden 980SSB has scan feature which makes it easy to hear who is on or not. I turn it on as soon as i start my vehicle up in the morning.
You have to go with whatever works for the area you are in. And around here, that's CB. There are a couple of guys using MURS programmed Chinese mobile's while operating heavy equipment several miles away and I get them on my scanner around lunch time. They keep their qso's short and to the point. CB on the other hand is still the wild wild west of radio communications around here. Foul language, 800 watt amps (Class A-B no less!), music in the background, drug deals openly discussed, etc. Ch 32 is the only place locally to find a sane conversation, mostly retired blue collar types. I really enjoy talking to them. But even that channel has this one guy with a heavily distorted S-7 signal with 300 watts of what I can only imagine is a Class C amp. He can hear everyone just fine with their stock radio's. But claims he cannot shutoff his amp, says that it is inside his radio with no switches of any kind and he just plays dumb about it. "This is how the radio came from the guy who sold it to me, nothing I can do". Total BS in my opinion. At least I can switch over to the ham bands to avoid this guy. But the non-hams are simply stuck with him. This is what's wrong with CB. The only comforting thought is that this guy will not be on the air in a grid-down situation. Unfortunately, neither will most of the other guys. I've made a point of getting on the CB during power outtages just to see who's on the air. More often than not, its just me.
When hurricane Sandy hit and took out the power, landlines, cell towers and internet in many areas, CB was pretty much the only reliable communications still available for the average citizen!
Definitely a good band for local communications. Looking back at my CB days, the one thing I lacked the most back then was a good understanding of antennas. I had no idea about the different kinds of antennas I could have used to extend range, beams, Moxon, wire antennas, etc. The standard was the quarter-wave vertical with radials, or the 5/8 like the excellent Solarcon Imax 2000. Mobile antennas ranged from the very good to ridiculous.
Bottom line is, had I studied antennas, I could have gotten much more from CB. That would be my best advise to CBers, study and try many types of antennas!
Gil.