CB Radio

[NovaLC]

I recently bought a CB radio mainly for the weather channel, but I'd also like to be able to communicate with other plowers in the area.

I know absolutely nothing about this thing and I really have no idea how to use it, the manual doesn't help much either.

How do I contact someone else with a CB, like a friend or another plower. I have 40 channels, but I can only hear maybe 1 or 2 channels at a time, and it's usually truckers with heavy southern accents, which doesn't make sense to me because I'm in Canada :confused:

Or let's say I'm done my route and I have some extra time on my hands, how would I put out a message to the others plowers in the area that if they need help I'm available.

I've had this thing for two weeks now and I still haven't been able to talk to anyone.

[wyldman]

Channel 19 is where most of the truckers hang out,and channel 10 is usually for local talking.A lot of the "southern" stuff your hearing is skip,or signals that are bouncing around from far away.

You need to find out what channels guys hang out on if you want to get a hold of them.Pick a common channel that everyone can tune to when out plowing so you can keep in touch.We sometimes use channel 40 if we are using CB's.Now with the two ways,we pretty much just use those and the cell phones

Don't expect any kind of huge range,maybe only a mile or two with a cheap radio and antenna.You also must tune your antenna to get the best performance from it.Antenna placement plays a big part in the signal direction as well.

Try testing the unit,to see if it works.Try channel 19,and turn the squelch all the way down.Now key the mike and say "Break 1-9 for a radio check.Someone will hopefully reply and tell you it's working.If you get no reply,then either no one is nearby to answer,or you have a problem with your unit.

[D&T Repair]

You can also get an amplifier added inline with your antannae.
My CB will reach around 30 miles, depending on weather, area, etc.

The higher your antannae reaches, the greater signal you will receive. But check your area for policies regarding height!

As far as contacting other people, just stick with the same channel(s) that your "friends" use.

My friends and I normally use Channel 24, and have an alternate channel in case of noise, or others interfering.

[campi]

i have been using a cb radio for over 30 yrs with my big trucks and pick up depends how much $$$ you want to spend?? you can have peaked and tuned , I ihave upper & lower channels 150 in all alot you can do just depends what your looking to get out of it it can get involved, like wyldman said, you should tune in your antenna, that helps alot even with stock system, most people just install cb and antenna, with out tunning everything and dont know why they cant get out to far, can get really involved if you wanted to! Campi !!!!!

[wyldman]

I have an SWR meter around somewhere.Your welcome to borrow it if you want to set up your antenna.

I can drop it out with your Timbrens if you want. :D

[mac]

We use CB radio, and love them. We get awesome range with them, but it seems the more expense the system cost, the better the range is. It makes life so much easier when you’re plowing with someone else.

[NovaLC]

Originally posted by wyldman
I have an SWR meter around somewhere.Your welcome to borrow it if you want to set up your antenna.

I can drop it out with your Timbrens if you want. :D

Thanks for the offer Chris. I was thinking about just buying the thing at Radio Shack, but will I need it again after I tune it? It's only $30 so it's not that big of a deal.

I think I need to tune it because I tried what you suggested and no one replied.

I'm not looking to go crazy with this thing, I just wanted the weather band mainly and the ocassional chat with whoever is around at 3am plowing. The weather band comes in loud and clear.

Sometimes I can catch two people having a conversation and it's very clear, other times I will get absolutely nothing on all 40 channels.

Well thanks guys, I'll try tuning the antenna and see what happens.

[NovaLC]

btw, it's a Cobra 18 WX ST II and the antenna is a Cobra HG A1500 High Gear magnet mount.

[Roger Dodger]

I'm on my soap box so hold on tight!;)

There are some very smart and well qualified people on this board regarding snowplowing/ice control, however when it comes to radios, that's my realm, and I believe I wear that hat! pimp

Nova LC,
Perhaps you can return the radio or sell it? If not, make the best of it then. The radios from Radio Short and those Cobra Nightw@tch/Soundcr@pper radios are not the Cobras of days gone by. They look nice and work for the most part but, certainly not the killer chassis' of older Cobra/Unidens. If you can scrounge up a bit of extra money you would be way ahead to buy a Galaxy CB (not their export models), A Midland 79-290 (has sideband & 10ch weather too), the Midland Powermax (straight CB), or even the Cherokee or Magnum brand of radios. Cobra High Gear equipment is low performance, plain & simple. You mention of poor receive capabilities and it may likely be due to poor receiver tuning at the factory as well as poor antenna design.

The most significant and legal improvement one can do to a CB radio is to attach a quality mic. Stock mics are awful and should be given to folks that we don't want to hear from!! Mics with names like Road King, Astatic, Turner, Telex... and not necessarily power mics. For mobile operations you want to reduce as much as possible the background noise of your environment, certainly not amplify it by using a power mic. That's where so many, many folks make the wrong turn. The tenmptation of using a power mic is great and they feel that it will slam a loud signal into their CB radio and so it's going to sound louder in other's radios as a result. Nothing is further from the truth and often it's nothing but distortion and fuzzy audio, not to mention battery replacement and leakage. The noise cancelling mics will send only your voice freqs., and with a "natural punch" of their own. The difference between intelligible communications from the avg. stock mic and a high quality after market noise cancelling mic is astounding!! Just talk very close to the windscreen and you will receive reports of clear sounding speech, more natural to your own voice.

The Galaxy & Midland radios are constructed very well, w/ the Midlands likely priced to be more affordable. The above mentioned radios can be found new at truck stops w/ CB shops or on-line at some very good prices. You can PM me if you need some sources for on-line vendors. As for picking up an old radio, look for the old models of Cobra 29LTD, 142GTL, 148GTL, Sears Roadtalker 40 radios, Realistic Navaho, older GE & Midland. eBay is an excellent source for many of these and they sell for reasonable. Now those are radios worth their weight and performers far above today's whimpy radios. In the hands of the "right" tech, they are true performers and talkers!

Be careful of old radios from owners who advertise that they were peaked & tuned. Far too often some techie gets inside and twiddles with the pots/cans and coils thinking the wattmeter shows all. A good communications scope will reveal what the hacking has really done to the radio. Lot's of seat o' the pants techies out there butchering potentially great radios at the innocent ignorance of owners who are looking for extra radio performance. So many a good radio ruined by hackers!

As for antennas, the single best location to mount it is center roof of vehicle. Fender mounts create lopsided transmission patterns. Brands like K40, Antenna Specialists, Wilson are very good and top performers. Again, avoid High Gear, Radio Short and anything at a dept. store! A well made older radio and good antenna, properly installed and tuned to each other will easily transmit several miles reliably--- note I said reliably, and often even further, out to 10mi and beyond depending on factors, not requiring power amps and illegal cr@p like that to offset the poor performance from an improper setup from the start. Copy & print my words here, then show them to a licensed, factory trained communications technician and he'll agree with them. Maybe he'll even do the antenna adjustments for you and tweak the radio's reception. It surprising how many new radios can be tweaked to receive considerably better and that in itself makes the difference between grabbing fringe signals vs. hearing static!

I'm a bit surprised at the mentioning of illegal amplifiers and having extra channels being posted here since that activity is no doubt against FCC rules & regs. in the USA. I don't know about Canada's communic. rules & regs. other than I believe you share the same frequency band the US uses, only in Canada, it's called GRS, General Radio Service. Those "extra" 150 channels that some folks "freeband" on are freqs. used by the US govt., Mexico, and for radio control of toys and other items.

Adding a poweramp creates problems for everyone in more ways than one. Unless the amplifier is "Type Accepted", the design is extremely poor and results in tremendous radio interference to all sorts of items. They can even interfere with vehicle ABS brakes, PCM control systems, municipal & public safety communications, let alone mobile sound. Most people don't have a clue as how to properly tune a radio that is to mate to an outboard amplifier and that's where the problems spawn. The CB band would be a whole lot quieter and manageable if more amplifiers were simply turned off/disconnected rather than everyone trying to out-do and step over each other giving us the cluttered noise we so often hear. A receive-only pre-amp is another matter and is legal.

So don't get caught up in high wattage readings on the meter or low SWR numbers as well. While other's radios might boast 7-10watts @ 130% modulation, w/ 1.25:1 SWR, mine is a measely 2.5 watts @ 100% mod., 1.35:1 SWR. Difference lies in how that signal is processed before it flew up the antenna as well as the amount of radiated signal! I have no problems being heard without the use of an illegal amplifier.

[AltaLawn]

TTT.

That is such a good post by Mr Dodger, I wanted to bring it up.

I've just started researching CBs now...just got the idea. Years ago I owned a cheapo model.
I'm thinking about a cb / scanner combo (if possible and legal)..and maybe a couple of hand sets..if they will reach out enough.

I know some guys I can go to after t eHoidays...they are into it big time...they have Am Ham licenses for their Cbs...it a hobby to them, and they sell teh equipment too.