CB Radio

darkmaster2

So who on the forum is active on the CB these days? I still have one in the car and a homebase but really only talk to Dx stations when propagation is right. There seems to be very little local activity. Back in 1995 it was really hopping, but mobile phones and the internet have taken over the social interest that there was in CB. All that seem to be left are the radio anoraks and DX'ers.

Anyone else out there on the 19? or 11 if you are in the city boi!

gbee

Have a CB but I've taken it indoors. I've only made a very few contacts, around Cork county ~ despite a healthy enough response on the FrequencyDB forum.

humaxf1

I have an antron 99 temporarily lashed up on a railings in the back garden & I'm hoping to move it higher to a pole up on the roof soon. It's hard to gauge how the skip has been with my aerial down so low and blocked by the house, but can hear mainland europe stations faintly. The odd time I can hear Dublin stations having a quit natter, but that's about it.

Driving around Dublin, I see CB whips on cars so there are people on the air but not as many as there were in the 80s/90s. Hopefully it will revive itself, but at times I think PMR 446MHz is the new "CB"

anto546

hello i recently am after getting into cb and i have picked up germans and italians only when propagation was good.i had just a standard 40 channel AM/FM cb up to a week ago and now im after getting a cobra 148 gtl dx that i bought of a guy on ebay and it has all the modes including ssb, seemly their is a club that are chatting on 27.515 mhz USB every night. Might listen in and make a call and see if i get a response. hopefully i wont annoy anyone because im only getting into it :-(. I suppose cb would be alot more popular if their was alot more radio shops around and investment in it. i even rang directory inquires for the number to south east communications in waterford becausi i was looking for a cb arieal and she couldn't find the number in her list 'she didn't seem too interested on the phone' and i even asked in a few electrical shops in waterford city where it was and nobody knew where it was nor even ever heard of the place! So i ended up getting one off toner electronics near the centre she was a really nice lady in their so ill go back if i need anything else. Hopefully it will come back its very interesting my father is big into radio thats where i got the interest but he's been gone away from cb for years and has been an amature radio oparator since the 70's and talks to a group of lads in america and italy whenever propagation is good. anyway hope to hear someone on im usually listening in on channel 7 AM AND THE SAME FREQUENCY USB sundays and mondays when im off at different times around the carlow/kildare area if anyone is on send me a call im THE CHIPPER MAN.

Lurching

I think they're a bit more common over here in Oz, I have one in my Ute, living in Sydney. Its mostly whinging train drivers or truckies you hear.

gbee

Lurching wrote: »

I think they're a bit more common over here in Oz, I have one in my Ute, living in Sydney. Its mostly whinging train drivers or truckies you hear.

Oz = Crocodile Dundee, XXX Beer and Radio.

Main difference between us is ye still use the radio as a working tool, CB and Ham are only recreational usage for us.

humaxf1

anto546 wrote: »

hello i recently am after getting into cb and i have picked up germans and italians only when propagation was good

When conditions are good, FM carries very well. The Germans & Dutch like their FM talking local to each other.

gu10

Lurching wrote: »

I think they're a bit more common over here in Oz, I have one in my Ute, living in Sydney. Its mostly whinging train drivers or truckies you hear.

is it UHF CB?

I used to have a CB but there was way too much interference if i had the car running, so i got rid of it

fat-tony

anto546 wrote: »

... i even rang directory inquires for the number to south east communications in waterford becausi i was looking for a cb arieal and she couldn't find the number in her list 'she didn't seem too interested on the phone' and i even asked in a few electrical shops in waterford city where it was and nobody knew where it was nor even ever heard of the place! ...

Googled "south east communications" - first hit www.sec.ie click on the "contact us" link and you'll get all the phone numbers and addresses you need!

Ratchet

humaxf1 wrote: »

When conditions are good, FM carries very well. The Germans & Dutch like their FM talking local to each other.

yeah germany and some countries in easter europe use them a lot......traffic info , accident warning, de-tours info, boyz in blue spotter sometimes better then gps as you get advise from guys that would be driving a lot

i was impressed anyway, nice if you can use it

darkmaster2

Really good conditions the last couple of days on 27mhz.
Plenty of USA, Caribbean, and south america booming in.

Conditions are really starting to pick up.

Captain Commie

Used to be on it about 5-6 years ago in county antrim.

Used to own a maycom em27 as well as a president lincoln, was on for about a year and had good craic on it, used to hit scotland quite often, only got mainland europe on rare occasions, used to take the maycom in the car with my uncle on a saturday, would drive to some high ground and would make some great contacts

Felim_Doyle

I used to be on in Dublin in the early eighties and had some good DX contacts on AM and SSB as well as a lot of local contacts on AM and was involved in a few clubs both local and DX. I somehow dropped out of radio altogether, both CB and amateur, when I started working in the IT industry. I live in the UK now and in recent years have begun getting back into amateur and CB radio (local FM only so far) but I really need to sort out some antennas.

Félim M3HIM
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

darkmaster2

I'm pretty much the same. I left the airwaves back in 2000 or so, and have only recently bought some more radio gear to get back on air. I have mostly only had DX contacts since I have returned, there isn't a soul on the radio within 20 miles of the QTH.

We might hear you on the air sometime Félim, when conditions are right.
All the best, 29AT133, 29WF057.

Felim_Doyle wrote: »

I used to be on in Dublin in the early eighties and had some good DX contacts on AM and SSB as well as a lot of local contacts on AM and was involved in a few clubs both local and DX. I somehow dropped out of radio altogether, both CB and amateur, when I started working in the IT industry. I live in the UK now and in recent years have begun getting back into amateur and CB radio (local FM only so far) but I really need to sort out some antennas.

Félim M3HIM
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

Felim_Doyle

darkmaster2 wrote: »

We might hear you on the air sometime Félim, when conditions are right.

Well Mallow is pretty much due west from Aylesbury so, in the short term, a wire dipole or inverted V antenna hung off my gable end wall should have some chance of reaching you!



Félim M3HIM
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

darkmaster2

Felim_Doyle wrote: »

Well Mallow is pretty much due west from Aylesbury so, in the short term, a wire dipole or inverted V antenna hung off my gable end wall should have some chance of reaching you!

Yeah, might have to wait until spring summer next year before we get good propagation to the Uk again. When conditions are right then I'll expect you to come in top of the scale

Have a look on www.dx27.net . A lot of the lads on the 11 meters hang out there chatting, there is a dx cluster and forum, live streams etc.

73' !

DublinWriter

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Back in 1995 it was really hopping

Never mind 1995, in 1982 it was totally hopping, CB's were the mobile phones of the day back then.

darkmaster2

DublinWriter wrote: »

Never mind 1995, in 1982 it was totally hopping, CB's were the mobile phones of the day back then.

I wasn't old enough to have a cb in '82. But I hear it was great craic. There was a huge revival in the mid 90's though, Just before the internet, mobile phones and the peak of the solar cycle killed the 40 channels stone dead.

Magnum

I'm just starting to get back into this again, I used to have a Superstar 3900 a couple of years ago and used do a bit of DXing from the car up on a hill. So I've went and purchased another 3900, power supply and aerial, should be back on the airwaves next week...

I need to get a list of frequencies again, I've even forgotten what the DX channel is ,,,,,,,,

sensormatic

channel 12 band d will be 27 555 usb mode for international dx callout

Felim_Doyle

You say 'Band D', so how many legal/illegal bands are in regular use in Ireland and what range of frequencies does each cover?

Back in the early eighties I don't remember there being much activity outside of the regular 40 channels although some rigs did go 40 below and 40 above so giving about 1500kHz coverage. Sometimes you went to the upper band just to have a quiet local chat on SSB and occasionally you would come across an overseas operator, often using amateur radio equipment rather than modified CB gear. The lower band did tend to have more European and maybe some South American activity but, even at the height of the sunspot 'skip' cycle, it wasn't that busy, AFAICR.

Magnum

sensormatic wrote: »

channel 12 band d will be 27 555 usb mode for international dx callout

Here she is Superstar3900EFT, except my 27.555 is not on band D as seen below

Magnum

Anyone else got a Superstar ?

jmcc

DublinWriter wrote: »

Never mind 1995, in 1982 it was totally hopping, CB's were the mobile phones of the day back then.

Old Skool. Here's to us and those like us - damned few left!

Regards...jmcc

bassy

ah the good old days indeed,i used to be on the cb radio back in the mid 90,s
i came back about 2 years ago and done some dx on 11m,but found a lot of messers and mute keyers.
so went and done my radio experimenters exam and glad to say i passed

Felim_Doyle

I passed the Radio Experimenters' examination almost 30 years ago but never collected my licence. I didn't want to have a Class B call sign and then get a Class A one later but my arrangements for Morse tuition fell through and I lapsed from radio altogether once I embarked on a career in the IT industry. I believe that my exam paper may still be in the ComReg archives so I might still be able to get my licence without having to resit, I just need to come up with the €100.

Félim M3HIM
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

Felim_Doyle

I was known as the Space Shuttle in the late seventies and early eighties. I used a variety of kit in the few years I was active, partly because I repaired and modified equipment for others and got to play with their gear for a few days but I also had loaners from a dealer I knew for a while.

It all started with a President Veep (the American term for a Vice President - VP) 40 channel AM only rig. It was the VP because it was President's smallest and most basic model of the time although later versions of it added FM and a local/DX button as I recall (or was it a display bright/dim button). My aunt who lived and worked in Florida brought it home as a present. I had been interested in radio and electronics before that but having a proper transceiver of my own really go me enthusiastic about it. My aunt had also previously supplied me with pictures and posters of the Space Shuttle and its SRBs being tested, so that's where I got the handle from.

My best rig was a President Adams which had AM, USB and LSB and which I modified to operate outside the standard CB range of frequencies and power. I even used it on the 10m Amateur band using a valid club call sign. I also had a Radio Shack unit (I forget the exact make/model) which was based on the same Uniden board and chip set as the President Adams and so was effectively the same radio but just not as nice looking.

Félim M3HIM
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

sparkynash

Hi there I know this thread is old but I too loved the cb back in 1996,97,98 years,,,handle was alfa...I still have my stalker 9 but no aerial. I used the stalker 9 and a k40 and a 200 watt amp.I would love to put it back in the car but I don't know if anyone is on the 19 anymore...

WiredSpark101

sparkynash wrote: »

Hi there I know this thread is old but I too loved the cb back in 1996,97,98 years,,,handle was alfa...I still have my stalker 9 but no aerial. I used the stalker 9 and a k40 and a 200 watt amp.I would love to put it back in the car but I don't know if anyone is on the 19 anymore...

Still breakers on CB in Ireland, mainly using USB rigs now and calling on 27.555.
Give it a listen, even on 19, you'll defo hear someone