Just got back in CB Radio after 23 years

Flying Eagle

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

bigpaddy2004

Flying Eagle wrote: »

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

It has been some time since I have been on it too. Sounds like you are picking up skip from the US at the moment. It will be very difficult to talk to anyone in Ireland until it dies down.

ancl

Skip from the USA has been good for a few days so I agree you are probably hearing them.

I've put a few shouts out on AM/FM on 19 midband, had a couple of hellos back before being wiped out by pager breakthrough or church broadcasts.

PauloMN

CB is dead aside from some truck drivers who use it in convoy, or the odd Glaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanza head. You might have a bit more luck on the higher channels on SSB with a decent home-base antenna, but a 40 channel AM set won't yield much joy especially if using mobile.

gerryk

PauloMN wrote: »

the odd Glaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanza head.

I always thought their antennas had the cable cut off

darkmaster2

Flying Eagle wrote: »

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

As the lads said, the the 40CH AM/FM CB is pretty much dead in Ireland. There are a quite a few stations on SSB up on the higher channels but thats about it, you'll need a different radio to join in that side of the hobby.

I was half thinking of trying to get a CB club going again, but I doubt it will work, with the amount of communication devices we have today people just dont seem to be interested.

sensormatic

ch 37,38,39 are very busy this week on lsb with the usa had some nice contacts there high channels usb is busy too also fm is busy,,poland,,russia and so on,. hard enough to qso on am aboard,,,
my advice is to setup homebase with a sideband radio and away you go

gbee

Flying Eagle wrote: »

I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

You've a lot of answers here. Your antenna is a very important item, any squeezing of the coax would cut you off from transmitting, you power is low so you'd just getting a few miles for local contacts ~ as mentioned an AM only radio is limiting.

You need to try and meet up someone to test your rig.

OldRio

The 1980's. Gosh I feel old.
Started with a Jaws 40. AM mobile, DV27 ariel
Ended up with a converted Yeasu FT101 ZD. 2 element cubical quad for 11m and a home built invered Vee for 45m.

Worked over 100 countrys on 11m. You could listen on 10m and not here a thing and then put a CQ out on 11m and work the world.
I've hundreds of QSL cards from exotic locations.
Good times and thanks for bringing back those memorys.

*sighs, the good old days*

darkmaster2

OldRio wrote: »

Worked over 100 countrys on 11m. You could listen on 10m and not here a thing and then put a CQ out on 11m and work the world.
I've hundreds of QSL cards from exotic locations.
Good times and thanks for bringing back those memorys.

*sighs, the good old days*

Right now 11m is hopping with the whole world coming in. Plenty fun to be have.

jmcc

OldRio wrote: »

*sighs, the good old days*

A whole other century. Started out with a President Veep and had a Pacific, Ham International, Cobra 148GTL-DX and a few others. Even remember the Big-W and Urbs Intacta clubs in Waterford.

Regards...jmcc

darkmaster2

Why did it die off I wonder? I was too young when the first wave came along in the late 70s early 80s but I was on the air when it was very busy around the mid ninties for a bit. Great fun altogether.

Hopefully there will be another revival someday. There is always ham radio but that's just not the same.

Our man in Havana

Mobile phones and texting killed CB.

gbee

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Why did it die off I wonder? Hopefully there will be another revival someday. There is always ham radio but that's just not the same.

Mostly the mobile phone and then the extended Solar Minimum.

Ham can be the same, some CB operators are seeking ham licences in an effort to get away from the imbeciles ruining T5 and I hear Hams complaining about the frequencies being busy and don't like loop calls ~ yet they are seeking new members all the time.

About €500 would set one up with a good CB system new, for Ham, you'd still need your license and then you purchase your equipment and this will be €2,000 for a reliable start kit new but radios are available for over €10,000.

Both can splash out on antenna and towers and repeaters but Ham is moving to handy talkies and D-Star and Skype ~ soon, by the looks of it, CB will be the only true radio system left, and a few diehard traditional Hams.

PauloMN

gbee wrote: »

imbeciles ruining T5

What's T5? 27.555?

gbee wrote: »

About €500 would set one up with a good CB system new, for Ham, you'd still need your license and then you purchase your equipment and this will be €2,000 for a reliable start kit new but radios are available for over €10,000.

Not sure how you come to the €2k figure for a reliable start kit. A new FT-897 can be had for around €500 to €600 depending on exchange rate, that will give you HF and 2m/70cm all mode. Not a bad starter radio. 2nd hand and you can do it cheaper of course. Kits also available for specific bands even cheaper. Antennas to get started can be anything from wire (essentially free) through old CB whips for 10/15/20m, through expensive HF miltibands and beams.

gbee wrote: »

Both can splash out on antenna and towers and repeaters but Ham is moving to handy talkies and D-Star and Skype ~ soon, by the looks of it, CB will be the only true radio system left, and a few diehard traditional Hams.

"True radio" - I hate that expression. Each to their own, some people like data, SSTV, PSK, some like CW, some like voice, some like repeaters, some like echolink etc. etc.. The only thing that irritates me about this hobby is people preaching to others what "true" or "real" radio is (not saying that you are preaching by the way). There's room for everyone as far as I'm concerned.

Our man in Havana

PauloMN wrote: »

What's T5? 27.555?



Not sure how you come to the €2k figure for a reliable start kit. A new FT-897 can be had for around €500 to €600 depending on exchange rate, that will give you HF and 2m/70cm all mode. Not a bad starter radio. 2nd hand and you can do it cheaper of course. Kits also available for specific bands even cheaper. Antennas to get started can be anything from wire (essentially free) through old CB whips for 10/15/20m, through expensive HF miltibands and beams.



"True radio" - I hate that expression. Each to their own, some people like data, SSTV, PSK, some like CW, some like voice, some like repeaters, some like echolink etc. etc.. The only thing that irritates me about this hobby is people preaching to others what "true" or "real" radio is (not saying that you are preaching by the way). There's room for everyone as far as I'm concerned.

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/yaesu-ft-897

Closer to a grand new.

PauloMN

Our man in Havana wrote: »

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/yaesu-ft-897

Closer to a grand new.

Wow, they've increased in price quite a bit. I got mine a few years back when the Euro and Sterling were nearly at parity which helped, but also the sterling price was a lot lower than £800, was more like £500.

There's loads of choice though, FT-817, FT-857, Icom IC-718, Kenwood TS-480 etc. if not willing to look at 2nd hand. Point is €2000 for a starter radio is much too high an estimate imo.

gbee

PauloMN wrote: »

What's T5? 27.555?.

T5 or treble five is 27.555 USB and it gets over powering at times

I took the iCom 706MK2G @ €1,400 and the balance for antenna, cables, connectors.

It takes a lot of understanding and knowhow to make bits work, I was watching the JOTA event, weekend before last, and the scouts made working antennas from barbed wire

watty

My main shack radio is a S/H FT101ZD MKIII. All HF bands. Cost €220, Only a bit less power than FT897. With interference etc, the better sensitivity of FT897 is only significant on VHF & UHF.

Lower bands is a piece of wire 66ft long and higher bands a sloping "vertical" made of a bit of wire suspended by nylon cord from the gable end of the house.

You can get "started" for under €100 probably and other than VHF/UHF it's nearly a waste of money to buy aerials. I bought a CB 5/8ths "silver stick" and replaced the screw/hex hose clamps with thumb types and took out the base loading coil so it "tunes up" on 40m to 6m. Cost about £25 inc postage.

€4 washing line is probably better than barbed wire.

Expensive insulators? No, just use 1m/3' minimum of nylon builders cord, longer the better and far better than "egg" insulators when wet.

The Icom 706MK2G is the world's most overpriced second-hand rig

darkmaster2

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Mobile phones and texting killed CB.

Yup, It does seem that way. People have plenty other ways to communicate these days, The internet is another nail in the coffin of the CB breaker

It is still quite popular in other parts of the world, just not here. It is a shame really.

The gear is readily available to buy in the likes of maplins, just nobody interested or sees a point in it anymore.

jmcc

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Why did it die off I wonder?

Well a lot of the buzz at the time was that it was possible to talk to people in other countries due to skip. (Signals bouncing off the ionosphere and ending up in Kentucky rather than Kerry.) That died off around 1984 or so. The other thing is that where the public is concerned, fads and crazes have distinct lifecycles so as a public craze, CB Radio would have started off in the late 1970s and the movie "Convoy" and a few TV programmes where CBs were essential parts of the plot drove the uptake. By 1983/1984, the Skip started to die down and the hobbyist element either drifted towards Amateur radio or gave up as personal computers were really starting to kick in from 1980-1985. A craze or fad generally needs a constant influx of people to keep it alive and once CB began to be commonplace, many people just ran out of things to talk about with people with which they had very little in common. With Amateur radio, the subject (the technology and the connectivity) is really the topic so it attracts techies (people who work with technology) and hobbyist techies. You can see much the same thing with the early dial-up Bulletin Board Systems, IRC, Usenet and many other events. They flare up, everyone with the necessary equipment starts to use them, then as they mature, people stop using them because they were replaced by better options. (The internet, Instant Messenger etc.)

Hopefully there will be another revival someday. There is always ham radio but that's just not the same.

Don't know if there will be a revival as a core driver for CB was being able to talk to people when you wanted without having to pay phone charges. Now, as was pointed out earlier, people have mobile phones and far lower phone charges. Actually there's a good argument that the rise of texting was a response to the idiotically high phone charges.

Regards...jmcc

zenno

QSK...

I used to use ssb to talk to a few people in america but most of the time back then i talked to locals and hey do you people remember mindy up in the dublin mountains ? there used to be a group that went up the dublin mountains back in the early 90's around the hell fire club that used to be a great buzz. I think the 40 ch. band here in dublin anyway is dead but there might be a few die-hard folks still using it.

darkmaster2

zenno wrote: »

QSK...

I used to use ssb to talk to a few people in america but most of the time back then i talked to locals and hey do you people remember mindy up in the dublin mountains ? there used to be a group that went up the dublin mountains back in the early 90's around the hell fire club that used to be a great buzz. I think the 40 ch. band here in dublin anyway is dead but there might be a few die-hard folks still using it.

Yeah, we used to go up to the mountains quite a bit and park up an antron 99 or just a standard magmount antenna and you could get most of Ireland with just a little bit of height.

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.

zenno

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Yeah, we used to go up to the mountains quite a bit and park up an antron 99 or just a standard magmount antenna and you could get most of Ireland with just a little bit of height.

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.

excellent. was thinking a while back of getting into it again but tvi was a problem around here. I might give it a listen sometime in the near future and maybe set up a good dipole or antenna. miss that stuff thinking of it now.

darkmaster2

zenno wrote: »

excellent. was thinking a while back of getting into it again but tvi was a problem around here. I might give it a listen sometime in the near future and maybe set up a good dipole or antenna. miss that stuff thinking of it now.

TVI isnt much of a problem anymore due to satellite tv, cable and digital tv in general. You should give it a go.

watty

Terrestrial Digital TV can be wiped out EASIER by CB!

Especially any kind of amp/booster/boots/afterburner (all illegal and almost none have the low pass filters needed by a P.A.)

Cable TV is vulnerable too.

Molloys Clondalkin

Im causing TVI om 40 meters but not on 20!!! Confusing the hell out of me I think my bb5 is knackered as it doesnt seem to happen on the g5rv.

I have to get my president washington back from the "doctor"
Then ill go 555 it was dead earlier tonight.

darkmaster2

watty wrote: »

Terrestrial Digital TV can be wiped out EASIER by CB!

Especially any kind of amp/booster/boots/afterburner (all illegal and almost none have the low pass filters needed by a P.A.)

Cable TV is vulnerable too.

I always found the worst culprit for causing TVI were crappy low grade uhf masthead preamps. Those things drag in some amount of muck.

Most operators on the 11m band use icoms,kenwoods,yaesus nowadays. Yes I know it's illegal, unlicenced, freebanders etc, but thats just the way it is, worldwide. At least there will be less chance of interference from users of those higher quality rigs.

watty

Tetra is forcing people to ditch that rubbish

sensormatic

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.[/QUOTE]


have you not checked channel 38 and 39 lsb because the usa,canada and so on are booming in every day/night for the last 2 months theres great dx there

darkmaster2

sensormatic wrote: »

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.

have you not checked channel 38 and 39 lsb because the usa,canada and so on are booming in every day/night for the last 2 months theres great dx there[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I have made a few contacts on those channels alright. Chocoblock with stations. Way too many at times

Tetra is forcing people to ditch that rubbish

I thought you meant for a second that tetra was replacing hobby radio


I think I read on boards before that tetra causes trouble with those masthead amps alright. Do people replace them with higher quality units or get rid of them completely?