Who if any one still uses a CB?

[neub]

I took mine out couple weeks after i got the motorhome. Turned it on on the drive from tx where i bought the rv and driving home to mn didnt hear anything but static on most of the channels....much prefer streaming music

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by AnotherMike

Like the previous poster said, CB is the lowest common denominator in 2-way radio.

The biggest technical issue with CB is that a truly effective antenna is 9 feet long. Anything shorter is a compromise and results in less range.

I have a ham radio, a CB and a commercial 2-way radio in my RV, and all prove useful.

And a ham radio license is trivial to get - at our last class and test session we had an 8 year old pass on their first try.

AnotherMike,
May I ask, what are you referring to as a “commercial “ radio?
Scott

[AbdRahim]

Uniden in MH, Connex in truck, Galaxy somewhere. Have had Cobras.

[AnotherMike]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

AnotherMike,
May I ask, what are you referring to as a “commercial “ radio?
Scott

The ham radio is a dual band (146 MHz and 440 MHz) the "commercial" radio is a retired Motorola radio that was originally made for the 42-50 MHz frequencies. I acquired it in surplus (it was retired by a fire department) and converted it to 43-54 MHz as there is a ham band at 50-54. I am semi retired and associated with a local 2-way radio shop (I've known the owner through ham radio since the late 1970s) and I know a bunch of people in the local Red Cross chapters. As long as I had extra channel positions in the radio I programmed the nationwide Red Cross channel at 47.42 MHz and several local Chapters have licensed additional channels in the 47.5 to 47.6 MHz range.

I chose to use the old fire department radio as it was darned near free, and public safety (i.e. police and fire) commercial radios are built to a much higher quality than any ham radio. They are usually much more sensitive and much more immune to interference.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by AnotherMike

The ham radio is a dual band (146 MHz and 440 MHz) the "commercial" radio is a retired Motorola radio that was originally made for the 42-50 MHz frequencies. I acquired it in surplus (it was retired by a fire department) and converted it to 43-54 MHz as there is a ham band at 50-54. I am semi retired and associated with a local 2-way radio shop (I've known the owner through ham radio since the late 1970s) and I know a bunch of people in the local Red Cross chapters. As long as I had extra channel positions in the radio I programmed the nationwide Red Cross channel at 47.42 MHz and several local Chapters have licensed additional channels in the 47.5 to 47.6 MHz range.

I chose to use the old fire department radio as it was darned near free, and public safety (i.e. police and fire) commercial radios are built to a much higher quality than any ham radio. They are usually much more sensitive and much more immune to interference.

Hey Mike,
Thanks for getting back to me on this. I've been a Ham for about 11 years now (just renewed my license) and am getting into it a tad deeper than I was for the first ten years. But, still a "Tech".
Scott

[ziaptrn]

And wish that more rv users on the road did. It would be nice to meet folks and chat on long hauls.
That said...The best use for our Cobra 29 has been when there are accidents or traffic problems. It has saved us many hours of sitting dead still...or worse...creep and go...just by getting a heads-up
Just my .02

[richard5933]

We have a Galaxy CB in our coach and it's turned on every time the coach is used. To me it's considered a safety feature that no cell phone or GPS can duplicate.

True, the airwaves are often filled with silence or mindless gibberish, but when there is a traffic situation or sudden problem the CB is often where I find out first. As example is last week driving back to Milwaukee through the Wisconsin Dells area - freeway is kind of windy so you can't see too far ahead. It was raining heavy and traffic was thick. Hearing on CB that traffic was coming to a halt at a particular mile marker ahead allowed me time to dry my brakes, leave extra space ahead of me, and make preparations to slow down safely. Sure beats trying to making an emergency stop with wet drum brakes in heavy traffic.