Community Forums

gordon23 · 09-23-2005, 03:54 AM

I'm new this year and when I bought our MH I was told to get a CB. The previous owner had one mounted and took it with him leaving only the antenna and cable.

After three months of RVing we feel the need for more than our cell phone to get help or directions etc.

Does anyone have comments they can offer if it's a useful tool or just for truckers.

gordon23 · 09-23-2005, 03:54 AM

I'm new this year and when I bought our MH I was told to get a CB. The previous owner had one mounted and took it with him leaving only the antenna and cable.

After three months of RVing we feel the need for more than our cell phone to get help or directions etc.

Does anyone have comments they can offer if it's a useful tool or just for truckers.

rhandley · 09-23-2005, 04:02 AM

I had one - used it only once. I found that listening to it was not enhancing my proper english at all. I was learning new words, though. Like, &*%%$, and @3@, and ?##@!&. I sold the Cobra and I find that I dont miss it.

Gary RVRoamer · 09-23-2005, 04:41 AM

While some people swear by their CB, I only find them useful when traveling with other RVers in a caravan, something we do only rarely. And even then, a "family" 2-way radio is less expensive and more convenient, though shorter in range than a CB.

You already have the antenna and you can readily pick up used CBs at garage sales and flea markets, so don't rush out and spend big bucks for a nice new one.

Lorna · 09-23-2005, 08:54 AM

This is just our opinion (my parents used to be members of 2 CB clubs back in the 70's so I'm biased

). We have CB's for all our vehicles. We only turn them on to see what is happening with traffic. They are to back up the cell phones since we travel in places that don't always have cell phone coverage. I bought David a new one and when my Dad died, I got all his older CB radios (one is in the Jeep). As far as the language, I haven't heard anything that was worse than what I heard in school. Mostly when someone started cussing, someone else would censor them and tell them that there were kids listening in and no one wanted to hear language like that anyway. You might be surprised how many of the truckers haul their kids with them now.

Novi · 09-24-2005, 05:15 PM

I've had one for years also. Don't usually find any RVers to talk to. I monitor the truckers channel 19 for traffic and road conditions, and for that it has been most useful. If the lanquage gets too foul then I leave it off. RVers have been talking about using channel 13 as our channel but it has not happened.

DickNJo · 09-24-2005, 06:30 PM

I have been using CB since you had to license them with the FCC. I have reported accidents to channel 9, while watching them happen. I have avoided many situations by bypassing them based on information received on CB. I find the language objectionable at times, but have heard as bad or worse from the mouths of middle school girls. I wish the RV community would get serious about CH 13, as the pleasure boaters have, but I never get a comeback even from rigs sporting a "I monitor CH 13" sticker, so I will continue on 19, while hoping for better days ahead.

MMouser · 09-24-2005, 06:53 PM

The CB radio in reality is one of the strongest safety tools the modern hiway traveler has at their disposal.
For the commercial trucker it is much more than just a way to keep occupied while traveling the hiways and byways of America. In most situations you are in control of the largest vehicle you will ever operate. Traveling at highway speeds just inches away from 65'+ trucks weighing 80,000lbs. It is nice to know you can talk to any one of them when there is a need.
Most people listening to the CB do not know how to read between the lines so to speak.
The CB offers knowledge of the road many, many miles ahead or behind you. It may offer important information as to the destination you may be arriving at late at night. It can save lives. You would not know what was just over the hill in front of you if that vehicle in the other direction did not inform you of the spill or wreck just in front of you over the hill.
You may not have found out about the bridge out since it just happened, before the authorities got the 411. By the way most state troopers monitor the CB.
Truckers travel with the confidence that they are all inter connected, in communication. It may not seem like it listening to the lingo. Even truckers turn off the radio, yet it is there when needed.
There are some vary good hand held 4 watt CB's available. Cobra makes one that I am going to install (let sit near the window) in the coach. The main thing is you will know what is down the road and be able to avoid it. Making the decision miles in advance, before you have wasted time and fuel.
I have had a CB for forty-five years (KMP-1808)and except for the past few months have not been without one.

DonavonP · 09-25-2005, 05:25 AM

I had an opportunity to sit with a semi driver in Clear Water, MN at a truck stop dinner. He had a PhD in physics. He dropped out of the college he was taaching at because of euphorian politics.

I think you should have a CB. They're fun if nothing else.

TXiceman · 09-25-2005, 05:57 AM

I still carry a CB, but seldom plug it in or listen to it. Just too much trash talk on it. Since I got a HAM ticket (amatuer radio) I have the CB on even less.

Just too much potty mouth talk and gripping about the 4-wheelers.

Ken

Eddielee · 09-28-2005, 03:27 PM

I too have CB'd for 40+ years (KRA0369). I still have every radio I ever owned and they sit on the shelf in my shop along with their respective antennas. I once supported my self and family desigining, building and installing base/mobile CB and Ham antennas. NEVER AGAIN! I use GMRS/FRS/cell phone now - no skip and no foul language. Ah, but some of the stories I could tell; shoot'n skip with a handheld using a Grid-dipped barbed wire fence as an antenna.... Swichable co-phased bare-foot RV antennas that put out and overpowering base stations running linear amplifiers... Sigh, the 50's and 60's were the good old days for CB.

John66 · 09-29-2005, 10:29 AM

A good, reasonably priced compromise is the 'all in the microphone' Cobra CB (sometimes on sale at Camping World for $99).

You wire a small box to power and antenna (and perhaps speaker) in the RV or tow vehicle (and perhaps in the toad, trailer and/or other vehicle). Then you plug in the microphone and you have CB, the weather bands, and even a scanner for all 40 CB channels.

CB is for safety, but often not for entertainment. For entertainment, I like the 2M ham unit (ham license required, but you don't have to learn Morse code). If you can hit a repeater, you can really do some talking. There is a 'repeater directory' available on CD for those of you who travel with laptops.

For caravanning, I prefer GMRS. You have to get a license (no test, just money :-), but the range is much better than the similar FRS radios which have very low power and hardwired antennas. When I applied for my GMRS licence, I specified 'nationwide' access (they would like you to specify a radius around your house, but at least in the past have granted nationwide if requested), and many more radios and much higher power than I had at the time. Perfectly legal (at least it was then), and I upgraded my system whenever I wanted without updating the license (or paying the change fee).