Just wondered how many folks use CBs now.
They were all the rage in the late 70s. I assume a lot of truckers still use them.

Question:
Do you use CB radios currently?

Choices:
Truck driver
Use in RV equipment
Use them in everyday driver
HAve a base station/used regularly
Never use them

 

Never had one, but several friends and family members did back when. I think the folks that make a living on the highways (to include the RV owners) still rely on them.

Actually still use one, but none of the options fit, my HD RG has the CB option, a few of the guys that I ride with have touring HD bikes with the CB, we set the unit to Channel 40 and use it to com between bikes, you know, cop ahead, stuff in road, need to take a leak....

I have a handheld CB that I have used when our Corvette Club goes on cruises. We are converting over to GMRS radios though to get clearer reception on FM. Generally we make sure the first car and last car in the line have a radio so the group doesn't have anyone get stranded but most of us are changing over to the newer radios to get away from the chatter on the CB bands.

I did have a CB, back around 1976. Joined a group that was dedicated to shooting skip in the greater Anchorage Alaska area called the Polar Bears. Everyone had a number, so instead of using proper call signs, we used the Polar Bear Number.

The FCC decided to put a halt to shooting skip even though skip is a natural phenomenon and can't be created, only used.

Anyway, they figured the Polar Bear 1 was the guy who started the group, so they swooped down on him in an evening raid, took him to jail and confiscated all his radio equipment including a tower and soldering iron.

He copped a plea and lost his license forever plus did a couple weekends in jail and paid a $10K fine.

Turns out the guy who started the group anticipated this sort of thing and wasn't the Polar Bear 1, he was the Polar Bear 5.

I got rid of my equipment and became a Ham Radio operator where you're expected to shoot skip.

And to cap it all off, when CB was created, the FCC in its infinite stupidity gave CB the 11 Meter band, a band that was well known for the skip you could shoot on that band.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Actually still use one, but none of the options fit, my HD RG has the CB option, a few of the guys that I ride with have touring HD bikes with the CB, we set the unit to Channel 40 and use it to com between bikes, you know, cop ahead, stuff in road, need to take a leak....

I guess that would-kinda-sorta fit in the RV group.

I bought a used 40 channel one from a local pawn shop and keep it for SHTF communication. I have one for each vehicle. I believe most people now use GMRS. God Bless

I have a base station, and a mobile in every vehicle the wife and I have. We mostly use it to keep in touch when driving the boonies out where we live.

Since cell phones are all the rage now, seems CBs rarely get used. I have noticed skip is way down, and I almost never hear truckers using it like they used to 10 years ago. Too bad, I used to enjoy chatting with other CBers.

I still have a few mobile CB radios and antenna to go with them I'll loan out to people for road trips. We use them on multi vehicle road trips, when off roading, etc.

I've got some ham gear, but not everybody we go with has a license, so CB is the next best option for group communications.

I've got one in the Jeep, but it doesn't get much use these days. Most groups use GMRS these days.

I have an older AM/SSB rig that sits on the shelf most of the time. I usually put it in my truck when I take a road trip, but that's pretty seldom anymore.

Used to have one in my squad up until 2012, then it got deleted when the new car was upfitted. Shame really, used to hear some interesting stuff on occasion.

Not any more. Like Flash-LB I joined a regional home brew group and was number 715.

Back in the heyday a guy I knew had contacts verified for all 50 states. When he completed that goal he sold out, I bought some of his stuff. Later got a YAESU FT-101 that I ran for a base CB. Had a SSB mobile and a 250 amp in my truck... I eventually went legit with a coded General Class amateur license. Was even president of the local Ham club for a while.

Let it all drop as family/life happened etc. I am not active on any band anymore.

Negatory, good buddy. OOPS! sorry.

Negatory, good neighbor.

I checked RV usage with my Jeep.

Mine is used to monitor the National Weather Service channel for weather updates during severe weather conditions and while off roading during Jeep club events.

I think truckers are now mostly using unlimited talk cell phones. Heck, even my mailman does. Chats as he walks his route.

I used to have a portable CB that I'd stick in my truck for certain road trips. Id' just plug it into the cigarette lighter, stick it on the dash with some adhesive-backed velcro strips, and route the magnetic antenna out through the passenger door weather stripping onto the roof. Then remove it all once the trip was done.

A group of us used to go on road trips, with them on their motorcycles and me in the truck hauling the luggage and coolers. They all had CBs hooked into their helmets, and it allowed us to all talk to each other throughout the trip.

I think - provided there is service - the cell phone, as well as the Family Radio Service for short-range two-way radio, has probably rendered the CB radio obsolete. The last time I actually used a CB was circa 1993. In 1977, about at the height of the craze, one of the first things I bought with my new-found discretionary income was a CB.

I have an older CB radio, I think from the early to mid 1990's, stashed out in the garage.

It has a switch to go to the NWS channels (National Weather Service), which I think is quite useful for those traveling or RV'ing and needing some weather info.

Had one decades ago.
They've gone the way of the typewriter.