CB Needed?

[Josh41]

Heading out west from east coast. We use CBs when riding in a group. Any need on a solo trip in CO, WY, MT, and ND? I would rather have the dashnoard space.

 

[Happyjax]

I think Ham radio would be a better bet in an emergency as coverage would be larger though the CB might be better for traffic info.....

I have pondered getting my Ham license and a radio as an emergency communication device. I am sure there are several folks here who can chime in on this

 

[Cayuse]

I keep toying with the idea of a CB. Ham would be better for emergencies if out solo. CB provides the advantage of traffic chatter. in group communication and around here the logging trucks are usually on one of the channels and it is posted on the roads, handy to know if you need to be extra cautious on a FS road.

Still haven't done either but leaning towards a CB and either a SPOT or InReach for when I'm out of range of all else.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I don't see a need for anything like a CB on a solo trip. From an emergency/safety perspective, something like a Spot or InReach would give you coverage in areas where radios have none. I do carry family band radios, but rarely use them.

 

[XJINTX]

We use CB a lot here in TX too when out with local groups. I recently had a planned trip with some people from out west. They recommended Ham. We actually used CB's too but Ham was good for when we went to different locations like the mountains. I merely got my Ham before I went. With all the online sites to study from the test was not difficult. I bought a rather inexpensive handheld with magnetic roof antenna. I never talked but could have if desired too. However I was able to listen in. With the handheld I could reach a repeater in most areas. It was a warm fuzzy driving back to TX if I needed it.
I will move to a better rig for my truck but looking at options. I have and use a SPOT but with Ham I think I'll move to APRS. Eventually I'd like to get a home unit and wife get her license. Then we can communicate that way when I'm out and about

 

[ntsqd]

I find CB to be useless. Seems like the truckers have all moved to SSB or something. No traffic chatter on any channel around here. An FRS radio has about the same useful range and is a whole lot easier for the non-tech types, like my 80-something mother, to use in a small caravan.

When on "guy trips" we use simplex 2M ham exclusively. Much better range than either FRS or CB.

For an emergency I'm looking at InReach. A friend recently got one and I'm on his contact list, so I monitor their progress when they're out solo.

 

[Stalking Light]

Since I live in the east and travel often to the west I find my CB useful from time to time when I get stuck on a freeway somewhere and need to decide to get off and find my way around something. Occasionally the truckers will say something useful.

 

[dustboy]

I'll echo nitesquid (sorry, that's how I read it), my neighbor gave me a spare CB and since I hooked it up I've heard nothing but noise, maybe the occasional wolfman wannabe. That includes the center of the Bay Area, less than a mile away from Hwy 880 which is a solid wall of trucks 24/7. I do carry a handheld CB as well, if I ever need to caravan I give the handheld to the other vehicle.

 

[Foy]

My experience is similar to several above: When on the highway, especially on a cross-country run, I'll pop on the magnetic rooftop antennae and plug its cable into the permanent CB mounted in the cab. Substantial communications overheard from truckers are infrequent to rare, but when they're chatty, they can be pretty entertaining. I also find the CB useful to determine the starting point of traffic backups going my way in order to find a work-around. Lastly, I've found considerable value to being able to listen in on, and to thus avoid interfering with, log trucks on their descent, where they'll call out their points along the road in an attempt to not surprise one another, or we little four-wheelers.

Foy

 

[PaulT]

I'm biased as I have been a ham for years & am active in emergency communications with local & state agencies. FRS & CB radios are usually with me. An Inreach Explorer is with me as well.

A trip to DVNP a couple of years ago found me with no communication by cellular or ham radio. In an emergency, I could have set up my HF radio and found someone to contact. However, that experience convinced me to buy the Inreach Explorer as my wife, a less geeky ham, could easily summon help if I were the injured party.

As others have mentioned, CB is no longer the ubiquitous communication option it once was. On our trip to the Canadian Rockies last summer, I made sure the CB was set up and running. Never heard any communications. Asked a trucker with CB antennas at a rest area about what channel he used & he said his wasn't used & he didn't even know where his mike was. Any more, CB appears to be a local club activity tool. We use FRS for communications in a group that includes non hams, especially between vehicles to coordinate stops.

If you get one of the mobile ham radios that supports APRS, it can be set up for "voice alert" to detect nearby hams for a quick conversation and/or with APRS messaging for a texting like function.

Paul

 

[Foy]

Just as so many company-owned over-the-road trucks are governed to limit their speed to 65-68 mph today, I suspect larger trucking company policy now requires eschewing CB radio chit-chat. And it seems likely there are monitoring systems on board to enforce the companies' "ban".

Seems like the independent owner-operators are the only ones running 80 mph and ratchet-jawing on the CB nowadays, perhaps because they're the only ones who can.......

Foy

 

[Stalking Light]

Just as so many company-owned over-the-road trucks are governed to limit their speed to 65-68 mph today, I suspect larger trucking company policy now requires eschewing CB radio chit-chat. And it seems likely there are monitoring systems on board to enforce the companies' "ban".

Seems like the independent owner-operators are the only ones running 80 mph and ratchet-jawing on the CB nowadays, perhaps because they're the only ones who can.......

Foy

My guess is they're texting.

 

[PaulT]

My guess is they're texting.

Not all that comforting to contemplate.

Paul

 

[Stalking Light]

Not all that comforting to contemplate.

Paul

On every long trip I take I get run off the road at least once by a trucker either changing lanes or drifting out of their lane.

 

[OSUFlyer]

Where I live in Western Washington, the only time I ever use mine is on forest roads frequented by log trucks. Well worth the money if you are dealing with log trucks IMHO. I used to turn it on if I got bored cruising the freeway but I barely hear long haul trucks on it anymore.

 

[Foy]

My guess is they're texting.

Sadly, you're probably correct. One of the last times I used my CB to talk to a trucker was en route back to NC from Montana in 2015. A tractor-trailer was all over his lane and some of ours in heavy traffic and we were stuck beside him briefly. As we moved past him on his left, my wife exclaimed "that jerk is using a tablet right on his steering wheel!". Once I got safely in front of him and returned to the slow lane, I got on the radio and said "Eastbound blue rig on I-70, if you don't put that damned tablet down right now I'm calling the State Police on your sorry butt". My wife could see him in our wing mirror and saw him suddenly look around and set the tablet aside. I noticed him driving straight and narrow for the next umpteen miles.

When I'm King......................

Foy

 

[Old Crow]

I bought a handheld CB for my van back in the early 80's and have carried it since. At the time, I bought it in case I had to ask for some kind of help from passing traffic (breakdown, medical emergency, etc) and used it for traffic info--- mostly how long the backup I was in was going to last. I still have the CB in reach but very seldom turn it on. And I don't bother moving it to the truck when I'm taking that instead of the van.

Now we have cell phones and an Inreach for contacting emergency services and we have online apps for traffic backups. (We also carry a pair of FRS radios).

We started using Waze on the iPad for traffic backups a few trips back and really liked it at the time. Then an update came out and seemed to cripple it. Maybe I just didn't play with it enough to figure it out but I could no longer 'see' down the road far enough ahead to suit me.

I then happened upon the Show Traffic function in Apple Maps and liked it better--- quicker startup, familiar interface, fewer orientation and zoom-out/zoom-in problems.

I don't feel confident enough to actually say Apple Maps is better than Waze; it just seemed easier to use. I'd be interested to read other perspectives on Waze and the traffic functions of Apple Maps and Google Maps for IOS.

 

[craig333]

I notice very little traffic on the cb anymore. I'll still turn it on but its silent unless a group is using it. Still its inexpensive and has its uses, albeit less and less all the time.

Once upon a time, long ago before cell phones I used mine to contact a lookout (they used to use ch11 to chit chat amongst themselves) when I needed a tow truck.

Gotta carry the inreach for it to be useful. We were fishing Last Chance Creek and I realized I left it back at camp. I didn't check but given the canyon we were in I doubt I could have hit a repeater with the ham handheld. I need to get a mobile rig in the Jeep. May not be that far as the crow flies but its remote enough I'd hate to walk out.


Hmmm, seems I don't know how to post a .kmz file.

 

[PaulT]

.

Gotta carry the inreach for it to be useful. We were fishing Last Chance Creek and I realized I left it back at camp. I didn't check but given the canyon we were in I doubt I could have hit a repeater with the ham handheld. I need to get a mobile rig in the Jeep. May not be that far as the crow flies but its remote enough I'd hate to walk out.
.

Buy or make a roll-up twin lead j-pole antenna for your handheld. Store in ziplock bag and keep in your pack. Hang from a tree branch or hold up with a non conductive stick for much better performance than the rubber duck antenna on the handheld. Can make a significant difference in range & weighs very little.

Paul

 

[ntsqd]

^^^^
I gotta think that would work very well, especially if you've got enough coax to get it as high as possible. I built a 3/4" copper tube J-Pole for relay station work and I'm impressed with how well it works for being plumbing.