Vanning.com logo
Boxdin
Site Navigation


Advertisements
Recent Posts
Good day
by lukester - March 28th 2024 12:26 pm
Crazy mods
by MufflerMan Mike - March 28th 2024 9:38 am
Lew Greger
by MufflerMan Mike - March 27th 2024 5:15 pm
1987 G20 Gypsy
by SDMickey - March 25th 2024 9:39 pm
Featured Links


Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3
since there is talk of CB's..
#749409 June 10th 2019 10:57 am
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
NEmery Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
With the recent CB Radio talk, it started me thinking of what everybody else is running and how is it working for ya? We all know that the airwaves used to be full of CB'ers and that they were extremely useful, but do you have any good stories of how a CB has saved you RECENTLY?

I know a lot of people are running vintage radios, but the new stuff is pretty good. Also, the FCC has chilled a bit and the use of export radios like the galaxy and such are mostly ignored in private cars. go ahead and share what ya got, and how its working!

In my '79 chevy, my uncle or dad had installed (what was new at the time) a Cobra 19 Plus with a permanent mount antenna in the center of the roof... maybe a 36" whip with a filter or something. The old antenna wasn't receiving or transmitting, so I went to a Mag Mount Wilson 1000 with a 60" Whip. When the LCD on the Cobra quit working, I decided to upgrade radios. I was going to go the Export route or a Cobra 29, but I found a 'New in Box' RealistIc TRC-422 with the receipt in the box from 1979 for a very very good price. I then found an old SMOOTH 160 Amp (that I still know absolutely nothing about) and then scored a Wilson 5000 whip for $25. So that is my set up now. it serves its purpose and I can clearly send and receive transmissions for several miles on an average day in our wooded area.

My '91 Ford Conversion has some early 90's Realistic installed that was there when i purchased it. It is connected to a fiberglass mirror mounted antenna that sits only a few inches above the high top. works great as a clearance checker. HAHAHA. The radio is crap, to be honest, and the mic doesn't transmit well... But I still leave the radio on to monitor while I am traveling to listed for traffic issues.

I also have a modded Super Star 121 and Wilson 1000 that I kept in my off road/beach ford explorer. I sold the truck and ended up getting the radio back. it is still with a friend in NC and I am just waiting for him to send it back down. It will probably end up in the Ford to replace the garbage that's in there. it was a pretty nice set up on the OBX Beaches.

CB Frequencies are pretty dead to listen to these days. Its pretty sad. However, there seems to be people listening in on the freeways if you need them!

Here is a recent story of how my CB has helped me out:
A couple of years ago I was in Jacksonville, Florida for work and my wife had gotten us a beach house in the OBX. I wanted to get there ASAP, So I left Jax hauling ass to get home and get some things situated at home before continuing on to NC. I ran low on oil someplace close to mid Georgia, and topped it off with what I had in the van. I told myself I was going to stop and buy another gallon to keep back there just in case. Well, I got home and took care of stuff, packed, and went to leave. closed my Garage door and had something in the way and the door got jacked up. took me about an hour or so to fix. when I hit the road, I was running way behind, so I was hauling ass. it was around 11pm and I was somewhere on I 95 in NC when traffic necked to 1 lane and came to a stop! as soon as I slowed down, my pressure dropped to zero and i started ticking (Hydraulic lifters starving?)! I was MILES from anywhere and had forgotten to stop and grab oil! I panicked for a few, then decided to jump on the radio! I caught a break and explained my situation to the airwaves. within minutes, I had an 18 wheeler there with me donating a gallon of Rotella! The radio saved my ass!

AdSense long
Re: since there is talk of CB's..
NEmery #749419 June 10th 2019 2:35 pm
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,015
Likes: 19
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,015
Likes: 19
I'll be honest, mine is there more for novelty than actual use. My dad was big into them and I grew up around them. Always talking to truckers and whoever else on long trips. When cellphones and GPS emerged, CBs have kind of gone by the wayside. There is never anyone on anymore, but every now and then you come across someone interesting. Good times!


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]
Re: since there is talk of CB's..
tuner4life #749420 June 10th 2019 2:51 pm
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
NEmery Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
Originally Posted by tuner4life
I'll be honest, mine is there more for novelty than actual use. My dad was big into them and I grew up around them. Always talking to truckers and whoever else on long trips. When cellphones and GPS emerged, CBs have kind of gone by the wayside. There is never anyone on anymore, but every now and then you come across someone interesting. Good times!


Cell Phones have killed the use of CB's man. all the truckers now are on their Blue tooth headsets these days (which you can get Bluetooth CBs now as well). once in a while you can catch some dudes talking skip from pretty far out, and that is pretty cool. I have a guy somewhat local to me (less than 10 miles as crow flies) that I hear on the radio all the time that is at a base station pushing a few hundred watts.

Re: since there is talk of CB's..
NEmery #749426 June 10th 2019 5:38 pm
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 35
X
newbie
Offline
newbie
X
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 35
We have now a CB radio installed, with NOAA weather channels. It comes in handy when on the go.
Sometimes I listen to Ch 19, or just switch around. If I am not mistaken, Ch 19 is the "common" freq, and 16 the "unofficial official" off-road channel (as 4x4, is 16 LOL). Emergency was what, 7, or 9?

When on long trips we keep it on Ch 19 for traffic jam information. In central IN we can hear plenty of people on the airwaves. Definitely a cool tool to have.

No special story so far, except when driving the van from OR to IN, midway, clearing some mountains, there was no cellphone reception for miles and miles. Gas was low, but got more than enough to get to the next gas station. Nevertheless we had a peace of mind that we had the CB, and actually could listen to some folks on it as well.

While I agree that cellphones are the new way of communication you can only call one receiver, and that is if you have reception. With CB you always have reception and transmission, and almost too many peeps on it :P Like NEmery´s experience, somebody got the message that had a solution and willing to help out. Or call AA/Geico/Progressive or whoever and wait 20hours to get the truck coming... just to ask you what you need, and then to head off to get it for you... after another 20 hours... (Ok, they are pretty good and quick, but point made LOL)

Re: since there is talk of CB's..
NEmery #749435 June 11th 2019 12:05 am
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 18,536
Likes: 135
Supreme Master
Offline
Supreme Master
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 18,536
Likes: 135
We run CBs in all our vans. Uniden (PC78LTD) - 50th Anniversary in Black Magic. Cobra 29ltd in Serenity and the Outcast . All running fiberglass mirror mount antennas. The Astro has a compact Midland with a 4foot center load magnet antenna.


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Arianrhod:2003 Chevy Astro
Black Magic: 1985 Dodge B-250
Serenity:1985 Chevy G-20
The Outcast:1983 Ford club wagon
Luna 1974 VW bay window transporter
Freedom:1990 Ford E-150(parts van)
Outcast Vanners van club
Support your local 2%
Re: since there is talk of CB's..
Xplorer_Loco #749454 June 11th 2019 9:11 am
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
NEmery Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
Originally Posted by lukester
We run CBs in all our vans. Uniden (PC78LTD) - 50th Anniversary in Black Magic. Cobra 29ltd in Serenity and the Outcast . All running fiberglass mirror mount antennas. The Astro has a compact Midland with a 4foot center load magnet antenna.


Originally Posted by Xplorer_Loco
If I am not mistaken, Ch 19 is the "common" freq, and 16 the "unofficial official" off-road channel (as 4x4, is 16 LOL). Emergency was what, 7, or 9?



Luke, y'all are running channel 2 down there, right? I think Brian said Green Demon is running on 2.


I know a lot of Jeep & Off roaders around here on the east coast use 4. I would run 4 on the OBX beaches as well and catch a lot of conversation.

It used to be that 19 was for N-S traffic, and 21 was for E-W....or maybe it was the other way around.... and 19 became primary. 9 was Emergency, but I am not even sure if they still monitor it. Lots of Spanish speaking on there now. Channel 6 is always 'AUUUUUU-DIO, AUUUUUU-DIO' HAHAHAHA. i know channels 22-28 get a lot of chatter from people jumping off the more frequently used bands.

Re: since there is talk of CB's..
NEmery #749542 June 11th 2019 10:09 pm
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 18,536
Likes: 135
Supreme Master
Offline
Supreme Master
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 18,536
Likes: 135
When we are truckin together we normally run channel 2. If not we are on 19


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Arianrhod:2003 Chevy Astro
Black Magic: 1985 Dodge B-250
Serenity:1985 Chevy G-20
The Outcast:1983 Ford club wagon
Luna 1974 VW bay window transporter
Freedom:1990 Ford E-150(parts van)
Outcast Vanners van club
Support your local 2%
Re: since there is talk of CB's..
lukester #749557 June 12th 2019 7:56 am
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
NEmery Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 763
Likes: 50
Originally Posted by lukester
When we are truckin together we normally run channel 2. If not we are on 19




Exactly how I run. I am on 19 unless i am with a group. i do channel skip a lot when its quiet, though, just to see if there is anybody on another channel. hahaha

Re: since there is talk of CB's..
NEmery #749638 June 14th 2019 1:26 am
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 51
V
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
V
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 51
I used to drive dump trucks locally and regionally in Kentucky/Indiana. My radio was a Galaxy 959 that had been “peaked and tweaked” by a local chrome shop. He even added the Fart report on it for me. I always had fun on it at work hauling with my friends. Channel 19 always kept us knowing where the bears were hiding and where the traffic jams were.

I ended up installing a Cobra in my van and with two fiberglass antennas mounted, I could nap in my van at home and listen for the dispatch office just over a mile away at the sandpit.

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  Astro, Ram4ever 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Donate


Upcoming Events
discovery
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 17 guests, and 8 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
TheDrunkenGunsmith, Jac, LOVclassics, ZenMuffin, Milkman530
12724 Registered Users
Top Posters (30 Days)
SDMickey 129
CatFish 25
frscke1 25
Wedgy 21
Forum Statistics
Forums68
Topics35,746
Posts537,916
Members12,724
Most Online177
May 8th, 2013

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4