Getting Into CB Radio

[DreadPirate]

Thanks, everyone. My buddy was my unit Commo SGT way back when, so he know his stuff. On his recommendation, I ordered a Uniden 980SSB off of Amazon for my truck. He said he's going to research the antenna, though he already has an amp picked out. I haven't really thought of a base station for the house, though I expect that to come eventually.

 

[TattooedGunner]

I like HF better on Ham radio. Why talk to old codgers in your local area when you can talk to old codgers around the world?

 

[BangBang]

It's kinda like guns or any other hobby, once you get into it expect to keep upgrading and spending money

Yep, C.B. is short for "Constantly Buying"

 

[davans]

When I lived in Illinois in the 70's. I had a Presidential, it would send out a " ping " every time you keyed the D104 mic. That with a Moon Raker 8 and a linear. "
Kip land, skip land skip land" Talked all over the country.

 

[jay30114]

I still talk on one and use ssb as well.I run a galaxy 94hp with a Wilson 1000 mag mount.I have a browning big coil mobile antenna and a galaxy DX 959 with ssb for sale for 125.message me if interested

 

[kingsix]

Living in rural Maine in the 80's CB's were like the internet to us..LOL.. then we got cars, we'd play hide & seek using radio triangulation.

 

[sonofapreacherman]

Jump on the galaxy!!! Great deal and great radio I would get a galxy and a texas star linear and a wilson 1000. Make sure you get the radio paired with the antenna and linear.

 

[CardsFan]

LOL, the ping thing brought back some old memories. In the late 70's the Browning Golden Eagle and some models made by Tram were considered to be the best base station radios made. The Golden Eagle was a separate transmitter and receiver, and when you keyed the microphone, it would make a short ping for a half second or so. For some dumb reason, it became a status symbol. People actually thought you would be a "major dude" if you get just have a ping whenever you keyed your mic. And many thought they were D.J.s on the airwaves.

So the marketing folks caught on to this "phenomenon" and began making some radios featuring pings when keying the mic. As I remember, there was absolutely no reason at all for this ping, other than trying to make people think they had a high end CB. Funny stuff. The Golden Eagle had the ping (as I remember) just because the transmitter and receiver were separate, and you would get short feedback (the ping sound) when keying the mic and the radio switched between receiver to transmitter.

I'm seeing some descriptions about "pairing" radios with antennnas and amplifiers and such. I have no idea what this means but maybe the terminology has changed since I had a CB. The main point in all this is to buy yourself a SWR (standing wave ratio) meter, and use it to tune the antenna (and any amplifier that might be inline) to the radio. You will need to do this with every antenna you use with the radio. When you transmit, some of that rf going to the antenna will be reflected back to the radio through the coax. If the reflected RF is too high it will put a heavy load on the final amplifiers in the radio and possibly cause them to burn out or at least shorten their life. Tuning the antenna to provide the lowest SWR possible will give you the best performance.

In my day, the popularity of people taking to each other like D.J.s using strange lingo got old real fast. It was much more fun to get on channels that others didn't have (this was back when there were only 23 channels) and make contacts with the greatest distance possible, then exchange call cards with each other to prove the transmission. I know, that sounds pretty stupid as well, but it was actually a lot of fun.

Before I got a small linear I was able to talk to some guy in California (for about 2 minutes tops) on 4 watts legal power on a 5/8 Radio Shack ground plane antenna. I remember being so excited!
I had a friend who had a 200 watt linear and a Moonraker 4 beam antenna, and we would talk to folks around the country and sometimes Mexico and South America if the atmospheric conditions were favorable. That aspect of CB was a lot of fun back then.

Oh, and the folks suggesting the Wilson mobile antennas are right on the money. Good antennas.

 

[jay30114]

I have a Wilson 1000 and a 5000 but the browning is the best

 

[DreadPirate]

My Uniden 980 SSD came today. Anyone know a good radio shop in or near Cumming? Time to get it installed withe right antenna and amp, and tuned.