Do I need a CB Radio? USA TRIP!
- Thread starter moshie
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BobsTrail
Senior Member
CB can be entertaining. If you have kids with you; some of the content may give you a laugh, but you may not want little people to hear it.
I sold my CB and gave up on 2 meter amateur radio. Too difficult to find repeater lists that work on the road as you travel. Channels and tone codes were the problems and you need to program your radio on the fly.
I still use 2 meters, but at home with local repeater groups, not on trips.
I sold my CB and gave up on 2 meter amateur radio. Too difficult to find repeater lists that work on the road as you travel. Channels and tone codes were the problems and you need to program your radio on the fly.
I still use 2 meters, but at home with local repeater groups, not on trips.
4runnin4mylife
New member
I would go with HAM radio. I am a beginner with it, with only my technician license, and i can find repeaters all over the place using RepeaterBook app on my phone. I hike, camp, and do things all over the back country and its nice to have an idea on what repeaters you can hit as you travel around. Once i get to my destination i will pull up a list of repeaters close to the area in which i will be travelling. If i will be in the area a while, i will call in to different repeaters to see if someone is listening, as you will find there are guys that are always locked on to local repeaters listening to any traffic on them. Which is good if you need help! You will have to do this periodically to keep up with repeaters within distance since you are covering so many miles, but that would be my go to way of communication. You do need a license like others are saying, but its a fun thing to become part of.
Bumbo
New member
Just a tip... for anyone wondering how I work stations on the move.
For anything HAM, there is an iOS app called Repeater and RepeaterBook (both do the same thing) and it uses GPS to locate available repeaters within a user defined radius.
Right as I get off the road and before losing data, I open the app and screenshot the page and worry about programming later, usually at camp or at the beginning of a trail head.
It works really good… you can select any ham band and dial it down too, 2m, 70cm, analog, digital, DSTAR, Yaesu Fusion, Echolink… so you can filter out all the stuff you don’t want. If you know the grid square you will be in, which is also easy to look up, you can just do that homework at home and program before you even leave.
All the info you need is right there on the screen… frequency, shift, and tone code. I can get them into my radio pretty quick, literally seconds before I can key up and test it. Anything that works I save to memory and move on. At least this hasn’t failed me yet, and how I used a 2m and 70cm radio across thousands of miles of solo adventuring in new areas.
It’s a step, but the efforts were well worth it. It really takes very little time, you just need to remember to do it.
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if the iOS app works the same as android, you don't need data, it saves the full directory
Bumbo
New member
Well now I feel silly.
You sir are right… I don’t know why I thought it was not an offline map. Perhaps I was being overly cautious in my travels.
There was something I experienced in my travels which made me assume it was, but I was mistaken. Even better, I didn’t know it cached the inventory of repeaters.
I just put it in airplane mode and testing a random grid square and all the data was there. Even easier now.
MeefZah
New member
Short answer:
No
Long answer:
I'm a nerd. I love radio stuff. I was running a mobile dual band 2m/440 HAM and a mobile CB in the truck.
Having said that, after my last x country trip, I removed my CB and haven't really thought too much about it.
It's kind of worthless, especially on a solo trip (as in, no other cars with you).
It's not used as much as it once was, so there's a lot of dead air on Ch 19. The few truckers that do use it generally won't talk to cars (because apparently their shit don't stink, or something); so unless you want to pretend to be Large Marge, getting info from those guys isn't happening. People don't really call out the bears anymore, either... when I was a kid if you saw a bear in the median you just got on 19 and hollered that there was "a bear facing eastbound at the 145", and someone would chime right back "you're looking good to the 110" or whatever. That shit don't go no mo'. If you just want to leave it on 19 and listen in case somebody pipes up or needs help, you can't do that very long because there's always some ******* in Florida who is running a 6 billion gigawatt amp and he's blowing up every channel from 6-36 so you're constantly adjusting the squelch and RF gain and finally after playing with the knobs and cursing that ******* you just say '**** it' and turn it off.
I don't really find HAM to be a lot better for x country trips because you would need to keep reprogramming for local repeaters as you are passing through areas. I generally leave my HAM mobile on the national 2M simplex frequency and there is some chatter on it in places that don't have a good repeater network, and sometimes you get random people hailing strangers to BS on the freeway, but mostly it's just quiet because that ******* in Florida, he hasn't leeched onto the HAM bands yet. I talked ot one guy and listened to maybe 4 people on 2M from California to Virginia last year.
The one instance since that last X country trip I took where I wished I had a CB was on the Dalton Highway; they are in use up there for truck to truck comms and it would have been nice to hear the trucks coming.
No
Long answer:
I'm a nerd. I love radio stuff. I was running a mobile dual band 2m/440 HAM and a mobile CB in the truck.
Having said that, after my last x country trip, I removed my CB and haven't really thought too much about it.
It's kind of worthless, especially on a solo trip (as in, no other cars with you).
It's not used as much as it once was, so there's a lot of dead air on Ch 19. The few truckers that do use it generally won't talk to cars (because apparently their shit don't stink, or something); so unless you want to pretend to be Large Marge, getting info from those guys isn't happening. People don't really call out the bears anymore, either... when I was a kid if you saw a bear in the median you just got on 19 and hollered that there was "a bear facing eastbound at the 145", and someone would chime right back "you're looking good to the 110" or whatever. That shit don't go no mo'. If you just want to leave it on 19 and listen in case somebody pipes up or needs help, you can't do that very long because there's always some ******* in Florida who is running a 6 billion gigawatt amp and he's blowing up every channel from 6-36 so you're constantly adjusting the squelch and RF gain and finally after playing with the knobs and cursing that ******* you just say '**** it' and turn it off.
I don't really find HAM to be a lot better for x country trips because you would need to keep reprogramming for local repeaters as you are passing through areas. I generally leave my HAM mobile on the national 2M simplex frequency and there is some chatter on it in places that don't have a good repeater network, and sometimes you get random people hailing strangers to BS on the freeway, but mostly it's just quiet because that ******* in Florida, he hasn't leeched onto the HAM bands yet. I talked ot one guy and listened to maybe 4 people on 2M from California to Virginia last year.
The one instance since that last X country trip I took where I wished I had a CB was on the Dalton Highway; they are in use up there for truck to truck comms and it would have been nice to hear the trucks coming.
Elk Hunter 2
Member
If you just want to leave it on 19 and listen in case somebody pipes up or needs help, you can't do that very long because there's always some ******* in Florida who is running a 6 billion gigawatt amp and he's blowing up every channel from 6-36 so you're constantly adjusting the squelch and RF gain and finally after playing with the knobs and cursing that ******* you just say '**** it' and turn it off...........EXACTLY
there is still plenty of that around me, but I'm right beside I-40, I-85 and I-95. If you travel M-F during normal hours you'll hear call outs and if there is traffic or an accident you will get info, otherwise it's quiet. Off the interstates around me all of the dump trucks and concrete trucks seem to use CH19 so you'll hear people talking around big construction sites, but otherwise it's silent. If you scan the channels you'll hear the people on 1,000 watt amplifiers but so far that's not on CH19 in my parts. I have the midland 75-822, it just hangs on the back of the passenger seat monitoring CH19. I'm using one of the NMO mounts for the CB antenna, and when I'm offroading I'll sometimes use that mount for a second Ham radio if I'm not in a trail ride with other people who only have CB.
Bumbo
New member
I’m no antenna expert, but from my experience antenna length is what makes CB difficult (or annoying) from a portable or even mag mount operation… I’m sure everyone has seen those off-road trucks that look like RC cars with gigantic length whips… due to the frequency, the antenna length needs to be long for any reasonable performance.
Just an example…
¼ wave CB (27 Mhz) antenna is about 102 inches long
¼ wave 2 meter (148 Mhz) ham antenna is about 19 inches long
¼ wave 70cm (433 Mhz) ham antenna is 6.5 inches long
From what I read and understand, the ideal 2meter HAM antenna for long range use, like in the open desert is a 5/8 wave because the radio waves propagate more towards the horizon, vs ¼ which has a steeper takeoff angle which might be better for something used in the city…
5/8 wave length 2meter ham antenna is 49 inches
5/8 wave CB antenna is 22+ feet long
I have two antenna setups in the truck… right is a ¼ wave 144/440, and the left is a ½ wave 144/440 ham antenna. One thing I learned in the radio game, it’s ALL about the antenna… you can have the best equipment in the world, but without a proper antenna setup, it all goes out the window. In my early days, I had a really hard time with CB because I didn’t understand the antenna part of the equation.
95% of the time all I use is a 1/4 wave antenna... performance is great, gets me into repeaters 50+ miles away, and no problem with car to car coms over miles and miles...
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MossJenks
New member
I suppose you have a switch for going back and forth? That would be handy. I do the same thing manually - I carry a 5/8 in the back so I can swap it onto the NMO mount. I rarely use it and it makes such a small difference that even when I break it out it doesn't make any difference. Sometimes if I'm in open country I'll run it just for laughs and to give that little extra chance of my APRS beacons making it out. I am looking at getting an HF mobile though and obviously if I do that I'll run two mounts.
edit: or do you run two radios?
edit: or do you run two radios?
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Bumbo
New member
I run two radios… a Kenwood TM-V71a and a Yaesu FT-2900 VHF as the “drivers radio”
The main purpose of the Kenwood is for 70cm band and crossband repeater. The longer antenna is not deployed majority of the time. The radio isn’t even easily accessible. It’s just in the truck for those times I need it, like in my Mendocino example when I needed the power and repeater when hiking. While it isn’t easily accessible, I can remote control the entire thing using the keypad / DTMF tones on my handheld.
I agree with you… while 5/8 is technically ideal, it’s provides marginal gains for most of my activity, especially when working a repeater. I run a ¼ wave out of convenience because I park in a garage. Bigger antennas is always in the truck as a spare, or when I need to use the Kenwood.
The only times I have actually seen it useful is when I am doing car to car come over REALLY long distances, like when you are on the edge of performance, is about the only time it actually matters.
I do remove the ¼ wave and use the 5/8 in the desert if I am driving with my friend who owns a Side-by-Side as the distance between us can grow pretty fast. It’s about the only time I find it useful is when I am doing car to car coms over REALLY long distances, like when you are on the edge of performance, is about the only time it actually matters. Plus the height advantage helps over the terrain.
I really wouldn’t mind upgrading to something that has APRS… I don’t have something that can do that right now. Would make easy work of finding my off-road friends.
MossJenks
New member
You could do APRS with your Kenwood using a MobilinkD bluetooth TNC and a tablet. That has the advantage of having a full map for tracking and a good keyboard for messaging. I have an FTM-400 which makes APRS a snap and quite convenient, but without a tablet all I get is "station x is 5.1 miles to the west" for tracking.
Plug the USB cable from your ftm-400 into your tablet, most packets will show up in W2APRS (although some will be missing location data because of their non standard format)
Or use your mobilinkd as the tnc with the ftm-400 and you can have all of them snap
Bumbo
New member
That is an option…I'll look into it. I have been eyeing the FTM-400XDR, it’s been on my list, but it keeps getting bumped back on the priority list.
I want a couple nice digital hand held radios for the wife and I, but I haven’t been too thrilled with the newer Yaesu offerings. I am still happy with my VX-7R, but I really need to get her something else. The VX-2R she is using leaves a lot to be desired, and is hard to use in the field. At this point I want to standardize to make my life easier as I am the one who has to maintain everything.
