Do drivers still use CB?

[oldryder]

I see the majority of big trucks still have CB antennas but I can drive all day and never hear anything when monitoring 19. Am I listening in the wrong place? Also, back in the day CB was almost exclusively AM. Are regular users using sideband now and, if yes, where do I find which sideband for a given channel?

thx to anyone taking the time to offer advice.

 

[DonTom]

I see the majority of big trucks still have CB antennas but I can drive all day and never hear anything when monitoring 19. Am I listening in the wrong place? Also, back in the day CB was almost exclusively AM. Are regular users using sideband now and, if yes, where do I find which sideband for a given channel?

thx to anyone taking the time to offer advice.

I don't do CB but a web search tells me:

• Upper Sideband (USB): Channels 36 through 40.
• Lower Sideband (LSB): Channel 16.

The trucker channel is still 19.

I have heard that many truckers are now illegally using marine radios.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Chef Duane]

Monitor 19 at a truck stop. There is still a lot of chatter. Especially when the lot lizards are about.

 

[Derby6]

CB traffic alot lower. But if there is a traffic issue you can figure out what’s going on. Sometimes before your caught in the issue.

Thankfully we can still use VHF in Alaska. A lot more distance and nicer to use. Good thru Canada too. But a big no-go in lower 48.

 

[LarsMac]

Son still uses 19. He says it's not the same as it used to be. There's either a crapload of chatter, or "Crickets."

I found my old unit while digging through our storage.
This weekend I might hook it up and see if it still works. it's been sleeping for 40 years. Not sure it supports the new system.

 

[DonTom]

Thankfully we can still use VHF in Alaska.

Do you know what VHF frequencies are used for it?

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ray-IN]

I've had a CB radio in my truck and MH since 1958. Many times I've saved a long wait in a traffic jam by listening to the radio; which BTW also has a built-in NWS radio that's forewarned me of bad weather ahead or forthcoming. This allowed me to make a decision before driving into the bad weather or traffic jam.

Monitor 19 at a truck stop. There is still a lot of chatter. Especially when the lot lizards are about.

Years ago an acquaintance was a long-haul steel hauler. Sometimes he would take his wife along if he was going to have to dead-head back. Then they would take time to see some sights.
One night he parked overnight in a truck stop. About midnight someone knocked on the door. Hie wife peeked out and saw a woman standing at the drivers door. She rolled down the window and said " move along honey, this one's already taken".

 

[Chef Duane]

Breaker Breaker 19

 

[Larry N.]

I see the majority of big trucks still have CB antennas but I can drive all day and never hear anything when monitoring 19. Am I listening in the wrong place? Also, back in the day CB was almost exclusively AM. Are regular users using sideband now and, if yes, where do I find which sideband for a given channel?

thx to anyone taking the time to offer advice.

I still have a CB in my Jeep and a couple of handhelds, as well as a 2M/70cM FM ham radio (license needed of course), but rarely use the CBs these days. My biggest use of them in recent years was for communication with a group on 4WD trips, mostly in Arizona, along with which we also had the small FRS radios. They were great for keeping everyone informed and together.

There don't seem to be many of the CB radios available that will do sideband (there are a few though but more expensive), but I'm sure there is some limited use of that mode. Between FRS, GMRS (license needed) and cell phones, there's not as much demand for CBs, but there certainly is some use of CB going on, as anyone can hear when the skip is in and, often when scanning the channels. Channel 9 is still the "emergency" channel, BTW, but unless the skip is in it is usually pretty quiet. I can also hear a little truck traffic once in a while, but not like in its heyday.

 

[95f5334j]

Many truckers are using 2 watt MURS radios utilizing a group of 5 VHF business channels, no license required. In Canada, truckers use a group of 5 VHF LADD channels. IC business license required but seldom obtained. Both make for interesting listening while traveling! 73

 

[John From Detroit]

A lot of truckers (I chat with some all the time) have gone to alternative LICENSED services.. Like Ham Radio.. and use of Phones and tablets and on-line services that notify you of "Things ahead" (Thing WAYZ. Google Maps. and the Like)

But on my last major trip.. CB was still in use.. Just not as popular as my first major trip. (1976) Often gets busy when there is say .. Well one day it was not one but TWO Fatal accidents about 3 miles past the exit I was approaching.. and took... I often think about the poor guy behind me.. Joy at that slow moving motor home exiting replaced by the SEA of Brake lights in just past the matching entrance ramp.... He He He (not my problem I had a good night's rest and clear road in the AM).

 

[Derby6]

Do you know what VHF frequencies are used for it?

-Don- Reno, NV

100 or more. Above mentioned LADD channels included.

I do get a lot of skip from super power outlets or something on CB 19. Real PIA as we do use this regularly on the dalton hwy.

 

[House Husband]

I still have a CB in the MH. It's always on and squelched down. Never know what lies ahead.

Richard

 

[DonTom]

Above mentioned LADD channels included.

 

[Derby6]

Looks different. Lots of different lists up here with all kinds a names. Some construction businesses others just random.

 

[John From Detroit]

Oh to answer the AM/SSB (single Side band) Question.

SSB is AM.. in True Am but that's another discussion.. Your AM radio will "Receive" SSB but well.. sounds a bit streange.

AM is Dual sideband WITH carrier.. SSB they strip one side band and the carrier.. So what you hear sounds like Donald Duck having a hissy fit.. Put the carrier back and it's clear voice once again.. But the AM receiver will hear it.. Just..LIke I said DD having a hissy fit.

By the same token a radio set to SSB can pick up AM but.. Well. you need to be very very on frequecy or you get a "Whistle"

 

[camperman1]

 

[Ray-IN]

I do not recall the brand of my first CB radio- in 1958, but it had 5 crystal-controlled channels and had tubes. Crystals were replaceable to change to a different frequency.

 

[Wasillaguy]

Amplitude modulation is older than we thought.

"Cyanobacteria, an ancient group of photosynthetic bacteria, have been discovered to regulate their genes using the same physics principle used in AM radio transmission."

Scientists Discover Radio-Like Communication in Ancient Bacteria

Cyanobacteria use an AM radio-like principle to coordinate cell division with circadian rhythms, encoding information through pulse amplitude modulation. Cyanobacteria, an ancient group of photosynthetic bacteria, have been discovered to regulate their genes using the same physics principle used

scitechdaily.com

 

[Larry N.]

I do not recall the brand of my first CB radio- in 1958, but it had 5 crystal-controlled channels and had tubes. Crystals were replaceable to change to a different frequency.

Sounds like my first one, a Johnson Messenger I.: