Any CB Radio people here?

[Mackie2k]

Hey,

I'm looking for a good Home Station CB Radio that can run on Batteries when need be.

Any experts out there have suggestions?

Thanks,

Mackie

 

[compman25]

Just buy one for a truck and buy an ac to dc converter to run it. If power goes out have a deep cycle car battery to connect it to.

 

[RichUK]

Trying to contact aliens?

 

[BoomerD]

Do they still make CB's?

I think I still have a couple in boxes somewhere in my garage from 20 years back...

Cell phones have pretty much killed the CB industry. Most folks would rather pick up a phone and have a private conversation than a mike and broadcast to the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb6tjk8SlzQ

 

[earthman]

There is actually a lot of CB activity going on, and many models of radios for sale. Nobody in the trucking industry is without one. Finding a base station that runs on batteries is unlikely, because of the power requirements.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can confirm they're still widely used. The police, fire department, freight companies all use them. I was doing sound for a wedding at our church and they were using a wireless mic. Oddly in the middle of the vowels it picked up some trucker. "Do you accept this lovely bride as your beloved wife?" "10-4 over roger that SHHHHHHH"

 

[CraKaJaX]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I can confirm they're still widely used. The police, fire department, freight companies all use them. I was doing sound for a wedding at our church and they were using a wireless mic. Oddly in the middle of the vowels it picked up some trucker. "Do you accept this lovely bride as your beloved wife?" "10-4 over roger that SHHHHHHH"

:laugh:

 

[BoomerD]

That's funny. I remember in days of old...you often picked up crap like "I'd like to order 2 burgers and fries" over the CB while going down the highway.

I realize some truckers still run CB's, but IME, it's not as prevalent as it was even 10-15 years ago. Between cell phones and satellite communications in the bigger trucking fleets, lots of truckers are getting away from the CB. I used to unload dozens of trucks every day that delivered to our construction sites, and many of them said that their companies have banned CB's from the fleets.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I can confirm they're still widely used. The police, fire department, freight companies all use them. I was doing sound for a wedding at our church and they were using a wireless mic. Oddly in the middle of the vowels it picked up some trucker. "Do you accept this lovely bride as your beloved wife?" "10-4 over roger that SHHHHHHH"

Police and fire departments generally do not use CB.

 

[ScottMac]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I can confirm they're still widely used. The police, fire department, freight companies all use them. I was doing sound for a wedding at our church and they were using a wireless mic. Oddly in the middle of the vowels it picked up some trucker. "Do you accept this lovely bride as your beloved wife?" "10-4 over roger that SHHHHHHH"

Police and fire departments generally do not use CB.

They don't use them for routine communications, but they have them to use for civil emergencies and coordination citizen groups (some will monitor for 911-style calls, auto accidents, etc).

The Red Cross also has a CB & Ham Radio group to help coordinate civil emergencies and to be able to communicate when other resources are down.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: ScottMac

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I can confirm they're still widely used. The police, fire department, freight companies all use them. I was doing sound for a wedding at our church and they were using a wireless mic. Oddly in the middle of the vowels it picked up some trucker. "Do you accept this lovely bride as your beloved wife?" "10-4 over roger that SHHHHHHH"

Police and fire departments generally do not use CB.

They don't use them for routine communications, but they have them to use for civil emergencies and coordination citizen groups (some will monitor for 911-style calls, auto accidents, etc).

The Red Cross also has a CB & Ham Radio group to help coordinate civil emergencies and to be able to communicate when other resources are down.

Hence, "generally".

 

[Eli]

As someone mentioned, just get a AC to DC converter. They're readily available.

As for running it with no power, you'll need some deep cycle batteries. If you can figure out how much power the CB draws on average, you can calculate how much battery capacity you need minimum.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can't imagine they'd use that much, a UPS battery might work, then again a car battery does not really cost much more so may as well be sure.

 

[Loreena]

Originally posted by: earthman
There is actually a lot of CB activity going on, and many models of radios for sale. Nobody in the trucking industry is without one. Finding a base station that runs on batteries is unlikely, because of the power requirements.

What power requirements? A legal beagle base puts out 4W (AM) and 12W PEP (SSB). Many older Royce bases were dual voltage so people could use them for camping, etc.

Anyone can get a cell or use skype but hitting the long shots on the CB is always a challenge. We also use the PA function to scare deer in the late fall. Yeah we're hillbillies. :laugh: