#16
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Most scanners don't go below 30 MHz. Some do though.
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"Restoring a tube TV is like going to war. A color one is like a land war in Asia." |
#17
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We have a UHF-FM service in the 462 MHz range that was once called a class of "CB" (now partly similar to your PMR446 service), but the 27 MHz CB band has always only allowed AM and SSB signals here. That entire band has been basically an unregulated "sewer" since the mid-1970s, though, so it would not surprise me that people use FM-mode equipment here in the USA. (I do not see the point of doing so, though. FM voice signals do not travel as far as AM or SSB with the same RF power for DX-type operating, and anyone in the USA who wants local radio communication should pick almost anything other than CB radios (legal or otherwise) as a method of doing so.)
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Chris Quote from another forum: "(Antique TV collecting) always seemed to me to be a fringe hobby that only weirdos did." |
#18
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I have absolutely no use for CB these days. I had one years ago, along with my amateur radio gear, but I didn't use the CB transceiver much and I certainly didn't broadcast the fact that I had such a radio in my ham shack.
I got rid of my CB gear some time ago, and do not own any such gear now. I did listen to CB a bit on my Icom ham rig about ten years ago, and was amazed at how the service had changed. As one other person stated here, there were many people on the band screaming, yelling, using 1kW linear power amplifiers....you name it. I live 30+ miles outside Cleveland and even heard a CB operator from Tennessee, as I would expect on the amateur bands, but not, for crying out loud, on 27 MHz. I didn't have that great an antenna on my Icom rig either, just an indoor 40-10-meter loaded vertical. CB has become such a wasteland these days the FCC no longer issues CB licenses, monitors, or even cares what goes on there anymore. I don't think even truckers use CB any longer. I also believe many people these days, who do not feel they have the qualifications or the "smarts" to get an amateur radio license, feel CB is a cheap alternative to amateur radio, although I don't know if new CB radios are even being sold anymore. I think Amateur Electronic Supply in Milwaukee was selling CB radios as late as the early 1990s, buit I don't know if they are still doing so; I haven't been getting their catalog for years, though I still have an account with them, and haven't looked at their website for some time.
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Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. |
#19
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"there were many people on the band screaming, yelling, using 1kW linear power amplifiers....you name it."
That's pretty much the story now, from the little bit of listening I've been doing over the past few days.
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Dumont-First with the finest in television. |
#20
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You can get so called "10 Meter ham" radios that have features like Echo, Voice Changer, and roger beep. And if you're so inclined, you can open the radio up and remove or add a diode, or a jumper, wire, resistor or something as simple to make it an illegal CB and "freeband" radio... Actually, the FCC says any such radio easily changed like this is already illegal...
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Audiokarma |
#21
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I am not advocating this and no disrespect intended.
1000 watts is just a starting point for some CB radio operators. CB amplifier. The FCC does try to enforce the rules, but budget and man power limitations come into play. FCC citation PDF. |
#22
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Quote:
http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNo...-327956A1.html jr |
#23
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#24
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Sadly, we still have idiots in the UK who use stupid power to get out. I run LEGAL power only and stay within the law.
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#25
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FM CB is not officially allowed. AM and SSB is. 5 watts/AM, 12 watts/SSB legal limits. Truck drivers still use it mainly and some other activities.
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Audiokarma |
#26
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Just to be pedantic...
It used to be 5 watts DC input power to the plate of the final RF power amplifier in the USA. It was not easy for the average CBer to perform this measurement, so the rule was changed to carrier output power. This was set at 4 watts unmodulated carrier and of course 12 watts peak envelope power. This applies to Class D CB radio. There are other radio bands available for license free two-way radio. MURS (multi use radio system) a series of VHF frequencies in the 151 MHz range. The FCC defines MURS as a private, two-way, short-distance voice or data communications service for personal or business activities of the general public. They are allowed 2 watts of RF output and the highest point of any MURS antenna must not be more than 18.3 meters (60 feet) above the ground or 6.10 meters (20.0 feet) above the highest point of the structure to which it is mounted, whichever is higher. That is external antennas may be used. The radios are sometimes called color dot radios, because each frequency or channel is represented by a color. Then there is the FRS (family radio service) in the UHF band. These are the small handheld radios we see for sale and advertised. These are handheld radios that are limited to a maximum output power of 500 milliwatts or half a watt. The antennas are fixed and not removable. External antennas are not allowed. Then there are the UHF GMRS radios. Handheld, mobile and base stations are allowed. The last time I checked the maximum power output was 5 watts ERP (effective radiated power). That is the output of the transmitter times the gain of the antenna, minus any losses. The last time I checked these required a license and the payment of a fee. The license term was 5 years. Some of the small hand held UHF radios that we see for sale are both FRS and GMRS capable and although there may be instructions that a license is needed to use the GMRS channels, very few if any people apply for this license. These radios are capable of running higher power than the FRS only radios on the GMRS frequencies. Aye roger D 10-4 good buddy. I am east bound and down, Keep the shiny side up, look out for the chicken coops and do not feed the bears. I'll catch you on the flip flop, I'm gone! |
#27
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Well , with all this talk of CB radios , I guess we oughta have at least one pictured . Here , in all it's 23 channel glory , is my "Citi-Fone SS" and a good ol D104 . It's got 10 tubes crammed into that little box and a vibrator power supply for 12 Volt as well as a "normal" supply for 115 . It's been recapped and works as well as any old tube CB could , meaning it sits on a shelf with some other bygone relics and collects dust
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#28
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CB is the only radio system I actively use and experiment on. Screw the regulations. It's so dead out here now that you can do whatever you want on a channel other than 19 and 9 (every once and a while you get chatter from trucks going down the highway so it's best to keep those channels clear) and nobody will ever notice or care. I run a Realistic base station here in the house but as of yet I have been unable to find a way to build the 20' supporting column for the 3/4 wave antenna so my range is limited to two or three kilometers from the house with a craptacular car antenna fitted. I'm sure when the 3/4 wave is up I can get coverage over the entire valley.
On the car there's another Realistic built into the center console and a 12' whip on the back. I've tried a number of things that technically you shouldn't be doing like RTTY, SSTV and low baud packet. It's all basically useless out here unless your base station has a proper antenna. Just don't tell anyone I'm doing this, 'kay? Back when I lived in Vancouver when the weather was just right you could park at the top of the hill in Queen Elizabeth Park and you could got skip from as far away as Alabama. Never understood their love for using channels 6 and 11. It was always a mess of overlapping conversations. Last edited by MIPS; 07-25-2014 at 11:40 AM. |
#29
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That brings back memories.
My first two CB radios were a Hallicrafters CB-3A with the optional adjustable noise blanker and S meter. And a Lafayette HE-20c. This was in the early 1960s. I got these because some of the farmers had CB radios in there trucks and pickups. I was more interested in amateur radio. I found out that I could move a receive frequency crystal to the transmitter side and the Lafayette HE-20c would transmit on the 10 meter amateur radio band. I used this with a Lafayette HA-350 receiver on 10 meters with great fun. I still have the Lafayette HA-350 receiver but the CB radios are long gone after many moves. And I do have a amplified version of the D-104 microphone. I also had at one time a 23 channel Pace Plus 23. It was rather unusual in that IIRC it had a 30 watt TO-3 case RF output transistor. It was either this radio or their 6 channel radio that looked similar and maybe both of them. Anyway more CB radio pictures and a stowaway amateur radio receiver. |
#30
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Audiokarma |
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