cb range??

[f.boyle]

What range can you expect to get from a cb properly tuned? my parents and I own/ opperate Ember's Garden in Isle LaMotte Vt and are thinking about using cb's instead of cell phones less $ in the long run. we are usualy at a max of 25-30 miles from HQ with a truck at about 10- 15mile mark.



Frank

 

[The patriot]

short answer....depends.

That distance would be asking a lot w/o an amplifier.

Half that distance would be more realistic, however much depends on terrain, location (if both of you were on high mountain tops, 30 miles is entirely possible) buildings/ trees etc. between the two units, each individual installation will even vary.

If your base station located on a mountain top, you MAY be able to talk this distance. It sure as heck wont be like a call phone conversation though.

If you would want to talk mobile to mobile, 30 miles is difficult unless all the conditions are ideal.



How much $$$ are you planning on spending on equipment?

Two good radios (I'd suggest something with SSB), two linear amps, one power supply (for the base stn) and two good quality antennas will be well over $1000. 00.

What youre asking is not "do-able" with a $50. 00 CB IMO. At least not as a form of communication to be relied upon.

Eric

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

You should also be aware that using CB's for a business is illegal. They are for public communication by individuals only. In order to legally use 2 way radios for business you'd need to buy business band radios and pay for the frequency you are going to use. You might want to see if there is a cellular provider in your area that does 2 way radio cellular. In our area Nextel provides this service - and all 2 way calls (works just like a CB - push to talk) are free so you can buy the lowest level of service and talk to each other as much as you want for free. You also have the full range of the cellular network.

 

[paccool]

Steve, I don't think the Gov even monitors CB anymore so it probably doesn't matter if someone uses it for business. I hear lots of morons on the air that use foul language, there are people that dead key the mike and then go to work so people can't use the channel, and so on. Seems nothing gets done to these creeps. Sure would like to come up with something that could be used zap some of these radios out of existence.



Seems like this just goes along with the rest of society today - some people just don't care about others. Oh well... ... .



Stan

 

[WTBurke]

CB and RF amplifiers

Originally posted by paccool

Steve, I don't think the Gov even monitors CB anymore so it probably doesn't matter



There is this man named Ray Hollingsworth who is the Head Field Marshall of the FCC. He is the strongest person to come along sence the 1960's. He is very scary, has a "new" army of men in the field and is making money for the FCC field offices everyday.

RF Amplifiers on 27 Mhz is a Felony... ... $10,000 per day on each offence and 5 years in prison.

I support Mr. Hollingsworth and I work for him in the field as an Official Observer.

This is friendly advice from a "brother TDR member" who is involved in communications.

27Mhz bandit operations of any sort "inband" or "out of band" can and is being prosecuted.



William

 

[f.boyle]

that's good to know:{ What about that 2way cellular?? What would the "cb" be like just a small box with a mic? how much? I'll call cell one and vorison on monday. Thank you.

Frank

 

[David Wheeler]

f.boyle

Steve has given you some good advice. The Nextel option works great because the transmission is traveling over "cell frequencies" and therefore is very clear. Plus, you also have the addition of regular cell service to call others when you need to. Unit looks like a cell phone on steroids The CB option... ... I would not put much stock in it for your intended use. Good luck!!



David

 

[azcummins]

kickers...yes

My truck has a 100W Texas Star kicker on it. Not sure of my range, but it sure beats the 3W that the FCC lets stock radios put out.



My friend's have big rigs and they have 450W kickers. After an hour of solid talking, their coaxes are hot. The coolest thing is to hold a 8' fluro. bulb and stand about 10' from the truck and key the mic with the kicker on. The light will light up like it was plugged in... COOL!!!!

 

[paccool]

Thanks for the info William. Glad to hear I was wrong on this subject! How does one go about filing a complaint on some of these bandits?



Stan

 

[yogibear]

I think we should leave well enough alone! Read some of the posts on TDR, smoke, street racing, etc. -etc. -etc. This could come back to haunt us!!! I run all over the USA, and my CB is sometimes a lifesaver, I'd hate to loose it. Its not as bad as the speeding that goes on the streets and highways. JMO, for what its worth.

Larry

 

[The patriot]

Originally posted by Steve St. Laurent

You should also be aware that using CB's for a business is illegal. They are for public communication by individuals only.

It's also illegal to transmit where police are taking radar. I'll just say

 

[SteveE]

amps

My friend's have big rigs and they have 450W kickers. After an hour of solid talking, their coaxes are hot. The coolest thing is to hold a 8' fluro. bulb and stand about 10' from the truck and key the mic with the kicker on. The light will light up like it was plugged in... COOL!!!!

The RF is also frying your eyeballs, shouldn't do that.





Glass does not stop RF, hate to preach, but your need your eyes to drive the CTD.



Steve

 

[f.boyle]

Steve,

What do you recomend?nextel ? I still want my cb to communicate on the waves with.

Frank

 

[Midnite]

Re: CB and RF amplifiers

Originally posted by WTBurke

There is this man named Ray Hollingsworth who is the Head Field Marshall of the FCC. He is the strongest person to come along sence the 1960's. He is very scary, has a "new" army of men in the field and is making money for the FCC field offices everyday.

RF Amplifiers on 27 Mhz is a Felony... ... $10,000 per day on each offence and 5 years in prison.

I support Mr. Hollingsworth and I work for him in the field as an Official Observer.

This is friendly advice from a "brother TDR member" who is involved in communications.

27Mhz bandit operations of any sort "inband" or "out of band" can and is being prosecuted.



William

Um. . right.



The current Chairman of the FCC is Michael K. Powell, so I'm not sure what you mean by "Head Field Marshall. "



When you wrote "Ray Hollingsworth", did you mean Riley Hollingsworth? Riley Hollingsworth's real title is "FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio". As for him prosecuting amateur radio ne'er do wells, this web site may shed some light on the situation. It seems he prosecutes nothing, but can sure write a mean warning letter.



This isn't to say that anyone acting like a two year old with a cb running more watts than normal shouldn't have his coax cut--he probably deserves worse than that.



But the FCC nail a decent CBer for a felony just because he runs an amp? Get real.



Mike

 

[WTBurke]

Re: Re: CB and RF amplifiers

Originally posted by Midnite







Um. . right.



The current Chairman of the FCC is Michael K. Powell, so I'm not sure what you mean by "Head Field Marshall. "



When you wrote "Ray Hollingsworth", did you mean Riley Hollingsworth? Riley Hollingsworth's real title is "FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio".



Yes Mike... ... "Riley" is correct and I stand corrected... ... ... .

None the less... all these guys work togather in a "field" situation and it is well known now that they do produce results.

The 11 meter band has been out of hand sence about 1970. Funding for rule violation in that portion of the spectrum has always been poor. Back in 1964 not using your CB call sign was a dicey way to operate..... people back than still had respect for others (some what) and fear of the FCC. As for this RF AMPLIFIER thing (kicker-stuff)... ... (very silly CB lingo) I will say that it was back in the 1930's that the Germans knew and published near field RF radiation at 30Mhz was a danger to human tissue. Also the World Associated Radio Counsel (WARC) is who set the standards of frequency allocation on this very small planet. The powers of this country were influenced by the people involved in communications work... public and private (Amateur Radio Operators) this is the reason 11 meters is where it is today.

Romell and his tank corp first used these frequencies at the start of WW II..... all involved at the end of the war and through the Korean war felt it would be appropriate to place the citizens of the world on 27Mhz. The Amateur Radio group then lost 11 meters (some still gripe today). The bottom line to this whole mess is second and third order harmonics of the fundamental frequencies. You are just ignorant if you operate in excess of the 5 watt DC input in a neighborhood. All your neighbors will hate you because of your none-type-excepted illeagal amplifiers that are never clean from a "spectrual' stand point... ... and tear up every piece of home entertainment equipment for hundreds to thousands of feet from the radiating antenna.

You must have seen a few CB junkies homes in your years on this planet... ..... do many of them appear to be able to pay the federal fines that could be imposed upon them? ... ... . I think you would agree the FCC will go where the money is. So ... ... . Um... Yeah... . who would ever bother with a CBer at least not the poor ones.

I'm not going to continue with this... ... I feel it's out of place on TDR but I must say I don't stand on the front porch and taunt the wild dog (FCC) because I'm very close to it..... and I'll never risk the privlages I have. Also because when that dog bites it is awsome and you can't afford it.

If all the CBers dumped the illeagal amplifiers YOU COULD WORK THE WORLD ON 3 WATTS... ..... 27Mhz punches a mean hole in the eather... it travels a very long way..... the German Tank Corps didn't run more than 10 watts... . and they killed alot of guys with their ability to communicate on 27Mhz.

EEEEEkkk 450 watts at 27Mhz in your face through the glass on a Kenworth... ... ... not me..... I'm not that lame... . (not ment to flame)

If guys bomb their rigs "stupid-style" they end up on the side of the road. Same goes for radio communications equipment.



I'm very sorry if I've offended any TDR member!

William

 

[The patriot]

No offence taken William. Everyone has their job to do.



I thought a law was passed a few years ago (2 or3?) that it was up to the individual town to control RF interferance?

Sure wish someone would shut down (or at least shut off the amplifier) of this guy that's about 1/4 mile from me.

I watch only two or three shows on TV every week, and this

#@$%! guy is tearing up the TV every time!!

No common sense.

Eric

 

[SteveE]

What do you recomend?nextel ? I still want my cb to communicate on the waves with.

Put metal between yourself and the antenna, Top center on the cab works the best, mag mount or make a hole.

Steve



Eric talk to your local ham radio club they like to help out with problems like that.



www.qrz.com

 

[paccool]

Yogibear,



I wasn't talking so much about people running the big amps as I was about the people that are complete A-holes when it comes to CB etiquite(sp?). The ones that key up and leave it keyed up all day (with an amp on it too!) There was one in Stockton that did/does this and no one can use channel 17. He does it because of the truckers that use 17 in that area. Guess he feels he owns the channel. There was another one in the Reno area that would break in on truckers to say he hated them and all that good stuff.



No, I'm not a trucker and I'm trying to not take sides, just my $. 02 worth.



Stan

 

[yogibear]

I know what you mean Paccool, those people are all over the country, they get on 19 at night and bug the heck out of the truckers. The biggest problem on CB is the skip, when it rolls you can't get any distance at all. Last week I was rolling across Nevada on I-80, and the skip out of Fl. , Ga. and NY, was terrible, you couldn't get out a mile on the CB. I know a lot of the truckers shoot skip also, but most use their amps. to be able to talk over the skip.

Larry