You can get the low cost Uniden PRO505XL CB radio here: amzn.to/40OBq9o Get the Galaxy DX-2547 High-end Base Station CB radio with SSB here: amzn.to/3G9KbBy You can find the handheld Wouxun KG-S72C hand-held FM CB here: amzn.to/3uoWBCK Check out the President Randy II hand-held CB walkie-talkie here: amzn.to/46qLJBH
Please make more than one video a day. I enjoy your videos more than regular TV. I learn much from you. You are the beginning and end of my regulations knowledge, and I consider you the standard. Thank you for your information.
Cb radio is hot right now. The daily skip rolling in is peaking and will through 2025 under the current solar cycle. I’m talking daily to the UK, Ireland and Italy with ease on ssb. I hear the upper channels are active too…Many of us old boomers who grew up with cb in the 70’s and 80’s are back into it again. It’s perfect for SHTF or hobby comms.
@@TheNotaRubicon 12 watts pep. Talking good skip from my jeep while driving too. Many guys are running stock radios and talking great skip daily. Just like back in the day, FL and TX roll in to the northeast where I am like nothing. I’m talking to every region of the US too and west coast Canada. I’m about 1k feet up in the hill country running a 1/2 wave A-99. Cb is also hot in the UK and Europe on ssb. Ssb is where it’s at. Those guys are trying daily to talk skip to us here in the US and doing it. People on the west coast are making contact with Asian countries and Australia on the upper channels.
@@TheNotaRubicon , you should consider doing a video with an ssb cb rig on the mobile and base and see how many FARS you can get. Consider it like a follow up video to this one! Of note, most truckers and other cb enthusiasts are now running 10 meter “export” radios instead of cb’s. They all can be modded for 11meters but you likely know this already but many of your subs may not. I hear running those radios instead of a low power cb is where it’s at🤫
I can't confirm but I spoke with someone who claimed to be 93 miles away (good conditions) on my tuned (hidden menu) Randy II with 51 inch telescoping antenna... I have higher hopes for my new President Richard which can be tuned to over 60 watts pep... @@TheNotaRubicon
Ham for over 20 years but the only radio installed in my car is a terrific CB and I use it daily. There's nobody on the local ham bands anyway. My 2m/440 radio sits on a shelf at home. Anyway CB is awesome. Truckers threatening to kill each other, call outs to bimbos, every kind of profanity, and solid traffic advice is all stuff you would never hear on the ham bands.
@@N2YTAand the mods/“alignment” that are possible with the variable caps/resistors that get put into these much more serviceable radios. Most modern ham radios are made like computers or cell phones But Cobra 29s are still being made, are 150$, are more or less using the same schematics they’ve always used, and are just easier to work on.
I am STILL a CB radio user, and I also use VHF in my off-road vehicle and local comms. I managed to have a chat with a buddy in AbuDabi on CB using SSB, all the way from here in South Africa - you cant do that with a GMRS or even VHF without many, many repeaters. To be honest, I was not using only 12watts though 😁
A CB will work a lot better after SHTF because most stations running big power will be off air and it'd be less busy. Then you'll get 10m ham performance. Right now with the solar cycle you're able to regularly make contacts cross country even if you're running legal power. The President Randy walkie talkie I have has talked 10 miles on its factory antenna pretty reliably (surprisingly.) I talked to my friend in Tampa FL from Iowa walkie talkie to walkie talkie since he has his hooked to his 4 element beam and pointed at me in Iowa. CB will forever be better for freedom than GMRS and ham simply because it requires no license and has no protocol to follow. Nobody has to register their name and address with the FCC. I have my general class ham and GMRS licenses and haven't talked to any one on any of those bands just because I don't like the culture and protocol. I talk on the CB every day.
I have a personal peeve - but I admit it's just my problem. I hate it when hams say "Roger Roger!" Instead of just "Roger." Especially with a lilting voice.
I live in England and skip is banging us all over the world 🌎. And loving it. Ps love the show baufane is one of my favourite cheapest go to radio and love it. Thanks again for the way you help us little people out. 73s from little old England just over the pond 🇬🇧🍻💯👍
i bought a cb before gmrs radio because of work, pulling fiber optic on a site with gravel haul trucks & logging rigs. had it in a sort of QD setup, so i could drive in with my pickup & not get flattened, then swap it over to the UTV i was bombing around the site in all day. even stuck some steel on the roof with some VHB tape for a magmount antenna. the little handhelds we were given by the site supe couldn't talk 300' around a corner. throw it back in the truck at the end of the day, and on the way home i had fun listening to the dumbasses get confukulated at the local mill. by the time i was pulling in my driveway (Olympic Peninsula in Washington), sun was coming down, so I got to listen to all the crankpots hootin' & hollerin' & being insane, all the way from Hawaii or Louisianna (allegedly, but also probably?) gotta get that thing reinstalled, and put a bigger antenna on. might have to find an amp just to join the asylum escapees on Ch 6 😂
I'm traveling the country in my Van and have been on the road for 6 months now. I use both CB and my GMRS radios. I have my boo fwang radios just in case.
Great videos! Believe it or not, about 30 years ago, from Florida, after midnight, I contacted someone in Australia. No SSB... Yes.. a weak signal..truly amazing...
Sometimes during the peak of the solar cycle 10m ham propagates all day and night, CB is exactly the same, except it has the additional exception of if things aren’t quiet enough you’re not going to be able to make DX. Definitely possible though, and we’re coming into that period again. Make yourself a nice dipole or something along those lines, and you can be working the world for dirt cheap, unlicensed, on CB.
Exellent topic! I used your very same logic when I purchased my President Randy and President Lincoln CB radios. I keep them, and batteries galore, in a Faraday box.
I love it, Randy showing some love to the CBers! All kidding aside a CB and GMRS is a strong SHTF set up and will sure draw the fire and brimstone from the sad hams of the world! GMRS & CBers unite!
Randy, I have been watching for about two months. Submitted for license Friday got my call sign this morning, and became a member of a local GMRS Club this morning. Thanks for all the info, cheers!
I still have my 50-year-old GE CB radio and it still works. I don't use it anymore but I'm keeping it anyway because I know the poo will eventually hit the fan and I wanna be ready for it when it does. Besides - I like old radios and other old stuff (like myself for instance).
lol here for research be4 I buy!! Where in some very scary times guys I just want to tell you guys to be safe and I love you all! Hope your heart receives that love
I have that same Radio Shack emergency CB radio. I saw it at an auction, BNIB. When I got it and opened it up, it smelled like early 1980vs Radio Shack plastic. I was in love. Nothing smells like that anymore.
40 years ago I was using my CB to ask my friend when we could meet up and go shooting, and I was barely 10 years old at the time. These days I guess it's like listening to a mental ward reception room before they've handed out the medication. Still works, though. ;)
I'm going to recommend the President Lincoln 2+ with the 11meter mod, giving you 10, 11, 12 meters, am, fm, ssb and of course the "rodger beep". Is it legal for CB? well, just a legal as a UV-5R is for GMRS. but who's counting?
I always hook up my Uniden CB when we travel, even though I have a 2 M/70cm. Ham radio in my car. I can listen to truckers and get a heads up if there is a traffic problem ahead.
CB is definitely better than nothing at all, and yes, Channel Six is usually a total shitshow. I hear very VERY few truckers using CB anymore and I live right next to I-80. I also drove up to Chicago on a major interstate last year and had the CB in my vehicle. I heard NO CB traffic to or from Chicago and only 2 truckers BS'ing while I was in Chicago. It's a big change from 30 years ago when CB was in every semi-truck.
The older solid state CB radios also offer the option of absurd fars and transmission / reception in illegal frequency ranges through the use of illegal, ill- advised, simple, and inexpensive modifications. Allegedly. An excellent example of a CB transceiver that you should never own under any circumstances is the Realistic TRC-459 Navajo (no affiliate link below). You're a bad person for having read this post and now you're on a watchlist. I know absolutely nothing about this subject because I'm a dutiful law- abiding American citizen.
Antennas give you your fars… not the radio… you can have a shite radio hooked up to a big ass 500$ antenna and it work great at the same time you can spend 500$ on a radio and 30 on an antenna it’s not gonna get out far because of the antenna being shite 😢 sad a lot of people think it’s the radio itself that does all the work
@@windytokes You, Sir, are a bit of an enigma. This would be a typical 'sad ham' response... except for the fact that an *actual* ham would've come across an ARRL antenna handbook at some point. You can build *really* good antennas for dirt cheap, something I have often done myself.
While not cheap the President Randy II has many features that are normally seen in mobile or home radios... Also, the Randy can be turned up to 5 watts output, the modulation can be increased and the antenna can be replaced with a longer telescoping model that can all work together to transmit many, many fars under the right conditions.... Also President 10 meter radios can be easily modified for CB band & higher power which could transmit even more fars...
I bought 2 of those emergency Radio Shack CBs, exactly like you showed, pre-cell phone intro for driving an isolated stretch of road in Oregon. One in each car, and installed a dash-mounted CB in my truck 6 years ago. Some thought I was silly. Glad I did so. Thank you.
Having another whole range of frequencies to use could be very helpful if there was too much chatter on another band. I didn’t realize the Single Side Band could transmit at 12 watts. I was thinking all CB was limited to 4.
• 4W is measured as Carrier based in AM mode. • Since SSB is carrier-suppressed , it's output is measured in PEP ( Peak Envelope Power ) which results in a measurement of 12 "units". • Think : F° vs C° . Different ways to measure the SAME AMOUNT of power. • Since SSB is more EFFICIENT overall in the circuitry , however , RANGE is generally improved , even though V & I readings taken @ the power source would be 4 watts either way.
CB radio was my gateway into two way comms back in the early 1990s. I’ll tell you that your home location you’d be able to talk a lot of fars. You’re in the sweet spot. I’m a California native but now live in a flat heavily wooded state by the ocean on the east coast, and I don’t get to enjoy elevation gain like I used to. But I did get to talk to a friend who lives in Idaho on SSB one evening. It was a pretty high experience in my 2 way radio hobby timeline. I enjoy your content keep up the good work Holmes.
I have a FM -AM cb the thing with them in FM you can hear AM & FM but only talk to FM. But in AM you can only hear and talk to AM. Now I have a president cb radio in my semi truck and a Midland 75 822 in my Jeep and I keep the battery packs in the wife’s car. And I do carry a grms/ ham radio with me and have a baofeng grms radio ( no repeaters settings ) in the wife’s car too with a 12v car adapter to replace the battery. I have them both for road trips and SHTF cases too. Now Ham people think they are set with ham. But if you are old enough to remember tuning in a radio. Then think of all the ham radio stations that could be used. And that is why I would say good luck with ham on someone on the exact same channel as you that is willing to listen to you. CB and Grms I think are great for SHTF and anything else and the licensing is very easy a child with your credit card can do it. And both are great gateway to different types of radio equipment. And with grms radio is it a grms radio or a family walkie talkie if you don’t use repeaters who would know?
You forgot to mention the fact that as a CB radio operator you get to use cool lingo like "breaker breaker" , "18 wheeler", "good buddy", and "catch you on the flip flop."
I was told once that an Unsharpened Pencil was Pointless, however, in the mid-70s I had both an Unsharpened Pencil and a "Smoky-and-the Bandit-style" C/B Radio. 🤠
I have a radio in the truck and in the living room, it’s nice to be able to communicate with my locals and with the wife. If the hand computers turn off one day what will the people do?lol. The radio is not dead we’re in at and I’m getting the nieces and nephews involved which has gotten the whole family involved. Fun and convenient.
I keep a cb in my car. Any time the weather is bad on my drive i turn it on and on more than a few occasions ive avoided pileups and other dangers because truckers were telling eachother whats ahead
CB is where it's at. Channel 38 LSB is where you'll do the most DX or skip talking, and it can be done with legal power when the conditions are right. You just really need a good and properly tuned antenna, it is really important on CB. If you're going to get a CB for prepper communication, definitely spend the extra $ to get one with SSB capability as you get more range on SSB than on AM. It's really technical stuff to explain, but simplified, SSB gets you 12 watts whereas AM only allows 4 watts legal. You're not going to talk DX on AM with legal power, the guys talking DX on AM are all running big power. Around here I don't hear anything on GMRS other than local business who use the handhelds. GMRS is what is dead around here, not CB. I have GMRS for wheeling though, and yes I do have a license.
@@KQ4JGS That is true. 38 can definitely be a train wreck much of the time. I don't mess around outside the band, but I might listen in on those frequencies and see what I can hear.
Isn't AM modulation that CB uses way harder to jam? That's why aviation still uses am. The 'feature' of fm is it locks naturally on receive and ignores interference. AM just hears everything. Your ears have to pick out the signal you want through the interference, but it's not totally blocked
No , AM can be jammed and it's not the reason the aircraft industry uses that modulation scheme.. AM is used in the aircraft bands because FM has capture effect. If two pilots are transmitting simultaneously, and one has a stronger signal, both can still be heard. With FM, if two transmitters transmit at the same time then the one with the most RF power will "capture" the receiver and be the only one heard. With AM, a pilot declaring an emergency can still be heard if another pilot is using the radio at the same time.
For those who don’t know, 10 Meter is a H.A.M. band and 11 Meter is C.B. They’re kissing cousins when it comes to frequency range. Properly tuned antennas and height of their placement is key to obtaining many F.A.R.S. with your transmission. “Some people” may purchase 10 meter radios and *expand* their range to listen to 11 meter; and in emergencies they could legally transmit on that band.
Because of you Randy, because of you! I have all three. GMRS, Amateur and CB radios. And to get the chicks, I use a 62" whip... yes a 62" whip. and those ladies love how many fars I get on SSB.
As a truck driver, I use a CB radio every day. I also have a GMRS radio in my truck and believe it or not. I am a ham with a ham radio in my truck .... I can promise you I'm not a sad Ham thanks for your videos. W7GUM
I have a Radioddity mini CB in the Jeep, I used a hand held GMRS hand held in a cup holder mount. I'm on the side of a mountain and hear people states away.
Love your videos man! Just getting into radio in general, and you’ve been a big help! I love your presentation style, and sarcasm. And *some people* won’t dissuade me from going into the hobby. I know another person who is a HAM, CB, and GMRS operator they’ve also been helping me.
It was great meeting you guys this weekend and thanks again for the radio ! My dad got such a kick out of the picture and said “that guys the man” have a merry Christmas and hopefully one day we cross paths again !
I can travel the Delmar peninsula from North Carolina to Rhode Island with the cb on channel 19 and if I am lucky will hear maybe 5 calls on 19. Big trucks everywhere and almost no calls . Not like the old days at all. And yes, my radio is good and antenna tuned and can be heard at my house 5 to 7 miles away depending on terrain, elevation etc.
My go-to radio system is CB for many reasons. Being in Canucklestan, it is the best bag for your buck by FARS (see wut I did thar?) and the easiest and simplest and cheapest to get newbs into who are unfamiliar with radio. If you get one with SSB, you masively boost your range, and I figure that being that it's old tech running on AM mostly, most of Big Brother's hired goons won't have access to it at least initially.
You truly are great! I enjoy all your videos. Just for those who decide to venture into CB radio and get sucked in to buying “more power”, tread lightly. You can easily piss off the house full of “fat people” next door. Trust me! Thanks again for the vid! I’m going back to dealing with my problems generated by weak men. 🤙🏻
My grandpa has few base stations and I’m 19 getting into it I got a handheld but just ordered everything for a base station. He lives 14 miles from me so hopefully it reaches lol I’m in the country he’s in the city downtown
💯% yes sir and the can talk more than 30 miles out the box depending on what one you get and antenna 10 meters radio are the best stryker,connex,ranger
I'm a ham but I also have CB and GMRS. I agree with NotaRubicon. There are probably way more CBs than Ham or GMRS out there. I plan to eventually get a unit capable of SSB and FM just to cover all bases.
Dusted off my old Uniden radio, that I haven't used since about 1990. Hooking it up in my basement with a new DC to AC power converter. Antenna strapped to my chimney. Solar generator ready for when our grid goes down. Also a new Uniden for my truck, along with two Baofeng BF-F8HP ham handhelds. With a roof Ham radio antenna that fits the handhelds, I can "reach out" when the SHTF. I'm almost looking forward to the next plandemic. 😆
Another informative video that I like. 👍 The Galaxy DX-2547 is nice for a base station, but I would also consider getting a similarly capable mobile radio and adding an appropriate power supply. It would be a bit more cost effective and have just as many FARS since both the base and mobile units are limited to the same power output. And several of the mobile CBs also have NOAA weather reception.
Both Midland and Cobra have a combination HT/mobile CB radio where the battery pack and antenna can be removed and, with a cigarette plug and optional external antenna, be used in a vehicle. I had the Midland for years until it disappeared when my car was totalled. Although not as active as the 70s, CB allows an option to get up-to-date traffic information faster than commercial radio. As far as the numbers, there can be approximations as to GMRS users based on licenses, but the number is likely higher. With CB being licensed by rule since the late 70s there's no accurate or ballpark numbers about users.
That is what I run in my truck. Love it for traffic jam updates when road tripping. Also love the weather channels! I think mine was right around $100 a few years ago. Added an external antenna and it simply rocks.
I drove truck and I now have my cobra limited and my Wilson 5000 antenna on my pickup truck. I love it and I can hear people in Florida as I'm in Colorado
I have my Uncle’s Old Uniden CB from the 80’s. He had it “turned up” for more output, I also have his old Cobra Antenna. I keep it in my pick up truck, so I can hassle the trucker’s daily. 😂
Sunspot activity is up. Biggest thing missing on GMRS is Skip. I ordered a President Rand II FCC and one of these. CB AM/FM/SSB and 10 meter. CRT SS6900V
12 watts for SSB is a much greater improvement over 4 watts AM than it sounds like at first. When transmitting with a four watt AM carrier, each side band, which is the part that carries the audio information, has a peak envelope power of one watt. Transmitting a single side band signal with a peak envelope power of 12 watts puts 12 times the energy into the important part of your signal, and only transmits the important part. It is difficult to compare AM and FM directly, but since the average power in a side band when transmitting speech tends to be around half of the peak envelope power, which would be one half watt in the case of a 4 watt AM signal, and the average power in an FM 4 watt signal is 4 watts, I would estimate the effective power to be about eight times greater with FM. Of course, the great disadvantage with single sideband or FM is that very few other people use them, so unless you are buying radios for yourself and your friends and trying to maximize your communication distance, you may not find many people to talk with unless you use AM.
@@mattshaul7100 If two people are using different modes on the same channel, they will not be able to understand each other. Most FM or SSB CBs are able to work in AM mode if you want to, however.
Wow a radio shack CB. I used to love Radio Shack as a kid they had the coolest r/c stuff. I have to dispute the CB radio on the reloading bench. That’s where the police scanner goes lol
2:13, How did you do that? Clever!!! FJB! I’m new to CB/ ham radios. After watching your videos I and other I’m not sure where to start with a radio? Uv-5r or AR-152? Anyways you have been real helpful. More than others.
I have in my possession a pristine Midland CB model 77-861 paired with a K40 antennae. Operated on 12 volt DC (cigarette lighter) or batteries. Somewhere in the house I have an older 23 channel CB. Randy, thank you for this informative video.
Where we generally dispersed camp is around logging roads with signs 'CB 15' for the trucks. For our convoy needs I have a radiodity db-20 something 4 channel and 3 uv-5r things. All GMRS radios are "chirped" the same for gmrs use and local area emergency frequencies monitoring.
I have a handheld cb with aftermarket long telescoping antenna i live on 7th floor of my apt and i can talk to trucker s at the truck stop that is 6 miles straight west of me and the one about 9 miles north east or me but i am up pretty high
Along with a UV5R for a wide frequency ability, I have a Lincoln II+ with the simple added resistor to give me 25 to 31 Mhz in AM, FM, USB, LSB, and for those fogeys that learned it CW. And both with the very important roger beep.
Since CB radio is definitely making a comeback I wish you'd make more videos about various models of radios and antennas. Some "how to" installation videos for mobile radio systems, base antennas and proper installation of various connector types would be awesome. That's probably asking too much but it doesn't hurt to dream. 👍😊📡
Randy, I enjoy your work. Thank you! CB radio was very popular in the 80's in Philadelphia. I used to run a "tweaked" mobile, Lafayette Telsat as a base station. When I keyed the mic you could hear my voice through the speakers of any TV and stereo system in the immediate area. The neighbors hated me. I run export radios in my pick-ups now. I have a question, Do you have links or can you direct me to a list of useful channels I can "chirp" into my BTECH?
You can get the low cost Uniden PRO505XL CB radio here: amzn.to/40OBq9o
Get the Galaxy DX-2547 High-end Base Station CB radio with SSB here: amzn.to/3G9KbBy
You can find the handheld Wouxun KG-S72C hand-held FM CB here: amzn.to/3uoWBCK
Check out the President Randy II hand-held CB walkie-talkie here: amzn.to/46qLJBH
Please make more than one video a day. I enjoy your videos more than regular TV. I learn much from you. You are the beginning and end of my regulations knowledge, and I consider you the standard. Thank you for your information.
I watch your damn videos and I still don’t know how to have sex with womens!!!!!!!
Don't forget the amp!
I’m learning a lot from these videos. For instance, I didn’t know that some Mossberg shotguns have recoil buffers in the stock.
The semiautos do.
lol
Not the 590 Shockwave.🤣
Not buffers... spare shell storage patented as "SpeedFeed"
Thats not a buffer, it's a shell holder...
Cb radio is hot right now. The daily skip rolling in is peaking and will through 2025 under the current solar cycle. I’m talking daily to the UK, Ireland and Italy with ease on ssb. I hear the upper channels are active too…Many of us old boomers who grew up with cb in the 70’s and 80’s are back into it again. It’s perfect for SHTF or hobby comms.
You doing that with standard 12W or have you added a little extra something?
@@TheNotaRubicon 12 watts pep. Talking good skip from my jeep while driving too. Many guys are running stock radios and talking great skip daily. Just like back in the day, FL and TX roll in to the northeast where I am like nothing. I’m talking to every region of the US too and west coast Canada. I’m about 1k feet up in the hill country running a 1/2 wave A-99. Cb is also hot in the UK and Europe on ssb. Ssb is where it’s at. Those guys are trying daily to talk skip to us here in the US and doing it. People on the west coast are making contact with Asian countries and Australia on the upper channels.
@@TheNotaRubicon , you should consider doing a video with an ssb cb rig on the mobile and base and see how many FARS you can get. Consider it like a follow up video to this one! Of note, most truckers and other cb enthusiasts are now running 10 meter “export” radios instead of cb’s. They all can be modded for 11meters but you likely know this already but many of your subs may not. I hear running those radios instead of a low power cb is where it’s at🤫
What time of day is this? I've only heard CB frequencies a couple of times. I heard stuff from all over the country. It was wild.
I can't confirm but I spoke with someone who claimed to be 93 miles away (good conditions) on my tuned (hidden menu) Randy II with 51 inch telescoping antenna... I have higher hopes for my new President Richard which can be tuned to over 60 watts pep... @@TheNotaRubicon
I'm glad to see CB making a comeback I'm an old-timer I actually had a CB callsign when licenses were required
Ham for over 20 years but the only radio installed in my car is a terrific CB and I use it daily. There's nobody on the local ham bands anyway. My 2m/440 radio sits on a shelf at home. Anyway CB is awesome. Truckers threatening to kill each other, call outs to bimbos, every kind of profanity, and solid traffic advice is all stuff you would never hear on the ham bands.
What is it about HAM operators that immediately makes you want to preface any comment with how many years you’re had said license?
The reason there's nobody on local ham bands is because the old guard hams chase us young people away and the level of elitism is kind of alarming.
@@ViktoriousDeadYour local ham community must suck. I don’t ever *ever* get that sorta stuff.
There's just something mesmerizing about seeing a professional hand model do his thing...
Randy, you are a legend. Putting the client list in the video is champ status.
CB Radio is the "Wild West" of radio communications. I love it!
It really is. There's a bit of a "cottage industry" making linear amplifiers for CB.
@@N2YTAand the mods/“alignment” that are possible with the variable caps/resistors that get put into these much more serviceable radios.
Most modern ham radios are made like computers or cell phones
But Cobra 29s are still being made, are 150$, are more or less using the same schematics they’ve always used, and are just easier to work on.
Damn now I need to.get out the old CB and watch Smokey and the bandit
Just do the first part 😂😂😂 the second will make you get made fun of a lot more when you finally key up that radio haha
I am STILL a CB radio user, and I also use VHF in my off-road vehicle and local comms. I managed to have a chat with a buddy in AbuDabi on CB using SSB, all the way from here in South Africa - you cant do that with a GMRS or even VHF without many, many repeaters. To be honest, I was not using only 12watts though 😁
I think peak can be 16 or 18. I don’t know that for a fact.
A CB will work a lot better after SHTF because most stations running big power will be off air and it'd be less busy. Then you'll get 10m ham performance. Right now with the solar cycle you're able to regularly make contacts cross country even if you're running legal power. The President Randy walkie talkie I have has talked 10 miles on its factory antenna pretty reliably (surprisingly.) I talked to my friend in Tampa FL from Iowa walkie talkie to walkie talkie since he has his hooked to his 4 element beam and pointed at me in Iowa. CB will forever be better for freedom than GMRS and ham simply because it requires no license and has no protocol to follow. Nobody has to register their name and address with the FCC. I have my general class ham and GMRS licenses and haven't talked to any one on any of those bands just because I don't like the culture and protocol. I talk on the CB every day.
You’re the first I’ve seen on here who actually knows and does what he’s talking about. I wish there was an HT that did LSB.
I have a personal peeve - but I admit it's just my problem. I hate it when hams say "Roger Roger!" Instead of just "Roger." Especially with a lilting voice.
I live in England and skip is banging us all over the world 🌎. And loving it. Ps love the show baufane is one of my favourite cheapest go to radio and love it. Thanks again for the way you help us little people out. 73s from little old England just over the pond 🇬🇧🍻💯👍
Something about Trans Ams with T-tops adds many FARS
Only if you have the mandatory mullet. If you have a leather jacket, that adds another many FARS
Very useful on active logging roads avoiding loaded rigs on their way to the mill !
i bought a cb before gmrs radio because of work, pulling fiber optic on a site with gravel haul trucks & logging rigs. had it in a sort of QD setup, so i could drive in with my pickup & not get flattened, then swap it over to the UTV i was bombing around the site in all day. even stuck some steel on the roof with some VHB tape for a magmount antenna. the little handhelds we were given by the site supe couldn't talk 300' around a corner.
throw it back in the truck at the end of the day, and on the way home i had fun listening to the dumbasses get confukulated at the local mill. by the time i was pulling in my driveway (Olympic Peninsula in Washington), sun was coming down, so I got to listen to all the crankpots hootin' & hollerin' & being insane, all the way from Hawaii or Louisianna (allegedly, but also probably?)
gotta get that thing reinstalled, and put a bigger antenna on. might have to find an amp just to join the asylum escapees on Ch 6 😂
How? You think they’re keying up before they come around a blind corner?
I'm traveling the country in my Van and have been on the road for 6 months now. I use both CB and my GMRS radios. I have my boo fwang radios just in case.
Great videos! Believe it or not, about 30 years ago, from Florida, after midnight, I contacted someone in Australia.
No SSB... Yes.. a weak signal..truly amazing...
Sometimes during the peak of the solar cycle 10m ham propagates all day and night, CB is exactly the same, except it has the additional exception of if things aren’t quiet enough you’re not going to be able to make DX. Definitely possible though, and we’re coming into that period again. Make yourself a nice dipole or something along those lines, and you can be working the world for dirt cheap, unlicensed, on CB.
when s.h.t.f., you need a way to contact Candy Cane or Rusty Nail in an emergency.
For SHTF all Radios are a good idea!
I have a number of cb radios and antennas. I think everyone should have a freebanded cb that wants to prep for emergencies.
Exellent topic! I used your very same logic when I purchased my President Randy and President Lincoln CB radios. I keep them, and batteries galore, in a Faraday box.
does it stay on frequentie. 😂
I love it, Randy showing some love to the CBers! All kidding aside a CB and GMRS is a strong SHTF set up and will sure draw the fire and brimstone from the sad hams of the world! GMRS & CBers unite!
Randy, I have been watching for about two months. Submitted for license Friday got my call sign this morning, and became a member of a local GMRS Club this morning. Thanks for all the info, cheers!
I still have my 50-year-old GE CB radio and it still works. I don't use it anymore but I'm keeping it anyway because I know the poo will eventually hit the fan and I wanna be ready for it when it does. Besides - I like old radios and other old stuff (like myself for instance).
lol here for research be4 I buy!! Where in some very scary times guys I just want to tell you guys to be safe and I love you all! Hope your heart receives that love
I have that same Radio Shack emergency CB radio. I saw it at an auction, BNIB. When I got it and opened it up, it smelled like early 1980vs Radio Shack plastic. I was in love. Nothing smells like that anymore.
Does it smell like a sweaty nerd eating a hotdog on a stick?
I know that smell... it's been a long time.
I have 2 of that exact same emergency CB kit. I bought them new in early 90s. Still working; one in each rig. They were probably about $39 each new.
40 years ago I was using my CB to ask my friend when we could meet up and go shooting, and I was barely 10 years old at the time. These days I guess it's like listening to a mental ward reception room before they've handed out the medication. Still works, though. ;)
I'm going to recommend the President Lincoln 2+ with the 11meter mod, giving you 10, 11, 12 meters, am, fm, ssb and of course the "rodger beep". Is it legal for CB? well, just a legal as a UV-5R is for GMRS. but who's counting?
CB was the way to go in the 80's & '90s. Still love it!!
Ha! I have that radio shack cb. Got it at good will 20 years ago
I always hook up my Uniden CB when we travel, even though I have a 2 M/70cm. Ham radio in my car. I can listen to truckers and get a heads up if there is a traffic problem ahead.
CB is definitely better than nothing at all, and yes, Channel Six is usually a total shitshow.
I hear very VERY few truckers using CB anymore and I live right next to I-80.
I also drove up to Chicago on a major interstate last year and had the CB in my vehicle. I heard NO CB traffic to or from Chicago and only 2 truckers BS'ing while I was in Chicago.
It's a big change from 30 years ago when CB was in every semi-truck.
The older solid state CB radios also offer the option of absurd fars and transmission / reception in illegal frequency ranges through the use of illegal, ill- advised, simple, and inexpensive modifications.
Allegedly.
An excellent example of a CB transceiver that you should never own under any circumstances is the Realistic TRC-459 Navajo (no affiliate link below). You're a bad person for having read this post and now you're on a watchlist. I know absolutely nothing about this subject because I'm a dutiful law- abiding American citizen.
👍👍👍 Thanks
Antennas give you your fars… not the radio… you can have a shite radio hooked up to a big ass 500$ antenna and it work great at the same time you can spend 500$ on a radio and 30 on an antenna it’s not gonna get out far because of the antenna being shite 😢 sad a lot of people think it’s the radio itself that does all the work
Pfft, Get a Stryker or a Ranger.
No. I see you don’t know much about it. Get a 10 meter radio and expand it to 11 meter.
@@windytokes You, Sir, are a bit of an enigma. This would be a typical 'sad ham' response... except for the fact that an *actual* ham would've come across an ARRL antenna handbook at some point. You can build *really* good antennas for dirt cheap, something I have often done myself.
I run a scanner and CB on the interstates, does help to avoid/understand shituations sometimes.
I’m a loyal cb radio user. You can talk skip on 4 watts when the conditions are right. I’ve talked to the Bahamas, Idaho, Florida Keys in my truck.
While not cheap the President Randy II has many features that are normally seen in mobile or home radios... Also, the Randy can be turned up to 5 watts output, the modulation can be increased and the antenna can be replaced with a longer telescoping model that can all work together to transmit many, many fars under the right conditions.... Also President 10 meter radios can be easily modified for CB band & higher power which could transmit even more fars...
I bought 2 of those emergency Radio Shack CBs, exactly like you showed, pre-cell phone intro for driving an isolated stretch of road in Oregon. One in each car, and installed a dash-mounted CB in my truck 6 years ago. Some thought I was silly. Glad I did so.
Thank you.
Having another whole range of frequencies to use could be very helpful if there was too much chatter on another band. I didn’t realize the Single Side Band could transmit at 12 watts. I was thinking all CB was limited to 4.
• 4W is measured as Carrier based in AM mode.
• Since SSB is carrier-suppressed ,
it's output is measured in PEP
( Peak Envelope Power ) which
results in a measurement of 12
"units".
• Think : F° vs C° .
Different ways to measure the
SAME AMOUNT of power.
• Since SSB is more EFFICIENT
overall in the circuitry , however ,
RANGE is generally improved ,
even though V & I readings
taken @ the power source would
be 4 watts either way.
I just LOVE your videos! they crack me up, especially the way you bust on the "experts", when un-confuckulating things.
CB radio was my gateway into two way comms back in the early 1990s. I’ll tell you that your home location you’d be able to talk a lot of fars. You’re in the sweet spot. I’m a California native but now live in a flat heavily wooded state by the ocean on the east coast, and I don’t get to enjoy elevation gain like I used to. But I did get to talk to a friend who lives in Idaho on SSB one evening. It was a pretty high experience in my 2 way radio hobby timeline. I enjoy your content keep up the good work Holmes.
They’re great for making friends at the pickle park.
I have a FM -AM cb the thing with them in FM you can hear AM & FM but only talk to FM. But in AM you can only hear and talk to AM. Now I have a president cb radio in my semi truck and a Midland 75 822 in my Jeep and I keep the battery packs in the wife’s car. And I do carry a grms/ ham radio with me and have a baofeng grms radio ( no repeaters settings ) in the wife’s car too with a 12v car adapter to replace the battery. I have them both for road trips and SHTF cases too. Now Ham people think they are set with ham. But if you are old enough to remember tuning in a radio. Then think of all the ham radio stations that could be used. And that is why I would say good luck with ham on someone on the exact same channel as you that is willing to listen to you. CB and Grms I think are great for SHTF and anything else and the licensing is very easy a child with your credit card can do it. And both are great gateway to different types of radio equipment. And with grms radio is it a grms radio or a family walkie talkie if you don’t use repeaters who would know?
I love my CB radio. It's saved my bacon before off-road innawoods
You forgot to mention the fact that as a CB radio operator you get to use cool lingo like "breaker breaker" , "18 wheeler", "good buddy", and "catch you on the flip flop."
I was told once that an Unsharpened Pencil was Pointless, however, in the mid-70s I had both an Unsharpened Pencil and a "Smoky-and-the Bandit-style" C/B Radio. 🤠
I have a radio in the truck and in the living room, it’s nice to be able to communicate with my locals and with the wife. If the hand computers turn off one day what will the people do?lol. The radio is not dead we’re in at and I’m getting the nieces and nephews involved which has gotten the whole family involved. Fun and convenient.
I keep a cb in my car. Any time the weather is bad on my drive i turn it on and on more than a few occasions ive avoided pileups and other dangers because truckers were telling eachother whats ahead
Timestamp 3:30 - BINGO!!
Gonna install one in my outback!!
One of the few, very few, channels I click the Thumbs-Up before watching the video. Cheers! Funniest stuff on the Tube!
CB is where it's at. Channel 38 LSB is where you'll do the most DX or skip talking, and it can be done with legal power when the conditions are right. You just really need a good and properly tuned antenna, it is really important on CB. If you're going to get a CB for prepper communication, definitely spend the extra $ to get one with SSB capability as you get more range on SSB than on AM. It's really technical stuff to explain, but simplified, SSB gets you 12 watts whereas AM only allows 4 watts legal. You're not going to talk DX on AM with legal power, the guys talking DX on AM are all running big power.
Around here I don't hear anything on GMRS other than local business who use the handhelds. GMRS is what is dead around here, not CB. I have GMRS for wheeling though, and yes I do have a license.
38 is a shit show.. if you want REAL DX, head to 27.555 usb. Or 26.285 USB.
@@KQ4JGS That is true. 38 can definitely be a train wreck much of the time. I don't mess around outside the band, but I might listen in on those frequencies and see what I can hear.
I would travel all over with my mother in the 80's and she had that VERY SAME emergency CB radio kit from Radio Shack. That's awesome.
Isn't AM modulation that CB uses way harder to jam? That's why aviation still uses am. The 'feature' of fm is it locks naturally on receive and ignores interference. AM just hears everything. Your ears have to pick out the signal you want through the interference, but it's not totally blocked
No , AM can be jammed and it's not the reason the aircraft industry uses that modulation scheme.. AM is used in the aircraft bands because FM has capture effect. If two pilots are transmitting simultaneously, and one has a stronger signal, both can still be heard. With FM, if two transmitters transmit at the same time then the one with the most RF power will "capture" the receiver and be the only one heard. With AM, a pilot declaring an emergency can still be heard if another pilot is using the radio at the same time.
I like how you slipped in the Impeach Biden 😂
For those who don’t know, 10 Meter is a H.A.M. band and 11 Meter is C.B. They’re kissing cousins when it comes to frequency range. Properly tuned antennas and height of their placement is key to obtaining many F.A.R.S. with your transmission. “Some people” may purchase 10 meter radios and *expand* their range to listen to 11 meter; and in emergencies they could legally transmit on that band.
Because of you Randy, because of you! I have all three. GMRS, Amateur and CB radios. And to get the chicks, I use a 62" whip... yes a 62" whip. and those ladies love how many fars I get on SSB.
Just don't have the genetics to have a 102" whip, huh? WE all know the 102" whip gets the job done a lot better and is more satisfying on the air.
“Which goes on your reloading table, inside of your bunker”😅 I had a hardy laugh at that one!
As a truck driver, I use a CB radio every day. I also have a GMRS radio in my truck and believe it or not. I am a ham with a ham radio in my truck .... I can promise you I'm not a sad Ham thanks for your videos. W7GUM
Be careful. The first thing sad hams do is deny they are a sad ham.
I have a Radioddity mini CB in the Jeep, I used a hand held GMRS hand held in a cup holder mount. I'm on the side of a mountain and hear people states away.
Get a Magnetic Mount Antenna for the roof top of your Vehicle that adapts to your GMRS handheld and you will probly get more Fars!!!
Love your videos man! Just getting into radio in general, and you’ve been a big help!
I love your presentation style, and sarcasm. And *some people* won’t dissuade me from going into the hobby. I know another person who is a HAM, CB, and GMRS operator they’ve also been helping me.
I’m here from the walking dead new fan of the franchise and I can tell you that show has made me more of a survivalist😂
Got into GMRS and now CB because of your videos - thanks and great job
CB radio is the most fun. I agree
It was great meeting you guys this weekend and thanks again for the radio ! My dad got such a kick out of the picture and said “that guys the man” have a merry Christmas and hopefully one day we cross paths again !
It was nice meeting you and thanks for the help!
Oh snap!! There was a fun weekend and I missed it!!
Got my "tweeked" Galaxy 2547 for six hundred and free shipping
I can travel the Delmar peninsula from North Carolina to Rhode Island with the cb on channel 19 and if I am lucky will hear maybe 5 calls on 19. Big trucks everywhere and almost no calls . Not like the old days at all. And yes, my radio is good and antenna tuned and can be heard at my house 5 to 7 miles away depending on terrain, elevation etc.
I seen what that UV5R said 👀
That’s how I knew I was in the right place. 😂
My go-to radio system is CB for many reasons. Being in Canucklestan, it is the best bag for your buck by FARS (see wut I did thar?) and the easiest and simplest and cheapest to get newbs into who are unfamiliar with radio. If you get one with SSB, you masively boost your range, and I figure that being that it's old tech running on AM mostly, most of Big Brother's hired goons won't have access to it at least initially.
You truly are great! I enjoy all your videos. Just for those who decide to venture into CB radio and get sucked in to buying “more power”, tread lightly. You can easily piss off the house full of “fat people” next door. Trust me! Thanks again for the vid! I’m going back to dealing with my problems generated by weak men. 🤙🏻
If you don't drive a '97 geo metro with a 17' cb antenna then don't even look at me...
My grandpa has few base stations and I’m 19 getting into it I got a handheld but just ordered everything for a base station. He lives 14 miles from me so hopefully it reaches lol I’m in the country he’s in the city downtown
💯% yes sir and the can talk more than 30 miles out the box depending on what one you get and antenna 10 meters radio are the best stryker,connex,ranger
I'm a ham but I also have CB and GMRS. I agree with NotaRubicon. There are probably way more CBs than Ham or GMRS out there. I plan to eventually get a unit capable of SSB and FM just to cover all bases.
Dusted off my old Uniden radio, that I haven't used since about 1990. Hooking it up in my basement with a new DC to AC power converter. Antenna strapped to my chimney. Solar generator ready for when our grid goes down. Also a new Uniden for my truck, along with two Baofeng BF-F8HP ham handhelds. With a roof Ham radio antenna that fits the handhelds, I can "reach out" when the SHTF. I'm almost looking forward to the next plandemic. 😆
CB is the shit Man!!!! oh yeah do enjoy your channel and mono-log😀!!!!
Another informative video that I like. 👍
The Galaxy DX-2547 is nice for a base station, but I would also consider getting a similarly capable mobile radio and adding an appropriate power supply. It would be a bit more cost effective and have just as many FARS since both the base and mobile units are limited to the same power output. And several of the mobile CBs also have NOAA weather reception.
This is my favorite channel. 🙌🏼
No cool tee shirt, no cool and funny monitor in the background? BOOO you get one RUclips commenter demerit.
You probably missed the personal message program on his booffhwang
Both Midland and Cobra have a combination HT/mobile CB radio where the battery pack and antenna can be removed and, with a cigarette plug and optional external antenna, be used in a vehicle. I had the Midland for years until it disappeared when my car was totalled.
Although not as active as the 70s, CB allows an option to get up-to-date traffic information faster than commercial radio.
As far as the numbers, there can be approximations as to GMRS users based on licenses, but the number is likely higher. With CB being licensed by rule since the late 70s there's no accurate or ballpark numbers about users.
That is what I run in my truck. Love it for traffic jam updates when road tripping. Also love the weather channels! I think mine was right around $100 a few years ago. Added an external antenna and it simply rocks.
I drove truck and I now have my cobra limited and my Wilson 5000 antenna on my pickup truck. I love it and I can hear people in Florida as I'm in Colorado
But, can they hear you?
I have my Uncle’s Old Uniden CB from the 80’s. He had it “turned up” for more output, I also have his old Cobra Antenna.
I keep it in my pick up truck, so I can hassle the trucker’s daily. 😂
Sunspot activity is up. Biggest thing missing on GMRS is Skip. I ordered a President Rand II FCC and one of these. CB AM/FM/SSB and 10 meter. CRT SS6900V
12 watts for SSB is a much greater improvement over 4 watts AM than it sounds like at first.
When transmitting with a four watt AM carrier, each side band, which is the part that carries the audio information, has a peak envelope power of one watt.
Transmitting a single side band signal with a peak envelope power of 12 watts puts 12 times the energy into the important part of your signal, and only transmits the important part.
It is difficult to compare AM and FM directly, but since the average power in a side band when transmitting speech tends to be around half of the peak envelope power, which would be one half watt in the case of a 4 watt AM signal, and the average power in an FM 4 watt signal is 4 watts, I would estimate the effective power to be about eight times greater with FM.
Of course, the great disadvantage with single sideband or FM is that very few other people use them, so unless you are buying radios for yourself and your friends and trying to maximize your communication distance, you may not find many people to talk with unless you use AM.
Very informative response. I'm learning... but an FM or SSB CB radios cannot talk with the traditional AM radios? Thanks!
@@mattshaul7100 If two people are using different modes on the same channel, they will not be able to understand each other.
Most FM or SSB CBs are able to work in AM mode if you want to, however.
Wow a radio shack CB. I used to love Radio Shack as a kid they had the coolest r/c stuff. I have to dispute the CB radio on the reloading bench. That’s where the police scanner goes lol
I live 3 blocks from the Atlantic Wouxun!
Wow i havent seen one of them Radio Shack Cb Radios In ages @1:54 very nice Randy @NotaRubicon Productions
2:13,
How did you do that? Clever!!!
FJB!
I’m new to CB/ ham radios.
After watching your videos I and other I’m not sure where to start with a radio?
Uv-5r or AR-152?
Anyways you have been real helpful. More than others.
I have in my possession a pristine Midland CB model 77-861 paired with a K40 antennae.
Operated on 12 volt DC (cigarette lighter) or batteries.
Somewhere in the house I have an older 23 channel CB.
Randy, thank you for this informative video.
I love my Cobra 29 soundtracker
Where we generally dispersed camp is around logging roads with signs 'CB 15' for the trucks. For our convoy needs I have a radiodity db-20 something 4 channel and 3 uv-5r things. All GMRS radios are "chirped" the same for gmrs use and local area emergency frequencies monitoring.
4:10 Whatever you do, DO NOT SAY THEY YOU ARE CANDY CANE!!
I have a handheld cb with aftermarket long telescoping antenna i live on 7th floor of my apt and i can talk to trucker s at the truck stop that is 6 miles straight west of me and the one about 9 miles north east or me but i am up pretty high
Have one on my rack and both trucks have one, seldom on but come in nifty when I need them.
Cb with9 foot whip is no joke... With a foot warmer
That radio shack unit is beautiful
Along with a UV5R for a wide frequency ability, I have a Lincoln II+ with the simple added resistor to give me 25 to 31 Mhz in AM, FM, USB, LSB, and for those fogeys that learned it CW.
And both with the very important roger beep.
Since CB radio is definitely making a comeback I wish you'd make more videos about various models of radios and antennas. Some "how to" installation videos for mobile radio systems, base antennas and proper installation of various connector types would be awesome. That's probably asking too much but it doesn't hurt to dream. 👍😊📡
You got perty hands boy!
Stryker 497 10 meter radio for mo Powah!
Randy, I enjoy your work. Thank you! CB radio was very popular in the 80's in Philadelphia. I used to run a "tweaked" mobile, Lafayette Telsat as a base station. When I keyed the mic you could hear my voice through the speakers of any TV and stereo system in the immediate area. The neighbors hated me. I run export radios in my pick-ups now. I have a question, Do you have links or can you direct me to a list of useful channels I can "chirp" into my BTECH?
The latest CB radios now has FM mode but not sure how long it will take to catch on.