CB or ham radio

Any listers here participate in base CB's or Ham radio?
I have a Uniden 40 in my service van. I am considering installing a base antenna at home for some occasional use.

I used to be pretty big on the CB radio stuff. But my base antenna broke in a wind storm last year and I haven't replaced it. I used an Antron 99 with a Uniden President Washington tweaked a little. I used to peak and tweak a lot of radios and I lost count of the number of mobile antennas that I installed for truckers over the years. There was always a trick to tuning them just right for the SWR as close to 1:1 match. The newer style fiberglass trucks made it hard to find a good ground plane and often the mirror brackets are insulated from ground to prevent getting the antenna tuned, without running a separate ground wire to the antenna bracket. I used to enjoy all the skip on single side band Sunday afternoons. It was always interesting how you could talk to people from all over the country during certain times of the day.

I have an single sideband on my boat.

Comparing CB to ham radio is like comparing hot dogs to steak.

I've got a ham license but have never used it. A few years ago I was at a local Ham Fest (ham & computer flea market) with a friend. License exams were being offered and on a "bet you can't pass" I took the exam. I had an interest in ham radio as a kid and remembered enough of the rules to pass the FCC rule questions. The electronics questions were no problem for me. I never tried the license exam as a kid because I couldn't learn the Morse code. The code is no longer a requirement for a ham license.

buickanddeere wrote:Comparing CB to ham radio is like comparing hot dogs to steak.

Can you elaborate some more?

Yanche wrote:I've got a ham license but have never used it. A few years ago I was at a local Ham Fest (ham & computer flea market) with a friend. License exams were being offered and on a "bet you can't pass" I took the exam. I had an interest in ham radio as a kid and remembered enough of the rules to pass the FCC rule questions. The electronics questions were no problem for me. I never tried the license exam as a kid because I couldn't learn the Morse code. The code is no longer a requirement for a ham license.

Yanche, that's actually a very good story. Many want to be hams stress over the necessary test!

no base station here!dont need to bring that trash in here i leave it at work!i am refering to cb not ham.
there is way to much crap on the air waves here, and i dont want the kids listening or talkin to any of these nasty people!

usually toss a CB in the vehicles when traveling just to listen, but like you said, a lot of trash talk from the truckers (Not all of them), some is actually pretty funny! other times, just have to shut it off....

Good to know on the Ham License, I tried learning morse code for my license probably 20 years ago, but couldn't never grasp it. I know the electronics end pretty good.

WNY wrote:Good to know on the Ham License, I tried learning morse code for my license probably 20 years ago, but couldn't never grasp it. I know the electronics end pretty good.

No Morse code is required for any class of Ham license. You start with Technican Class and then progress to General and Amateur Extra. See: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/classes.html There are lots of Web based practice exams. It's all fairly straight forward studying. Exams are administered by volunteer Ham organizations. The questions you will get are taken from a master list created by the FCC. If you practice on the web sites long enough you will see all the possible questions. Ham radios, like most electronics is fairly cheap and there is a wide selection of features. Cell phones have really cut into reason for having a Ham radio VHF hand held transceiver. Like many other hobbies it is struggling to maintain members.

buickanddeere wrote:Comparing CB to ham radio is like comparing hot dogs to steak.

I thought the CB frequencies were taken from ham radio. I believe Art Bell would complain on his radio show about the government giving the 11 meter band over to citizens band. One difference would be that CBs are usually 4 watts or less I think.

At one time I had a Uniden 2510 10 meter ham radio that was modified to operate on the 11 meter band. That was a nice little radio! Now days I hardly listen to the CB anymore there is a lot of trash out there but there are also some comedians too.

I've been a ham since '94, starting out as a Technician with the classic Radio Shack HTX-202 handie talkie (which I still have). I joined the local club and a member loaned me a 1958 Hallicrafters SX-101 receiver to listen to the Morse code practice broadcasts from the ARRL radio station. That radio was a 65 pound "boat anchor" but was an amazing display of American craftsmanship and building things that last (and are serviceable).

I then got my General class and bought a Swan Cygnet 270B (another classic vacuum tube rig) and set up a modest station. Eventually I got my Advanced (when it required 13 wpm code) and tried for my Extra at 20 wpm, but didn't quite get it.

I spent several years active but gradually got out of it - email and cell phones really did take a bite out of amateur radio. I really enjoyed the code, but having a conversation at 10 wpm takes a long time, LOL, and I was using a straight key. I looked into getting a "bug" or an electronic paddle key, but the radio I had really wasn't well suited to code as it didn't have "full break-in" keying or even a narrow filter. It was fun to listen to some of the older guys going 20, 30 or more wpm on code, and I recall visiting a ham who could code at 30 wpm and talk to you in person at the same time!

Unfortunately, there isn't much interest in ham radio any more. I remember when "packet" radio was big, and guys were playing with SSTV and satellite repeaters. Now all you need is a 3G card in your laptop or have a smartphone. Even the traditional "disaster" response of amateur radio operators isn't as important any longer due to cell phones, etc.

As far as CB - it's just a cesspool.

europachris wrote: Even the traditional "disaster" response of amateur radio operators isn't as important any longer due to cell phones, etc.

I beg to differ! Large events overload the cell systems, and in a true emergency with power and phones down, cell phones won't last for long after the emergency generators at the cell sites run out of fuel.

Been a while since I studied for the Ham license, so, I got online, took the practice test, missed 13 of 35 questions, without even looking at the book.
You can only miss 9 on the exam to pass. A little reading, I should be able to get my license.