Is anyone using CB radios in their rig?

[mwdilday]

I am considering installing a CB radio in my truck but don't want to go to the time and expense if I am going to be disappointed. Does anyone still have them in their rigs? Are they useful or entertaining?

[stephndudb]

We have one. Not much talking out there anymore but we've found some truckers still have them on and will respond if called. We also use it for talking between vehicles when traveling with friends.

Didn't bother with a permanent install. Went with the Midland 75-822 plugin and a mag mount antenna instead. We pull it out of the truck when we're not in a long RV trip.

And yes, we have cell phones and even a ham radio license, but the CBs still fit the bill for us.

YMMV.


Dud

[OLEJOE]

I’m putting one in mine for the long trips but not very many truckers use on a constant basis like they used to. If you hear about a traffic back up you’ll hear a lot of them asking what’s going on up there and which lane do I need to be in. I just feel better having one.

[mwdilday]

Originally Posted by stephndudb

We have one. Not much talking out there anymore but we've found some truckers still have them on and will respond if called. We also use it for talking between vehicles when traveling with friends.

Didn't bother with a permanent install. Went with the Midland 75-822 plugin and a mag mount antenna instead. We pull it out of the truck when we're not in a long RV trip.

And yes, we have cell phones and even a ham radio license, but the CBs still fit the bill for us.

YMMV.


Dud

Thanks. It would be a no brainer if I could use a magnetic mount. I have the late model Ford Super Duty with the aluminum body. Trying to figure out the antenna installation.

[Iggy]

Waste of money unless you are travelling with others who may have CB.
It's old school and not much on channel 19 except rude Rebel truckers who talk with a draw.
Save your money and buy a good GPS if you don't have one.

[TowPro]

I have a president bill radio. Small but works well with a magnet mount antenna. We turn it on when traffic stops. Plus it has weather radio.

[DougW]

The last few times I tried to use the CB all I heard was people of questionable intelligence talking like they had a mouth full of marbles and cursing every third word. Tossed the radio in the garbage.

[jeff64]

I still have a pair of Motorola at with the weather radio in them . They were kinda fun with grandkids at the cg. Thought they would be a help getting tt into site,but had to turn it off. You get where that's going I'm sure!

[Chuck_S]

In my personal experience CB is dead. At least where I've lived.

I bought a little Midland 75-822 hand held transceiver 3 or 4 years ago with a magnetic antenna for the roof of my Expedition. Tuned the antenna to the radio and drove for weeks on and near the Interstates rarely hearing traffic .

Out of curiosity I set my competent Uniden BCD536HP scanner to only monitor the CB frequency band and it sat on my desk for a couple of weeks. Same result -- sat largely mute at least the time I was in my office. This was only a couple of miles from I77 and the Ohio Turnpike in Metro Cleveland. Rarely hearing anything here in Richmond VA either.

The "Family" radio bands periodically have traffic and are more than adequate if driving in a group as we do in our lil' Honda S2000 roadster.

-- Chuck

[cboss]

I still have a Cobra 75WX ST, but only turn it on when there is a traffic backup/accident. Because the truck is aluminum I use a through glass antenna.

[Flybob]

If you are traveling alone they will keep you awake with mindless chatter. If you are traveling with others ( especially children) the language can be rough. If you are looking for a way to communicate with someone traveling with you might be better off with a decent pair of FRS/GMRS radios.

[camaro80]

Three members of our family are licenced hams. Myself, my wife, and our oldest son (17yo). We've all put VHF/UHF radios in our vehicles. Can talk between each other, or hit local repeaters. Not a lot of other activity, but occasionally you'll get some chatter on the repeater or on the 2-meter calling frequency (146.52MHz), and in some cities I've heard some repeaters are actually pretty busy.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Iggy

Waste of money unless you are travelling with others who may have CB.
It's old school and not much on channel 19 except rude Rebel truckers who talk with a draw.
Save your money and buy a good GPS if you don't have one.

Funny thing happened today.
I got a PM from someone here who I will not name that said he was insulted by my statement about Rebel truck drivers with a draw and wanted me to remove my statement. (Which I can't)
Obviously I didn't reply but if I did I would say the my statement was true being he sent me a message of the same.

[RMWSierra]

Have a handheld unit with weather band. Comes in handy when traffic slows or stops.

[spsnider]

What is your intent? I used to play with them many years back (circa '80's) when they were popular(?) and a few years ago put a cheap one in my truck for grins... Anyway.. I rarely hear any one on it when I power it up... so for general "community chatter" you may be sorely disappointed. If you're looking for vehicle to vehicle comms with caravan friends - FRS/GMRS options may be a better fit. If you still prefer the ad hoc rag-chew monitoring and the potential for true utility/emergency comms (when a cell might not work) then a basic/Tech Ham license may be the ticket. The "no-code" test these days is really easy to pass, so it shouldn't be considered an obstacle. An analog vhf (2-meter) radio can be had for as cheap as a CB and does more. Even a low cost handi-talkie will outperform any CB option, and will not require a large antenna and associated cable issues...

[Reverse_snowbird]

I think they've been replaced by cell phones. They even have freeway cell phone pulloffs for truckers. Applications for weather, traffic, routing and roadside assistance are making the cb obsolete.
My Garmin is now relegated to the rv because my car has built in navigation.
The world it is changing......

[JimMorrell]

Almost no one uses CB radios anymore. I guess they prefer cell phones. I still use a CB when we are traveling long distances with other RV's.

[DogMan635]

I read many of the posts and like some I'm old school about the CB fixed inside a vehicle and don't see the real need for that style CB. However, with this virus, and all the possibilities on the roads, I can see the need for two small hand carry or pocket. The range I'm told is 3 to 5-miles. I'm no expert and I don't want to hear anyone with a limited vocabulary talking about GOD.

My wife and I are apart at times and the phone battery is a priority. But to and from each other. Some police still have CBs which I did not know. A good way to talk with one should you have the need.

I don't know anything about some of the other models spoken about and I do know Short waves you need a license to operate. But something anything could happen and you don't need a tower to work a CB.

[clr]

I have one installed in my truck. But I normally only turn it on, during the long trips on the interstate. I turn the squelch up high so the person calling has to be close for me to hear them.
I normally only talk on the CB when I see a safety problem. Mostly it is on so that a trucker can talk to me if he/she sees a problem on my rig.

[25RockwoodinMO]

As previously mentioned, they come in handy if you're caught in a traffic jam. Many that remain silent under normal conditions come on air to see what's going on. I have found that it is useful when in unfamiliar areas. We have the Garmin RV770 and the in-dash navigation (SYNC-3) which is nice now that we can link one of our Android phones to it and display Google maps on the in-dash screen. Having real time close communications with others around you is helpful at times. I wish everyone had an FRS radio on channel 1 on the road, but most likely only some will have a CB on and monitoring channel 19.

We were traveling through Atlanta a few years ago and got caught up in some really heavy traffic. I got on channel 19 real quickly and received help from a nearby trucker who was familiar with the area. He gave us an alternate route to take that saved us a lot of time. We received his information just in time to take the suggested exit and continue on our way without sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. We have had several other similar experiences traveling that proved helpful to us. The bad language will be heard if you listen long enough, that's when we use the volume and/or the on/off switch. I am also a licensed Amateur Radio operator (Ham), and try to monitor the national simplex frequency (146.520) while traveling. Last year we took a trip (from Missouri) to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon and Moab Utah and had the radios on the whole trip scanning 146.520 and channel 19 hearing almost nothing most of the trip. We have a 2017 F250 with the aluminum alloy body and I purchased the custom fender antenna mounting brackets. (Cometantenna.com #FO3ANTNCG for one side, can't recall the brand I used on the other side). I used one for the dual-band Kenwood D710A Ham radio and the other for a 11 meter/CB band antenna. I had the CB antenna hooked to a Midland 75-822, but didn't like it sliding around the console/dash area while driving (it's kept in the console now). Now I just monitor 19 from my Kenwood TS480HX Ham radio tuned to channel 19 -27.185 just to listen. I work for a wireless telecommunications company as a field engineer and I have a similar setup in my company truck. Channel 19 has helped me numerous times and I like having the option to turn it on when needed. 73, Chuck.