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Why are mobile CB radios stuck in the 70s?

I am curious why you think Mobile CB radios are still stuck in the 70s aesthetically. I can not for the life of me figure out why CB/10 meter seems to be the only set of radios that have not evolved. I understand marketing, demand, and price points, but for God's sake most of today's radio look and feel very much the same as something you would have bought brand new in 1978. There are of course exceptions and there have been attempts to modernize a few models, but the vast majority of radios are still chrome-adorned boxes with simple LCD displays and chrome knobs. I feel President has the most modern-looking set of radios, but still lacks in some areas. Where are our OLED or TFT displays, dimmable backlighting, properly backlit buttons, and clean designs meant to blend in with modern vehicles?
I guess as a mobile electronics installer I am kind of spoiled by other devices in the 12volt industry. All the modern, and not-so-modern conveniences that are built into so many devices. Let's look at dimming as an example. Dimming in car stereos has been around for at least 40+ years. A simple dimmer circuit is cheap and easy to make. Even the most basic super cheap single din FM/FM car stereos have dimmer circuits, whether those are menu driven or have a single trigger wire that ties to the illumination circuit of your vehicle, or both together. Some of these CB radios are so bright at night that they light up the entire cabin. Why are there so few radios with Dimmers?
Why don't we have any models with OLED, TFT, or even high-resolution LCD? They are clean, easy to read, and almost infinitely configurable meaning you can use one screen of many models, regardless of the feature set on a particular model. My wife's $10 Pulse Oximeter has a color OLED for God's sake.
I guess what I am getting at is I'd like to see something like an 11-meter Lincoln II + with AM/FM/SSB/NOAA and a color OLED, TFT, or high-resolution LCD display.
Sounds like you should become a licensed Amateur radio operator. The test is easy multiple choice. No more Morse code requirement. There are nice 2 meter and 70cm radios that will do what you want as far as lighting and such. Far superior to the junk CB stuff and band. No am static and noise on FM. Repeater capable. More fun than CB will ever be.
 
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I just had the opposite complaint. WHY ARENT radios built like they were in the 70s anymore?
got an untested box of a 07 29LTDNW and a 78 29xlr. you can all probably guess which one worked
This is because there is no market for that type of quality anymore. The cb biz has essentially dried up with only crappy exports and and a couple of regular manufactures left.
 
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I have been running the SS-9900 in my pickup almost two years, and so far ( knock on wood) fault free.
I paid less than $300 for the radio, programing cable included and shipping from the UK and when it got here I turned it on and started using it.
No wack pack turbo tune truckrized sand jawa mods needed, just box stock.
Anytone/Quxiang are building radios that you can take out of the box and run.
And they seem to keep improving with each model.
This is better than the other guys that have been using the same board for years and keep adding different amps on the bottom.
You know how us foolish Americans are we gotta have all of our radios whack pack turbocharged splatterboxes ya know and why are Americans so dumb ?
 
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You know how us foolish Americans are we gotta have all of our radios whack pack turbocharged splatterboxes ya know and why are Americans so dumb ?
We have company's now starting to build radios that run well out of the box.
If you want more watts It is very simple to roll them back and use a amp.
Why are people so dumb?
There are people that are foolish who pay $300 to get there brand new $600 radio super tuned and upgraded.......

Need I say more?

73
Jeff
 
The idea is ease of use while driving. good luck with menu driven radios on the road
thats for damm sure.try setting a needed function n road gets bumpy,not good. i dont care how nice a certain truck rides ,every road built messes up that nice ride in areas
 
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thats for damm sure.try setting a needed function n road gets bumpy,not good. i dont care how nice a certain truck rides ,every road built messes up that nice ride in areas
Tell me about it, my cascadia with about 60k rides great on a Texas interstate. No put that same thing westbound i40 across new mexico and it rattles like a can of bolts....
 
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Tell me about it, my cascadia with about 60k rides great on a Texas interstate. No put that same thing westbound i40 across new mexico and it rattles like a can of bolts....
Some spots on 40 are good, but, as you state, NM excels crappy sctions. AZ looks like it has been doing some work to keep it good. Made the trip fom NV to TX recently and couldn't believe the state of the state.
 
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years ago on will rogers turnpike there was mile long strips that would toss you up to the roof.drop back to 45 n tad better.
 
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Because a lot of people on CB are trashy low value consumers! They make purchase decisions based on marketing and what looks good to them. Why do you think pickup trucks look moronic as heck today? 1/2 of the market does not care and the other half want to look like they drive a Big Rig! So you have beds that are so high you can not put grocery or anything else over the side unless your Shaquille O"Neil. So stupid Ford had to go and put a built-in step and hand rail into tail gate! Never mind step in height to get in and out of the truck!

When your customer base has an IQ of 73 or lower and wants to look impressive over having truly impressive equipment.

For the most part consumers have been well trained. The level of education one get's by the end of middle school is at an all time low. Between those two things we are looking at a recipe for destruction!

It does not matter if you are talking about buying car's, home audio, car audio, laptops, rifles, CB radio's the average consumer is a moron today.

Marketing, Public Schools and the main stream news and media have done a number on the average consumer today.

People seem to enjoy being ignorant and being a slave to debt and what other's think of them over anything based in facts, utility and empirical measures of quality, durability, functionality. Work hard and dump your money on the most expensive and impressive thing your social group values. It could be gold chains, luxury SUV's, trucks loaded with cheap gadgets and cheap leather seats in a "work truck"! LOL It could be sneakers that cost 3X as much as other's but really are not 3X better! $1200 for a flat finished rifle in a plastic stock over a highly polished rifle in a truly beautiful piece of wood! Maybe it is a stupid expensive 24 transistor amp that does not let you reliably on command talk much further than a guy with a better antenna system on an 8 transistor amp! Maybe it is a Million $$$ exotic car that voids your warranty if you grossly exceed the speed limit anyplace other than a race track like McClaren is known to do. Maybe it is purchasing a $50,000 trumpet when you lack sufficient skill to exceed what a $2000, $4000, or $6000 trumpet can do!

I want to talk to the world. I want to hunt caribou, elk and deer. I want a vehicle that 20 years latter all of the content it came with is still working like new, the engine has not been touched, is not burning oil and has not had every part on it replaced. I want to eat fantastic beef, lamb, chicken not cricketts and soy! I want to actually talk on a radio and have intelligent conversations with people while drinking a fantastic beer or bourbon. It is hard to do those things with a world full of idiot super consumers! I want a world where people vote intelligently so we have affordable energy, a Bill of Rights and Constitution that is solid, strong and the bedrock of our nation! None of this happens with a nation of idiots!

I want schools that educate our kids not brainwash them. I want kids to be safe from those that would seek to normalize their exploitation and indoctrination!

Some times less is more and sometimes more is more! The problem is that few consumers have the knowledge or discernment to think critically and search out the facts. They have money or a line of credit and they want what they want! As a nation we are getting more and more ignorant every day! It shows in almost every part of society.

I do not apologize for thinking most people on CB are ignorant and as dumb as a box of rocks. That does not make them bad people but it does make them part of the problem! The same is true in all of society so politics, religion, insert interest of your choice here! I am getting my general class license not thinking I can get away from ignorant and stupid people that's impossible but to give myself more legal options to move around!

While I still enjoy the hobby I enjoy it far less than I did when I was 18 years old back in 1992. The level and number of degenerates on the radio has gotten worse over the years in spite of the number of people on the radio dropping like a rock from a high rise! The quality of the conversations has declined. Sometime between 1995 and 1998 something happened to 2way radio in a bad bad way!

You are more likely to hear "AUDIOOOOOOOOO" or some drunk swearing and playing some craptastic Country or 1970's Rock than to get a good conversation going! You are more likely to hear some terrible sounding radio that sounds like me on channel 88 with my Mr. Microphone toy from 1979!

If you want to actually understand where I am coming from and why we can not have anything nice at any scale read the "Asch Conformity Experiment". This is why we can never get free from the masses unless we move to a system that pushes true education, understanding and discernment of self and the world. It is not about higher learning as in college degree's or professional skills. It is about teaching people to think for themselves in a logical manner. In this way they can educate themselves for a lifetime for free! They can figure anything out by just asking the right questions! If we do not fix this it will always be 70% low hanging fruit being manipulated by the top 1% and 29% of us shaking our heads in disbelief once we see what is going on! This is true at all levels of society and social interaction!

P.S. I sleep with my asbestos Pajamas on let the flame fly! LOL Rant over here is the soap box back! LOL
 
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Well to be honest we need the FCC to give us a lot more on CB's current freq. bandwidth. We need eSSB, digital modes, and more legal power limits! We need higher audio fidelity! We need higher adjacent channel rejection standards as well!
 
i have come to grips with the cheap garbage being made now, but honestly for me at this point, all i ask is please please PLEASE stop with the stupid colorful lights, changing colors, lights in the face plate, and most of all the blue channel and meter lights. ugh, that damn blue. just put it back to red channel and grain of wheat meter lamp.
 
i have come to grips with the cheap garbage being made now, but honestly for me at this point, all i ask is please please PLEASE stop with the stupid colorful lights, changing colors, lights in the face plate, and most of all the blue channel and meter lights. ugh, that damn blue. just put it back to red channel and grain of wheat meter lamp.
blue hurts my eyes. i avoid blue lit radios,might passed over a great otherwise radio over the blue
 

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