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Is this daily skip going to be the end of CB?
- Thread starter hammer0630
- Start date
CB was interned for short range point to point communications. 4 watts was chosen to limit the distance the signal would travel. They only limited the height of the antenna and not the type hence the larger antennas. The maximum height you can place an antenna is 60 feet above the ground or 20 feet above an existing structure, I.e a tree, building but not a tower.
The downfall was placing it on the 11 meter band where propagation is governed by the ionosphere which allows long distance travel. Knowing this the FCC made the 155 mile rule. How they chose 155 miles? Dart board?
I had a interesting conversation with a guy in Winnemucca NV a few days ago about metal detecting.....could not do that without skywave.....I get bored with the mindless cb skip jargon....but once in a while you make a good connect and it makes it worth it.
Probably because it is in the skip zone. The skip zone is the area beyond normal local communications range but still too close for skywave communications. It could have been 150 miles or 162 miles or 158.25 miles but then someone else would just ask why....
We all have an idea of why the 155 mile limit, and one fellows seems as good as the other, however, I think one has to toss all the ingredients into the bowl to get the right kind of salad. Something that doesn't belong spoils the salad equally to something left out.
Talking to operators who were active "back when" a person learns that in some locales it was not uncommon to talk station to station in excess of 100 miles. This was done on CB (11 meters) with antennas within the restricted heights, and running 4 watts AM or 12 SSB. I personally believe the distance restriction had nothing to do with skip when it was written. I believe it had to do with what would/could result if antenna height and power restrictions were ignored and exceeded. As stated, CB was allocated for the sole purpose of local station to station communications. Logically the reasoning behind the distance rules, as with the others regarding station equipment, should reflect that intent and purpose.
Additionally, because those restrictions are not so imposing as to power and height limits on the Amateur bands it is reasonable to conclude that the expectation that Amateurs would communicate greater distances due to the more liberal rules confirms for me my conclusion that the 155 miles rule has nothing to do with skip as it was originally written.
All the bands that are subject to ionospheric conditions which expand the distance for communications further evidence for me that the rules do not embrace the chance that QSO may occur beyond the ability of the equipment in use on any band in non-propagating circumstances. I see nothing else in the rules that explicitely say, or reasonably imply, that the FCC was both ignorant enough of nature, or stupid enough to expect to enforce a limit on the happenstance of nature, to have written a rule inconsistent with their intentions for the allocation for Citizens Band.
Perhaps VHF should have been where it should have gone (If it had, I would never have continued to use it. It would have likely died by now or at least when some old ashen souls finally drew their last breath discussing the weather they were sharing outside their front doors).
Regardless of which outlook is dead on, I am one of those who would likely take my station down if talking across town to locals were all there is to radio communications. I would have more fun throwing rocks at them.
Talking to operators who were active "back when" a person learns that in some locales it was not uncommon to talk station to station in excess of 100 miles. This was done on CB (11 meters) with antennas within the restricted heights, and running 4 watts AM or 12 SSB. I personally believe the distance restriction had nothing to do with skip when it was written. I believe it had to do with what would/could result if antenna height and power restrictions were ignored and exceeded. As stated, CB was allocated for the sole purpose of local station to station communications. Logically the reasoning behind the distance rules, as with the others regarding station equipment, should reflect that intent and purpose.
Additionally, because those restrictions are not so imposing as to power and height limits on the Amateur bands it is reasonable to conclude that the expectation that Amateurs would communicate greater distances due to the more liberal rules confirms for me my conclusion that the 155 miles rule has nothing to do with skip as it was originally written.
All the bands that are subject to ionospheric conditions which expand the distance for communications further evidence for me that the rules do not embrace the chance that QSO may occur beyond the ability of the equipment in use on any band in non-propagating circumstances. I see nothing else in the rules that explicitely say, or reasonably imply, that the FCC was both ignorant enough of nature, or stupid enough to expect to enforce a limit on the happenstance of nature, to have written a rule inconsistent with their intentions for the allocation for Citizens Band.
Perhaps VHF should have been where it should have gone (If it had, I would never have continued to use it. It would have likely died by now or at least when some old ashen souls finally drew their last breath discussing the weather they were sharing outside their front doors).
Regardless of which outlook is dead on, I am one of those who would likely take my station down if talking across town to locals were all there is to radio communications. I would have more fun throwing rocks at them.
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