New to the hobby

[trainfan1]

Hello All,
Just gettin started in this crazy fun stuff. Have a cb in the work truck, but it won't transmit any further than I can see. So I purchased a Cobra 29LTD and a Little Will for the daily driver and a Uniden Washington for the base. Just have an old fiberglass 3 footer on the roof for now. Been hearin all sorts of chatter up and down the dial. It seems as though everybody has some sort of number they use as a call sign along with a handle. Where does one get or come up with a number? I know sounds silly, but I have no clue.

 

[caspear1978]

Just pick a number,,, thats what most do for 11m , just make it a fairly easy number to remember,, most go with 3 digit numbers, i go by 778 on ssb 3 digit seem to be the way to go,,, but dont get upset if you on the radio one day and hear your number call for some one else,, ive ran into this problem before,, there is an op in canada that has the same numbers as i do, ive had the chance to talk with him a couple of times ,, enjoy working the band and welcome to the board and the air,,, 778

 

[trainfan1]

Thanks for the reply Caspear1978. Well that sounds simple enough. Thought about a number today and heard it not 10 mins after turning on the radio. So much for that one. Gonna end up going with #1655 we gone!

 

[BammBamm]

What part of the country are you in? You said you are using a 3 foot antenna on the base? How are you grounding it? I would say build a simple dipole for the base and try some dx work with it, I did this when I first set up my base and it is an amazing feeling when you make a dx contact on a antenna you made yourself. As far as #'s I went with 173 I was using 1173 the mo/yr I was born but found that # used by a distant local so it became 173. Welcome to the forum and I hope to dx you some day. BammBamm 173 in Chicago

 

[hotrod]

Hello All,
Just gettin started in this crazy fun stuff. Have a cb in the work truck, but it won't transmit any further than I can see. So I purchased a Cobra 29LTD and a Little Will for the daily driver and a Uniden Washington for the base. Just have an old fiberglass 3 footer on the roof for now. Been hearin all sorts of chatter up and down the dial. It seems as though everybody has some sort of number they use as a call sign along with a handle. Where does one get or come up with a number? I know sounds silly, but I have no clue.

welcome to the fourm and cb radio.

 

[trainfan1]

Hey Bamm Bamm,
Im in London Ont Canada.
Yea, the 3 footer is just a temp until I can get the real ants up. Found the silly thing under the seat of a truck. I have a ProComm Patriot PAT-12 here that I might put up on a pole somewhere. I plan on putting up a dipole shortly, just doing some research on how to build one. Going to string it up between two chimneys on the roof. I guess the best reception would be to the north and south. Chimneys are at the east and west ends of the house.

Trainfan1 #1655 London

 

[trainfan1]

Thanks Hotrod. Glad to be here!

 

[BammBamm]

Trainfan I here a lot of Canada in here on DX. By the way someone on here posted a "dirty dipole" That was a easy build. Get a 9 foot extension cord for about $3 or $4 and cut the end off right at the plug separate the 2 wires and connect one to the center of coax and the other to the shield. now cut the plug off the other end and separate the wires the rest of the way so that you have 2 9 foot wires one to the center of coax and one to shield. now stretch it out and check swr. clip about a 1/4 inch off each end until a good swr match is found. I'm sure there are others on here that could point you to a website for this. That patriot isn't a bad antenna from what one of my locals here tells me as he is using one at about 15 foot above ground and from about 10 miles gives me a S7. It is no I-max but it does what it was meant to do. Good luck and if you are thinking of building a dipole take a look at the 1/4 wave ground plane. I made one out of and old extension cord that I hit with the mower and was shocked at the outcome. I still have it just not using it. It's ugly but works.

 

[trainfan1]

Will do Bamm Bamm,
looked up the dipole on the web and found lots of info. It almost looks goof proof. Got me a weekend project.