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On behalf of (some) amateurs I'd like to apologise...

M0GVZ

Sr. Member
Oct 18, 2011
1,790
1,597
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Was reading through all the threads and I realised one thing....

Once upon a time life with a CB was simple. You'd get an antenna, screw it into a magmount or a mirror mount, throw it on the car, hook your CB up to wherever you could get 12V from and off you'd go, happy as a pig in muck listening to all the truckers and ragchewing with someone up the road ahead as you both drove to wherever you were going. Or you'd bolt a base antenna to your chimney and good to go and get whatever contacts you could get.

And then we amateurs got involved, bringing all our theory and best practice and started to make things serious and complicated bringing in stuff that contesters and DX chasers need to be worried about, not a guy who just wants to talk to random people as they're going about the country.

I look on this board and the antenna/mobile section of other CB forums and wonder if we've taken some of the fun and mystery out of it that made it so enjoyable to many people. Looking at my own posts where people have thrown a rig in their car and are having a good time I've realised that pointing out the shortcomings of it and how things could be done better was maybe something that shouldn't have been done and that it may have tarnished the fun they were up to that point having.

And for that I apologise.

I think in future I'll restrict to offering that level of advice to those who've come trying to resolve a problem and the odd few on here who I know are really interested to that level.
 

I wouldn't worry about it to much M0GVZ, this hobby attracts all kinds. It has those that just want to stick their feet in the pool, and those that swim in the deep end, as well as a hand-full that have abandoned the pool entirely because it doesn't go nearly deep enough.

This is not a bad thing. I think it encourages people to increase their level of knowledge more than anything else, but I would agree that it can also be intimidating sometimes when a new person comes across some of the engineering level discussions we have been known to have.

Tailoring your answer to the person at the other end of the discussion is a skill that many here learn well.


The DB
 
It is interesting you mention this because I was thinking some of the magic goes as you learn and gain experience on the radio, but for those who learn why something happens and as one example... that understands that antennas are all possible to realize from just bits of wire there are new puzzles and wonders just around the corner that are every bit as interesting and mysterious. (and it is just mounts and physical aerial support/structure that makes them as designed.)

Maybe people maybe cannot get a greater grip on the technical side because of limited mathematical knowledge, you can count me in on that beyond a few basic equations. I think to understand RF some kind of visual based imaginings can be helpful, it seems that way for me anyway.

There are a few mysteries we could have done without in the 90's, like 9.9dBi gain from a 1/2 wave vertical, ahem !

I don't know about you but I visualize set ups and antennas when I am nodding off to sleep, oddly therapeutic.
 
I have an associate's degree in electrical engineering and electronics technology but I know nothing about RF. The RF power transmission fascinates me from the driver to the power amplification to the radiator. This is what has me hooked on this hobby. We are lucky here to have people willing to share their knowledge, and the only prerequisite is that the person is willing to learn. This is the best place to be, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Chris
 
I will just add that I think there is a bit of a misconception that Ham vs CB'er breeds as well. One myth is that Hams are the only one's deeply interested and CB'ers are not.

There are some quite sophisticated CB'ers in the U.K. with elaborate portable set ups which take quite a bit of effort to get set up. You don't do that if you are not into it.

The more astute CB'ers have their ears pinned back for when the hams are dropping knowledge. The internet means that this crossover information is filtering down. Who put a coaxial choke below their vertical in the 90's ? I had never heard of that one back then. CB'ers now largely know many antenna myths are expelled.

It is a money thing as well, You could easily dump £$€1,000's into ham kit. With CB you can do much for little on the DX side, work the world for a 2-3 hundred.

I have been thinking about one way Sporadic E a bit.. this image kind of suggest it is possible.. you might be able to hear a lot but you cannot get back. Look at the relatively few DX 10m contacts to and from the UK.. that looks like a "I can hear them but they cannot hear me" scenario. I have had quite a few outings where this has been the case for the U.K. stations including myself. There are many ways to try and understand things.

It also suggest beam use is discriminatory, so while beams open up the F2 layer when conditions allow (even though this map is Sporadic E skip) to vertical DXers at times you may be in their nulls and not get through.

There are clearly MANY hams who use 11m as well. You don't tend set up 6 element Yagi's for cb ! You can hear in the quality of the modulation and signal stability that you are speaking with a beam power station.

And M0GVZ as other dais no need to apologize, who does not want more and greater distant contacts ? Not many of us and for that you need system optimization, it may not be that mysterious but it is a fun practical part of the radio hobby.

I look forwards to cobbling together a tank whip from left over copper wire next, I may buy one in the end but I can try it for next to free first.
 

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CB isn’t always mobile, but I’ll bet it’s first thought pictured.

To that end is

www.k0bg.com

as the reference bible of mobile installation.

The Litmus Test of Enthusiasm.

Frankly, if they’ve wound up here it’s possibly due to disgust with the majority of “How-To” videos.

What, isn’t always Why?

“Why”, can be relative. Where’s the cost-effective mid-point regarding gear and installation?

.
 
Among Truckers it’s the mythical Big Radio

I came across my 2014 notes yesterday from when I had Clays Radio Shop do the whole thing. All new. (Oilfield-Rich Driver).

This is an expectation:

1). GALAXY DX99v2 $330.00
2). Peak, Tune, etc $60.00
3). Custom power cable plus co-phase coax; built + installation $75.00
4). WILSON 2000 antennas $150.00
5). HUSTLER SS
Quick Disconnects $50.00
6). Predator PO-239 studs $50.00
7). K40 MMMAX beehive mounts $75.00
8). Tune with AA-35 Rig Expert. $40.00

To which I shortly added:

9). West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker $200.00
10).RM ITALY KL-203 amp $85

And several years later added:

11. Palomar Engineers cube coax filter $85.00
12). Assortment of Mix 31 ferrites across system $50.00

13). And, almost forgot, an Astatic 636L microphone matched to radio & with right angle plug from Clays $65.00

$1,300 is not what the majority want. Not even truck drivers. But the initial $900 was turn-key by experienced pro’s, note.

A). That’s one helluva fun rig. The distances I could converse across West Texas at night in that 567 Peterbilt blew me away.

B). Part of what I paid for was being the on the spot assistant to the installer. Best man in the business. Better than any video series.

C). That rig (after additions) was my first experience with, If I can hear them, they can hear me.

If that’s the goal . . . then there’s any number of roads to get there.

And NOT with the truck driver expectation of spending $$$$.

Thus,

— How will you be using it?
— Business or pleasure, or both?
— Permanent, or temporary?

And

A list of cost-conscious reliable gear as minimums (is my form of not apology, but starting points):

— Uniden 980 AM/SSB.
— RM ITALY KL203 amp.
—West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker.
— Ferrites as coax chokes and RF remediation.
— Quality coax
— Best antenna mount

That’s a lot closer to the BIG RADIO $500, but is nearly a complete system.

The where, what and how to of “install, test, and use” of THAT radio rig mitigates the info overload conundrum.

As I see it.

It’s the list I hand to other drivers with K0BG link and my phone number.

Few call. Those that do are quickly sorted as to whether this site would interest them.

The ones that do — example — have children or grandchildren sufficiently bright that the thought of a re-purposed TV tower with a vertical up and hailing grandpa inbound from a trip at the 40-mile mark is GREAT fishing bait


.
 
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As sidebar note:

M0GVZ, if ever you do a busman’s holiday in the States as a large car passenger, do so out on the Great Plains. From approximately the 98th Parallel where the rains dry up and west to the Rocky Mountains, is the home of big power & high speeds. Outstanding radio rigs & operators.

(West of IH35 about 50-miles to almost IH25).

It’s the north-south movement with no generic Interstate highways to give false impressions.

Laredo, Texas thence northwards far into Alberta, with US-83 as the spine.

Given the severity of weather, there’s no more skillful CB Radio use to be found.

Heavy-haul monstrosities, cattle haulers, tankers . . . all the big money earners who sacrificed to become good are out here at one point or another.

A young friend of mine hauling a jet engine power plant.

1567515A-86E5-432C-A14B-1E1C17A33EF7.jpeg

.
 
Looking at my own posts where people have thrown a rig in their car and are having a good time I've realised that pointing out the shortcomings of it and how things could be done better was maybe something that shouldn't have been done and that it may have tarnished the fun they were up to that point having.

And for that I apologise.

Although (tons) of Books have been written in Memoirs' of people that wished they had done more of something - in one way or another...

It's takes someone aback a moment - or several weeks - to let the thoughts of one whom has shown a great deal of knowledge and even the "roots" of their birthrights to obtain a common ground in conversations - what do you say to a person that thinks it's necessary to apologize for a behavior that they feel was not conducive to the efforts, pursuits, and enjoyment of Radio communication as a hobby?

To that all I can say is Read John 3:16 - and move forward from there. Because - if you feel in any way guilty of what you have said or done. We need to Remember that Biblical statement, for even I cannot "undo" that which has been done by myself. Only we (Can or Should) ask for Forgiveness and work towards the betterment of the community in the changes we wish to express to others from within ourselves.
  • If you Do The Talk, then Do The Walk - We (all of us) have to learn how to get along with everyone - even if it gnashes our teeth down to stubble in the process
To bring up the past - I can only say that "To Know Someone - Is to Love Them., and To Hate Them." and as has been shown in these forums, amongst the debris field of spent users and empty default avatars of visitors that headed for the exits.

But there's more to that statement - To continue in the passion you have - by showing, expressing, to others a view of how you see the world - and know that not everyone will see it like you think they should. The love of the hobby, and the hate when it comes to Knowing the shortcomings "communication" has, in letting others see your love for the hobby through your life, and wish they can see it lived thru in their lives, as and in a fulfillment of the passion expressed.

We are slammed to the wall - by the lack of understanding in relative terms between both - is why there is such a hate; for the ignorance, discourse bigotry - EGO (Edge God Out Daniel 4:31) steps in and ruins the effort and the strides made - because of the purveyance of thought went over every one else's head.

Everyone sees the Rainbow differently.
 

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