What am I missing?

[Sniper308]

Ok, lets talk about CB radio in general for a bit. Im having a hard time understanding a few things about this new hobby of mine.

First off I'm curious as to what types of systems guys are running that allows me to hear them in super loud and clear hi-def stereo all the way from California to South Carolina. These guys sound like a professional FM radio station. I hear them well but when I try to respond to them with my base and 500w amp either Im not reaching them or they are just plain ignoring me. What type of equipment is a station like this running? How many watts of power do you guess are involved here? Do they have some equipment Im not aware of or dont have? Bigger antennas? Modulators? Amps? What do I need to add to my system to get out like these guys?

Secondly, whats up with these guys with the big booming cross county radios. They have all the power they could ever want and all they do all day long is get on the radio and say stuff over and over and over again without ever really carrying on a meaningful conversation with anyone. Im sure you guys know who or what Im talking about. Stuff like got down, got down, got, down, bye, bye , bye , bye. Over and over and over again. Man this really gets on my nerves. I wish I had a radio like these guys have and all they do is waste it. There is a guy here on channel 6 a lot. Superfreak I think. All I have ever heard him say is got down, got down , got down, got down, got down, bye bye bye bye bye bye.

 

[ExitThirteen]

First off... you're on the wrong channel. Sounds like you've been listening on the "Bowl" as some people call it, channel 6. Those guys there generally run heavily modified radios and anywhere between 2k-50k watts. Most of those people say what they say to act all big 'n' mighty... it sounds "neat" to them I suppose. Its all about being the "big dog" on that channel. Reason you aren't getting back to them is simply because you don't have the power. Unless you have at least 2-3k watts, you're wasting your time.

If you're wanting to make some contacts your best bet is on SSB... usually on CH. 36 above into the free band. When conditions are right you can work the world on 25W, so if you run your amp, you'd have plenty to make contacts with. Experiment a bit, and do some surfing.

~Cheers~

 

[gamegetter]

i work ssb mainly and with the minimal watts necessary to make the contact, i get a kick out of low power.

who knows maybe tomorrow conditions will be all in your favor and you will get a lot contacts on ch 6, you may be the new guy on the block and they have not got to know you yet. or conditions may be fickle

if it starts to irritate you too much, surf around as exit13 mentioned...there are plenty of other stations out there willing to work you, just have to get conditions in your favor

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Those guys you hear that just ramble and rant on and on don't really want to talk to any one. They just want to be heard by everyone and have an ego that needs to be stroked. It's all about who can step on who.

 

[kd-5-bgt]

I agree with everyone here...sounds to me that you are on regular Cb on AM.....most of those folks are not interested in making contacts just getting their inflated ego a nice pat on the back.....

Give SSB a try at the top end of CB channel 36 and up through about 27.600....

You will be surprised at the contacts you will get with just a few watts of power ...and alot less of the huge egos

 

[Sniper308]

Ya, I need to find something good in this hobby. To be honest, I'm really interested in the hobby. I have spent an ever increasing amount of money to be able to enjoy the hobby. But to be honest, Ive been a little disappointed in the results I've received considering the time and money invested. Im not sure if it just has something to do with my area of the country and the activity encountered here but I have found basically 3 different groups of people who are always on the radio here in my area and I honestly have no interest in dealing with any of them.

Those 3 groups are.....

1. The channel 6 guys who only know how to "got down, got down, got down, bye bye bye bye" constantly all day every day.

2. The local "coffee club" on channel 4 who are always on but basically dont wont anything to do with anyone not in their little club. These guys are some really rude people.

3. And lastly (no racial slur intended here just stating the facts) mexicans/spanish speaking people who are on every other channel besides 4 and 6 usually playing loud mariachi music and speaking spanish so fast that you couldnt keep up with them if you were bi-lingual.

I really hope I find something soon to keep me interested in this hobby. A lot has changed since my first exposure to this hobby in the 70's. I want to make long distance contacts and have meaningful conversations with people in different parts of the world. That is what fascinates me about this hobby. If I cant do that then I should just cut my losses with the few thousand dollars Ive already invested and get out now.

 

[psycho]

First off... you're on the wrong channel. Sounds like you've been listening on the "Bowl" as some people call it, channel 6. Those guys there generally run heavily modified radios and anywhere between 2k-50k watts. Most of those people say what they say to act all big 'n' mighty... it sounds "neat" to them I suppose. Its all about being the "big dog" on that channel. Reason you aren't getting back to them is simply because you don't have the power. Unless you have at least 2-3k watts, you're wasting your time.

If you're wanting to make some contacts your best bet is on SSB... usually on CH. 36 above into the free band. When conditions are right you can work the world on 25W, so if you run your amp, you'd have plenty to make contacts with. Experiment a bit, and do some surfing.

~Cheers~

"The Bowl" and "CLEAR, Hi DEF STEREO" should never be put in the same sentence. Most of the worst sounding stations are on channel 6 and they all scream into the mics. Granted they put my Cobra 2000's meter almost at a full peg when I listen to 6 and go horizontal but man they are either completely overmodulated or undermodulated crackling like bacon on the grill.
When Mexican skip is strong, I turn the radio off.

 

[buickid]

You observations are pretty accurate. Most of the guys over here who play on AM do so on 11. When skip is rolling, you get the "got down got down got down" kinda thing going on. When its not, you have the local chatter and sorta what your #2 observation describes. #3 doesn't really reach us too well out here though.

I play in sideband mode, channels 35 and up generally, and I think you'll find more of what you want here. Generally in sideband, people are more interested in making long distance contacts and having conversations, more similar to ham radio. I assume your radio can do sideband, if so, try hanging around 38LSB, perhaps also 35LSB. Tune in and listen for the channel to be clear, then call "CQ, CQ, CQ DX, 308 in South Carolina, CQ DX 308 in South Carolina standing by", or something to that effect. CQ means calling and DX means long distance stations. If the conditions are good, someone far away (perhaps me here in Hawaii) will come back to you.

The lingo on SSB is a little different from that on AM. Stuff like "QSL? QSL." would be like "Copy? Copy.", QSY means to change frequencies/channels, ie. "QSY 39", which you would do if you wanted to hold an extended conversation, especially if the person is local, so you don't cause QRM (interference) on 38, a popular calling frequency. QRT would be the equivalent of "I'm back reading the mail", meaning you're ending transmission, standing by again. You'll pick it up as you go. I think you'll find SSB to be more of what you're looking for in CB radio. Nothing wrong with "dropping the maul" on AM, but working SSB is just more my cup of tea

You might also try to make a friend local that you can ragchew with. Thats one of the most fun things for me, I have a friend about 11 mi away.

Happy DXing!
304 Honolulu Hawaii

 

[kd-5-bgt]

Sniper I will put money I dont have that SSB is closer to what you are looking for.....Dont give up yet and give SSB as mentioned a try,I know you will find something alot closer to what you are looking to find.....

Also give some thought into getting your ham ticket.....I have a general class ticket and am very content where I am ....I tend to find alot of good old rag chewing sessions on the ham bands

 

[OttawaValley_309]

Reason you aren't getting back to them is simply because you don't have the power. Unless you have at least 2-3k watts, you're wasting your time.

~Cheers~

Actually. That is not always the case. I've twice made contact while the big talkers are all on the bowl. Once to the South East US and once out to Gabby Girl in Idaho. All while running a barefoot cobra 2000. Once with a simple hy-gain magnet antenna and once with a 7 ft firestik antenna on a magnet base. So. Big output is not always necessary however it does help.

This while in 2 seperate of eastern Ontario Canada.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 Using Tapatalk 2

 

[OttawaValley_309]

Ya, I need to find something good in this hobby. To be honest, I'm really interested in the hobby. I have spent an ever increasing amount of money to be able to enjoy the hobby. But to be honest, Ive been a little disappointed in the results I've received considering the time and money invested. Im not sure if it just has something to do with my area of the country and the activity encountered here but I have found basically 3 different groups of people who are always on the radio here in my area and I honestly have no interest in dealing with any of them.

Those 3 groups are.....

1. The channel 6 guys who only know how to "got down, got down, got down, bye bye bye bye" constantly all day every day.

2. The local "coffee club" on channel 4 who are always on but basically dont wont anything to do with anyone not in their little club. These guys are some really rude people.

3. And lastly (no racial slur intended here just stating the facts) mexicans/spanish speaking people who are on every other channel besides 4 and 6 usually playing loud mariachi music and speaking spanish so fast that you couldnt keep up with them if you were bi-lingual.

I really hope I find something soon to keep me interested in this hobby. A lot has changed since my first exposure to this hobby in the 70's. I want to make long distance contacts and have meaningful conversations with people in different parts of the world. That is what fascinates me about this hobby. If I cant do that then I should just cut my losses with the few thousand dollars Ive already invested and get out now.

Totally agree with this. I too am just getting back into the hobby from almost 15 years ago. Once again I just recently pulled out my radio shack trc 465 and bought a simple magnet antenna and installed it in the car. Haven't made any dx contacts yet but its been nice to hear the radio conditions and learning the ropes all over again.

Hoping the landlord allows me to put up an antenna. Totally wanna see what my cobra 2000 can do running barefoot from a base antenna. Best I ever had before and this is going back when I was in highschool was my trc 465 running off a power supply on an antron. And that was just as fun.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 Using Tapatalk 2

 

[2RT307]

If you are running the Ranger (properly tuned) in your Sig and a good clean 500 watt amp, along with a good antenna, there's no reason you can't have good QSO's. SSB'ers are who you need to be looking for, and lately that means going freeband to get away from *most* of the fruitcakes. Try .415 on up to 545 on lsb. The triple five (27.555) is upper side band, and international calling frequency. Catch someone there and move to another freq.

Also, a bunch of really good am'ers run on 26.915 all across the country. See what you find when conditions are in.

73,
RT307

 

[Sniper308]

Ok, Ive got the programming software for this radio installed and working. Im gona try setting it up to scan the frequencies I want it to scan. A neat thing about this radio is that you can program it to scan a specific range of frequencies say from 27.415 to 27.600 and to specify if it scans in 1Mh, 100 kHz, 12.5khz, 10khz, 1 kHz, or 100hz steps. It can also remember the specific band associated with a channel. I plan on setting it up to scan the following channels sequentially in my custom scan program. Maybe one of you can chime in and tell me if Im missing something that I may want to add or if Ive included something I should drop.


This is my currently active scan program....

35 LSB
36 LSB
37 LSB
38 LSB
27.415 LSB to 27.555 LSB (in 1khz steps)
Radio changes mode to USB automatically
35 USB
36 USB
37 USB
38 USB
27.415 USB to 27.555 USB (in 1khz steps)

Then starts over at the beginning again.

Is 1khz steps to large of an increment? Would I be better scanning in smaller steps like 100hz? Do a lot of people use oddball frequencies like 27.463.600 or will I find most activity on 1kz frequencies like 27.463, 27.464, 27.465 etc?

 

[buickid]

What about 39 and 40? There is activity on those channels sometimes. On sideband, it might be tricky since not everyone's radio is spot on. (Hence the clarifier). The scan function might have a lot of false positives, or miss a bunch of activity, depending on how well the squelch can pick out activity. Best way is to scan the band with the dial and look for activity. Also, try calling CQ. Often times if you sit on an less commonly used frequency like 37 and call CQ for about 10 seconds, wait 20 seconds, call again, etc, someone will be scanning on by and respond. Again, this is when skip is rolling and channels like 38 are packed. If not much activity, stick to the common calling channels like 35, 38 or 27.555, etc. I don't have any freeband capable radios yet, so I couldn't tell you much, but I'd say scanning in 1 KHz steps should be fine as anything. Try it and see.

 

[W5LZ]

Best method would probably be in 1 Khz jumps. Most people usually stay pretty much on frequencis ending in 5 or 0. That 1 Khz should find them. Thatscertainly not a hard and fast rule, but more a general thing.
- 'Doc