Posted: 6/29/2009 6:00:01 PM EDT
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Ok so I was dubbing around the dial and I tune into 27.385 LSB and I am hearing OP's from Penn, SC These guys are talking like hams using Q codes and saying CQ, but they are using call signs like "unit # XXXX" or just saying something like "413" or "IS679"
Do any of you guys know what this practice is all about? I haven't OP'ed a CB in years and I was pretty impressed these guys seem to be pretty civil and were just having fun with DX. |
They were "shooting skip" as they say. They use a "unit number/callsign" which is either issued by a CB club or group or they just make it up. The 11m band is good for judging propogation on 10m (which it seems nobody is on ) but the band is open in reality. I will cruise through and listen now and again just to get an idea if 10m is open.
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CB is what got me interested in radios. My brother had one both at home and his car. I went on to get mt HAM ticket and he didnt. Kinda strange as he was into electonics. He even worked in a TV shop when he was 16. He was into CB big time. This was around 76-80 skip was rolling and sunspots where at a peak. On AM they used handle as you know. on SSB they would use a unit number. clarifiers didnt tune as good on a cheap CB as a ham and it was easier to understand a unit number They also used them on AM also to a lesser degree. My brother had a licencse and I used his call sign as unit 2. It was kinda legal I think. People for the most part where polite and didnt swear. Even the hookers around the truck stops talked decent when trying to lure drivers in. I dont think I ever heard a swear word. There was illegal stuff then too. We even had a 250 watt AM\SSB amp. It was a clean amp and my brother had tuned his radios. We didnt mess with TVs or anything else. I f we did the neighbors would call us instead of the cops first. Most now days wont do that. Lt more people then. Had your asses too but not many. If they didnt something stupid you might get hunted down.
These days not so good. Every oher word is a swear word Fbombs all over the place. People dont listen before keying up. Some are running 2K amps. Hell they use a 250 watt to key up the big one. A lot are class C b ut so where they in the day. They have unit numbers on side band today. Alot are issued when you join a CB board on the internet. A few wont talk to you with out one. Kinda stupid really. Like joing a board proves your not the FCC. SSB does seem a lot cleaner on the talking. AM seems to use the unit number thing a lot more than in the 70s On the bright side you do run into a lot of clean talking people. Most ill bet are hams wh got into amature radio and kept the CB thru the years.There is a guy a few miles away who has talked to someone on a CB every single day since the 40 channel came out in 1977 I think. Over 30 years. |
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back in the day,,,, 1976ish.....
I got a SSB CB, if I remember right, ch 16 USB was the call channel.. and yes we all used Q codes and most were pretty civil in OP'ing.. talk was, CB SSB was a first step in jumping into ham radio. and I was 42Charlie32 back then,, along with official FCC call sign of KYV-8013.. yup, paid my $5 for the 5 year lic. Which is posted right beside my current Ham license. 
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I like CB radio...as a matter of fact...I am listening on 27.385mhz right now, and DX is rolling in from every direction, just talked to a guy in San Diego CA...from West Central Florida. Believe it on not...no foul language. That kind of behavior usually resides on channel 19.
I have had a CB radio in some fashion or another since I was a kid in the early 70's, and used them regularly until the early 90's when we sold all of our dump trucks. I got back into using them in 2004 during the hurricanes, and have been addicted ever since. I believe there is a place in the hobby for both CB and HAM, and use them both often, but I have more friends on CB, so that is the service where you will find me most. BTW, I use SSB on the CB almost always, except when the channels are slow, then you might find me messing around on 32am or 28am. When I'm on the road, the radio is on 19, with the squelch set high, so I'm only hearing those nearby. Listen for American Radio 205...If you here him...it's me. |