I can remember a period in the 70's
when CB radio was really popular.

Whatever happened to CB ?
As a tool ? ... as a hobby ?

Is this just a trucker thing now ?
Do truckers even use CB for communication ?

Just curious
rj

I can remember a period in the 70's
when CB radio was really popular.

Whatever happened to CB ?
As a tool ? ... as a hobby ?

Is this just a trucker thing now ?
Do truckers even use CB for communication ?

Just curious
rj

It was popular since truckers were using them to find
fuel stations that were open during the fuel shortage
of the early 1970's...

Then they were used a lot when the speed limit was
knocked down to 55mph so they could go faster by
knowing where the cops are.

Truckers still use them, I have one too since it has
gotten me off the interstates on to secondary roads
a few times to avoid wrecks miles ahead just by
listening.

"RJ" wrote in message
news
I can remember a period in the 70's
when CB radio was really popular.

Whatever happened to CB ?

It's still out there. Yes, truckers still use it. The 27 MHz band has become
a bit of a cesspool since the 70's CB craze, however. Lots of foul-mouthed
wackos seem to make it their hangout of choice.

Jackie

A few things killed CB one of them was the fact that they were placed in a
short-wave band and when the conditions are right 4 watts on that band can
go World Wide. In 1976 the "skip" cycle was at its lowest point and that was
the height of CBs popularity. By the early 80s the cycle was at its height
and the radio wouldn't work more then a 1/2 mile during the day. The next
thing was the amount of profanity from people that thought that they were
anonymous. You couldn't have the radio on with your family in ear shot. Just
take a look at rec.radio.cb loaded with fights and profanity. The next thing
that helped to kill of CB was the removal of the license and dumbing down of
the ham license in the early 90s. Many of the devoted CBers moved to 2
meters this included truck drivers. With the move of children's radio to 49
MHz and then to FRS that took away the entry door to CB. Cell-phone finished
the job by removing the only practical use for CB and that was reporting
emergencies. I work as a Shipper Receiver and all of the truckers that I
talk to say that they don't use the CB because of the noise and like one
said, "no intelligent life on that one". They call us on the cell for a door
assignment or to let us know when they are going to be late for the
appointments. Many of them are also using commercial VHF for truck to truck
communications. It is a dead band and will get even worse if code is removed
from the ham license.

"RJ" wrote in message
news
I can remember a period in the 70's
when CB radio was really popular.

Whatever happened to CB ?
As a tool ? ... as a hobby ?

Is this just a trucker thing now ?
Do truckers even use CB for communication ?

Just curious
rj

My wife is selling her old Lafayette tube CB on eBay right now. We got it
out and played with it for a little while to see if it worked. It was so
cool to watch the tubes heat up before the radio would work. Once they got
warm, we hooked a speaker to it and put in PA mode and drove the cats crazy
for a while, before she boxed it all back up.

She and I both spent many hours chatting on our home and mobile CBs back in
the mid 70s, back before she and ever met each other. We actually chatted
with each other part of the time, but she had her good buddies and I had
mine. We drifted apart, married other people, and found each other again 8
years ago. But I digress.

In a wistful moment today, I said it's a shame our kids will never know the
fun of getting on the radio and chatting with people across town. Then she
reminded me that her kids do the same thing, but it's called AIM and MSN.

But they'll never appreciate radio like we do. Sigh...

"" wrote:

I can remember a period in the 70's
when CB radio was really popular.

Whatever happened to CB ?
As a tool ? ... as a hobby ?

Is this just a trucker thing now ?
Do truckers even use CB for communication ?

Just curious
rj


Once in a great while, if things are REALLY dead otherwise, I tune
in the 27 kHz CB band. Since I live 500 yds. from an interstate, there
is plenty of strong, clear traffic in the CB bands. Basically, it's
depressing. The profanity (which is a given) aside, most of the
truckers using that radio are, almost without exception, the most bitter
people I have ever listened to. They hate everything and everybody,
based on what I hear when I listen (though I imagine endless hours on
the road trying to beat a deadline has a lot to do with that). Like I
said, though, it's depressing. If your equpiment doesn't recieve that
26960 to 27410 kHz segment, you aren't missing anything.

Tony


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In article mv59c.9602$wg1.3069@edtnps84, "WG"
wrote:

A few things killed CB one of them was the fact that they were placed in a
short-wave band and when the conditions are right 4 watts on that band can
go World Wide.

Few of these things had anything to do with "killing CB". The fact is,
it was and still is in use by hobbyists. The mid 70's fad was just
that - a fad. It came and went, and the real CBers are still there.

I had one from about 1967 to 1972 or so. I had a license and
everything. I simply lost interest in it, as my friends and I grew up
and found other interests. When the craze hit in 1976 or so I thought
it was funny. People going crazy over something I grew up with!

Dropping the license requirement was the best thing that ever happened
to CB. Many didn't have one anyway, and there were far too many for
any real "enforcement".

Dan

"" ) writes:
I can remember a period in the 70's
when CB radio was really popular.

Whatever happened to CB ?
As a tool ? ... as a hobby ?

Is this just a trucker thing now ?
Do truckers even use CB for communication ?

Just curious
rj
It is still around, though I'm not sure where you get the transceivers
these days. It's been a long time since I saw one in a Radio Shack
flyer here in Canada.

On the other hand I gather a license is no longer needed, here in Canada
or in the US. Though, it's been a vague line here and there that
tells me that, which is indicative of the fading of CB.

Popular is subjective. CB did get into public visibility in the
seventies, but my impression was that it was fairly popular before
that. As someone pointed out, it was placed in the wrong part of
the spectrum, and even in the early seventies when I first got
a shortwave radio, when conditions were good, it could be wall to
wall heterodynes (stations beating against other statiions).

I suspect it's purpose was ill-defined. SOmeone decided (or
was petitioned) that some space be allocated for "everyman".
From reading magazines of the early days, it was pretty wishy-washy.
It was a mix of personal use and business use, and they often did
conflict. The rules were fairly rigid in the early days, showing
it's intention for serious use, but as soon as it was out of the
gate it was portrayed by various people as a hobby band. The FCC
in the US had to keep issuing comments about how this wasn't allowed,
and how that wasn't allowed, and how it was not a hobby band. Ironically,
things that would limit its use, such as limiting conversations to 5
minutes (I can't remember if that was generally, or just to between
those who where not using the same license), and limiting useage of
some of the channels, were eliminated with time, allowing for it to
become the free for all that it did with time. It was a very small slice
of the spectrum, intended for "everyone", in a place in the spectrum where
transmissions were not limited to line of sight.

Obviously a fad is a fad, so it's not a surprise that CB faded out
after a while in the seventies. I have no idea what state it was
in at that point, but I suspect it basically went on as it had before
the boom, kind of messing, but not a total burnout.

I suspect it's faded in more recent years because it wasn't the only
choice. Radio equipment has basically gotten cheaper, so a small business
that needs to use radio can spend a bit more and get a business band
license and equipment. One can go to the GMRS band up around 460MHz,
and even use repeaters for better rangte. There's FRS for recreational
use, and there's MURS around 150MHz for some license-free use. These
options were either unavailable ten or twenty years ago, or the equipment
was too costly.

Maybe most important, cellphones came along, and got cheap to buy and
use. It's often forgotten, but with them more people use two-way radios on
a regular basis than at any previous time in history. Their range may
be limited, but ultimately their range is complete unlimited since it
hooks to the phone system. You need roundabout methods to make phone
calls from CB or some other two way radio, but phone calls are the reason
for cellphone. It makes really efficient use of the radio spectrum,
allowing for far more in one location than the 23 or 40 channels of
CB could accomodate, and almost lets one overlook the radio experience.

While some of the allure of CB was the experience, most people want
something practical. Cellphones are far more practical, so once they
were available and cheap, it's no wonder so many vacated to it.

Michael

"RJ" wrote in message
news | I can remember a period in the 70's
| when CB radio was really popular.
|
| Whatever happened to CB ?
| As a tool ? ... as a hobby ?
|
| Is this just a trucker thing now ?
| Do truckers even use CB for communication ?
|
| Just curious
| rj

I'm an amateur radio operator (actually, going to test to upgrade my
license on Saturday), and I personally find CB more useful than 2 meters
(VHF frequencies hams use) when I'm on the road, or completely lost.
Here in the Twin Cities, CB is still very much used, and it's a lovely
way to enhance your vocabulary! Last thing I heard, the CB manufacturers
were selling around 3 million units a year (I think that was 2001 numbers).

73,

Steve Lawrence
Burnsville, Minnesota

At lest here near Vancouver, Canada, CB is alive and well. The CB crowd
split into two; 1/2 got their no-code license and are "Good Buddy"'ing the
2M ham band and the remaining 1/2 enjoy the peace and quiet ;-)

--
Gregg
*It's probably useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca