Hi,

Well I'm listening to my RF-2200 here in south Jersey and I am hearing
activity on 27.5 - 28 MHz SSB. It sounds like amateurs and some are in
KY, VA but I haven't ID'd any callsigns.

I know 10m starts at 28.1 and CB ends at 27.40 but does anyone know what
I'm listening to in this range from 27.5 to 28??

Thanks, Bill

"Bill" wrote in message ...

I know 10m starts at 28.1 and CB ends at 27.40 but does anyone know what
I'm listening to in this range from 27.5 to 28??

You probably won't hear any callsigns, because these are most likely
freebanders. Freebanding is illlegal out-of-band operating in the area just
below, in-between and above the recognized standard 40 channel Citizens Band
allocation, which means from 26-28 MHz.

Jackie

Well I've verified further using the digital accuracy of my VR500. The
frequency I'm monitoring is 27.475 LSB and what I just heard is "618
this is 502 in Tennessee" as the beginning of a conversation. I'm in
south NJ so would this be freebander skip??

Buzzygirl wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message ...


I know 10m starts at 28.1 and CB ends at 27.40 but does anyone know what
I'm listening to in this range from 27.5 to 28??


You probably won't hear any callsigns, because these are most likely
freebanders. Freebanding is illlegal out-of-band operating in the area just
below, in-between and above the recognized standard 40 channel Citizens Band
allocation, which means from 26-28 MHz.

Jackie

"Bill" wrote in message ...
Well I've verified further using the digital accuracy of my VR500. The
frequency I'm monitoring is 27.475 LSB and what I just heard is "618 this
is 502 in Tennessee" as the beginning of a conversation. I'm in south NJ
so would this be freebander skip??

It could be, but freebander convention is to use USB. This is not to say
nobody ever uses LSB.

Well thanks to all for the replies. I Googled "freebander" and now
understand something I previously never knew.

Back in the late '70's I worked at HyGain in NE during the CB craze. We
heard and knew of locals that modified their radios to work above 27.405
(Ch40) but I never imagined this would evolve into a new and welcomed
hobby. It's great now to hear conversations that, back in the '70's
were common on CB, when we all gave our calls at the end of
conversations. (I was KMD5224 and met new friends with my radio). Late
in the 70's things in the CB channels degenerated and only got worse as
time went on. I gave up the CB hobby and never looked back. Now that
freebanding has become the next phase of it, I'm thinking about joining
a local DX group down here in NJ.

Thanks for enlightening me.
--Bill

Brenda Ann wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message ...

Well I've verified further using the digital accuracy of my VR500. The
frequency I'm monitoring is 27.475 LSB and what I just heard is "618 this
is 502 in Tennessee" as the beginning of a conversation. I'm in south NJ
so would this be freebander skip??


It could be, but freebander convention is to use USB. This is not to say
nobody ever uses LSB.

Bill wrote:
Well thanks to all for the replies. I Googled "freebander" and now
understand something I previously never knew.

Back in the late '70's I worked at HyGain in NE during the CB craze. We
heard and knew of locals that modified their radios to work above 27.405
(Ch40) but I never imagined this would evolve into a new and welcomed
hobby. It's great now to hear conversations that, back in the '70's
were common on CB, when we all gave our calls at the end of
conversations. (I was KMD5224 and met new friends with my radio). Late
in the 70's things in the CB channels degenerated and only got worse as
time went on. I gave up the CB hobby and never looked back. Now that
freebanding has become the next phase of it, I'm thinking about joining
a local DX group down here in NJ.

Thanks for enlightening me.
--Bill


New and welcomed hobby?

Freebanding is illegal. And it's not without an interference penalty,
interrupting legal communications by licensed operators on those
frequencies.

I don't often get into the FCC bashing mode, but putting Citizens
Radio Service on 11 meters was one of the most bone headed decisions to
come out of Gettysburg. Citizens Radio Service was to be local only,
limited power, short range communication. It has a radius limit in the
charter. And yet, they put it on one of the best propagation bands in
the spectrum. When I was experimenting with CB in the mid 60's, I had an
Arvin HT with 100 milliwatts, and got to chatting with a licensed
operator about nothing in particular. (Which I later found out was a
violation of his licensing provisions.) He was aware I was working a
license free HT, but he thought I was just a local kid. I thought he was
the CB station at the end of the block. We were both stunned when we
realized that he was in North Carolina and I was in Florissant, Missouri.

Most of the time, CB WAS local. But at least once a day, the skip
started rolling in, and it was no holds barred. To expect communications
to remain local under such circumstances, was absurd.

When CB caught on, and the bands became overcrowded, there were mod
shops in every other strip mall in my area. And type accepted equipment
was 'fixed' to work out of band for a nominal fee. When informed that
such modifications were illegal to put on the bands, users usually
either laughed outright, or came back with a level of rationalizations
why it was NOT illegal that would have qualified them for Congress.

Freebanders grew out of this mindset.

And they defend themselves with a vengeance.

But make no mistake. Freebanding is illegal. On several fronts. And
it does affect other services. Embracing freebanding does not make you
an enthusiastic hobbyist. It makes you part of the problem.





Brenda Ann wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message ...

Well I've verified further using the digital accuracy of my VR500.
The frequency I'm monitoring is 27.475 LSB and what I just heard is
"618 this is 502 in Tennessee" as the beginning of a conversation.
I'm in south NJ so would this be freebander skip??


It could be, but freebander convention is to use USB. This is not to
say nobody ever uses LSB.

Peter,

I cannot argue your points and I do recall those stories about
(illegally) modding the CB's. I kinda thought, in the back of my mind,
that freebanding IS illegal as I read the freebander web sites. But it
sounds like it's become a widespread occurrance and one that can not
easily be stopped. But one of the web sites argued that the
participants were beyond and above the CB mentality and, not that it
makes it right, it seems that freebanders abide by some sort of rules
and somewhat loose regulations, albeit non-governmental.

I changed my mind...I'll not join them; I'll just listen in.

--Bill

D Peter Maus wrote:
Bill wrote:

Well thanks to all for the replies. I Googled "freebander" and now
understand something I previously never knew.

Back in the late '70's I worked at HyGain in NE during the CB craze.
We heard and knew of locals that modified their radios to work above
27.405 (Ch40) but I never imagined this would evolve into a new and
welcomed hobby. It's great now to hear conversations that, back in
the '70's were common on CB, when we all gave our calls at the end of
conversations. (I was KMD5224 and met new friends with my radio).
Late in the 70's things in the CB channels degenerated and only got
worse as time went on. I gave up the CB hobby and never looked back.
Now that freebanding has become the next phase of it, I'm thinking
about joining a local DX group down here in NJ.

Thanks for enlightening me.
--Bill



New and welcomed hobby?

Freebanding is illegal. And it's not without an interference penalty,
interrupting legal communications by licensed operators on those
frequencies.

I don't often get into the FCC bashing mode, but putting Citizens
Radio Service on 11 meters was one of the most bone headed decisions to
come out of Gettysburg. Citizens Radio Service was to be local only,
limited power, short range communication. It has a radius limit in the
charter. And yet, they put it on one of the best propagation bands in
the spectrum. When I was experimenting with CB in the mid 60's, I had an
Arvin HT with 100 milliwatts, and got to chatting with a licensed
operator about nothing in particular. (Which I later found out was a
violation of his licensing provisions.) He was aware I was working a
license free HT, but he thought I was just a local kid. I thought he was
the CB station at the end of the block. We were both stunned when we
realized that he was in North Carolina and I was in Florissant, Missouri.

Most of the time, CB WAS local. But at least once a day, the skip
started rolling in, and it was no holds barred. To expect communications
to remain local under such circumstances, was absurd.

When CB caught on, and the bands became overcrowded, there were mod
shops in every other strip mall in my area. And type accepted equipment
was 'fixed' to work out of band for a nominal fee. When informed that
such modifications were illegal to put on the bands, users usually
either laughed outright, or came back with a level of rationalizations
why it was NOT illegal that would have qualified them for Congress.

Freebanders grew out of this mindset.

And they defend themselves with a vengeance.

But make no mistake. Freebanding is illegal. On several fronts. And it
does affect other services. Embracing freebanding does not make you an
enthusiastic hobbyist. It makes you part of the problem.





Brenda Ann wrote:

"Bill" wrote in message ...

Well I've verified further using the digital accuracy of my VR500.
The frequency I'm monitoring is 27.475 LSB and what I just heard is
"618 this is 502 in Tennessee" as the beginning of a conversation.
I'm in south NJ so would this be freebander skip??



It could be, but freebander convention is to use USB. This is not to
say nobody ever uses LSB.

Bill wrote:
Hi,

Well I'm listening to my RF-2200 here in south Jersey and I am hearing
activity on 27.5 - 28 MHz SSB. It sounds like amateurs and some are in
KY, VA but I haven't ID'd any callsigns.

I know 10m starts at 28.1 and CB ends at 27.40 but does anyone know what
I'm listening to in this range from 27.5 to 28??

Thanks, Bill


You are hearing operators operating illegally on the so-called
'freeband', there is no freeband as these frequencies are allocated to
other services. These are refugees from the cb band who are either to
ignorant to know they are operating on frequencies they are not
authorized to use, or the "I bought this here radio and I can operate it
anywhere I want to" mentality. These are the same ones that encroach
into the ten meter amateur band. They somehow have the misguided notion
that if they own a transmitter they can transmit where ever they please.

Now that
freebanding has become the next phase of it, I'm thinking about joining
a local DX group down here in NJ.

Next phase? The freebanders have been there for years and years.
The main mindset of the freebanders was to get away from all the
"ruckus" on the legal channels, and have a quieter play to talk, and
thus play "serious radio boy". LOL... I've got many friends that have
talked there, and I've even talked there myself on a few occasions
back in the 80's. The "freeband" was mainly taking the "secret" channel
thing a large step farther. IE: many used to like to talk on 22a, or
whatever it was, and many often talked on the channels below the
legal band. But those got crowded after a while, so the push was
upward towards 28 mhz. Very few actual "freebanders" will talk on
the 10m ham band. They know better, and stay away. Most will
hang out in the .405-600?? range, but some do go higher. Here
in Houston , 27.800 used to be a real popular freq that was used
by "serious" Cbers, and hams that wanted to chit chat with the local
CBers. It's mainly the truckers that are plopping on 10m ham band,
and that is a fairly recent thing. .
They don't care where they go, as long as they can talk.
Myself, I don't see much incentive to hang on the freeband, when
getting a legal ham ticket is so easy these days. Who would wanna
be stuck from 27.405 to 28.000 when you can have 28.000 to 29 plus
legally. :/ Not to mention all the other bands. Sounds like to me,
you would be better off getting a ham ticket. Much more useful being
you aren't tied down to a band that is dead half the time.
Even a legal ham on 10m is pretty limited this time of the solar cycle.

BTW.. .Many freebanders use ham radios and have VFO's, etc..
I've seen some freebanders that ran better gear than I do on the ham
bands... :/ IE: Icom 756pro's, etc, etc...Whatta waste of a radio...
But some use modded CB's...
MK

D Peter Maus wrote:
I don't often get into the FCC bashing mode, but putting Citizens
Radio Service on 11 meters was one of the most bone headed decisions to
come out of Gettysburg.

Just as today's 2.4 GHz band is open territory because it's shared with
microwave ovens, yesterday's 27 MHz was shared with diathermy equipment,
which was in wide use when CB was new but had fallen into disuse by the
mainstream by the mid sixties.

--
If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination,
my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin.