What happened to CB Radio Etiquette?
If you remember CB Radio from the 70's and 80's you will probably remember that part of the attraction was the special language that was a compulsory part of using the CB Radio in those days. Aside from the various slang and special words used there was an etiquette used by most CB Users when making contact with each other.
In the 80's in the UK, channel 14 was used as the calling channel, at least on the newly legalised FM frequencies. Over on the AM Band which was never legalised in the UK but was widely used by people who had originally got into CB Radio through the various imported AM Rigs that came into the country from the US, people still used Channel 19 as the calling channel which was what was used in the States.
In those days there were a lot of people on the channels and there was never a shortage of people to talk to. Even without any formal training it didn't take too long to work out how best to make contact with someone and then find out information from them without them needing to identify themselves or any real specifics about themselves. There were a set of understood 'rules' which the majority of people observed, at least in the early days.
Anyone returning to CB Radio since then would probably be surprised by the lack of these 'rules' nowadays. Its true that these days the airwaves are far less populated than in the early eighties and at times most of the channels are completely 'dead'. If you leave your radio on for long enough though you'll probably hear someone 'putting a call out' and more often than not a fair smattering of foul language or conversations that would not generally be considered suitable for 'broadcast'. Many old time CBers would probably hang their heads in shame at what has now become known as the 'muppet channels'.
As with so many people who first got into radio through Citizen Band, most have either given up or qualified through the various exams to move onto the other bands and more permitted power which greatly increases their range and improves the possibility of making contact with someone who isn't a complete fruitcake. On these other bands however there is a great deal more etiquette required and stricter protocols should be observed when using the radio.
No doubt this is part of the reason that most 'serious' radio users have moved on from CB Radio but the rise of the internet has reignited CB radio to an interest, particularly among 'men of a certain age' and there is some campaigning these days to put the manners back into CB Radio which is no bad thing.
In future posts I will go into more details about what would be considered the 'correct way' to use a CB Radio and if you are interested in helping with the campaign to 'clean up' the radio then come back for more! If we expect others to act accordingly we must lead by example and we can't blame people for not knowing if they've never been shown.
See you in the next post!!
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