Muppet Band Vs Sideband Radio

Since its legalisation in the early eighties the original UK 40 Channel 27Mhz FM Band has its fair portion of strange behaviour. Generally there has definitely been individuals who would play music over channel 19 in an attempt simply to stop other radio users from reaching one another.

Typically in a belief of recovering the frequency many people installed radio amps that enabled them to broadcast at greater than lawful power levels. This would permit their signals to get transmitted 'over the top' of the obstructing transmission.

The problem in this is that somebody always has an even bigger burner and as output levels increased this made things increasingly challenging for other radio users to make use of even adjacent frequencies when somebody on the channel below is pushing 500 Watts

On the Muppet Band you also face the possibility of threats and abuse although their seems to be a little less of this these days but there are pretty frequent slanging matches happening as the 'after the pub' guys meander back home and switch on their radios.

In fact an aspect of the entertainment of the Muppet band is hearing some of the funny banter you come across an evening when there is good propagation and now and then you get an evening when things open up and you get signals from random locations. There are days when the Muppet Band is humming with a really good group of folks shouting out especially in the summer months. I've had some terrific signals in from numerous parts of Europe when conditions permit.

There are the regular nets similarly for anyone who fancy venturing outdoors to check out what they can get in the radio and particularly in the summertime this is a terrific way to enjoy your radio. Getting on to more elevated ground generally delivers improved reception and when channels are active it presents an excellent opportunity to make contact with other radio users in a variety of locations



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What is Sideband Radio?

'SSB' stands for 'single side band' but in fact isn't really a band at all. SSB is more effectively described as a mode similar to AM or FM.  SSB is an extremely reliable method of capturing your voice into a radio wave as well as the transmission of such a radio wave.

The procedure of applying a voice to a radio wave is referred to as modulation. To modulate a radio wave is to include information to it in order that it can be received.

Most people will recognise one of the more typical types of modulation, AM (amplitude modulation), and also FM, (Frequency Modulation), providing the AM and also FM bands their usual name.

You will possibly have made use of FM or AM yourself, through children's walkie talkies or remote controlled toys.

When in AM mode, your voice modulates, (is superimposed), on a carrier wave at a specified frequency by your transceiver as well as it being transmitted across the the air waves.

The carrier wave is used to "carry" the audio signal to an AM receiver where it is received as well as converted back to an audio signal permitting the voice message sent to be understood.




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CB Radio Modes

Modulation is the procedure whereby speech, music, and other "intelligence" is put into the radio waves created by a transmitter. The various ways of modulating a radio signal are called modes.

An un-modulated radio signal is called a carrier. When you listen to "dead air" in between songs or announcements on a radio station, you are actually "hearing" the carrier.

Whilst a carrier has no intelligence, you can tell it is being broadcast given the way it quiets the background noise on your radio.

The different modes of modulation have their advantages and disadvantages. Here is a summary:

Continuous Wave (CW)

CW is the most basic type of modulation. The output of the transmitter is switched on and off, commonly to create the characters of the Morse code.

CW transmitters are basic and affordable, and the transmitted CW signal does not take up very much frequency space (typically under 500 Hz). The CW signals will be difficult to hear on a normal receiver; you'll just hear the faint quieting of the background noise as the CW signals are transmitted.

 To get over this issue, shortwave and ham radio receivers contain a beat frequency oscillator (BFO) circuit. The BFO circuit generates an internally-generated second carrier that "beats" against the received CW signal, generating a tone that turns on and off in step with the received CW signal.

This is exactly how Morse code signals are received on shortwave.



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Why Use the CB Radio?

As a pastime, entering into CB Radio is very simple. CB Radio has been unlicensed for several years now so there is no licence application or examinations to get on the CB Radio and you can set yourself up with the appropriate equipment at remarkably little expense. A previously owned CB Radio can be purchased through EBay for under ₤ 20 and the additional pieces of equipment required are similarly cheap.

Alongside genuine radio hobbyists there are people who use their CB Radio to be nothing short of irritating. Since the UK FM Band is licence free, it is also used by taxi firms who make use of the CB Frequencies rather than the more costly radios that most 'licenced' companies normally use. This by itself is not a significant irritation but in addition to these radio users there are those who use their time on the CB Radio to obstruct other radio users in several ways.

There are the aspiring DJs who having gotten access to the airwaves believe it their duty to broadcast music of a variety of styles across the airwaves for everyone to enjoy. Perhaps in their own heads they regard this a 'service to the community' but this does hinder other radio users with more legitimate intent from using the radio in the way it was genuinely designed

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How To Use A CB Radio

In earlier articles we have discussed what equipment is required in order to get set up on a CB Radio and went over a few of the mechanics surrounding setting up and installing a CB Radio. Now we are ready to turn on our new rig and start making contact with the world!

For most, this may include some level of discouragement because you will swiftly find out that these days the airwaves are not packed with boundless chitchat on every channel and reaching other CB Radio users is a tad more 'trial and error' these days. Essentially the world has evolved since they heyday of the 80s and folk get their 'social' fix in other ways nowadays. The FM frequencies that used to be so active are now silent for sizeable bits of the day

Part of the reason for this however is that the usual calibre of radio communications since the 80s decreased to such a point that most people just gave up interest in it as a method for communicating

It is part of radio history that there certainly ought to be an excellent level of formality on the airwaves which anytime a couple of stations want to correspond there is a set of recognized formalities and standards applied to assure an effective interaction. A great deal of this originates from the military use of radio across the years and especially in maritime transmissions a significant degree of formality ought to be followed
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This is in no way less apparent than with HAM Radio hobbyists particularly on the bands which allow increased power use and consequently an improved range where operators are only concerned with serious interactions and endeavour to log every successful communications using the previously mentioned protocols



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CB Radio In The Eighties

In 1981 Britain was in the grasp of an illegal craze. It didn't involve sex drugs or violence. Rather bedrooms and vehicles all over the UK resounded to the coded pleasures of CB radio. With eccentric sounding call signs for users. CB turned into a space for a community of people unquestionably mainly young and male.

The trend just like quite a few before and since was American in its origin. Films like 'Convoy' in which Kris Kristofferson plays ‘Rubber Duck’, a truck driver with a grudge and 'Smokey & The Bandit' with Burt Reynolds mesmerised a segment of the British population.

In the beginning it was cars. Youngsters were even using them on pushbikes, almost anything you could secure one to, motorcycles even. British truck drivers were the pioneers of CB use, finding it useful to communicate among themselves regarding such things as the location of speed traps and other road hazards and to keep at bay the solitude of the open road.

The slang they used remained resolutely American. Only British place names found their way into the code. ‘Noddy Town’ for London, ‘Smoky Dragon’ for Cardiff. Each local community of CB’ers might then create even more nicknames at a more detailed level.

Jeff Briggs who operated an electronics Business grasped that there was a gap in the market and filled it with an audio tape, “Teach Yourself CB - an Englishman's guide”. “They used to take it very seriously” He recalls.


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What Ever Happened To CB Radio?

Citizens' Band radio, often simply called CB radio, is a system of short-distance, two way radio communications using a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MH-z (11 m) band. The Citizens’ Band Radio Service originated in the U.S. in 1945 to provide citizens a radio band for personal communication. It was regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC.)

Originally there were only 23 channels. The first 22 channels were what used to be an Amateur 11-meter band, while channel 23 was shared with radio-controlled devices. Some CB’ers still refer to it as "11 meters."

In the 1960s, CB’s became popular with small businesses as well as truck drivers and radio enthusiasts. Advanced technology in solid state circuitry and electronics allowed weight, size, and cost of radios to decrease. This allowed the general public to enjoy a medium previously only available to specialists. Many CB clubs were formed along with a unique slang language. CB’ers also used similar emergency service “10-codes.”



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What Are Q Codes?

Q Codes are a collection of 3 character codes each one having a particular definition. Q Codes are much more commonly used on SSB Radio than on regular AM/FM CB Radio and over most other bands.

Q Codes are commonly used in voice modes but can just as easily be deciphered as Morse code, deriving from the history of navel and other and marine long range radio communications.
Standardised around 1909 it was developed into forty-five Q codes which were published in 1912.

The main appeal of Q Codes is the fact that it could be globally made use of. Anyone can recognise the communication transmitted regardless of what the nationality of the operator or the receiver.

Since initially entering onto SSB Radio for the very first time last year I have become intrigued by the use of Q Codes. Certain codes are used more than others but they typically form part of making a contact in the first place.



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What are the Ten Codes?

If someone was to ask a question and get the response 'Ten Four', most people would probably know that the question was being answered in the affirmative. Since the days of the US cop shows of the Seventies most of us have grown up with the occasional 'radio term' occurring on TV or in the movies.

For anyone who ventures in to CB Radio or is acquainted to the other radio bands available there is a multitude of 'ten codes' used in transmissions. The development of the APCO Ten Signals began in 1937 to reduce use of speech on the radio at a time when police radio channels were limited. Credit for creating the codes goes to Charles "Charlie" Hopper, communications director for the Illinois State Police, District 10 in Pesotum, Illinois.

A number of Ten codes are more commonly used than others and in total there are 101 different ten code each with a different definition. Some of the codes are particular to Police operations whilst others are unique to radio operations so in CB Radio operation only some are widely used.



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CB Radio Lingo

One of the original attractions of CB Radio for most people was the use of a special language on the airwaves.  Taking its roots from the traditional radio communications used by the military and other forces, Citizen Band is peppered with terms and words not found elsewhere.  Alongside the general 'slang' used there are also meanings behind a lot of the 'codes' used in communications.

 

Most of us would have come across some of the '10-code' but perhaps fewer would know the definition of many of the Q-codes used by many CB Breakers.  Many of the old terms are not widely used any more and many of them only really remain relevant to the our US counterparts but it would be useful for any who are coming to CB Radio for the first time to understand some of the terminology used.

 

Below are a few examples of some of the CB Slang which I still hear in use today with some attempt at a definition.  As both the 10 codes and Q codes cover quite a broad array of communications I will create separate posts for each of these which will be linked from here.

 

These are completely random terms please feel free to add a comment to add your favourite CB Slang terms!

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CB Radio Etiquette

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If you recall CB Radio from the 70's and 80's you may probably remember that part of the attraction was the unique terminology that was an obligatory aspect of using the CB Radio in those days. Apart from the numerous 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 commonly used by people who had originally got into CB Radio through the various imported AM Rigs that came into the country from the USA, a lot of people still made use of Channel 19 as the calling channel which was what was used in the States.

In those days there were a great deal of people on the channels and there was by no means a shortfall of folks to talk to. Even without any formal training it didn't take too very long to figure out how best to make contact with somebody and then find out information from them without them needing to identify themselves or any actual specifics about themselves. Certainly there were a set of understood 'rules' which most of most people observed, at least in the early days



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Installing a Homebase CB Aerial

Owning a CB Radio can afford you a degree of additional safety, can allow could help in an emergency and can also be a lot of fun. It is important to make sure that you have the right antenna, cables and location, and before attempting an installation. You might prefer to have a professional do it but it is quite easy to install by yourself, and can save you money in the long run.

Selecting the right location for a CB Radio Antenna is the most important part of installing a CB Radio. If you have the antenna in the wrong location it won’t transmit or receive properly meaning your signals would be weaker and you have a more limited range.

The selected location will also dictate what equipment you will need to install an antenna.

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Installing a CB Radio in your Car

Installing a CB Radio in your car shouldn't be a difficult task as long as you have all of the bits that you are likely to need and have access to the handful of tools that you are going to need to properly fit and install your CB Radio to your car.

As well as the CB Radio itself you are going to need things like a DIN plate or mounting bracket, a CB Aerial, Coaxial cable, Aerial mount, power lead plus things like a power drill, screwdrivers and possibly a set of spanners.

Installing the CB Radio

CB Radios come in a range of sizes and if you are looking for a clean, easy installation and have the right kind of dashboard furniture then a DIN plate kit is the ideal.  Use a flat head screwdriver of pry bar to remove the relevant panels taking care to look out for any screws that may be holding equipment in.

If you are removing an existing Car Radio you will need to remove the antenna and speaker wires from the rear of the radio and may need to re-utilise the factory ISO kit that the original radio was mounted with.



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Important Message : Please Help Me!

Guys, this is a really important message so please read in full.

I received a message on my YouTube page explaining that as of the 18th February I will not qualify to monitise my channel which I have been working hard to build up over the last two years and will have my channel demonitised.

In order to qualify you need to have 4,000 hours of view time and 1,000 subscribers and the simple fact of the matter is I don’t.  As of the 17th of January I have 507 Subscribers and achieved 3,682 Hours of Watch Time.

So heres where I need your help.  If you are not already a subscriber then Please Please hit the subscribe button now and then share this video with your friends asking for their help.
If you are already a subscriber I would really appreciate you doing the same and pass on this video on to anyone you think might help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdbDgBwdGEQ

By my calculations I’ll need to get 493 subscribers in the next 30 days so I need 16 to 17 subscribers every day to achieve that.  In terms of watch time, I’ve already racked up 3,740 hours in the last 12 months so still need to get 10 hours of watch time every day between now and the 18th of February which should be achievable to get over the 1,000 hour requirement but would also welcome you watching a few videos from this channel.

To help with that I’ve put a card in the top right of the screen which will take you through to one of my playlists.  If you would be kind enough to click the card it will automatically play each video in the playlist which you leave running to help rack up the view time for me. 

I’d like to offer a free giveaway to everyone who subscribes to the channel so between now and the 18th of February anyone who subscribes to this channel then hits the like button and finally adds comment below this video saying ‘I SUBSCRIBED’ will be entered into a prize draw to win a brand new CRT One N CB Radio which I will personally purchase and send to you absolutely free of charge.

So please remember to subscribe, Like, Comment, Watch  and Share for your chance to win a FREE CB Radio!!

I’ll be posting information about the giveaway at the end of February and will contact you if you’re lucky enough to have won the prize so watch out for an update video then

AGAIN GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING WITH THIS AND GOOD LUCK IN THE GIVEAWAY

I know some people have views about advertising on Youtube and I wanted to let you know that although I earn just a couple of dollars each month I’ve not yet reached the threshold where Youtube actually pays you but I really don’t want to lose the opportunity to continue to grow the Channel in the hope when I do earn enough I can reuse what money I do make to improve the quality and format of the Channel in Years To come.

CB Radio Range: What is the Range of a CB Radio?

One of the most usual concerns asked about CB Radio antennas is,

"What sort of range can I achieve?"

This can be a difficult one to answer properly, as antenna variety is impacted by a number of different variables. We will discuss approximate range in a moment, but it is very important to first discuss the various aspects that determine just how far you'll be able to transmit as well as receive.

Factors that Influence Range

Antenna Size & Kind:

Everything else equal, longer antennas will always have a better range compared to much shorter antennas. Also, specific types of antennas have a longer range compared to others.
For instance, centre-load antennas tend to have a longer, more reliable send and also better receive when compared to fibreglass antennas of the same length.

Mount Area:

Mounting location plays a huge part also. The higher an antenna is placed, the better the range. If an inadequate mounting location is chosen, this could significantly cut the range to a fraction of its best.

Instalment Quality:

Setup blunders, such as not correctly basing an antenna, will certainly lead to high SWR and limited range.

Terrain:

Your surrounding area plays a massive part in determining range. Perched up on a Hilltop, you'll very likely attain substantially better distances and also obtain better range than our estimates. Conversely, if you're in a deep, heavily woody canyon, your possible range will certainly be significantly poorer.



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Tuning a CB Aerial

The process itself is pretty straight forward but needs to be done when you are first setting up your CB Radio to use and on regularly occasions needs to be checked to make sure your CB Radio is performing as optimally as possible.

It is important that your CB aerial is properly tuned otherwise you will not be transmitting the maximum amount of power from your CB Radio out on to the airwaves which might drastically affect the range that your signal will travel and therefore reduce your enjoyment of using your CB Radio since less people will be able to hear your signal and therefore respond to you.
Without properly tuning your CB Aerial you also run the risk of damaging your CB Radio equipment and could ultimately hurt yourself in the process.

The real issue with a poorly tuned CB Radio aerial is that much of the power which should be transmitted out of your aerial is actually fed back from the aerial and sent back down the coax cable to your CB Radio equipment when you are transmitting which can greatly damage the internal components of your  CB Radio equipment and means that you also run the risk of hurting yourself either by burning components or in extreme cases by electrocution.


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What is SWR?

Standing-wave ratio (SWR) is a mathematical expression of the non-uniformity of an electromagnetic field (EM field) on a transmission line such as coaxial cable. Normally, SWR is described as the ratio of the maximum radio-frequency (RF) voltage to the minimum RF voltage along the line. This is also referred to as the voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR). The SWR might also be described as the ratio of the maximum RF current to the minimum RF current on the line (current standing-wave ratio or ISWR). For most practical purposes, ISWR is the same as VSWR.

Under perfect conditions, the RF voltage on a signal transmission line is the same at all points on the line, disregarding power losses caused by electrical resistance in the line wires and weak points in the dielectric material separating the line conductors. The perfect VSWR is thus 1:1. (Frequently the SWR value is written just in terms of the first number, or numerator, of the ratio since the second number, or denominator, is always 1.) When the VSWR is 1, the ISWR is also 1.

This optimal condition can exist only when the load (for instance, an antenna or a wireless receiver), into which RF power is delivered, has an impedance the same to the impedance of the transmission line. This means that the load resistance must be the same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line, and the load must have no reactance (that is, the load must be free of inductance or capacitance). In any other situation, the voltage and current fluctuate at a variety of points along the line, and the SWR is not 1.


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CB Radio Installation

CB Radio Installation can be a complex task and with a high degree of information about how radios and antennas work its easy for the installation of your CB Radio to be quite an exercise in radio science.  There is a lot to be learned about standing waves, coax cables, ground planes and RF but setting up your first CB Radio doesn't need to be too overwhelming.

Hopefully the following advice will help you get set up cheaply and quickly and get you listening and talking on your new CB Radio in no time at all.

It is possible to spend large sums of money on the latest state of the art radios out there and there are a number of different types of CB Radios out there.  If you are first starting out it may be possible to get a cheap second hand CB radio from Ebay for less than £20 which would be a good place to start.


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Choosing a CB Radio

Most people will remember CB Radio from the eighties.  At the time the channels were packed with thousands of people constantly chattering with other over the airwaves and more and more people appear to be coming back to it later in life as a hobby.

 

It may be that you were either too young to remember or you may not have even been born in the Eighties so may not yet know how to ge set up on a CB radio.  It is a very easy hobby to get into and won't cost you a lot of money to get started.

 

With a few quid and some basic knowledge you can be up and running on a cb radio and enjoying conversations with other CB Radio enthusiasts in no time at all.  So here are a few things you need to know to get started.

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Getting Set Up On CB Radio

Most people will remember CB Radio from the eighties.  At the time the channels were packed with thousands of people constantly chattering with other over the airwaves and more and more people appear to be coming back to it later in life as a hobby.

It may be that you were either too young to remember or you may not have even been born in the Eighties so may not yet know how to ge set up on a CB radio.  It is a very easy hobby to get into and won't cost you a lot of money to get started.

With a few quid and some basic knowledge you can be up and running on a cb radio and enjoying conversations with other cb radio enthusiasts in no time at all.  So here are a few things you need to know to get started.

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A Beginner's Guide to CB Radio

The Citizens Band Radio Service, or CB, as it is commonly called, is a type of radio communication under the category of Personal Radio Service. As with the other types of PRS, such as FRS, GMRS, MURS, and LPRS (Low Power Radio Service), CB is intended for both consumer and business use. CB is covered under Part 95 of the FCC rules. A CB radio does not require a license to operate.

CB service operates on 40 shared channels in an AM mode or Single SideBand (SSB) mode. SSB offers less noise and greater range than AM mode and is usually found on higher end CB radios. SSB has two modes, Upper Sideband and Lower Sideband. You can only communicate with other SSB CB radios when in SSB mode.

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The Demise of CB Radio

Anyone who used to use a CB Radio in the Eighties that turns on a rig for the first time nowadays would probably be shocked.  First by the general lack of signals that you find these days compared to how busy the channels used to be back the and then second by the amount of swearing and insults that get banded around usually on Channel 19.

The truth is that even back in the Eighties he same problems existed.  If you try long enough and hard enough though you will find people out there who are sane enough and polite enough to talk to although it does take a lot more effort to do that these days.

For me, it was a long time before CB Radio became unusable and it was hardly noticeable at first because it was such a gradual process but after several years of regularly using my CB Radio, I eventually stopped using it and for a long time it just sat in the corner untouched and unloved.

After the initial rush of excitement when CB Radio was first legalised it slowly started to lose its appeal in the UK.  I don’t remember a time when it wasn’t busy but as time went on the channels began to get misused more and more frequently.

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CB Radio In An Emergency

As well as using your CB Radio to shoot the breeze with friends and associates, there are a number of more serious uses that the CB Radio can be useful for.  One of the reasons that CB Radio became so popular was that Truckers often used it to share information about traffic conditions, warn each other of traffic accidents or poor weather conditions, police cordons or speed traps and to pass important information between each other.

Since the early 1960’s an organisation called Radio Emergency Associated Communications Teams or REACT for short was established by groups of volunteers to monitor Channel 9 on their CB Radios which they lobbied to be certified as the Emergency Channel which the FCC finally agreed to in 1970.

These volunteers would take it in turns to monitor channel 9 for any possible distress calls, offer a response if a call was heard and if necessary contact the Emergency Services to notify them of an issue on behalf of the caller making the distress call.


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Music On The CB Radio

We've talked in previous posts about the annoying practices that often occur on the CB Radio that prevent others from using the channels and even back in the Eighties alongside the users of high powered amplifiers to stamp all over other everyone else's signals was and still is the playing of music.
Whilst this still continues to be the favoured way to completely 'block' a channel, in truth there was a slightly more legitimate reason for people wanting to play music over the CB Radio.  One has to think back to a time when it wasn't possible to set up a personal radio station such as is possible over the Internet nowadays.
Going back as far as Radio Caroline in the 1960's the desire for people to play their 'own' music for others to enjoy.  The process back then to set up your own CB Radio was difficult to say the least.  Getting hold of a transmitter was probably the most difficult aspect of the set up since these are the sort of thing you can pick up in your local shop.  Then having set up a transmitter you would need to find a frequency that wasn't already in use and have the ability to change the frequency that your transmitter was using which for most people would be quite a technical challenge back then.
The construction and erection of a big enough aerial would also present something of a challenge and then there would be the required studio equipment including Record Decks, microphones and sound mixers.

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CB Radio Culture

One of the obvious reasons why CB Radio became so popular was its ability to allow people to communicate with one another. Where previously the only way to contact someone in a distant location was the telephone and especially in remote locations where telegraph cables had not been able to reach this was not possible. 

So in remote locations far from the worlds infrastructure some form of Radio became the easiest way of connecting with others within a reasonable range.

The generally low cost of CB Radio along with its widespread availability of affordable radio sets made it the easiest choice for those living 'off grid' or temporarily on mountain tops or trekking out to remote places and to match this need a good many handheld CB Radios where available to buy. 

The majority of CB Radios were designed to be used in a vehicle and this allowed for drivers to keep in touch with each other when on the road and for being able to report back to some Homebase station in the near vicinity.  This then is why truckers the world over have become synonymous with the CB Radio. 

The introduction of more restrictive speed limits on US highways had some impact upon the increasing use of CB Radio since drivers with radios in their cars could easily inform other road users of the presence of police officers or speed traps which would allow them to moderate their speed in areas where they would likely be stopped and issued with a speeding ticket. This too became the main reason for truck drivers to invest in CB Radios in their vehicles 

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CB Radio Games The Fox Hunt

There used to be a fairly regular pastime particularly on a Saturday night where groups of mobile CBers would organise what was known as a Fox Hunt.

 

One person in the group would be nominated as the Fox and drive out to a nondisclosed destination.  Once at their destination they would put a call out to let others know the game had started

 

The 'Fox' was then not allowed to move from that spot and the other players would Radio them every few minutes. Whenever the Fox responded each player would check the signal strength of the call to gauge whether the signal was stronger or weaker than the last call.

They then would drive towards that location still regularly putting calls into the Fox and measuring the signal strength of their responses.

 

By repeatedly measuring these signal readings and by sharing the radio reports with each other as well as ideas on where the Fox's location might be the players would gradually get closer and closer to the Fox until eventually the Fox was finally spotted and the game was over.


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Finding Love on CB Radio

When you start to talk about CB Radio in the old days one of the comments you often hear is how the person you are talking to met their wife or girlfriend on the CB all those years ago.

 

When CB Radio was at its peak certainly one of the popular pastimes for young unattached men was to try and chat up the ladies and whenever a female voice was heard on the channel there was never a shortage of male voices coming back to keep them entertained.

 

Prior to the advent of Citizen Band there weren't to many other ways other than the traditional methods to meet with girls and no doubt this was one of the reasons that CB Radio became so popular in the first place.

 

For any spotty teenager this was probably the first opportunity to begin to hone their technique of chatting with the fairer sex and the additional appeal of not needing to do it face to face


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CB Radio Charity Event

PHaB

As Gerry was disabled, he used to attend he used to attend a local clinic every week and was an active member of a charity called PHaB that used to organise a weekly meeting there.
The Telethon was popular back then.  Various charity events used to take place, especially on the television,  that would last sometimes several days but most often 24 hours where a single television show would take over a TV channel for an entire day and night.

Telethon

One summer, Gerry and a group of his friends decided to do a sponsored CB Radio event in aid of his chosen charity. So, some weeks before hand we put together a sponsorship form and started to distribute them amongst the large group of friends that Gerry knew.
We all got very actively involved in collecting sponsorship and we managed to get most of the pupils at our School involved in it.  For two weeks before hand we went out most evenings




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My First Encounters With CB Radio

As soon as I had access to my own CB Radio, I would rush home from school and switch on the rig.  After just a few days, certain voices quickly became familiar and over the initial months I got to know a lot of my local 'Breakers' very well.  Some evenings there would be three or four of us hanging out in my Friend's Dads Camper van and we would take it in turn on the Mic joining in with the various conversations taking place all across the channels.

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The 60 Day Challenge

Its the start of a new year and the start of a new Blog!

So I thought I'd make thing really easy for myself and do the 60 Day Challenge!

To really get the ball rolling on a new Web site, You need to put a lot of content out quite quickly to really get picked up by the big search engines.


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Introducing the Breakers Yard

A new CB Radio website called thebreakersyard.com was launched this week and I wanted to share the news with you first.  With the reemergence of CB Radio as a hobby first made popular in the early Eighties, more and more people are rediscovering CB Radio and regular events around the country as well as the growth of Facebook pages and YouTube channels on the internet is attracting increasing numbers of people to it as an interest.

Following the legalisation of the FM frequencies in the UK, the CB Radio craze took hold for a number of years but eventually feel out of favour caused by the advent of the Internet and the development of the mobile phone.  The airwaves began to get a bad press because of the misuse of the channels and the sale and use of CB Radios fell sharply through the 90's and was all but forgotten as the new Millennium approached.
CB Radio was made licence free in the late 1990s and then in 2014 the AM and SSB Modes were made legal which created the opportunity for manufacturers of  two way radios to produce a range of more modern CB Radios which cover several 'bands' and can produce more power which allows them to have a far greater range than their 1980's counterparts.

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Welcome to The 26CT1994 Blog

Welcome to The 26CT1994, thanks for dropping in!

I wanted to kick off this blog with an introduction so let me first tell you a little about myself and give you some background as to why this site came into being.
My call sign is 26CT1994 and I joined the Charlie Tango DX Group and squired my callsign in February 2016.  Since then I have become more and more involved in the hobby and have become quite enamoured with CB Radio all over again.

The Eighties

Like so many people, my early experiences with CB Radio stem back to the early Eighties when the Citizen Band phenomenon was at its peak.   Back then I was a short eleven year old and it feels like a long time ago which it actually was!

I remember first seeing CB Radio on the news with reports of it becoming more and more commonplace and the TV became full of the lobby for the Citizen Band frequencies to become legalised as it had been for some time in the USA.

As a child, my dad took me to the first (and possibly only) CB Radio show at Earl's Court in London.  I remember the Halls being full of different stalls stuffed with different CB Radio equipment and the Show being stuffed with hundreds of people covered in CB Radio patches and badges!

First Experiences

I was lucky enough to have a neighbour who had a CB Radio in his old Bedford motorhome and his son and I quickly became friends because of it.  You used to spend evenings sitting in that old Motor home talking to people in the local area.  Back then, the channels were busy most of the time and it was often difficult to find a free channel and sometimes even difficult to get 'in on the side' of an already busy channel.

After a few months my Dad realised that I was getting into this new craze and he managed to get hold of a cheap rig for me.  It took a bit of investment from him but after shelling out for a home base aerial and after he and my uncle clambered out on to the roof to erect it, I was on the air from home for the first time.

From then on, I spent most weekends and evenings sitting by that radio transfixed by the voices that came in.  Its difficult to describe how fascinating the CB Radio craze was back then.  It was the first time that groups of people were able to openly communicate with each other and there had never been anything like it before.

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