livingaboard
Everett wa
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I don't use my cb at all.
Dave
Everett, WA
2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35U, F53 Triton V-10
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az99
N.Y.
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Joined: 12/26/2006
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You sure don't have to listen to the CB very long to see why all truckers have been unfairly labeled as a bunch of knucklehead rednecks.
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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az99 wrote:You sure don't have to listen to the CB very long to see why all truckers have been unfairly labeled as a bunch of knucklehead rednecks.
every body makes that claim but It is fairly rare that I hear one of those knucklehead rednecks on the air.
bumpy
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DAS26miles
San Fernando Valley, California
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Joined: 10/11/2003
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I started this topic. Those of us that have CBs and want to use them are definately in the minority. Perhaps it's because many are aware of it's limitations. But it's those limitations that make it the only way to contact someone on the road in your proximity. Cellphones are useless for that purpose unless you have the phone number of the trucker or RV you want to chat with.
I haven't given up yet. Even though my trip to Arizona and Utah was disapointing CB wise, I am heading up to Yosemite in a week or two. I-5 and 99 are loaded with truckers and RVers. Only problem is we would be heading up mid-week and coming home Sunday. I would expect most RVers to be on the road on Friday and Sunday. The only RVs I will probably see on the road Wednesday evening would be a few rentals from Road Bear, Cruise America and El Monte RV. And we know they won't have a CB.
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TankerDude
West of Middle Earth
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Joined: 01/05/2007
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Bumpyroad wrote:az99 wrote:You sure don't have to listen to the CB very long to see why all truckers have been unfairly labeled as a bunch of knucklehead rednecks.
every body makes that claim but It is fairly rare that I hear one of those knucklehead rednecks on the air.
bumpy
Thanks to Bumpyroad for posting "unfairly labeled".
It is true that when you make groups (of things, information, people, etc.) the laws of random distribution will ensure that every group will have it's share of "knuckleheads".
Trucking is certainly no exception.
The general public is absolutely no exception.
As I stated before, the majority of the foul-mouthed redknecks I hear on the CB are base station operators. You can usually tell it's a base station by the signal strength, as base stations owners typically go get the biggest amplifier they can afford. When they key up, they override every other signal for miles around. We have a few around here that have been silenced for one reason or another. I like to think the FCC is on the job, but I'm not going to bet on it.
Sure, there are smaller, lower power amps that will fit into the cab of a truck. But that brings up the exact reason I say the majority are base stations: There is a limited amount of space in the cab of a truck, and that space is at a premium.
Overall, using the CB is obviously an individuals choice. If I don't like what I'm hearing on the CB at any particular moment, I'll turn the volume down for a few minutes. This will usually give me time to get out of range of the "knuckehead", or they'll just shut their yap on their own, I'm guessing because they've had their jollies for the day.
2004 Ford F350 PSD 6L 4x4 Crew Cab.
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DAS26miles
San Fernando Valley, California
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Is there really any point in having an amp? There isn't anyone out there talking. You primarily want to communicate with other travelers on the road in your vacinity. I have tried to talk with a semi ahead and can't raise him. When I pass him, he is on his cellphone.
I spent $65 to tweak my Cobra 29. I can't tell if it really makes that much of a difference. No one to talk with. The few local CB bases around home say it sounds good and I am getting out. And yes you are correct, they have trash mouths.
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livingaboard
Everett wa
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I really haven't used a cb since 1978. I was 8 years old and thought it would be fun to swear at people on the cb while my stepdad ran into the store to buy something.
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wny_pat
Western NYS
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Engineer9860 wrote:O.K. Here is why truckers use CB ch19....Most truckers don't even know why they use 19, they just know that everybody is on it.
Well, that's kinda right and kinda wrong. I will ending up giving away my age here. When I started driving truck, all the truckers were on channel 10. And when they keyed up on channel 10, they would bleed over onto channel 9, the emergency channel and over onto channel 11, the calling channel. That was back when there was only 23 channels. Was a lot of bickering about channel use back then. When the 40 channel radios came out "Pigpen" got this idea of channel 19 because of what you said for the rest of it. Well it wasn't really "Pigpen", but some trucker who was being a good stand up guy! I don't remember the exact time, but seems like it was after the big shut down. Oh, another reason for channel 19 was that one would not have to buy a new 40 channel radio, cause a lot of guys wanted to go way up to channel 40 so we would not bother anyone. One other idea tossed around was one channel for east/west bound roads and another for north/south bound roads. Think they actually did that on the west coast. And I drove a couple years before getting a CB. First one I had was a Hallicrafter CB-3A tube transceiver.
* This post was
edited 10/04/08 09:53pm by wny_pat *
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jwduke
Ice Cream Capital of the World (Le Mars), Ia.
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burgess001 wrote:I leave it off because of the language. It is there only for an emergency...or to get updates on traffic problems. Truckers don't like to talk to us mortals, so I let them have it to themselves.
Contrary to popular belief, I (a truck driver) would rather talk to YOU, than some of the LOW LIFE going up & down the highways of America!
I have to agree with others, it is not the same as 30 years ago, when I started turning a wheel for a living!
2004.5 Flame Red Dodge Ram 2500 Quad cab 4x4 w/CTD
1991 29' Holiday Rambler Alumalite 5er.
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Lorne&Lorraine
Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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For some reason (including on our 2 1/2 month trip this summer), we never seem to hear a lot of activity on the CB in the far western states. Over-the-air traffic seems to steadily increase as we head east. We stay on Channel 19 most of the time (occasionally going to 17 in the far west) so that might explain part of it where truckers use alternate channels. Over the years, the CB has saved us from much delay and has helped us avoid hazardous situations numerous times. Cell phone coverage is getting better and better in the more remote areas but we still like to have the ability to communicate at all times. We just turn it down during those relatively brief periods when bored idiots and nuisance base station operators decide to strut their stuff. We've come to consider the CB to be an essential part of our RVing equipment.
Lorne Ross
2003 Pleasure-Way Ford Excel TD
Camped the lower 48 states and 9 provinces
Most multiple times and now on the repeat!
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