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#1
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CB radio question
Hiya folks. I got such a good response to my battery question that I
thought I'd try and push my luck with a second,possibly OT question. I just acquired an old but unused (still in box) CB "transceiver' . It is a Realistic TRC-422A 40 channel model. The manual boasts 15 transistors and It appears to be at least 25 years old. My question is this: Would such an old unit still be serviceable and can a CB be used effectively for emergency assistance ,or are they primarily used for truckers to BS on? I will have to purchase an antenna so I thought I'd get some feedback before going to the expense and trouble of installing this thing in my pick-up. Is CB still used and is it worth hooking up? Thanks----Joe C. |
#2
Posted to alt.electronics
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CB radio question
On 2006-04-01, Joe Cougar wrote:
Hiya folks. I got such a good response to my battery question that I thought I'd try and push my luck with a second,possibly OT question. I just acquired an old but unused (still in box) CB "transceiver' . It is a Realistic TRC-422A 40 channel model. The manual boasts 15 transistors and It appears to be at least 25 years old. My question is this: Would such an old unit still be serviceable and can a CB be used effectively for emergency assistance ,or are they primarily used for truckers to BS on? I will have to purchase an antenna so I thought I'd get some feedback before going to the expense and trouble of installing this thing in my pick-up. Is CB still used and is it worth hooking up? Thanks----Joe C. IIRC 25 years ago most (HF) CB was 15 Channels (or some similar number) now it's 40 channels, and only half of the old-style channels are usable. the others fall between the channels. AIUI emergency services do listen to the emergency channel and you may find that it corresponds to one of the usable channels. Bye. Jasen |
#3
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CB radio question
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#4
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CB radio question
"Jasen Betts" wrote in message ... IIRC 25 years ago most (HF) CB was 15 Channels (or some similar number) now it's 40 channels, and only half of the old-style channels are usable. the others fall between the channels. The OP has a 40 channel rig. This is one of those things that varies allot by country. Since the OP uses WebTV, I suspect he's in the US where 40 channels is the current setup. BTW, the old US setup was for 23 channels and (IIRC) all of them were incorporated into the 40 channel spectrum. AIUI emergency services do listen to the emergency channel and you may find that it corresponds to one of the usable channels. Yes, channel 9 is widely recognized as an emergency channel in the US. However, if you're interested in actually getting a hold of someone that could help you, I suggest you look into Amateur Radio. It no longer requires you to learn Morse code, plus you get to use FM and allot more power at a frequency that actually propagates. The antennas are smaller too. |
#5
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CB radio question
However, if you're interested in actually getting a hold of
someone that could help you, I suggest you look into Amateur Radio. It no longer requires you to learn Morse code, plus you get to use FM and allot more power at a frequency that actually propagates. The antennas are smaller too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll look into this,thanks. However the attraction was that I got this CB for free so thought it might be of some use. I did read the article linked in a previous post and discovered that they went to 40 channels in 1977 to accomadate the explosion in popularity following certain movies about truckers etc. This unused unit appears to be dated 1981. I may try it out just for fun. Thanks -Joe Cougar (using a friands computer-hoping I didn't screw things up) |
#6
Posted to alt.electronics
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CB radio question
On 2 Apr 2006 14:59:03 -0700, "brianorion"
wrote: However, if you're interested in actually getting a hold of someone that could help you, I suggest you look into Amateur Radio. It no longer requires you to learn Morse code, plus you get to use FM and allot more power at a frequency that actually propagates. The antennas are smaller too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll look into this,thanks. However the attraction was that I got this CB for free so thought it might be of some use. I did read the article linked in a previous post and discovered that they went to 40 channels in 1977 to accomadate the explosion in popularity following certain movies about truckers etc. This unused unit appears to be dated 1981. I may try it out just for fun. Thanks -Joe Cougar (using a friands computer-hoping I didn't screw things up) --- You didn't [screw things up]. Radio Shack's stuff always works, so if you've got one of their vintage CB's which you want to put on the air, hook it up per the manual and you'll soon be QSL'ing with lots of folks. -- John Fields Professional Circuit Designer |
#8
Posted to alt.electronics
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CB radio question
"brianorion" wrote in message ps.com... However, if you're interested in actually getting a hold of someone that could help you, I suggest you look into Amateur Radio. It no longer requires you to learn Morse code, plus you get to use FM and allot more power at a frequency that actually propagates. The antennas are smaller too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- I'll look into this,thanks. However the attraction was that I got this CB for free so thought it might be of some use. I understand, I was just thinking that if you're interested in the nature of communicating by radio, you might find amateur radio interesting as well. You can talk thru satellites using amateur radio, or maybe even communicate with the space station. :-) If you live any where near a major thouroughfare or in town, you should have no trouble finding people to talk with on your CB. You should find channel 19 to be one of the more active channels wherever you go. I did read the article linked in a previous post and discovered that they went to 40 channels in 1977 to accomadate the explosion in popularity following certain movies about truckers etc. This unused Yeah, there was allot of that going on back then. I take it that you're to young to recall those days first hand. ;-) unit appears to be dated 1981. I may try it out just for fun. Thanks -Joe Cougar (using a friands computer-hoping I didn't screw things up) As long as you don't try to transmit with it, you can use a simple piece of wire for a receiving antenna. Just make it 8' to 10' long (longer is fine too) and it should work decent enough. Just don't transmit into it. Transmitting into a poor antenna may not actually harm anything (CB is low power and designed to be more or less idiot proof), but you don't want to stress those old parts too much anyway. The key to successful communications is a good antenna. Here is some info on making your own CB antennas that you can transmit with, if you're interested: http://home.att.net/~wizardoz/cbmw/antenna_fabri.html |
#9
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CB radio question
The key to successful communications is a good antenna. Here is
some info on making your own CB antennas that you can transmit with, if you're interested: ---------------------------------------------- Wow.Thanks,and thanks to the other guys who helped out.. This really sounds fun and I am going to set up an antenna on the roof tomarrow. I realize this space is for actual information but I felt like mentioning that this is a really good group you have here and everybody was helpful and encouraging,which (in my brief experience) is a welcome rarity on usenet.-Thanks again-Joe |
#10
Posted to alt.electronics
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CB radio question
Joe Cougar wrote:
Hiya folks. I got such a good response to my battery question that I thought I'd try and push my luck with a second,possibly OT question. I just acquired an old but unused (still in box) CB "transceiver' . It is a Realistic TRC-422A 40 channel model. The manual boasts 15 transistors and It appears to be at least 25 years old. My question is this: Would such an old unit still be serviceable and can a CB be used effectively for emergency assistance ,or are they primarily used for truckers to BS on? I will have to purchase an antenna so I thought I'd get some feedback before going to the expense and trouble of installing this thing in my pick-up. Is CB still used and is it worth hooking up? Thanks----Joe C. Joe, as they say "Google is your friend". I just plugged in "TRC-422C" and got about 400 sites. Should give you some useful info. HTH Daniel *** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com *** |
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