Have The days of C.B. Radio gone ?????

kiwijims · Guru

Have The days of C.B. Radio gone ?????

KFT · Guru

RE: Has he days of C.B. Radio gone ?

Dougwe · Chief one feather

RE: Have The days of C.B. Radio gone ?????

Delta18 · Guru

kiwijims wrote:
On a recent trip up the West Coast I noticed how quiet the Traffic was on the U.H.F.C.B. Radio.
In fact , there was nothing to speak of in the whole two thousand K.P's we travelled ,
even the truckies were dead quiet,
the only talking we heard was an escort vehicle somewhere on the highway using that dead flat voice, stating the width of the load coming on, this guy could have been anywhere in this big State.
What's happened to the good humoured chatter that we used to hear from the travellers ???
The caravans are still there on the highway, in their thousands but, not a "G'day" or " Howdy" from any of them, as they race past, all going hell for leather in both directions .
Are people so pre-occupied with getting to the next camp site in time for happy hour, that they haven't got time to speak any longer.???
In the end I gave up and turned off the radio, I'm now thinking of hauling it out of the Patrol, it's only gathering dust sitting there Dead silent anyway.
K.J.

-- Edited by kiwijims on Saturday 15th of November 2014 07:16:30 PM

If you heard an escort vehicle it would be maximum 100km from you, more likely within 15km due to the nature of how UHF cbs work.

Did you say "Giday or Howdy" to anyone? If you call a truck they will more often than not answer you.

You must realise that up the west coast the population is pretty sparse so radio owners are few & far between.

I have noticed that caravanners with cb antennas are scarce & even those that promise (by decals) that Bill & Marge 18 & 40uhf rarely answer when called.

Cheers

villatranquilla · Guru

last year when we frequently travelled from Pardoo to Hedland and return it was invaluable to talk to truckies about road conditions and passing etc. Didn't realise how good it was till I had to take another vehicle to Hedland that did not have a radio. We have it on ch 40 and do not engage in "chat" as this annoys the truckies and like Dougwe mostly turn it off on city roads.
A truckie called us up to say a side window was flapping a bit and we have told another caravaner his hatch was open and another had forgotten to wind down the TV Arial. Other times we have seen something that needed attention on other vans but as they did not reply can only assume they had no CB.

-- Edited by villatranquilla on Saturday 15th of November 2014 09:25:49 PM

Olley46 · Guru

I would rather have my cb radio than a steering wheel ,it,s a great little friend.

Lance C

Golddetectornomad · Senior Member

Q: Was your UHF scanning constantly thru all 80 channels or was it fixed on just 18 and 40?........Driving up through central W.A. I know when farmer 'Seth' is going in to lunch and how much grain they still have to go etc etc....rarely stops...is yours a full 5W and do you have decent aerial set up?....have you called to see if anyone has a copy as you're testing your UHF, like I do...when someone replys its great to ask them where they are..so you can work out your distance of travel......out prospecting I have 4 GME handheld's UHF's <in vehicle and backpack and to hand to any prospecting buddy's I'm with....and wouldn't be without them....at least we always have emergency channel 5 to try as a last resort...

Coming back from last W.A. trip, out of Norseman a bloke jumped out on the road at 3am in the morning while I was sailing along towing my horse float/prospecting trailer...he looked dishevelled and jumped out of the dark at me.....a B Double was going the other way and I immediately contacted him on C40 and stated I was horse float he had just passed and to watch for a bloke on the road......he reported back that the bloke had put his gear out by the side of the road by the time he got to him and he was obviously 'hitching' in my direction....I felt better that he wasn't in strife..and run off the road or similar.....my detecting buddy was a lady in her 50's so I wouldn't have stopped at 3.am for a hitch hiker to place her at risk anyway....I was quite cold outside I felt sorry for the poor blighter.... as a quick aside...another time I stopped out of Ceduna for bloke with a 'Mini' wheel under his arm....thought he was going back to his car....turned out he had hitch hiked from Cairns with the wheel under his arm...said folk always stopped for him when he had the wheel....at least it was daylight and I had him on board for many hundreds kms with his kitbag and wheel....lol...

I was in Port Lincoln when we had those devastating bush fires in 2005 that tragically took 9 lives...its at a time like that listening to where the fast travelling fire was, that one learns to appreciate the real value even life saving value of having a UHF on board..I would never take mine out....Hoo Roo

-- Edited by Golddetectornomad on Saturday 15th of November 2014 10:04:10 PM

KFT · Guru

good post Golddetectornomad

thanks

Grams · Guru

Hubby is a truck driver and uses the UHF a lot to check traffic and weigh stations opened or closed, or to just talk during those lonely night shifts on the road.

We have a UHF in the Prado and there is always someone talking. When we are just travelling to do shopping or visiting, we switch it off and we talk to each other and our 18yr old daughter in the back.

Grams

Bruce and Bev · Guru

we've almost finished 3 mnths north in WA as far as Karratha and then over to Kalgoorlie.

Other than my wife being abused for speeding up when a truck was overtaking her (she wasn't increasing speed), but it didn't help her confidence. It was a bad call on the truckies part to try to overtake when he didn't have the revs up, had a very heavy load and only had a short overtaking length.

Otherwise we've found some truckies to actually call you and let you know hes going to overtake you (the long hauls run about 10-20 kmh faster than the maximum speed limit in country WA), or will thank you. Sometimes when theyre attached to your RV bumper, I will tell them I will pull over at the next rest stop - and always get thanked. Have had one even tell me that he thought one of our electrical connectors had come un-hitched between the tug and rv and then give me a long history on my tow vehicle and the problems his brother had had with it ( good on him for telling me, but I didn't really want to hear about it in the middle of no-where).

Also interesting listening to the truckies gossip with each other and never heard one swear or offensive word.

As far as chatting to other vanners - never had any comms with them - most don't even wave back at you - usually only those with their headlights on. Seems most are in a bloody great hurry to get to the next place

Mousey · Senior Member

keep it in you never know you may need it .

Cupie · Guru

I usually have 3 turned on.

The permanently installed 'best one' is tuned to ch40 & one hand held is on scan. The other hand held on ch18.

I rarely use them but they have been handy from time to time to communicate with overtaking Trucks. Some reply & some don't.

I always turn off ch40 when approaching large towns.

kiwijims · Guru

Golddetectornomad wrote:
Q: Was your UHF scanning constantly thru all 80 channels or was it fixed on just 18 and 40?........Driving up through central W.A. I know when farmer 'Seth' is going in to lunch and how much grain they still have to go etc etc....rarely stops...is yours a full 5W and do you have decent aerial set up?....have you called to see if anyone has a copy as you're testing your UHF, like I do...when someone replys its great to ask them where they are..so you can work out your distance of travel......out prospecting I have 4 GME handheld's UHF's <in vehicle and backpack and to hand to any prospecting buddy's I'm with....and wouldn't be without them....at least we always have emergency channel 5 to try as a last resort...

Coming back from last W.A. trip, out of Norseman a bloke jumped out on the road at 3am in the morning while I was sailing along towing my horse float/prospecting trailer...he looked dishevelled and jumped out of the dark at me.....a B Double was going the other way and I immediately contacted him on C40 and stated I was horse float he had just passed and to watch for a bloke on the road......he reported back that the bloke had put his gear out by the side of the road by the time he got to him and he was obviously 'hitching' in my direction....I felt better that he wasn't in strife..and run off the road or similar.....my detecting buddy was a lady in her 50's so I wouldn't have stopped at 3.am for a hitch hiker to place her at risk anyway....I was quite cold outside I felt sorry for the poor blighter.... as a quick aside...another time I stopped out of Ceduna for bloke with a 'Mini' wheel under his arm....thought he was going back to his car....turned out he had hitch hiked from Cairns with the wheel under his arm...said folk always stopped for him when he had the wheel....at least it was daylight and I had him on board for many hundreds kms with his kitbag and wheel....lol...
I was in Port Lincoln when we had those devastating bush fires in 2005 that tragically took 9 lives...its at a time like that listening to where the fast travelling fire was, that one learns to appreciate the real value even life saving value of having a UHF on board..I would never take mine out....Hoo Roo

-- Edited by Golddetectornomad on Saturday 15th of November 2014 10:04:10 PM

Yes, I'm not new to C.B,Radio by any means, I think the first radio I owned would have been in the late 60's and there has been one in my possesion ever since.

Before leaving home I always hop on ch 40 and give a local trucking depot (situated about 10km away), a call they always come back with a strength reading of 10/10.

You guys are right in saying the day I take it out of the Patrol, is the day I will need it, so it can stay there,

One thing I will-not do is have it going while driving around the city, what a mob of fowl-mouth idiots there are sitting on the call channel.

My radio is only a 40 channel model, can't see the sense in going to 80 channels when there is hardly any traffic on the 40,

Yes I do scan all channels continuously, but having 18/40 as priority . and the aerial I use is a 9' ex-escort vehicle aerial with a 9DB gain, fully tuned to my radio, the radio its self is an ex-escort radio, crystal clear ( when picking up a signal )

talking of truckies talking back to you, well on this last trip I had passed a wide load and a few km's further on I meet 3 trucks traveling at high speed and hardly enough room for a mini to fit between them, I call them several times with no response using the general terms of

" North bound semi got a copy ?" three times still no response, I was getting a bit worried by now, thinking, the rate they are traveling at they must be just about on top of the wide load, being a windy road there could be a nasty mess any second,

As a last resort I yelled into the mike, "any of you flaming truckers heading North, got your ears on"???? finally I got a reply from one of them, who sounded like I had woken him up, his only reply was.... yer I hear ya, good I yelled then told them to lift the peddle or they would be in strife, he did reply with some sort of reply but so garbled I couldn't understand what was said.

Talking of using the emergency channel, maybe in the days when "CREST" used to be monitor it 24/7 Nation wide, there was some hope of assistance, today this channel is still reckonised as being for emergencies but I suppose there is still some hope of someone hearing ones call, better than nothing that's for sure. I have heard of someone calling for help in W.A. but help came from a person in North QLD who heard the call and called the police.

talking of voice travelling, on crossing the Nullarbor one time, I struck up a conversation with a truckie, we talked all afternoon, with other truckers breaking in for a comment at times, but I never did catch up with any of them, they could have been behind me or travelling at the same speed as me in front somewhere, the thing is, it makes you wonder how far the voice can travel over the flat plains of the desert and with nothing in sight from one horizon to another,

In winding up, the next time I hear a Grey Nomad come back to me on the C.B. I'll pay for the (first) Beer. biggrin biggrin biggrin

K.J.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Hi KJ, you just mentioned C.R.E.S.T. I set up and ran "Westernport Crest" down in Tyabb near Hastings Victoria for many years. It was a rather big group of trained volunteers and we had great times together and liaised with all the emergency services, they also assisted me with our training sessions. We helped out many stranded CB'ers around Westernport Bay area and many beyond. I was trained by CREST head office in Caulfield, Melbourne. That's why I siad it was great 40 odd years ago. I must admit I miss those days.

Baz421 · Guru

I'd keep it and set on scan. Maybe a radio check with someone you know going the other way to check reception,,,any problems etc etc.

Also I print off a copy of the remote area frequencies JUST IN CASE WE NEED EM,, for the areas we are going to. Many farmers have a chat.

Public document so here's the link.

https://secure.tropinet.com/uhf-repeaters/repeaters?QLD

cheers Baz

PS Missed this link

http://www.vkham.com/Repeater/qlduhfcb.html

-- Edited by Baz421 on Monday 17th of November 2014 08:39:02 PM

D and D · Guru

Don't know about dead but I reckon the use of UHF radio is declining.

We have a rear vision camera fitted to the caravan and when we see a truck behind us we use the UHF to acknowledge them that we know they're there and advise that if they let us know when they're coming around we'll back off to give them some space. About 50% are pretty good and are cordial and grateful but those who don't bother responding just proceed to overtake when they feel like it without any warning and really piss me off as the van gets pulled and pushed all over the road as they pass.

Another UHF gripe is to wide load pilots. We've just traveled the Newall and Sturt highways and the I've lost count of the number of wide loads we've encountered. However I haven't lost count of the number of pilots who have responded to our questions about the size and nature of the load - its zero. They'll respond to truckies but not to RV's and caravaners are left to themselves and when they get it wrong they're seriously criticised.

Dave

Bruce and Bev · Guru

Dave - pilots are a problem. I haven't struck one yet that hasn't warned me by radio - but some mumble, talk too fast or clip their messages so you have no idea what theyre trying to tell you. There should be a national training standard for these guys and radio work is part of it. If they are incompetent, they can cause a serious of fatal accident - or the loss of your 'van

Cruising Granny · Guru

CB radio coould be your salvation out there. If towng a van it would bewise to call the truck approaching from behind to let the driver know you see it in your mirrors. The UHF 40 is not for chat. Ch 18 is the one to use, but always monitor 40. If you were on coastal road there is minimal big stuff. Thr Great Northern Hwy is the busy road carryingp

Cruising Granny · Guru

After reading more posts I am concerned that rear cameras are used instead of extension mirrors. By law you must use extenysion mirrors. Cameras have limited field of vision. Use your UHF 40 to monitor what is happening on the highway around you. I have to sdmit radio procedure of many pilots is a major concern. You can ask for a repeat, e.g. SAY AGAIN PILOT? Just work with the biggies and other traffic. Too many tugs have ornamental antennas clamped to the bull bar. If you here the call, ON CHANNEL SOUTH BOUND CARAVAN. the pilot could be 2 or 3 kms ahead of tne big fella, and may not be able to identify your vehicle.

kiwijims · Guru

Dougwe wrote:
Hi KJ, you just mentioned C.R.E.S.T. I set up and ran "Westernport Crest" down in Tyabb near Hastings Victoria for many years. It was a rather big group of trained volunteers and we had great times together and liaised with all the emergency services, they also assisted me with our training sessions. We helped out many stranded CB'ers around Westernport Bay area and many beyond. I was trained by CREST head office in Caulfield, Melbourne. That's why I siad it was great 40 odd years ago. I must admit I miss those days.

Howdy Doug, While living in N.Z. way back in the early 70's I set up a similar Group, this group was based on members who owned C.B. radios and were prepared to respond to any emergency where radio Communication was required such as search and rescue, police, and any other organisation that required radio coverage.

Our group was only a local town mob, with a membership of around 30 but they were all very keen to help at the drop of a hat any time day or night, I remember the police rang me one night only to say that they were going to have a practice "call-out" they would not tell me when or where, well they picked the worst possible night, in the middle of a thunder storm and around 10 pm, the phone rang with a message saying .... full emergency, group required immediately, report central police station, well we showed them, all members were there in less than 1/2 a hour.

K.J.

kiwijims · Guru

Cruising Granny wrote:
After reading more posts I am concerned that rear cameras are used instead of extension mirrors. By law you must use extenysion mirrors. Cameras have limited field of vision. Use your UHF 40 to monitor what is happening on the highway around you. I have to sdmit radio procedure of many pilots is a major concern. You can ask for a repeat, e.g. SAY AGAIN PILOT? Just work with the biggies and other traffic. Too many tugs have ornamental antennas clamped to the bull bar. If you here the call, ON CHANNEL SOUTH BOUND CARAVAN. the pilot could be 2 or 3 kms ahead of tne big fella, and may not be able to identify your vehicle.

AS a Pilot, could you tell me if there is any guide for an escort vehicle to follow, such as the distance in front of a wide load to be kept to ?

just wondering, as on one trip up North, I saw an escort that far ahead of the wide load, I had to wait 10 min for it to appear after the escort had gone past.

Another time, I was forced off the road by an police escort who drove straight at us down the middle of the highway, how he missed our caravan, I'll never know. some of these guys think they own the road and if you come un-stuck, it's your fault for being there.

K.J.

Cruising Granny · Guru

Comms is a 2-way deal. Pilots or truckies call, or you call them. Most are good. Some are unprofessional and their radio technique is very poor. Sorry there is no national standard yet, so you can all be as polite as possible. The radio is a vital tool for the transport industry. If you have a radio fitted to your vehicle, please use it. use it to listen to what is happening, and to advise of your intentions. It may be quiet one day, and the next day you want it to shut up. Keep it safe.