# CB radio



## jock1314 (Jan 16, 2020)

Hi all, just curious but does anyone use CB radio in there camper/motorhome and if so, what make and is it any good or waist of time.
thnx in advance
john


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

No responses may have answered your query John, but I’ll give it a bump anyway.

10-4 rubber duck 😄

Terry


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## jock1314 (Jan 16, 2020)

cheers terry


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Couple of threads but not much in them https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/20-motorhome-chitchat/237123-cb-radio.html

and an older one. https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/134-spain-portugal-touring/119557-cb-radio-s.html The one bloke that could have helped in that thread was Peter (Listerdiesel) but sadly he is no longer with us.

I loved them when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s before they became legal. It was kind of our facebook or twitter except we got to actually meet lots of people and a lot of girls from memory.  I had one on a push bike when I was 15 (yes really) with a motorcycle battery powering it.

One issue to consider if you do a lot of cross country travelling is checking the legalities in the various countries you might use it in.

I would have one for a bit of fun but I do wonder if anyone is still using them much.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Found this online from a guy asking a similar question.

————-
On my visit last week to Knights CB, I got talking to one of his staff about the old CB radio and how it stands now in 2018. I was suprised to learn that CB radio was still popular with car drivers, and not only Lorry drivers (Truckers). This is due to advances in the radios(RIGS), which makes them more European stranderd, were you can tune them into most if not all European CB networks. This means you can take the Rig in your car to anywhere in Europe and use their CB frequencies at a touch of a button. Another thing which I saw, was how small one type was, the CRT One CB Radio was as small as a hand and would fit into any small space in a car. The price of this set was about £40-£50ish. So I guess for around £60 you could set yourself up for basic a Rig and antenna.

——————-

Terry


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Sounds cheap. I'm pretty sure I paid about that for my first Midland 65 am box in about 1979 which was a lot of money back then. You need other stuff as well such as an aerial, swr tuner and TV filter which never worked


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I recall a workmate many years ago coining the phrase 

“What did wallies do BEFORE CB?” 

Summed it up for me, and still does. 

Andy


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Well it brought back some happy memories for me. As I said it was a great way to not only stay in touch with your pals without running up phone bills but there was quite a good social scene attached. I think it actually went downhill when they legalised it and it became more popular and mainstream. Then it got overrun with morons. Seems daft now with mobiles, skype, whatsapp and social media but there was something magical about it all when you were 15.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

The peelers hated it as truckers etc could advise on Police activity on the road.

Ploddy would have been referred to as an 'Evil Knievel', (cop on a bike)

Terry


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

dghr272 said:


> The peelers hated it as truckers etc could advise on Police activity on the road.
> 
> Ploddy would have been referred to as an 'Evil Knievel', (cop on a bike)
> 
> Terry


Oh yeah! I forgot about all that. There were a lot of references to "Law enforcement"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CB_slang

Would you like an "Eyeball" was a good one. As in do you want to meet up (love)


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

Yeah use it all the time, useful when sitting in traffic to find out what the delay is from a lorry further up the queue, use it when in convoy and when I off rod in the Jeep.
I have 3 sets, one in each of the Jeeps and a handheld for the motothome when needed. I use a handheld as the body is fibreglass so its difficult to get an aerial to work properly.


And its legal to use unlike the mobile phone



It is still very much alive and kicking


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## rogerblack (May 1, 2005)

I used CB for a few years when it was first legalised in the UK. I used to travel all over the country visiting customers and it saved me having to carry a huge box of county A-Z streetmaps in the car, as there'd always be a local home based CBer who'd give you real time guidance right to your target destination - remember this was in the days long before sat-navs.

It was also great for avoiding jams as you'd get an early warning several junctions before major delays from mobile units on the other carriageway who could tell you exactly how bad the delay would be, so you could decide whether to divert before getting stuck on the tail end. And of course advance warning of smokies, especially 'bear in the air' - there used to be lots of coppers in choppers alerting their pals down in the patrol cars of any approaching speeders, especially common when the M40 first opened. 

There was also a fun element to it as well. We used to go out in the evening playing track and seek by triangulating signals, also arranging eyeballs, sometimes with young lady breakers. Also DXing from high ground such as the top of Richmond hill - on a good night you could reach the south coast, not bad on FM.

I've still got a couple of hand-helds kicking about in the garage, I did think about rigging one up in the Pollensa but as pete4x4 mentioned above, the challenge is with a non-metallic body you can't use a mag mount and there's nowhere sensible to mount a fixed twig.

I've been using a scanner for the last few years, mainly monitoring the marine and air bands. I sometimes use this whilst static in the Pollensa, there's no problem with lack of ground plane when you're only receiving, not transmitting. I either put a multi-band Discone antenna on top of the bulkhead via the rooflight or else I mount my marine antenna on an extension pole on the rear ladder, depending on what I'm monitoring. 

The scanner also has the CB bands but I rarely hear anything on those these days, although I haven't tried it near any major motorways etc. Might try that sometime on a long car journey as I have a mag mount twig which can attach to the roof.

10-10


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## jock1314 (Jan 16, 2020)

Hi all
what a great thread, brings back a lot of memory's for me, im in Dundee and when the CB radio (fm) came legal in the uk (if my mind serves me right) 2 November 1981 i bought a binatone lol, before that i had ham jumbo with the jack plug conversion for upper and lower sideband, DX ing was great, always remember Busby (bt) coming to my address to check my rig after i changed to 27 MHz to check my twig make sure it was no bigger than 1.5 mtr lol anyway just though i would see if there was enought people useing CBs i have one kicking about somwhere so i thought i maybe would have put one in, just for the fun, but anyway thanks for the memory's guys
thanks
john


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## Devonboy (Nov 19, 2009)

We use CB to communicate with our friends when travelling around Europe together in convoy. They are not brilliant but useful to check on route, places to stop & when comfort or tea breaks are required. Distance is not particularly good as others have said the problem is lack of metalwork in a MH for a ground plane. I used a metal tray fixed to the roof with sealant and earthed to the van chassis. Does the job ok ish. As for other users well the sets are turned on all the time we are driving & I cannot remember any other traffic coming through.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

They were useful before the wider introduction of the mobile phone if you were travelling in the company of others which was what I used it for. My set has long since been scrapped but I do have a couple of PMR sets which are occasionally used but they have such a short range you need mobile phones as back up.


peedee


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

What was 10/4ing a rubber duck then?


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

erneboy said:


> What was 10/4ing a rubber duck then?


Never indulged myself in handling as a rubber duck. 😄

The Complete List of CB 10 Codes (CB Radio Code Words)
10-1 Receiving Poorly.
10-2 Receiving Well.
10-3 Stop Transmitting.
10-4 Ok, Message Received.
10-5 Relay Message.
10-6 Busy, Stand By.
10-7 Out of Service, Leaving Air.
10-8 In Service, subject to call.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I used them in the 70s when delivering white goods to difficult to find blocks of flats in London. A quick call and there was always someone will to guide you. Plus if I was going to be late home another call would get someone with a landline to call home.

Ray.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

raynipper said:


> I used them in the 70s when delivering white goods to difficult to find blocks of flats in London. A quick call and there was always someone will to guide you. Plus if I was going to be late home another call would get someone with a landline to call home.
> 
> Ray.


Remember your Handle Ray ?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Royal Navy.

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

What, like TerryRN?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Nope just Royal Navy.

Ray.


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## rogerblack (May 1, 2005)

Not quite a complete list, 10 codes actually went up above 10-100, albeit with gaps.

A couple of very commonly used ones were:
10-10 Transmission completed, standing by (often rendered as: 10-10 'til we do it again)
10-20 Location (often abbreviated to just 20, e/g What's your twenty?

A rubber duck is a short, flexible antenna (twig), normally for use on a hand-held rig (transceiver).

My first handle was Redstone, as I drove a bronze red Opel Kadett. I changed it to Blackstar when my car was updated to a black Vauxhall Astra.

Happy days!


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I was Green Genie. No idea where that came from.


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