cb radio for home

[buck440]

who makes cb radieo's for home, the non portable type. how far is their range? what all do you need for a decent long range setup? are older ones better.

[slightlybent47]

There are lots of companies that make base units. The range depends on the power and the antenna that you use plus the terrain you live in. you can talk a lot farther at night then during the day, and if you catch a skip you can talk to other countries.
Try Yazoo, Unidin, Motorola, Cobra to name a few.

Sad thing is you will have to deal with all the good buddy goober smoocher’s out there, and you better brush up on your Spanish.

[97blaster200]

are you looking to talk to other car beds?

[CJM]

I get all my cb stuff here: www.walcottcb.com

[rbgnwa45]

I'm in Ontario, Canada, and my friend & I once picked up someone in Jamaica, during the day, and with an old CB. Is that far enough?

[buck440]

if i had one of those antennas that people use who don't have cable could i put a antenna up there and expect to get more range? just about all cb's are the same aren't they?

[slightlybent47]

No all CB’s are not the same, depending on what frequency you want to talk on and if you want to get a radio license or not. CB or citizens band is just a small number of frequencies you can talk on. There’s UHF, VHF, SSB, AM, FM, 10 meter, just to name a few.

You can use an omni directional antenna or go with a directional antenna or both.
Omni directional antennas are the ones you see that have a single mast, directional or beam antennas are much larger and can work in just one direction.

And like I said before mostly at night and even more so when it’s clear and cold outside and if you catch a skip you can talk to other countries thousands of miles away. But it’s rare and the skip moves so you can’t talk long before it goes away.

I used to have a base station with a 200” antenna and was running 1kw and I talked to people in Germany, England, Russia, and many others.

If you really want to talk long distance then go with a 10 meter set up but you will need a license.

They do make a indoor antenna for people that live in apartments and where you cant put up an antenna, but they don’t work very far and if you push any power through it, it will mess up everyone’s TV and Radio in the complex.

[CJM]

single side band will allow much longer distances, but the other user must also have one, a regular cb it sounds like garbage.

[slightlybent47]

Some of your high end radios have thousands of frequencies and bands you can talk on. Some even have a slider so you can go in between channels and keep others from understanding what you are saying, but the person you are talking has to be able to slide with you. If you use a beam antenna you can turn it toward the person you are talking to and reject everyone else in the other direction and you can talk much farther.

The average mobile radio depending on terrain will reach out about 25 to 30 miles at best. But a base station with a good antenna will reach out 60-70 miles. Now if you run some power and a beam you can reach way out there. But your limited to line of sight, the curve of the earth will limit how far you can reach, and that’s where skip comes in. your signal can bounce back and forth between the earth and the atmosphere and go much farther. It’s a lot of fun to mess with.
I have been thinking of putting up my old rig but it’s been on my to do list for years so I’m sure it wont be any time soon.

[slightlybent47]

I just had a thought, it’s been years since I have messed with that stuff and I wonder how the digital age has effected radio communication.

[gt400ex]

Personally I would get an amateur radio license. You will have a lot more privileges and be able to run more power and talk to more people. Plus, for the most part, you dont have to deal with the personalitys on CB. This dose take some studying to get the license but worth it in the end if your wanting to get into radio. If you can deal with it try and get your tech and general in the same shot so you can get the most out of it. Just my .02.

[buck440]

for a long range setup can you post what i would have to get. every little part. is it easy to get a license?

[gt400ex]

Buck check your pms