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Fran
04-Feb-11, 01:24
Do people still use cb radios?
I know Stevens lories used to use them.
I am wondering if it is worth keeping mine.

canadagirl
04-Feb-11, 01:39
I've found them handy here with my kids where cel phones often don't work. They're so cheap, I get them to stick them in their 4x4's and take on quads etc in case of disaster. Boaters here all use them for the same reason. Way cheaper then satellite phones!

Geo
05-Feb-11, 04:54
I have an aerial in the back garden and was going to get it hooked up to a CB in the spring. However last night's wind has left it looking rather sorry for itself. What I need is the same speed wind from the opposite direction to straighten it up again! :)

EDDIE
05-Feb-11, 09:04
If i was you fran providing u have space to store it i would keep it incase it becomes retro and comes back into fashion remember the cb radios was big craze in the early eightys.

orkneycadian
05-Feb-11, 11:07
Nah,

I would ditch it and free up the space. With all sorts of means of worldwide free voice communication these days - Skype, Voxli, package phone deals, etc - Folk seem to shun the best voice communications we've ever had and prefer to post very short text messages on Facebook, Twitter, mobiles and forums!

Looks like folk can't be bothered to actually speak anymore!

Vorsprung durch Teknik!

Kevin Milkins
05-Feb-11, 11:10
Do people still use cb radios?
I know Stevens lories used to use them.
I am wondering if it is worth keeping mine.

There's a good way to find out, Fran, put out a call "big buddy" and if no one replies, it's safe to assume they are out of fasion.lol

Geo
05-Feb-11, 11:15
You could call "good buddy" every day for a month and not get a reply, it's that quiet up here now.

orkneycadian
05-Feb-11, 11:16
But then again, maybe you should hold onto it in case the world does indeed go tits up in 2012!

You'll maybe then be able to survive, whilst all those that order their supplies off Tesco's website will be had it when theres no phone lines!

whiteneck
05-Feb-11, 15:52
i have one that i put in the car if i'm heading south, its a better update on the roads than the radio is, you do get a few folk up here on them from time to time,

joxville
05-Feb-11, 15:58
Nah,

I would ditch it and free up the space. With all sorts of means of worldwide free voice communication these days - Skype, Voxli, package phone deals, etc - Folk seem to shun the best voice communications we've ever had and prefer to post very short text messages on Facebook, Twitter, mobiles and forums!

Looks like folk can't be bothered to actually speak anymore!

Vorsprung durch Teknik!

Yep.......

;)

orkneycadian
06-Feb-11, 11:04
On second thoughts, maybe you should keep it! Reading the anguish on another thread of all you lot across the water who have been deprived of your ability to do most things online due to internet speed problems, and the huge threads that arise when Facebook dares stop working for 10 minutes, maybe you'll still need it someday.....

Channel 1 could be for "What are the opening hours of .....?"
Channel 2 could be "Can anyone recommend a good ......?" conversations
Channel 3 could be for "Has anyone seen my pussy?" calls for lost pets
Channel 4 could be for the quiz
Channel 5 could be the meeting place for the Facebook Withdrawal Syndrome Support Group
etc
etc
;)

orkneycadian
10-Mar-11, 23:27
You could call "good buddy" every day for a month and not get a reply, it's that quiet up here now.
Hey, maybe not! Found one the day on a tidy up - Thought it was binned years ago! Curiosity got the better of me, so an aerial was quickly and lovingly fashioned out of some bits of wire and flung out a Velux window, the other end of the aerial cable stuffed in the back of the radio and secured with a clothes peg (no such things as proper aerial plugs lying around anymore!), connected up to a 12v battery and lo! Voices! Heard about 6 or 7 folk yapping away this side of the water this evening, but not a cheep from over the firth. That might be down to the efficiency of my "aerial" rather than anything else, though I did hear folk fae both Italy and Greece earlier in the day!

Maybe its not dead after all! Either that, or the old codgers I heard the night have not discovered the internet yet!

10-10 and all that..... ;)

Geo
10-Mar-11, 23:51
Great that it's still in use over there. :) Must get mine connected again although the recent winter high winds has left the aerial battered and bruised. Whatever you do don't try chatting with your current setup though as your improvised aerial will damage the set when transmitting.

orkneycadian
10-Mar-11, 23:56
Tis OK. Had already twigged (pun intended! [lol]) that the power handling capability of the clothes peg is less than adequate!

Anyway, don't think an old car battery of dubious capacity, a battered old radio, some wire and a clothes peg is going to be my turning point. I might fire the wire out the window again at the weekend and see if there is any more folk about. Otherwise, I think the days of clambering about on the roof are by!

Phill
11-Mar-11, 01:46
Time to dig out a SWR meter!!

Got an old rig here, gotta be 20 yrs +
It seems t' work, lights flicker an' all that.

Maybe more reliable than broadband though.

Fran
11-Mar-11, 02:16
I think i'll hang on to it, it might come in usefull. Handy if 2 cars are travelling down south together with a cb each to keep in contact and not have to pay for mobile phones.

orkneycadian
11-Mar-11, 10:13
Maybe more reliable than broadband though.

Maybe you should send it out to Bekisman! ;)


I think i'll hang on to it, it might come in usefull. Handy if 2 cars are travelling down south together with a cb each to keep in contact and not have to pay for mobile phones.

Hmmm, the thought of having to rig them up in 2 cars first, just to avoid using some of the monthly minutes? You would need to be keen! All the faff of rigging up aerials and tuning them in just to save a few quid on calls? Mind you, if you had it rigged up already it would be one thing, but I cant see me spending hours setting them up in 2 cars before a run south!

Its a shame that the mobile operators in the UK have never / appear never to be introducing Push to Talk - In America, you can press a button on a cell phone and use it like a walkie talkie, and speak across the whole country to your "call group", 2 way radio style. Like a CB but with the benefit of the mobile network to mean you can call hundreds or thousands of miles. In the states, its as much of a service as texting is in the UK, and uses a miniscule amount of your monthly data allocation. In this country though, the network operators have decided not to implement it (presumably for fear that it will reduce their call revenue), and its down to business service providers to offer this service as a "premium extra". Shame, when its a facility that could be provided at no cost by the networks!

golach
11-Mar-11, 10:45
I think i'll hang on to it, it might come in usefull. Handy if 2 cars are travelling down south together with a cb each to keep in contact and not have to pay for mobile phones.

Fran a quick question from an owld chicken box owner. Is using a CB while on the move legal or illegal, as is the use of a mobile phone?

Phill
11-Mar-11, 10:52
Is using a CB while on the move legal or illegal, as is the use of a mobile phone?

Oooohh, nice Q.
I stand to be corrected however I don't think there is a specific offence like using a mobile is now. I think THEY would 'do you' under due care and attention.

orkneycadian
11-Mar-11, 11:05
Wonder if the same "due care and attention" rules would get you for....


Smoking in a car
Speaking to passengers
Listening to the car radio
Changing stations on the car radio, or inserting a tape / CD etc
Taking your hands off the wheel to use some in car gadget, not essential from driving - Trip computer, air conditioning, etc

golach
11-Mar-11, 11:11
Wonder if the same "due care and attention" rules would get you for....


Smoking in a car
Speaking to passengers
Listening to the car radio
Changing stations on the car radio, or inserting a tape / CD etc
Taking your hands off the wheel to use some in car gadget, not essential from driving - Trip computer, air conditioning, etc


Now your just being pedantic and silly, could be classed as trolling, beware [lol]

orkneycadian
11-Mar-11, 12:21
Not at all - A serious consideration for all you wannabe CB'rs over there! Plod might come and nick you for using a CB microphone as its "lack of due care and attention", yet you can still load a CD into the player whilst speaking with a passenger on the back seat whilst dangling a fag out the corner of your gob!

orkneycadian
19-Mar-11, 11:14
Great that it's still in use over there. :) Must get mine connected again although the recent winter high winds has left the aerial battered and bruised.

The old car battery is still hanging together long enough to enable reception over the course of a few days.... Theres a surprising number of old codgers seem to get together about 3 times a day over here for a "group yarn". From what I gleaned, they don't do internet, so I guess channel 40 is their "chat room / forum"! Not exactly the fast moving banter that was on the go 30 years ago, but even in this last week, a couple more have joined their number, and there seems to be about a dozen of them on in an evening now.

Maybe, like vinyl, it'll make a comeback yet!

Fisherbigin
20-Mar-11, 15:31
But then again, maybe you should hold onto it in case the world does indeed go tits up in 2012!

You'll maybe then be able to survive, whilst all those that order their supplies off Tesco's website will be had it when theres no phone lines!
Could be sooner than that the way things are goin

Bazeye
21-Mar-11, 19:55
Maybe, like vinyl, it'll make a comeback yet!

Nothing like getting an album out of the sleeve and blowing the dust off. Beats pressing a button anyday.

sms
23-Mar-11, 23:16
I still have my old Cb out in the garage. It used to be brilliant crack. Loved it sitting up to all hours in the morning yarning away. Why dont we try and get it up and running again in caithness? Come on everybody lets give it a go. 10/10 for now

nicnak
24-Mar-11, 12:25
If there is anyone out there with a fm cb for sale please could they let me know , thanks

orkneycadian
25-Mar-11, 18:44
Why dont we try and get it up and running again in caithness? Come on everybody lets give it a go.

If you could run a "radio programme" on Recommendations on it, I think you would be onto a winner! ;)

Fran
26-Mar-11, 00:13
There's a good way to find out, Fran, put out a call "big buddy" and if no one replies, it's safe to assume they are out of fasion.lol

i WOULD kEVIN, BUT I MUST HAVE THROWN OUT THE AERIELS!!!!!

sintra307
26-Mar-11, 01:44
fran just put a long wire in the back and listen to see if there is anybody worth talking to out there before you invest in a aeriel. I cant wait to try radio both cb and amatuer in the north of scotland.

sandyr1
26-Mar-11, 02:01
Not at all - A serious consideration for all you wannabe CB'rs over there! Plod might come and nick you for using a CB microphone as its "lack of due care and attention", yet you can still load a CD into the player whilst speaking with a passenger on the back seat whilst dangling a fag out the corner of your gob!


Our example.. Caught by the OPP...Ontario Provincial Police or as we call them the Other Peoples Polis.....

Young woman caught on a Kings Highway(main Hwy out of Toronto...see we are good Commonwealth Citizens).....last year....Smoking a cigarette, one foot out the window drying her toe nails, painting the nails on the other foot and on a cell phone....true story! Care & attention!

EDDIE
26-Mar-11, 09:16
Maplin electronics still sell cb kits

orkneycadian
26-Mar-11, 12:55
So do, it seems, quite a lot of specialist retailers!

http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/
http://www.kcb.co.uk/shop2/
http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/cb/cb-radios/
http://www.coastalcomms.org.uk/CBRadio.htm
http://www.radioworld.co.uk/catalog/-c-28.html?osCsid=61004e72d72f8badb810302b614a1962
http://www.truck-king.co.uk/index.html
http://www.cbradioshop.co.uk/

To list but some that Google returns! Surprised Tesco are not on the bandwagon!

orkneycadian
31-Mar-11, 19:14
Why dont we try and get it up and running again in caithness? Come on everybody lets give it a go.

So are the Caithness airwaves alive yet?