Are CB radios possibly useful as a survival tool in todays world?

[Nature boy]

I had one back in 70's and got sick of it really quick because everyone had one and the waves were full of garbage much like the internet of today. No offense it is my own problem, let's go on.
No, let's go back, there were some really bad movies or really good movies made depending on where you are mentally/redneck-uh-ly that sort of made CB ruh-did-e-os popular.
"Convoy" was pretty-darn good if you are of the redneck persuasion, which I am. However, I have never understood how Ali MacGraw ended up in that movie, but I figure it some sort of self-imposed penance for pretending to be a snooty actress.
"Smokey and the Bandit" Nuff said. Still damn funny.
"Breaker...Breaker" With Chuck Norris..Gad that was a bad movie but I figure he was just working up to being, "Walker Texas Ranger". Take your hats off boys, I am talking about Ranger Walker.
Anyway, my wife has got me into this bugout/bug-in/urban survival/end of the world stuff so naturally, I want to be very comfortable while awaiting the end of society as we know it.
So having said, that let's get back to my original question, Is there a chance that having a CB radio will be useful in a bugout situation? All joking aside, we had an ice storm last year that made me re-evaluate how prepared we need to be at a moments notice.
GO WOLVERINES! That was from, "Red Dawn". Darn Good movie and they used a cb in it.

 

[max]

I have wondered the same as you. In the Japanese disaster, the cell towers were among the first to go. If I remember my CB, they are mostly short range communication unless you power them way up. I think I still have one somewhere.

 

[rburg]

They still have a use. Anytime you're traveling in a group, multiple vehicles, they are great. As long as some yokel doesn't feel its his duty to entertain everyone. Its a way to communicate over a mile or so with everyone aware of what's going on. You can tell them you're pulling off for fuel, or at a restaurant, etc.

Out west we have problems with the mexican's using linear amp's. For some reason our citizens don't do that and get tracked down and arrested. But if you're from Latin America, the authorities ignore their use of 1000 watt amps. I don't understand it.

Also, its a way for someone on foot to use a handheld and someone in a vehicle to use the vehicle mounted radio. They're cheap and available.

 

[Damn Yankee]

We just had a thread on 2-meter amateur radio, I would think that is the way to go seeing how easy it is to get a license.

 

[Nature boy]

I have wondered the same as you. In the Japanese disaster, the cell towers were among the first to go. If I remember my CB, they are mostly short range communication unless you power them way up. I think I still have one somewhere.

Our cell towers have an FCC mandated 4 hr battery back-up when the power goes down. After that they became a bird roost then poof.
The ice storm we had last year was nothing like Katrina but like Katrina it took days for people in the rural parts of of OK/AR to work their way out to the road.
Those puppies can be powered way up for not much money now days. I have been reading.

 

[feralmerril]

40,000 poligamists cant be wrong. All the blackout escapades and expeditions around here seem to also have the whips.

 

[Nature boy]

40,000 poligamists cant be wrong. All the blackout escapades and expeditions around here seem to also have the whips.

It's starting to all make sense to me. I have been looking at the new cb's and they have blue-tooth or maybe blue ray..It's one of those ear talkie things plus weather radio..etc.
Maybe those blacked out window guys are using them like they used to use the beepers....naw that can't be. That's illegal! Isn't it?

 

[Gatofeo]

I live in the remote desert of northwestern Utah.
Been thinking of a CB radio in the Gatmobile lately, wondering if it would be useful. Interesting thread.
Back in the 70s and 80s, I had friends with CB radios. I never got into it because it was a Moron Magnet to folks that just wanted to hog the airwaves. Might be much better today.
My friends would climb to the top of a hill in their 4WD and broadcast long distance. At night, because of "skip," you could get other CB'ers hundreds of miles away, but not for long.
I know a guy who, back in the 1950s, had a ham radio when he was stationed in Newfoundland with the U.S. Air Force. He had a directional antenna for it, and when the Northern Lights arrived he'd point that antenna at the lights.
He talked to folks in Germany, South America, Australia and all over the world as long as the Aurora Borealis lasted.
Got me to wondering if there's such a thing as a directional antenna for CB radios? Every few years, the Aurora Borealis shows up here.
I would suspect that today's CBs are not the big, clunky things they used to be. How do they compare in power? Some of you said they'd travel a few miles, but I seem to recall the old CBs carrying dozens of miles, at least.
Anyone know about the new CBs, their range and capabilities?

 

[HCD]

My 2 Cents

I think I may attract the wrath of some of the amateur radio opps. On here but there is a way to make a CB walk and talk. First you must know that the range of the stock set on the mandated freqs. IS limited by the back ground noise (all those other radios mostly truckers with amplifiers) if there was not a high noise level the set would/could be heard for a much greater distance. So having said that; it is a radio after all, just make it transmit on freqs. Below the 40 channel limit. (Or above) This can be and is done all over America I myself am on 26.945 this is just below channel 1 on the CB band. This is or was an area of bandwidth known as the free band it is/was a buffer between other bands. The people that populate this area of spectrum are known as freebanders. (Don’t transmit near RC airplanes and don’t ask me how I know.)

The second step is to get the best antenna that is tuned to the freq. you want to use. Some newer radios have built in amps and 10 watts will do most of anything you want to do. For home use there is what is known as beam antennas these basically do to radio waves what a laser does to light waves. A much greater level of send and receive. These antennas can be turned in the direction you want to talk or listen.

Now I am not advocating breaking any laws but it is not against the law to listen, any and all waves of any kind that pass through me or my home or over my property are mine to do with as I see fit and if I want to know what they are then by golly I’m going to do just that.

All of these things can be gotten at most big truck stops and if you search you will find one with a CB Tech. that can fix you up. Most CB’s sold there now days come with these features already. No license required.

I’ve been told it is possible to communicate 80 or more miles ground wave, and on occasion it is possible to mess with the folks south of the boarder when atmospheric skip is stable.


Edit to add: I've been told (By the county sheriff no less) that if you have enough power/wattage that your neighbors can here you on their toaster. And sometimes there garage doors open unexpectedly.
CQ-CQ-CQ

 

[Nature boy]

I think I may attract the wrath of some of the amateur radio opps. On here but there is a way to make a CB walk and talk. First you must know that the range of the stock set on the mandated freqs. IS limited by the back ground noise (all those other radios mostly truckers with amplifiers) if there was not a high noise level the set would/could be heard for a much greater distance. So having said that; it is a radio after all, just make it transmit on freqs. Below the 40 channel limit. (Or above) This can be and is done all over America I myself am on 26.945 this is just below channel 1 on the CB band. This is or was an area of bandwidth known as the free band it is/was a buffer between other bands. The people that populate this area of spectrum are known as freebanders. (Don’t transmit near RC airplanes and don’t ask me how I know.)

The second step is to get the best antenna that is tuned to the freq. you want to use. Some newer radios have built in amps and 10 watts will do most of anything you want to do. For home use there is what is known as beam antennas these basically do to radio waves what a laser does to light waves. A much greater level of send and receive. These antennas can be turned in the direction you want to talk or listen.

Now I am not advocating breaking any laws but it is not against the law to listen, any and all waves of any kind that pass through me or my home or over my property are mine to do with as I see fit and if I want to know what they are then by golly I’m going to do just that.

All of these things can be gotten at most big truck stops and if you search you will find one with a CB Tech. that can fix you up. Most CB’s sold there now days come with these features already. No license required.

I’ve been told it is possible to communicate 80 or more miles ground wave, and on occasion it is possible to mess with the folks south of the boarder when atmospheric skip is stable.


Edit to add: I've been told (By the county sheriff no less) that if you have enough power/wattage that your neighbors can here you on their toaster. And sometimes there garage doors open unexpectedly.
CQ-CQ-CQ

I don't doubt what you are saying. Back in the day I visited a few old Arkansas Delta farmers that had CB towers. They had some big time talker stations. At the time I wasn't interested when they told me, I am going to key the mic and shut down all cb talk for a few minutes. The technology has to have gotten smaller. I think I want a whip.

 

[feralmerril]

Many years ago I had a CB in a airplane. I dont know how legal I was, but it came in handy on a adventure I was on with some friends on a remote desert. (I had found a crashed drugger airplane). Those days are over for me and now my thing is rideing ATV`s.
I am old, fat, ugly and out of shape. We like to explore and many times my wife and I ride solo without friends. We have found it`s almost like hitting a jackpot if the cell phone actualy works. In 15 minuets on the quad I can be so far up, over and down a mountain that if I break down it would be problematic that we could walk out before dark even if we were in shape!
By big coincidence on this subject, just today I bumped into a lady that has just started to work at a place that sells some type booster and directional antenia`s. She just gave me this lead, and I havent explored it yet.
Cell Phone Signal Boosters and Antennas at Wilson Electronics - Wilson Electronics Inc.

 

[enfield]

CB is still a moron magnet.

 

[DeathGrip]

Here's a good one.About 20 years ago I was at a neighborhood bash and went out to the street to see what was going on.The other neighbor told me that the Chevy Van parked there by the curb had a 400 small block in the back.I found out that it wasn't to power the van but to make major amps.This thing had 8 alternators!
Something about keying the best and I assume shutting down what ever band.Probably not legal but what do I know.
Oh boy,What fun.

 

[David LaPell]

I learned a long time ago how useful CB's can be. I have one in my vehicle, and I have always had them set up so that I can turn them on without the ignition on or even the key in. I used to drive an hour each way and listened on it for accidents, speed traps, etc (when your father is a truck driver that comes as part of the territory). About 2 years ago we had a couple drive off the road to where there car could not be seen. In the Adirondacks, cell phone service is awful, however, it is on this main highway that there is all the truck traffic from Canada south and vice versa. There was no cell phone service at the accident scene, and the husband died of hypothermia over 12 hours later. If he would have had a CB, he might have had a chance.
I have called for help for accidents before on my CB, when phones wouldn't work, but the problem is in this day and age of cell phones, you are starting to see them fall by the wayside. It's getting harder to even find people that know how to match them to the antenna. The only one around that I know who can do it and do it well is my father. I will always have a CB in my vehicles, I don't care how good the technology gets, as long as there are trucks around.

 

[truckemup97]

Finally, a subject I know something about!

Yes, a CB can be a great communication tool. Yes, it can also be quite annoying. The only problem with trying to communicate via CB is that the person with whom you are trying to communicate has to have a CB also, has to have it turned on, and has to be in "line of sight" with your antenna.

So, do your bug-out partners have CBs? Do your neighbors have them so that you can communicate when needed after that ice storm? Do the police/sheriff/hi-po in your area actually monitor channel 9? If the answer to those questions are "No", then a CB won't do you much good.

Yes, you can talk long distance on a CB if conditions are right. The FCC requires that no CB sold in the US be able to transmit at a power over four watts. That won't get you far. With a properly tuned and placed antenna, on a quiet channel, you might get a couple of miles. But you don't have to have a 1500 watt linear amp to be heard, either. I run a Galaxy 99 in the truck, which is a 10 meter ham radio that I have converted to 11 meter, or CB frequency. It carries about 70 watts and will swing 110. My antenna is well matched (1.1 to 1) and about 13 feet in the air. On flat ground, on channel 19 (which is noisy), I can talk 10 to 20 miles. That doesn't mean I can hear everyone 20 miles away, though. If their rig isn't equal to mine, or better, I'm not going to hear them at that distance. Skip is another thing altogether. I sat in Rouses Point, NY one night and talked to a fellow in San Angelo, TX on a Galaxy 33 pushing about 30 watts. The atmosphere was just right for about 15 minutes and we had a nice conversation. Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared when the atmosphere changed again. Don't count on skip for reliable communication.

So, what do you need if you want to talk to truckers on a road trip, or call for help if your car slides off the road? I would recommend a basic Cobra 29 or Uniden 78. You can get one with all the bells and whistles, but that's just more stuff to break. I do like the ones that have the weather bands built in. You can take it to a CB shop and have it "peaked and tuned." Just have them open it up, don't let them put "super-tune" chips in them or anything like that. They aren't reliable, and if they aren't installed correctly, will burn up your radio. Get a good antenna and have it tuned by the CB shop. Wilson makes good antennas, and more money isn't always better. I ran a Lil Wil on my 280Z that did just fine for $30. If you want to spend more, you certainly can. Side band can be good for quiet, longer distance talking. Move up to a Cobra 148 or one of the "converted" 10 meter ham radios for that.

If you are worried about EMPs, you might want to keep that radio in a Farriday cage.

If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I'm pretty sure that was more information than most of the board needed, though.

 

[Gaffer]

Yes, there can be a lot of junk on the CB but where we use them they are a necessity. We have camps in remote areas of Maine and they are very useful when one breaks down or get stuck so bad they cannot get out without a tow. We have a battery base at the camp and mobiles in the pick-ups. The cell phones are very spotty in that region and do not work at camp at all. The CB's work very well when we convoy as well.

I also have a amateur radio license but the other guys don't. The CB came in very handy this past fall when the younger son had a moose down and needed the trailer and a hand at getting him loaded. Saved 15 mile round trip and considerable time.

 

[CW Spook]

Awww ****...now you're gonna make me go into a long-winded explanation. CB might still be good to talk to a few of the truckers on the highway, but it's a lousy survival tool compared to the other alternatives out there. The 27 Mhz band is just about the worst possible frequency choice for most communications, as it falls on the fringe of both the high-frequency (HF) and very-high-frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum and actually gives you the worst of both. HF is best suited to medium to long range use (50-5000 miles). VHF usually works best for local (<50). VHF is limited (for practical purposes) to line-of-sight. Mobile-to-mobile, that means 3-5 miles. Base-to-mobile, with a good elevated base antenna that may stretch out to 15 or 20 miles. Base-to-base on VHF with elevated directional antennas on each end, you may get a bit further. By using a repeater, a fixed station with antennas at 100-400 ft that retransmits mobile signals, you may be able to communicate well over 100 miles, even between low-power radios. That requires amateur or commercial radios, not CB. The FRS/GMRS handhelds you see bubble-packed in stores are great for 1-3 mile convoy and field communications, but have no provision for external antennas, so are range limited. The CB band generally acts like low-VHF and is basically also line-of-sight. Using expensive, illegal amplifiers can extend the ground-wave signal by a few miles, but that's like using a Peterbilt to run to the corner store for beer. 20-200 mile comms can best be conducted either via a VHF repeater network on the the low amateur HF bands, 160-40 meters. The high HF bands, 20-15-10 meters (and the 11 meter CB band) are subject to the vagaries of ionospheric propagation. At times, a signal will only carry in a roughly line-of-sight fashion. At other times, dependent on time of day, time of year, and the 11-year solar cycle, the signals may be bounced around the world. The problem with CB is you cannot depend on that propagation for useful survival communications. The days you want to use CB for local comms you may find you can't be heard over the din of Mexican fishing boats, and the day you want to try to make a skip signal heard you'll not be able to hear anything further away than the highway on the edge of town. For the same amount you would spend for a deluxe CB and an illegal amplifier, you can have an amateur radio transceiver capable of working all of the 9 HF bands and possibly 1-3 of the VHF bands as well. It does require a license, but that's just the matter of passing a simple written test. There is no longer a requirement to learn the morse code, though that is still the most cost effective and efficient means of transmission.
With a good multi-band, multi-mode ham rig you are positioned to be able to communicate with people who could actually provide information more useful than the location of the local parking-lot hooker.

 

[JcMack]

I had 148 GTL and President Grant SSB CB radios, peaked n high freaked in the late '70's. With a 75 watt kicker you could bounce a signal off the ionosphere, literally around the world. Sunspot activity made transmition optimal. SSB doesn't "tear up" neighbors TV's either. Mobile CB is a good SHTF option, as some radios have emergency band capability also. I've still got a Cobra 148. Any community that has natural disaster in it's possible future should make it's citizens aware of the need to keep in communication via the CB or the many handheld walkies available. If ham repeaters are down what happens? Not a dig, I don't have any idea.

 

[HCD]

Hay Rick

I just checked, the radio I'm on today is a garage sale old cobra base. 5.00 bucks, a D-104 used, 50.00 bucks. Antron stick new 100.00 bucks. 112 ft in the air. Hi sheild co-ax. The base is set at 2 watts. Been talking to a guy 53 miles away. And he does not even know any hookers, neither do I come to think about it.
Little smiley thingy.

Not argue'n just say'n.

OK double checked my facts. He is on a beam and pointed rite at me so that make a lot of difference.

 

[truckemup97]

And he does not even know any hookers, neither do I come to think about it.

Nor do I, or any of the folks I hang out with.