Just got back in CB Radio after 23 years

Flying Eagle

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

bigpaddy2004

Flying Eagle wrote: »

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

It has been some time since I have been on it too. Sounds like you are picking up skip from the US at the moment. It will be very difficult to talk to anyone in Ireland until it dies down.

ancl

Skip from the USA has been good for a few days so I agree you are probably hearing them.

I've put a few shouts out on AM/FM on 19 midband, had a couple of hellos back before being wiped out by pager breakthrough or church broadcasts.

PauloMN

CB is dead aside from some truck drivers who use it in convoy, or the odd Glaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanza head. You might have a bit more luck on the higher channels on SSB with a decent home-base antenna, but a 40 channel AM set won't yield much joy especially if using mobile.

gerryk

PauloMN wrote: »

the odd Glaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanza head.

I always thought their antennas had the cable cut off

darkmaster2

Flying Eagle wrote: »

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

As the lads said, the the 40CH AM/FM CB is pretty much dead in Ireland. There are a quite a few stations on SSB up on the higher channels but thats about it, you'll need a different radio to join in that side of the hobby.

I was half thinking of trying to get a CB club going again, but I doubt it will work, with the amount of communication devices we have today people just dont seem to be interested.

sensormatic

ch 37,38,39 are very busy this week on lsb with the usa had some nice contacts there high channels usb is busy too also fm is busy,,poland,,russia and so on,. hard enough to qso on am aboard,,,
my advice is to setup homebase with a sideband radio and away you go

gbee

Flying Eagle wrote: »

I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?

You've a lot of answers here. Your antenna is a very important item, any squeezing of the coax would cut you off from transmitting, you power is low so you'd just getting a few miles for local contacts ~ as mentioned an AM only radio is limiting.

You need to try and meet up someone to test your rig.

OldRio

The 1980's. Gosh I feel old.
Started with a Jaws 40. AM mobile, DV27 ariel
Ended up with a converted Yeasu FT101 ZD. 2 element cubical quad for 11m and a home built invered Vee for 45m.

Worked over 100 countrys on 11m. You could listen on 10m and not here a thing and then put a CQ out on 11m and work the world.
I've hundreds of QSL cards from exotic locations.
Good times and thanks for bringing back those memorys.

*sighs, the good old days*

darkmaster2

OldRio wrote: »

Worked over 100 countrys on 11m. You could listen on 10m and not here a thing and then put a CQ out on 11m and work the world.
I've hundreds of QSL cards from exotic locations.
Good times and thanks for bringing back those memorys.

*sighs, the good old days*

Right now 11m is hopping with the whole world coming in. Plenty fun to be have.

jmcc

OldRio wrote: »

*sighs, the good old days*

A whole other century. Started out with a President Veep and had a Pacific, Ham International, Cobra 148GTL-DX and a few others. Even remember the Big-W and Urbs Intacta clubs in Waterford.

Regards...jmcc

darkmaster2

Why did it die off I wonder? I was too young when the first wave came along in the late 70s early 80s but I was on the air when it was very busy around the mid ninties for a bit. Great fun altogether.

Hopefully there will be another revival someday. There is always ham radio but that's just not the same.

Our man in Havana

Mobile phones and texting killed CB.

gbee

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Why did it die off I wonder? Hopefully there will be another revival someday. There is always ham radio but that's just not the same.

Mostly the mobile phone and then the extended Solar Minimum.

Ham can be the same, some CB operators are seeking ham licences in an effort to get away from the imbeciles ruining T5 and I hear Hams complaining about the frequencies being busy and don't like loop calls ~ yet they are seeking new members all the time.

About €500 would set one up with a good CB system new, for Ham, you'd still need your license and then you purchase your equipment and this will be €2,000 for a reliable start kit new but radios are available for over €10,000.

Both can splash out on antenna and towers and repeaters but Ham is moving to handy talkies and D-Star and Skype ~ soon, by the looks of it, CB will be the only true radio system left, and a few diehard traditional Hams.

PauloMN

gbee wrote: »

imbeciles ruining T5

What's T5? 27.555?

gbee wrote: »

About €500 would set one up with a good CB system new, for Ham, you'd still need your license and then you purchase your equipment and this will be €2,000 for a reliable start kit new but radios are available for over €10,000.

Not sure how you come to the €2k figure for a reliable start kit. A new FT-897 can be had for around €500 to €600 depending on exchange rate, that will give you HF and 2m/70cm all mode. Not a bad starter radio. 2nd hand and you can do it cheaper of course. Kits also available for specific bands even cheaper. Antennas to get started can be anything from wire (essentially free) through old CB whips for 10/15/20m, through expensive HF miltibands and beams.

gbee wrote: »

Both can splash out on antenna and towers and repeaters but Ham is moving to handy talkies and D-Star and Skype ~ soon, by the looks of it, CB will be the only true radio system left, and a few diehard traditional Hams.

"True radio" - I hate that expression. Each to their own, some people like data, SSTV, PSK, some like CW, some like voice, some like repeaters, some like echolink etc. etc.. The only thing that irritates me about this hobby is people preaching to others what "true" or "real" radio is (not saying that you are preaching by the way). There's room for everyone as far as I'm concerned.

Our man in Havana

PauloMN wrote: »

What's T5? 27.555?



Not sure how you come to the €2k figure for a reliable start kit. A new FT-897 can be had for around €500 to €600 depending on exchange rate, that will give you HF and 2m/70cm all mode. Not a bad starter radio. 2nd hand and you can do it cheaper of course. Kits also available for specific bands even cheaper. Antennas to get started can be anything from wire (essentially free) through old CB whips for 10/15/20m, through expensive HF miltibands and beams.



"True radio" - I hate that expression. Each to their own, some people like data, SSTV, PSK, some like CW, some like voice, some like repeaters, some like echolink etc. etc.. The only thing that irritates me about this hobby is people preaching to others what "true" or "real" radio is (not saying that you are preaching by the way). There's room for everyone as far as I'm concerned.

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/yaesu-ft-897

Closer to a grand new.

PauloMN

Our man in Havana wrote: »

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/yaesu-ft-897

Closer to a grand new.

Wow, they've increased in price quite a bit. I got mine a few years back when the Euro and Sterling were nearly at parity which helped, but also the sterling price was a lot lower than £800, was more like £500.

There's loads of choice though, FT-817, FT-857, Icom IC-718, Kenwood TS-480 etc. if not willing to look at 2nd hand. Point is €2000 for a starter radio is much too high an estimate imo.

gbee

PauloMN wrote: »

What's T5? 27.555?.

T5 or treble five is 27.555 USB and it gets over powering at times

I took the iCom 706MK2G @ €1,400 and the balance for antenna, cables, connectors.

It takes a lot of understanding and knowhow to make bits work, I was watching the JOTA event, weekend before last, and the scouts made working antennas from barbed wire

watty

My main shack radio is a S/H FT101ZD MKIII. All HF bands. Cost €220, Only a bit less power than FT897. With interference etc, the better sensitivity of FT897 is only significant on VHF & UHF.

Lower bands is a piece of wire 66ft long and higher bands a sloping "vertical" made of a bit of wire suspended by nylon cord from the gable end of the house.

You can get "started" for under €100 probably and other than VHF/UHF it's nearly a waste of money to buy aerials. I bought a CB 5/8ths "silver stick" and replaced the screw/hex hose clamps with thumb types and took out the base loading coil so it "tunes up" on 40m to 6m. Cost about £25 inc postage.

€4 washing line is probably better than barbed wire.

Expensive insulators? No, just use 1m/3' minimum of nylon builders cord, longer the better and far better than "egg" insulators when wet.

The Icom 706MK2G is the world's most overpriced second-hand rig

darkmaster2

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Mobile phones and texting killed CB.

Yup, It does seem that way. People have plenty other ways to communicate these days, The internet is another nail in the coffin of the CB breaker

It is still quite popular in other parts of the world, just not here. It is a shame really.

The gear is readily available to buy in the likes of maplins, just nobody interested or sees a point in it anymore.

jmcc

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Why did it die off I wonder?

Well a lot of the buzz at the time was that it was possible to talk to people in other countries due to skip. (Signals bouncing off the ionosphere and ending up in Kentucky rather than Kerry.) That died off around 1984 or so. The other thing is that where the public is concerned, fads and crazes have distinct lifecycles so as a public craze, CB Radio would have started off in the late 1970s and the movie "Convoy" and a few TV programmes where CBs were essential parts of the plot drove the uptake. By 1983/1984, the Skip started to die down and the hobbyist element either drifted towards Amateur radio or gave up as personal computers were really starting to kick in from 1980-1985. A craze or fad generally needs a constant influx of people to keep it alive and once CB began to be commonplace, many people just ran out of things to talk about with people with which they had very little in common. With Amateur radio, the subject (the technology and the connectivity) is really the topic so it attracts techies (people who work with technology) and hobbyist techies. You can see much the same thing with the early dial-up Bulletin Board Systems, IRC, Usenet and many other events. They flare up, everyone with the necessary equipment starts to use them, then as they mature, people stop using them because they were replaced by better options. (The internet, Instant Messenger etc.)

Hopefully there will be another revival someday. There is always ham radio but that's just not the same.

Don't know if there will be a revival as a core driver for CB was being able to talk to people when you wanted without having to pay phone charges. Now, as was pointed out earlier, people have mobile phones and far lower phone charges. Actually there's a good argument that the rise of texting was a response to the idiotically high phone charges.

Regards...jmcc

zenno

QSK...

I used to use ssb to talk to a few people in america but most of the time back then i talked to locals and hey do you people remember mindy up in the dublin mountains ? there used to be a group that went up the dublin mountains back in the early 90's around the hell fire club that used to be a great buzz. I think the 40 ch. band here in dublin anyway is dead but there might be a few die-hard folks still using it.

darkmaster2

zenno wrote: »

QSK...

I used to use ssb to talk to a few people in america but most of the time back then i talked to locals and hey do you people remember mindy up in the dublin mountains ? there used to be a group that went up the dublin mountains back in the early 90's around the hell fire club that used to be a great buzz. I think the 40 ch. band here in dublin anyway is dead but there might be a few die-hard folks still using it.

Yeah, we used to go up to the mountains quite a bit and park up an antron 99 or just a standard magmount antenna and you could get most of Ireland with just a little bit of height.

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.

zenno

darkmaster2 wrote: »

Yeah, we used to go up to the mountains quite a bit and park up an antron 99 or just a standard magmount antenna and you could get most of Ireland with just a little bit of height.

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.

excellent. was thinking a while back of getting into it again but tvi was a problem around here. I might give it a listen sometime in the near future and maybe set up a good dipole or antenna. miss that stuff thinking of it now.

darkmaster2

zenno wrote: »

excellent. was thinking a while back of getting into it again but tvi was a problem around here. I might give it a listen sometime in the near future and maybe set up a good dipole or antenna. miss that stuff thinking of it now.

TVI isnt much of a problem anymore due to satellite tv, cable and digital tv in general. You should give it a go.

watty

Terrestrial Digital TV can be wiped out EASIER by CB!

Especially any kind of amp/booster/boots/afterburner (all illegal and almost none have the low pass filters needed by a P.A.)

Cable TV is vulnerable too.

Molloys Clondalkin

Im causing TVI om 40 meters but not on 20!!! Confusing the hell out of me I think my bb5 is knackered as it doesnt seem to happen on the g5rv.

I have to get my president washington back from the "doctor"
Then ill go 555 it was dead earlier tonight.

darkmaster2

watty wrote: »

Terrestrial Digital TV can be wiped out EASIER by CB!

Especially any kind of amp/booster/boots/afterburner (all illegal and almost none have the low pass filters needed by a P.A.)

Cable TV is vulnerable too.

I always found the worst culprit for causing TVI were crappy low grade uhf masthead preamps. Those things drag in some amount of muck.

Most operators on the 11m band use icoms,kenwoods,yaesus nowadays. Yes I know it's illegal, unlicenced, freebanders etc, but thats just the way it is, worldwide. At least there will be less chance of interference from users of those higher quality rigs.

watty

Tetra is forcing people to ditch that rubbish

sensormatic

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.[/QUOTE]


have you not checked channel 38 and 39 lsb because the usa,canada and so on are booming in every day/night for the last 2 months theres great dx there

darkmaster2

sensormatic wrote: »

40Ch is dead but usb on the higher band is very busy at the moment. Right at this moment USA and Canada is flying in.

have you not checked channel 38 and 39 lsb because the usa,canada and so on are booming in every day/night for the last 2 months theres great dx there[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I have made a few contacts on those channels alright. Chocoblock with stations. Way too many at times

Tetra is forcing people to ditch that rubbish

I thought you meant for a second that tetra was replacing hobby radio


I think I read on boards before that tetra causes trouble with those masthead amps alright. Do people replace them with higher quality units or get rid of them completely?

gbee

Tonight there are a few nets or contest to celebrate the 30th year of legal CB in the UK. One did have to have a license in the beginning.

Last night I heard an English guy Les, domiciled in Spain coming in on 32UKFM 27.911.25 FM and there is a big net tonight.

Also Hotel Romeo are having a bit of a squeeel on 27.515 USB

all from 7pm tonight.

darkmaster2

Incredible conditions on 11m today. The sun is in full swing.

Antenna

watty wrote: »

Terrestrial Digital TV can be wiped out EASIER by CB!

Though with digital, the affected people or not likely to have a clue what the problem is (with freezing/stuttering pictures) - unlike analogue - where the CB/amateur audio might be sort of heard and recognisable on the TV as well as distinctive pattering on screen.

PauloMN

I'd have thought that the chances of interference to Irish UHF TV from a CB were pretty remote, no? I lived in cable-land of course when I was active on CB and our problem was Channel 4 which was on Band I VHF Cablelink, around 54MHz or so, just right for the first harmonic of 27MHz.

Any time I used UHF telly near my CB I never had an issue. Of course I wasn't using ****ty distribution amps or masthead amps which I guess are the real culprits. I will be shortly installing one here.... any recommendations for good (screened) brands?

watty

Depends on power and wiring and SWR.

Ironically a TV aerial mounted on same pole just under a vertical will have the least interference.

Also a problem is people using power amps with no filters on them. A lot of those Italian amps (some sold for Amateur use) have NO filters!

OldRio

Great thread and thanks for the memorys.
I'm sure you could buy some second hand gear and make your own aeriel cheap enough.
I think the rise of the mobile phone and the internet helped in the demise of 11m activity.
Instant communication is taken for granted but for the pure pleasure you cannot beat putting out a CQ call. Then listening for that quiet response and finding it's some distant country you have never worked before.
Thanks again.

pixbyjohn

OldRio wrote: »

The 1980's. Gosh I feel old.
Started with a Jaws 40. AM mobile, DV27 ariel
Ended up with a converted Yeasu FT101 ZD. 2 element cubical quad for 11m and a home built invered Vee for 45m.

Worked over 100 countrys on 11m. You could listen on 10m and not here a thing and then put a CQ out on 11m and work the world.
I've hundreds of QSL cards from exotic locations.
Good times and thanks for bringing back those memorys.

*sighs, the good old days*

Yes they were great days, I remember changing the crystals in the FT101ZDs to bring them down to 26 to 28MHz. 6.6 MHz was great in the evenings for inter UK and Ireland working. Where are all those IB guys now. 3.4MHz was good also. The buzz is gone now and we moved on.

tapsnillum2011

Flying Eagle wrote: »

Hi . I have a President Johnny 11 40 channel CB radio, I live in Tipperary in southern Ireland. My problem is i can only seem to hear American Truck drivers the whole time. I have been trying for 2 weeks now , i have the CB in my car and have driven to the top of a mountain even. Is there any CBers left in Ireland or am i the only one. I have yet to make contact with anyone on the CB. What am i doing wrong ?[/QUOTEJ

Just back myself after long absence. Trying to get aerial up higher. You'll need a home base aerial up about 15/20 ft. Good cheapish one is a Hy-gain silver rod. You'll also need an 80ch radio with am/ssb. Some lads are on ssb at night when skip dies down. Lots of skip at moment. Another local lad also on here in Thomastown, Kilkenny. Would like to hear some chit-chat again after all the technological changes that have happened. Try Buy & Sell for second hand 80ch radios.

OldRio

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Yes they were great days, I remember changing the crystals in the FT101ZDs to bring them down to 26 to 28MHz. 6.6 MHz was great in the evenings for inter UK and Ireland working. Where are all those IB guys now. 3.4MHz was good also. The buzz is gone now and we moved on.

6.6mhz was open on an evening to most of europe.
IB and KB Stations.
Never worked 3.4mhz.
I used to have a regular QSO with guys in South Africa and Zimbabwe on 11 meteres. Every sunday.
Agreed we have all moved on.

darkmaster2

OldRio wrote: »

Agreed we have all moved on.

Turn on 11m today and you'll find huge amounts of activity. The band is flying with qso's to all parts of the globe . We all haven't moved on

It was so busy today that a clear frequency wasn't to be found anywhere. That is the fun of 11m.

The hobby is very much alive lads.

Molloys Clondalkin

I was working 40 and 20m last night love staurdays they always yield great results,

Heres another memory
I put up my Antron and was about to work 555 usb
I was keying up my tuner and realised I was setting off quite a few car alarms!!!!!!

Brought back memories of being mobile and seeing the trail of flashing lights from the parked cars at the side of the road :eek:

watty

The FT817 "rubber duck" picking up US on 28MHz and Italian on 27MHz just from bedroom. A larger aerial picks up too much interference from next door. They have a faulty Samsung TV and so far have done nothing about it as they never listen to radio*. It wipes our even RTE1 on 252kHz at 6m distance and gradually is getting worse where now my "iTrip" isn't usable and any VHF FM stations weaker than Limerick 95 have too much background interference.

It seems solid on the entire spectrum from 100kHz up just with some peaks (R2LW, about 6 in MW) and gradually decreasing in level up to VHF.

Basically now if their TV is on only the strongest VHF-FM stations are usable and nothing below 30MHz even in Radio Shack, on battery, at far side outside house (Semi) is usable.

The good news I heard last night from someone in the trade is that their TV is likely to "stick" in standby soon and isn't too likely to burn the house down.

I demonstrated the effect of their TV to one of the couple yesterday after waiting months to get access. I was asked "maybe only that radio is affected?" I answered this is the LEAST affected radio (a perfect condition Sony ICF2001D).

I can put the same radio within arms' length of our own 42" LG TV (when their Samsung is off) and still get 810kHz R. Scotland during daytime. My own laptop is worst interference in our own house. If you hold hand held 2m radio too close it affects even transmit. But at 1.2m / 4' distance 100kHz to 440MHz is perfectly usable even with weak stations.

A bird or rodent pecked or chewed a feed cable on a flat roof once and when I keyed up at lower power to tune 80m all the fixed burglar alarms went off nearby when I peaked the tuning. Amazing the ATU was able to give 1.2:1 with a shorted feed cable. I twigged that something must be wrong with cable as I'd never set off the alarms before and the 80m was curiously quiet.

I have large 6m/10m whip for car and a bracket to mount a modified CB "silver stick" base antenna on the rear tow eye. Maybe I should put my SS3900 CB, FT817 and home brew PA and aerials in the car and go up the road a bit into a lay-by...

(*There is some possibility they don't even have a radio. Maybe I should give them one that's pre-programmed and they can discover that you can do stuff while listening to Radio, unlike TV. Of course not your own playlist unless you stick an itrip type gadget on a laptop or MP3 player.)

darkmaster2

There is nothing worse than a neighbour with a noisy tv or switched mode psu watty.. its a absolute nightmare.I'm so glad I live out in the countryside now. I have some neighbours but luckily enough they dont have anything that wipes out my HFband listening.

I bought a cheap spare switchmode psu for my laptop a couple of weeks ago and it makes some awful noise all over the bands.. terrible stuff..

watty

I *DO* live in the countryside

An Island estate at edge of village and I'm the last house on a corner. Before this the only noise was the occasional cattle fencer. Strangely the Noise Blanker on old FT101ZD removes it perfectly and the "fancier" radios can't! I had only band noise on LW, MW, 160m and 80m!

Put about 3 to 4 turns of input and output through ferrite rings and then the whole thing in a small biscuit tin or coffee tin.

I find the Lidl Bellarom Caffe Espresso tins cut up with scissors easily and the lacquer black and red print solders almost as easily as the "naked" insides. Great for custom screening cans. Cutting rectangles for all the sides and soldering seams is easier than making folded box too.

I helped eat two "tin" boxes of Shortbread out of Aldi lately to get "free" Chassis for a valve thing and a screened box. Mount heavy parts near a corner. Again easy to cut with "stanley" type knife/ scissors for valve bases or "drop through" transformer chassis. No special tools needed. Some cake tins are more suitable but x2 to x3 price and no shortbread.

gbee

Garry in North Carolina is eager to hear from all counties of Ireland. I had a nice QSO with him on 27.480 and 20W from an iMax.

Conditions were not great today and I had two failed QSOs with New Jersey and Slovenia

telecinesk

Oh man, that takes me back this thread. I also had the joy of living in cablelink land back in the 80s.RTE2 was my headache and every neighbour with those hideous Ferguson Music Centres. Can anyone explain how on AM you always ended up coming through on left channel of the amp.. I digress. 27mhz was fun then..

Speaking of lift, just for fun maxed out a rescued wks100(stag357/palomar500) pile of junk to do FM and 29mhz with splits for repeaters,mission is to get this to actually dx.Thats the rig with the ever so awsome screetch when you keyed on a bad antenna..Was this a president Adams copy from Korea.

Anyone else out there promming rigs for the nice lift on 29mhz? Oh yes i added a freq counter and only thing missing is a bleep and ctcss pcb.

Pimp my rig? 73s

DublinWriter

telecinesk wrote: »

RTE2 was my headache and every neighbour with those hideous Ferguson Music Centres.

Oh yessss....I rigged up a homemade di-pole on my Mum's washing line using poor quality coax cable with a President 40-channel and a dodgy 12V transformer....you can guess the rest.

PauloMN

telecinesk wrote: »

Oh man, that takes me back this thread. I also had the joy of living in cablelink land back in the 80s.RTE2 was my headache and every neighbour with those hideous Ferguson Music Centres. Can anyone explain how on AM you always ended up coming through on left channel of the amp.. I digress. 27mhz was fun then..

Speaking of lift, just for fun maxed out a rescued wks100(stag357/palomar500) pile of junk to do FM and 29mhz with splits for repeaters,mission is to get this to actually dx.Thats the rig with the ever so awsome screetch when you keyed on a bad antenna..Was this a president Adams copy from Korea.

Anyone else out there promming rigs for the nice lift on 29mhz? Oh yes i added a freq counter and only thing missing is a bleep and ctcss pcb.

Pimp my rig? 73s

Do you remember my own BBC Radio 4 troubles.... "you're interfering with my long wave radio"....? That was a music centre of some description.

Let me know if you get the WKS working. I *have* to talk to you on that, for old times sake. I think I have an Adams in the attic at home which you can use for parts if you want.

darkmaster2

2at017 jim in the USA was on the uk19 fm all this evening chatting away. I made a nice contact with him. It's great to see some of the UKfm stations getting transatlantic contacts. Oh 11m, there ain't nothing quite like it during the peak of the sunspot cycle.

telecinesk

PauloMN: thanks for the offer but Ive enough cb junk here. I think that rig was a trc449,and same pcb also.Nah I got the wks to work across 3 bands without a fight.FM is fun and the shifts work on 29.
Also about to convert a ukfm rig to do same to it had 29mhz fitted but no shifts for repeaters.
Least where I am i can run 100w legally and no tvi threat.