CB dead or alive

It would be good to get the younger folk more involved in Radio, my 2 Sons, 6 and a half and 8 years old love tuning around on the radio, gives them other stuff to do when I don't allow them on screens they have to occupy themselves some other way. They can't just pick up a tablet or the Nintendo but I have to unlock them and at that I have them locked down especially the tablet, there's far too much unsuitable material for them unsupervised even on youtube kids it's a lot of nonsense and they're not learning anything not using their creativity.

Last week the Boys and I built an FM radio together, I identified the components and the Boys took turns putting them on the board and soldering. You should have seen their faces when they turned it on and it worked, no tablet or smartphone can match that!

As for getting the ham license, it's not that difficult, all you need to study for the exam is on the IRTS site, you don't need to go anywhere else.

Best of luck with the CB will it be a base setup or in the car ?

Some FM signals are booming in.

Was just listening via the malahit SDR 2 and the Bonito MA305 with optional longer whip.

For yapping on the Ham bands I got the Yaesu FTDX-10 + EFHW antenna and FT-891 and Chameleon MPAS 2.0 vertical I use from time to time. How about your setup ?

The FTDX-10 won't transmit on 11m, not sure about the FT-891.

40 watt SSB, Should get you to the continent anyway, might need more juice. Local conditions are not great though, too much skip good for DX though.

Think it was around 2 weeks ago I heard a lad from Jamaica come in on 11m.

Those CB antennas, do the have radials ? I know for the Ham antennas they are essential night/day difference to performance especially TX.

It would be good if some of you CB'ers could try out a INV V Dipole or EFHW for better local coverage, I think the low angle radiation is just too low for local CB coverage and so many local signals could be bouncing over our heads.

I have great success using EFHW 49:1 for the Ham Bands, good DX and NVIS in a sort of sloping inv L.

I do know though that on 20, 40 and 17m if I connect up the Chameon MPAS 2.0 and swap between EFHW and Vert the signals are way down on the vert but the DX can be a lot clearer on the vert with just 4 x17 foot long radials. I've even got to Australia on 20m with that and 100w on 20m.

Yeah a dipole and vertical are the way to go, the thing is that most CB'ers seem to be using verticals, I really don't know why because they're not really for local coverage, unless they're only interested in DX, you'd have to be quite close to the other Person I think especially these days on 11m.

Get an amp with good reviews because some of them could be poorly designed and cause a lot of spatter which can really effect people a few Khz up or down from where you're transmitting.

11m hopping again tonight lads, continentals, I could hear that one or two people were on from EI but couldn't hear them at all but the people they were talking to booming in 59+ so as I was saying earlier, EFHW or dipole will probably greatly increase your chances of making local contacts, a dipole as inverted V up around 35 feet be a nice cloud warmer, should work a lot better for local coverage.

The only way you're probably hear locals is through ground wave if your close enough.

I've reading a bit on the imax 2000, screams inefficient with such a wide bandwidth, antennas shouldn't have a wide bandwidth without a dip and increase at band edges.

I read where those using the ground plane kit noticed narrow bandwidth which means the antenna is more efficient.

Low SWR doesn't mean efficient or good.

Let me know if you hear any locals on tonight I'll fire up the FT-891 on the Chameleon MPAS 2.0 and see if I notice a difference vertical to vertical.

I hear them much clearer on the Chameleon MPAS 2.0 17 foot vertical.

I haven't put back up the Bonito Loop Antenna yet but that antenna was better than the Megadipol for locals especially above around 14 Mhz.

So how can you hear them Bassy compared to the above video ?