CB radio chatter

[Johnny R]

I really enjoy chatting with truckers on the CB, be it in my Class B on on my 2-wheeler. I find it a pleasant way to pass time, it keeps me alert, and is often informative. You too?

[Photog]

I added a CB to our 4Runner (expedition vehicle), for comms between vehicles that a re traveling together.

I expected to be able to listen to the chatter on the highway also, but there wasn't any. The truckers seems to have moved over to the side bands. My CB does not have SSB (Single Side Band) functions.

Do you have trucker chatter on any of the normal CB channels?

[Mike]

I usually listen to CH19 to get the often "colorful" chatter from the big rigs. Has that changed?
Haven't been out since last fall. Sometimes even CH19 is quiet in certain areas.
I never thought I'd need one with cell phones and laptops but they're still useful for short range
traffic info and occasional "police activity" location info.

[Hallibagger]

Like Mike I usually have my CB tuned to Ch. 19 when travelling the Interstates. I do not talk much, I usually listen for comments from the truckers about construction or accidents and possible alternate routes. Knowing the location of the speed traps is also useful.

Friends of ours were following an 18 wheeler around an accident holdup and after running along country roads for a while the 18 wheeler stopped and the driver walked back to tell them that he lived just down the road and he was going home and they should take the next turning back onto the Interstate.

I have, on occasion, been able to get useful routing info when travelling around cities.

I have not found much useful info from the truckers when travelling in Canada. They seem to be more interested in ranting about things they cannot control!

[AZ ADVenturist]

"I have not found much useful info from the truckers when travelling in Canada. They seem to be more interested in ranting about things they cannot control![/quote]

If they are anything like the low life derelicts that drive I-40 from Knoxville to Barstow, I can imagine their senseless banter. Plus most of them can be observed TEXTing from the driver seat of their rigs anyway. I say get 'em OFF our hiways, hook 'em all together on their own road & call it a TRAIN!! Roadways will be safer & in better condition and goods/junk from China will be even cheaper with lower cost transportation. Ask Warren Buffett...
No Offense intended to any true Professional Drivers out there Who ARE Knights of the road.
S/ Ric. in Arizona

[Flashman]

I'm not far off a major Ontario highway, and just got a smaller handheld to play with last year, figgerin' it would be good for traffic info... but it's all very quiet, haven't heard anything on it yet, so not sure if it's dysfunctional, or very low range (I know the hand held ones are down a bit compared to under dash or base station ones) but expected it would reach a couple or three miles. I'm on a bit of a hill too. Actually though, it's supposed to have max legal power.

It's one of those "emergency" sets but with full 40 chan, and has a rubber ducky that can roof mount, been sitting in the car with it with it roof mounted for the ground plane but still nothing. Also picked up a bigger twig at a yard sale, gotta figure out the connector though, and the magnetic base is weak... maybe when that's hooked up I'll hear a peep or two...

I've been looking out for something better, but most used, and old units I come across look very used and old, and are missing things, so I've passed them up.

Maybe I'd get something while actually out on the road, but didn't want to be messing around with it while driving yet, since it is unfamiliar and all.

Can you give me any tips Mike about local "customs" and what times chatter is most likely?


Flashman

[Mike]

I've got a portable handheld Cobra I picked up in the States 4 years ago. I think it cost around $75,
and came with a 12VDC cigar lighter power plug, and a detachable short rubberized antenna. It
seems to work pretty well, and has a suggested range of about 2 miles, but I think it's line of sight,
so anything like trees/hills/buildings and such will reduce it's range. Works great on the Interstates.
As for chatter, it's probably more common in the USA on the Interstates. I talk, I listen.
Recently, I think I've seen more truckers texting and talking on handhelds while driving, than
chatting on their CB radios.
Progress, I guess.

[wabbit]

In California, the truckers' custom is to use channel 19 for the north-south roads and channel 17 for east-west roads, although they don't always follow that custom.

The CB chatter has saved my bacon more than once. One cold night there wasn't much traffic other than trucks. I just settled in and was driving behind a group for a few hours. When one of the truckers said that he was glad he was carrying a load heavy enough to break through the coating of ice on the road, it was a "whoa!" moment. I slowed down and a few miles further up the road there was a mess of accidents.

[Flashman]

Picked up another set a Realistic model, again an emergency type one, but with digital tuning, this came with a telescopic whip. Tried it out one Saturday morning and was listening to skip from half a continent away. Dunno if it's THAT much better than the other one or had exceptional conditions.

[Ron J. Moore]

I have a Cobra with the WX channels. We were traveling and run into a real bad storm - couldn't see to pull over, so I kept it going. We eventually came into TX, and one of the Welcome Centers. Inside people were watching this tornado on live broadcast in Louisiana. After that, I knew a CB was coming to our RT. Ironic, we were on a road, and here was a billboard for truckers about installing, repairing their CB's - and I went there. They installed it on "long legs" so that it is right beside the driver's seat, can do a quick glance and see everything; also installed a 4ft fiberglass antenna on the fender, where the hood and fender meet. I now keep it on low and believe it serves a purpose. I know we have cellphones, but if you don't know your surroundings, I'd much rather rely on that CB. To add a laugh to this, after we left the installation shop - most of the channels that had chatter -- were in Spanish!!! Safe travels.