The hypocrisy of HAMs.

I've heard numbers being used by some operators on the CB frequencies, but figured they were self-appointed monikers. If Hams are wading into the CB frequencies and interrupting trucker calls on 19, what a pitiful situation that is. We've got enough non-Hams doing that.

 

If you know for a fact that those base stations operating on 11 meters are being operated by licensed Amateur Radio operators, then by all means forward their callsign to the FCC and it will be dealt with.

As Amateur Radio operators, we are concerned with non licensed individuals operating illegally modified radios both within and outside the Amateur bands because those individuals don't concern themselves with the purity of the signal that they radiate. Because they're emitting dirty, powerful signals, that creates interference with legitimate Amateur Radio communications.

In an emergency situation, all the rules are suspended, and you may use any and all means at your disposal to summon help. But honestly, the CB radio is the last place I'd go to try to get help on the highway. Mobile phones would be the first choice.

 

It's true the CB is often a poor way to get emergency help and the mobile phone is the best way. But, in some situations, the roles are reversed. To wit: when a trucker sees a road blockage around the bend and big trucks heading straight at the disaster that they can't see, then the CB is potentially the ONLY hope to avert tragedy. It happens every day.

 

The issue with 10 meters is the hams EARNED the privilege to use it, and do not like hearing unlicensed people there talking. The part of 10 meters that most of the truckers get on, is the non voice portion of the band, for RTTY, CW and other non voice modes.

The reason they come here is to help educate those like yourself that may not know any better. They don't teach you in truck driving school about what channels to not use and all that. The base stations are usually troublemakers that are looking to rile you up. They're not necessarily hams or have to be. They could be and if they are then they're a-holes. Or they could be kids that are at home alone with their truck driving dad's base CB radio and just want to get their jollies at your expense.

If you can hear them off in the distance, that's skip. It's when mother nature allows your signal to come down hundreds if not thousands of miles away. You can do skip on a stock 4 watt radio if the channel is clear. I know because I've done it. Stock 4 watt Cobra and a Wilson 1000 antenna on the roof of my S-10.

$500 10 meter radio, you must be looking at a Galaxy 98VHP. You can do better for less if you know where to look and what to do. But the issue is CB sucks for your reliable local communications because it's susceptible to skip. I'm sure you've been in one state and heard someone from another state on your radio. It could be another trucker asking if the scales are open. What good is it to know in a few states away? Of course right now we are at the bottom of the skip cycle so there's not as much to hear.

Never heard of a "twerk" done to a radio. You sure they didn't put some drugs in there? LOL. If you can only get 2.5 miles you're doing "ok" but here's the thing. Your antenna makes or breaks your radio. Those 4 foot antennas you have aren't good for long distance. Because they're short and most of the wire is coiled up inside. That makes the radio's power become wasted as heat, kind of like a light bulb. But unfortunately on a semi you usually can't run a tall antenna. If you were able to run say a 9 foot solid whip you could get out 5-10 miles EASY. Unless skip is rolling then it's anyone's guess. If you can't run a 9 foot antenna then run the longest whip you can with the least amount of coil. I currently run a Sirio on my pick up truck and it's close to 7 feet tall but it gets out well because there's not much load coil for the signal to be lost in. The OLDER Wilson 2000's were good (and better than the 4 foot whips) but even they've taken a backseat since they were bought out by a cheaper company years ago.

You don't understand. First off power isn't everything. It's icing on the cake. Antenna is EVERYTHING. Second the 4 watt rule is from when the feds mandated they were opening CB to be short range for the average consumer. When you start messing with amplifiers, you really want to be trained because believe it or not, too much exposure to an RF amp on a CB can damage your internal organs, tissue, etc. When CB came out it was designed to be an appliance for the average Joe to use with no training, hence why it's channelized. Ham on the other ham is designed for the technical type that likes to experiment and has the training needed to safely run an RF amp, knows how to calculate if the amp is too dirty, what to do when it messes up the TV, etc. It's kind of like why do I need to go to school to learn how to drive a semi? Why couldn't I just get behind the wheel of one and drive off with a loaded 80K payload?

Those who go to 10 meters do it because the radio can sometimes get crowded with noise during skip and the 10 meter band where their radio can do, appears to be quiet but because the radio is channelized in 10 KHz increments, they don't know that they're splashing someone trying to work code a few KHz's away. This is where trouble comes into play. People don't monitor channel 9 like they used to. And if your radio is dirty enough, you can actually be heard in the VHF portion where emergency services work. It's called "spurious emissions". There's a CBer on channel 6 that ran such a dirty splattering radio, he was heard on the fire departments VHF radio which was in the 150 MHz area. All the way from 27.025 MHz.

I don't think so. The rules were set forth to keep it an even playing field and not be a mess like it is. Again not all base stations are hams. Most real hams are interested in emergencies and many serve in emergency communications such as when hurricane Michael battered Florida. Many hams have radios in their cars and can relay info to someone on a base that is a ham, who can call the police.

 

An impressive post, Turbo-T. Thanks.

 

I think you'll find "bad apples" in both worlds; ham AND CB. Honestly, most hams actually do not DO that; they have much better things to do than to interfere with others' communications. And, in fact, it is against the Code of Federal Regulations to deliberately interfere with ongoing comms whatever the service. And the hams have more to LOSE by doing that for he is more likely to get a fine for it and the loss of his license. The theory is, the ham has been tested on the Rules and ought to know better. It makes no sense for hams to go onto 11 Meters and worry others. After all, they do have frequencies allotted by Federal and international agreements that far exceed the 40 channels of 11M. For example, he can take an unmodified, untampered 2 Meter radio, even a handie talkie with 5 watts and, thru a repeater, talk for as much as 100 miles and more like telephones. Using other protocols and computer-based modes he can talk to other countries like a cell phone. So why would he DO that (annoy CBers)?

OTH, it annoys hams to find CBer/truckers talking away on the digital portion of 10 Meters. Heck, even hams are not supposed to use voice below 28.300. And the signals (usually AM) are a dead give-away that the station that is yelling on 10 Meters is illegal. Its how a lot of drivers got caught talking on that band: flipping "band" switches on those so-called "10 Meter 'amateur' Radios.

I would venture that a lot of the "junk" transmissions and interference is not from hams, but other unlicensed operators who get their kicks doing this. With so much to lose, so much work investing in getting the ham ticket, I just don't see hams doing this.

 

I agree with you Gadfly. That's why I asked how a person would know whether the interference is coming from a Ham or not. Unless the Ham were foolish enough to identify himself/herself/itself, there would be no way of knowing by just listening to the interloper.

 

Because they are a big blow hard that doesn't really know squat and gets called out for there BS to much on the ham bands.

It easier to spew garbage to people that usually don't know, or care to know.