Do you need one?

I use a CB in my truck.. Drive dump truck and we all have them around here. Handy to get directions into new places(construction of small back country roads for instance) and passes the time when it's raining and we can't get out and shoot the poop face to face.

 

Check the web site "cbtricks". Talkback is easy to do....I'm surprised somebody hasn't posted how to do this already.

 

And if it isn't Traumadrew, it'll be Handlebar in his 4-wheeler. My consumer-grade GPS is usually wrong, and every time I drive in an unfamiliar city, it seems like *every other vehicle* knows which lane to be in to make the next turn or exit or whatever. I'm an old Boy Scout, used to planning trips with a map and compass and landmarks, which is pretty much useless when driving, except for the magnetic compass on my windshield. Any time I've ever moved to a new city, I've always bought a Thomas Bros. or Gousha's map book and learned my way around with them. But for transiting a city, with maybe a couple of stops, I have to pull over, count blocks, memorize turns, and hope it comes out right. All the radios, music, etc., get turned off, so I have only visual input (and horns/sirens) to deal with. If (I should say "when") I get lost, I have to stop someplace and find a couple of street signs, and *then* turn on the CB and ask for help, and I usually get good help.
After I stop sobbing, that is
I could get on 2 meters, but even after looking up a repeater in the directory, chances are good that I'll get some guy 40 miles away who knows less about where I am than I do.
Handlebar

 

Ok I'll post it. (thought I had in the past) Getting talk back is as easy as soldering a resistor across the hot side of the PA jack and the ext. spkr jack. The lower the resistor ohms, the louder the talkback will be.

Or if you want variable talkback, pop in a variable resistor aka a volume knob.

If you don't want to butcher up your radio, and know how to use a soldering iron and don't mind using the internal speaker, you can go to Radio Shack and get you a pair of those 1/8 pin male plugs, solder a variable resistor to the center pins, plug it in, and walla, instant talkback w/o opening the radio.

 

Or just go buy a external speaker with talk back in it.....(I would open the radio and do what Turbo said....JMHO)

 

Chinese overdrive down the grapevine on a sheet of ice looking for a runaway ramp? Freezing to death in the snow up north? Gelled fuel?

I better turn on my CB, cause I'm missing lots of good stories.

Seriously, yes it's worth investing in a good system. Spend the bucks on an antenna and coax and buy a Pro 510XL for $45 and you're set.

 

You are coming off as condescending, and an ###. I have a 10 meter CB, and have put it good use. It has saved me from sitting in traffic for hours, finding a specific destination, and other scenarios that make life on the road easier, more efficient and safer. Btw, I have NEVER been given wrong directions over the CB.

Lights on your tractor go out after doing a pre-trip sometimes. If you have a radio, 9 times out of 10, another driver will tell you about lights that have gone out. I'd much rather be told by a fellow driver than the DOT.

A few days ago driving north out of Dallas, a day-cab truck passed with his trailer door open. Had he not a CB, he would have gone until someone was able to motion him, or the cops pulled him over. Luckily for him, he had a cb that was turned on, and he was able to better secure his sliding trailer door.

Another example, I was on 95 nb, going through Richmond at about 3am, and a car passed me swerving between the 2 right lanes. While he was passing the length of my truck, he almost hit me twice. I was able to get on the radio, and warn the drivers ahead of me to avoid the either fatigued, or drunk 4-wheeler.

Last month I was on 81n, going through Virginia when a tanker flipped, and had shut down 81. Because of my CB, I was able to get off the interstate before the accident, and took 11 up about 10 miles, and avoiding sitting in traffic. Thanks to my CB, I was able to knock out a couple of hundred miles that day. That day alone helped pay for a good % of the cost of my radio. A similar situation happened in Tuscaloosa AL a few weeks ago.

By no means do you have to have a radio, but I personally want ANYTHING that makes my job as a driver easier, more efficient, and safer. I personally think it's a no-brainer.

 

Never never leave home without it..................but I'm an old guy

 

My feelings too............Let's hear it for the "old guys"!!!:smt031

 

I'd clap, but I'd have to take one hand off either my cane or my walker, and I'd fall-down-go-boom. But I'm there with ya' in spirit