CB Radios: Invaluable Safety Tools

So it requires input from others before she tells you anything... hmm the same way a cb works

 

I ran with WAZE on for a couple of months. Then deleted the app.

The ONLY reason I might install it again is to help predict 4-whlr stupidity.

Like everyone else, I’d like to have an early heads-up. Far enough from a problem I can make choices (that fit either a loaded or empty van).

This is why I want (am working towards) the “best” radio rig this 579 Pete will host. A big part of that is a West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker.

In other trucks where this was accomplished I knew ahead of “you” about a traffic problem because of the enormous amount of noise reduction (variable filtration) allows me to hear other drivers once buried by static

The guys in the opposite direction are trying to be helpful. And I can hear them, despite that most have the typical sub-standard rig.

Bigger ears. (Your Radio is better than you think).

So when you pass me on the shoulder before the MM138 Exit for US-XX and ask if I’m okay, “sure, thanks hand, just had a call that DOT has the portable scale out on US-XX. Finding an alternate”.

I also know you’ll start to hear about the Interstate “three cars with a tanker wreck plus fatalities” another 15-20 miles ahead at about MM-170 from the scene at MM-182.

Sow confusion, and keep the alternate route clear (ha!).

Now we all know we can’t always act on info as to routing. But I’m always better when relaxed about my day. And tomorrow.

Or maybe I’ll pull off that shoulder and exit to US-XX and bypass not only the wreck, but everyone else being diverted.

(If it’s an hour to two-hour delay starting at about 14-1500, every single truckstop, rest area, dirt shoulder and on-ramp the following 50-100 miles past that wreck will fill up with guys done for the day. That’s the second part).

Cobra advertises their $30 Speaker as having DSP. I have several. It’s minimal.

The W-M unit is sold to Amateur Radio operators. A world of difference in performance. I’ve had mine more than four years and it’s first two were in the oilfield.

A 980 Uniden, RM Italy 203 plus W-M Speaker is a cheaper and better-performing rig than (nearly) every custom “big” radio. The money left over buys first class coax, antennas, mike & misc. And it’ll all run off the 15A binding posts. The whole system versus just a Nitro Knob Noisemaker.

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I look at Waze as simply another useful tool. I didn't throw away my hammer when I bought a pneumatic nailer

 

For me to run my phone all day (which I don’t believe it’s designed to do) WAZE would have to be a good deal better.

 

Its head and shoulders above CB for bear reports. On this issue there can be no debate. It's sad but it's reality. I've had CB radios since the early 70's and I won't drive an inch without one but nobody gives bear reports on the radio. I saw at least 10 troopers between Charleston SC and Greenville SC today and nobody announced them except me, and there were very few thank you's. Maybe one

 

That thing is perfect to connect your camcorder or digital voice recorder to the output of your radio.
Includes a Front mounted 1/8 - inch stereo output jack for powered speakers or 16 ohm (or higher) headphones

 

Yes, because next to no one needs Bear reports after the speed limits came back to 70-mph.

Given that traffic volume requires slowing to maintain vehicle spacing, it’s a complaint that doesn’t make sense. Every Interstate in the country is full of cars these days. Can’t run 70 anywhere near on average.

The upper limit doesn’t mean much. Has NOTHING to do with my speed versus traffic volume.

1). Accel & Decel events kill mpg
2). Steering corrections per 100-miles has measurable economy effect
3) Cruise control use under 50% bad

Etc.

Fuel burn minimization is steady-state. On cruise control. AWAY from other traffic. No lane changes except when left lane is clear to pass. If it means holding back, do that. It’s a rhythm that makes an easier day.

“Tailgating” means one is less than 200’ from the next vehicle. Not acceptable for even thirty seconds. Also known as “too fast for conditions”. Etc.

The speed limits are high enough pretty much everywhere. The game is managing traffic flow smoothly enough that one doesn’t lose those hard-earned MPG tenths.

Average MPH is trip-planning, pure & simple.

Good luck with WAZE. It’s the wrong mindset. I can see why one might think it a heads-up. But, IMO, it was dragging me down to their level. Which is pure selfishness.

You want fun, call ‘em out by company name, running up to a lane closure or in city traffic, trying to get ahead. Not giving a #### how they screw it up for everyone around them. From having a little room in congestion, now there’s none.

I think it right to note bears with their breakfast at MM 123, but just as much for other vehicles with people out & around. THAT is the reason for it.

We know the car drivers are too stupid to walk, talk and chew gum anymore, so most on-road transmissions have to do with what they’ll predictably do at that location. One-lane construction, rolling road crew, etc. Slow early by gliding down. I know about it ahead, I can back off early.

Same at the other end: holding off on cruise control set speed by 5-10/mph until a big gap opens in which to ease along.

Truck driving ain’t rocket science. But it is bound by physics.

Those that think they’ll get there “faster”, don’t. By day three or four they’re dragging. And they’ll go thru fuel, tires & brakes far faster than better drivers.

Planning and consistency are the difference.

The radio is a tool. But no tool is going to eliminate all the unexplained car traffic mid-day anywhere in the US.

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