Non Standard

I don't blame Mike as much as I blame the FCC.

IF the FCC was handing out thousands of 10K fines per month and JAILING
some of the worst offenders the freebander stuff would soon go away.

I agree many rules need a update If I was to redue CB AB7IF is correct moving the RC channles to just BELOW CB and rebanding the 5 inside CB to class d use since they are already being used would be the best way to add 5 new ones and still allow the RC user to use his controllers with only a change of crystals.

FM ....

I beleve FM is the mode of choice for most 2 way radios .... WHY well in a car a good FM system will out do AM everytime and as most know SSB is a pain if everyone is not exactly on frequency.
FM receivers are very good right down to the noise floor while AM will get lost in noise long before that ....In 1977 when to new 17 ch were being opened why did they not cut a spot for 10 to 20 more FM only farther up the band ?????

DIGITAL like PSK31 for point to point are great even 4 watts would go world wide in a opening it is not good in a car since it is a typed mode.

We can dream

 

I agree that would have been wonderful, say 10 channels at least. Also grandfathering pre-existing models instead of their typical refusal to consider market forces. They just love ruining companies by costing them out of existence. While differing specifications gave rise to some value in ridding the country of 23 channel units that should be the last time they ever use tax dollars to destroy the hard work of many and cost so many jobs in the old great companies as occurred in the 70's, not to mention tax revenues lost. So many could not afford after all this loss to upgrade facilities and have a decent shot at competing with the increasing number of cheaper foreign made models. Somewhere is a link to a thread with the spec. issues by Nomad Radio, one of the most knowledgeable in the business.

Also not creating PLL design nightmares by going to 3/4 channel spacing as England did is a good idea, allowing multi-mode models which by design could have locked modes to their respective areas. This was another prime example of the government failing to look at the issues on the ground as they existed. Such as failing to consider that with the masses having such large numbers of radios and needing no skill or testing to run them the band would quickly saturate into the nightmare scenarios which led to the rise in out band modifications. Honestly it was so bad in Phoenix by the late 80's I gave up talking on CB and have done so only very little in all the years since. There were a few years in the late 80's I and others in Phoenix played with adding Lou Franklin's FM2 kit to our 148's as well as running Rama and Colt scramblers. Seemed that the trouble makers and hate and discontent spreaders lost interest in bothering us when they failed to get that 'joy' feedback of knowing they were upsetting others. We even tried Ghost talking when the 2950's came out in the early 90's going say 1 MHZ between RX and TX. Again the perpetrator lost interest in disturbing everyone when they failed to follow the conversations so they could get the sick pleasure of upsetting so many innocent stations. After a while this 'out teching' to gain a peaceful channel just became too much effort and stress. I have not had much in the way of actual CB conversations since the late 90's, preferring to spend most of my time communicating online.

I will say however my most fond memories in all my years in CB were in the 70's running SSB on my Johnson Viking 352. This model would out receive any radio I have ever owned including HF rigs, only being closely met by my 101 Yaesu (except for noise floor). Of course in the 101 the dual gate mosfet was why especially if you changed the generic fet with a 3N211 for lower noise but it still did not equal the 352. Most vikings used a JFET front end but early on there were a few, not many, using a PNP Germanium front end. Nothing has ever beat this radio for noise floor and RX sensitivity combined and I have done Super S comparisons with many models including the IC-78 I had at the time. When they introduced the D models this effect was lost due to the noise coming from the PLL circuitry. My little mobile setup with the Viking, a full SS whip, and a cheap single stud mount transistor amp was one of my most favorite of all stations. In the late 70's I had modified it for crystal channels from 35 to 40 for my SSB skip shooting. Tried the Siltronix VFO's but again too much noise to suit me.

The 148 is a good SSB radio but even it falls far short. This and every other model we use today is like trying to hear someone whispering in a crowded room in comparison. Very hard to describe to anyone used to the incredible noise every typical model out there has is a background that is ultra quiet. You can hear things with the Viking I have never heard on anything else. When the skip is rolling you hear a very pretty sounding musical harmony from signals mixing coming in from all over the country which cannot be heard on a model with excessive noise floor. I wish there was a way to properly describe what I am saying but one listen is worth a billion words.

In 03 out of boredom in Joplin I set up an Imax 2000 using a 6 way coax switch to multiple radios. I could rapidly rotate the switch between models listening to the difference out in the distance. The Viking heard with usable intelligence signals no other model could except the 148 and the 101 and they were full of noise which the Viking did not have rendering the weakest signals not worth working on all but the 352. And the 352 could hear signals nothing else would at the lowest of signal strengths. Being well versed in the science behind semiconductor theory and the electronic chemistry of conduction bands I could say logic would dictate Germanium should be more noisy than Silicon due to carriers creating Impatt*, Shot, and Johnson noise. I believe that the combination of a much lower electron work function (lower threshold voltage) combined with extremely low current flow is what gives these early Johnson's their unique advantage in terms of ultra low noise floor at standard temperatures. I imagine they hit this combination by accident but I could be wrong, back in the day Johnson did have some genius engineers so who knows. In any case whether by accident or design if you ever find one of these jewels I suggest you investigate for yourself the claims I am making here.

* we can agree Impatt is not the correct description for this noise for a simple Ge PNP transistor but I know of no better way to describe it. If you are versed in this I am describing a noise created in heavily doped P regions of Germanium where the point contact creates high current density giving rise to phase noise caused by carrier collisions with the lattice structure. So while no there is no Impatt diode in the Viking I believe this is the closest analogy of the phase noise in the early PNP Ge transistors. Any out here hailing from MIT or SRI wishing to give me a more accurate description of the phase noise mechanism have my thanks if they provide it.

"SSB is a pain if everyone is not exactly on frequency"

You posted while I was typing but you reminded me slide was another mod I did to my Viking to make SSB simpler. Of course assuming they did not have split issues which so many tweaknicians are adept at causing. While not wishing to sound like the Mr rag the FCC guy here again this is an example of their failings which aggravated the excessive modifications issue on CB. Quite simply a slider with a narrow range just wide enough to overcome manufacturing variances would have made SSB so much simpler. All you did was tune into a conversation and everyone is on to each other. Especially if you had heard the persons voice off the air to know how they naturally sounded.

 

Insults removed by moderator ~ Not allowed.

 

I quess I have really never felt the need to more channels then the regular 40 even though I have and run an illegal 10 meter export radio. It is always set to the CB bands and the band selector never moves. I used to switch it to see if anyone was on the other bands but all I got was static and maybe a few beeps, I think it was code. Never bothered to key up because there was no one to key up too.

But then I don't sit in a shack playing with my radios looking for people to harrass on the air. They only get used for comunications with other drivers on the road. If I want to comunicate across the country then I wait till I get home and I fire up my laptop and chat on internet boards. LOL!

 

Yep exactly right there is a better way of ridding the market of junk radios
it's called TIME ...... after 35 years the bad ones just don't work anymore

 

This was one of the letters they sent out ...

 

I don't understand what all this commotion is about.I own a very clean performing radio,and only operate on 11 meters(25.005-27.265).Works for me.

 

I get the feeling the Civil Air Patrol would take exception to some of those down there lowers, especially if on numbers ending in zero like say 26.790. As well several alternate frequencies used by the military in ground operations. There was a reason you could not find an Antron 99 or Shakespear big stick around the time of Desert Storm. They bought out the factories and us poor slob CB'ers were doing without for months. Was about 6 months before the distributors had them back in stock. So logical deduction on the use of such an antenna by the military leads one to conclude why yes, they do talk in these areas from time to time.

 

See post below.

 

The point of the "yawn" was I'm just tired/bored of arguing with him. Nothing personal there Turbo, just how I felt at the time I posted.