Should I "bin it"?
Submitted: Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:36
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Atropos
Hi Folks,
A week or so ago I laid our hard earned cash for a UHF CB radio.
I'm begining to think that this was a total waste of time.
Just about every person I hear using the radio in
Melbourne uses the most foul language making listening to it not a nice thing.
The only repeater that I can access CH 3 is just horrid and populated by foul mouthed morons.
So tell me what is the situation is other
places and in particulaly in the bush / country/ remote areas.
I dont mind some "robust" language but there are limits....
So should I bin the CB now or just keep it turned off untill I'm ouside of the big city?
Regards
John
Reply By: Member - Patrick (QLD) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:45
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:45
The language here in
Brisbane can often be a bit over the top, which has caused me to have it turned off when my wife is with me in the Patrol. She is a broad minded as the next person but some people just have to go over the top with both language and attitude problems.
Saying that, it seems to be quite the opposite when out on the country roads where most people are quite sivel to one another. The only problem recently was when a couple of women wanted to talk about some new recipies they had discoved on channel 40. Not a good idea, but if that's the worst of it, it's better than the City.
I suppose that while the frequencies are un goverened then it full on for all types.
Cheers, Patrick
AnswerID:
159465
Reply By: BenSpoon - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:58
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:58
obviously, throw away your $300 and the time spent installing it.
To get repeaters on other channels (available ch 1 thru 8) press the DUP (Duplex) button.
Check out your users manual- Chances are you have a group scan and open scan function on it- On open scan (OS) it will scan all channels. On Group Scan (GS) you will only scan the channels you select, so just turn off the ones you dont want- like Ch3.
You wont know its real value until you head bush. Not having to stop the convoy each time you want to tell someone something is invaluable, and its a great help overtaking trucks on dirt where you cant see past your bonnet.
AnswerID:
159469
Follow Up By: Atropos - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:19
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:19
Hi,
I was not literally going to thow it in the bin, however I was considering offering it on e-bay ....
Thanks for info re the repeaters , I don know how they work (seems like most in
melbourne are off the air)
Looking at the list of repeaters there are a large number in some fairly remote
places and I wondered if these would make retaining the set worth while.
I was active on 27mhz in the early days of CB and also at the start-up of the UHF service, (back in the day were you were required to actually have a licence for them)--and before they were legal...
I cannot remember any bad language being used in those days.. perhaps I'm just getting Old!
Regards
John
FollowupID:
414110
Follow Up By: BenSpoon - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:23
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:23
Duplex/repeaters work by listening to a signal on a high channel, then pumping that out to the wider area 30 channels lower.
Pressing DUP on your set lets your radio use repeaters by recieving on the channel number displayed on the radio but when you transmit, it sends the signal out 30 channels higher.
eg: if you use Ch3 Duplex, when you transmit you will talk out on Ch33, but then your radio will listen for signals on Ch3.
In this way if you tune into Channels 31-38, you may not hear other people talking, but they will hear you if your signal gets back to a repeater, so it is generally adviseable not to use these channels.
FollowupID:
414129
Follow Up By: Joe King - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 14:12
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 14:12
Atropo's,
if you find youself out & about & you need a repeater you can find one, push in the duplex button & go to channel 1, hold in the button on your hand piece for a second & let it back out, if the radio delays & lets you hear whitenoise for about 1 second, you are on a repeater, if it just shuts straight off, your not, try this from channels 1-8. you know you can get CH3 repeater so try it with this one first, you'll see what I mean about the whitenoise for a second when you try it on say CH40 & it cuts straight back out, give it a go anyway, hope this helps..
JK
FollowupID:
414137
Reply By: Darryn - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:56
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:56
Hi
John, you can't get away from this in the country either. The
Latrobe Valley is just as bad and I think has resulted in the Ch 2 repeater being turned off most of the time. As far as truckies go, Ch 8 at
the Pinnacles is quite often unusable due to ignorant/ unknowing/uncaring truckies using Ch 38 as a convoy channel on the Princes Hwy. As Ch 8 covers the Princes Hwy from just east of Traralgon to past
Lakes Entrance they jam it with foul language for up to 2 hrs each. There has been some success by some of the people who operate the repeaters as some of the trucks have been identified as to who the company's that operate them and a request using the company name has seen them move channels, although some reappear the next day. Slow learners I suspect.
There also seem to be a lack of understanding among many UHF users about how repeaters operate as the more people on air see's them looking for quiet channels which are more often the repeater inputs/outputs which might be okay in one area but moving around puts them in conflict with repeater users.
Don't give up on the UHF as its worth its weight in gold if you are travelling with other people and can get you out of trouble, if has for me more than once.
Cheers Darryn
AnswerID:
159489
Follow Up By: Atropos - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:12
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:12
Hi Darryn,
It might help to point out to some of these idiots that there are laws governing language used on radio's the act actually says
The Radiocommunications Act of 1992 does make reference to on air conduct.
Section 108 (2)(d) states;
(d) must not operate, or permit operation of, the transmitter:
(i) in a way that would be likely to cause reasonable persons, justifiably
in all the circumstances, to be seriously alarmed or seriously affronted.
If proven you can get up to two years in the slammer (grin)
But I supposed utill such time as the system is policed its just going to get worse
Oh
well I'll put the $300 down to experance , and just use it in remote
places. I thoght it might have been company whist on the road (It was years ago)
Regards
John
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Darryn - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 15:36
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 15:36
G'day again
John, rules and regs are one thing but there is no one to enforce them these days and it would take a lot of work to prove any thing, but a bit of a threat now and then might do something. This is the end result of the Fed Gov't abandoning CB in 1994 and sacking most of the Radio Inspectors. I'm told 27 Mhz and VHF Marine is just as bad esp at holiday time and weekends. Commercial use of CB doesn't help either as it just starts fights as to who "owns" or can use certain channels and as one of the other replies here talks of using CTCSS to avoid the foul language but then says how it interferes with other users as you can't tell if someone else is using the channel.
I suppose its a reflection of society these days.
If you ever east though Gippsland tell me and I'll try and have a decent conversation with you on UHF!
Cheers Darryn
FollowupID:
414150
Reply By: Robin - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:59
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:59
Hi
John
No one has so far mentioned that depending on your usage there is a solution.
We use UHF CB constantly in
Melbourne suburbs and don't wish to put up
with that rubbish.
The solution between is to get a model with CTCSS. You need to talk to
a unit which also has CTCSS though. These units transmit a tone along with your voice and only a radio which is set to the same tone will unmute and hear the transmission.
Has made UHF CB really useful for us in the city.
One issue with it though is that as you can't here other radio's you can accidently
transmit when someone else is using the channel. Not much of an issue though if you glance at the received signal meter before you talk.
P.S. Some radios implement this featurew better than others. The TX4400 is a dog is this respect .
Robin Miller
AnswerID:
159503
Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 14:39
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 14:39
yep good idea but with all due respect Robin CTCSS is far to technical for most old farts on here.
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Follow Up By: Robin - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 15:47
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 15:47
Nah! You can do it Ray.
Actually I have trouble focussing on little control swiches on the radio so I don't like to fiddle with it much.
So our gang has set just 1 channel to CTCSS and left the others normal.
As we travel with kids to a bit , this really has made UHF so much more practical. We set handhelds to same to, and when 1 party is off wandering they know that if radio squarks then call is for them.
Because of this you can leave volumne up louder which makes likely hood of communication greater.
Robin Miller
FollowupID:
414152
Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 17:26
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 17:26
>Actually I have trouble focussing
It's called getting old :)
For anyone half serious about communciation the Amateur Radio foundation license is available and easy to get. Lots of very useful freqs away from the clowns on CB
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Laura B - Friday, Mar 10, 2006 at 09:34
Friday, Mar 10, 2006 at 09:34
Our town in NSW is exactly the same on ch 2...people who have nothing better to do than come up with the biggest load of crap!
It is truely off putting and we dont go near that channel because apart from us not liking it, we have a daughter , 2 1/2 yr old, who just copies everything she hears! If im going to have it on- which is hardly ever- Ill put it on the Truckie channel or the local around town channel. The truckies around here are really good - all you hear is "any heading west on cambie??"
Keep it and use it for when you really need it!
Never heard of this cctcst thingy - cannt even spell it!! CTCSS - there got it!!LOL!!
Laura B
FollowupID:
414285
Reply By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:54
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:54
As a regular user of UHF as part of the job i do I have to thoroughly agree with all the answers posted, actually a good subject because i love Radio,and of course Capt. Wrongway is totally correct in his reply about truckies, I was one and still work with them although in the heavy Haulage it's not as bad as The big cities or Sesame St [Hume Hwy] I wrote to the Minister for Communications,Helen Coonan, they are NOT interested, in her reply she stated it is not illegal to swear on CB , that's a fantastic response from
Canberra eh, State Governments require Pilot/Escort drivers MUST be able to have contact with the truck Driver ,
Police if they are working with us, and other Pilots if more than one, It is damn hopeless to try and do our work as required ,And for some reason betond me they have to use Ch 40, got me buggered ???, and it's not just the big cities either we have major problems here in Mt Isa...Ch 40 again,Hey just keep it and use it and wind the squelch right back when in cities,
Doug
AnswerID:
159575
Reply By: Member-Neil & Margie-Cairns - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 21:16
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 21:16
Boy , seems i need a new job , being a truckie and being on here just doesn't seem to go to gether ,, how ever , i do agree with you about the foul mouthed peoples on these things ,, i have 2 uhf's in my truck , one stays on our privit Ch , the other i use to talk to the different pits and qurries i go to through the day ,, generally most truckies will use Ch 40 or close to it , once you get away from there you never know who you are listening too ,, maybe truckies ,, maybe some of your mates or even some of your own kids ( sorry if that offends , but ) , truckies arn't always to blame here some afternoons i will go to 40 to see whats happening , through the heap of crap you do get a bit of useful info , so don't bin it , use it when you need to and when travelling , very handy things !!
Neil ..
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - 'Lucy' - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 23:29
Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 23:29
ATROPOS
Depends on what you bought it for ie city use or ex city use.
City only - forget it if it offends you or others and sell it.
Convoy, no problems - just use a channel other than 1-8,12 , & 40 (I think that covers it)
Bush - excellent for comms with other vehicles and most repeaters.
AnswerID:
159620