Should I "bin it"?

Submitted: Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:36
ThreadID: 31568 Views:2949 Replies:21 FollowUps:12
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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
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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: Ron173 - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:47

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:47
Keep and use out of the smoke.

very good for vehicle convoys, or for alerting another driver to a problem or someone alerting you. Also possible you might need in emergency where phone doesnt work.

ignore the d*&^heads, keep for your use on tour

Ron
AnswerID: 159466

Reply By: Capt. Wrongway - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:55

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 11:55
G'Day John,
IMHO UHF CB has gone the same way 27meg went in the suburbs.. frequented by lot of foul mouthed yobos. Unfortunatly I think that "SOME" of the truckers are the worst offenders. I sometimes wonder if they speak to their families the same way they speak with their mates. I got sick of it all a long time ago and now only use the radio when needed, either in convoy or going bush. I do'nt need my kids exposed to that crap.
Regards,
Capt.
AnswerID: 159468

Follow Up By: Member - Blue (VIC) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:29

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:29
G'day Captain... As a part time trucker, I have to admit that atleast between Melb and Syd, truckies are such knobs on the radio that i rarely turn it on anymore.
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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
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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.
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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
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FollowupID: 414137

Reply By: traveloz005 - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:01

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:01
same here on NSW Central Coast (Gosford / Wyong) where a fewe 'morons' take up the available channels and just dribble garbage

that said, its great for keeping in touch on convoys and trips - I have just bought two cheap Dick Smith handhelds which came in very useful when in / out of vehicles negotiating steep hills / hazards on a recent trip
AnswerID: 159470

Reply By: revhead307 - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:08

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:08
Mine is off 95% of the time. Driving through perth, u get a lot of foul stuff, and some of them seem to be sitting at home.

when in convoy, its worth its weight in gold. and remote roads are excellent for hailing the truck up ahead and having a yarn or seeing if its clear to pass.

Regards
Rev
AnswerID: 159473

Follow Up By: ro-dah-o (WA) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:31

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:31
same for me, I found channel 8, which is the best positioned and accessable repeater in the Perth metro area a waste of time b/c of the yobbos that frequent it.

I still use my UHF in the city, but have locked the 'problem channels' out of the scan pattern so I dont have to listen to their s***.

As everyone else has pointed out, worth its weight in gold when in the country, and that one very special feature that all radios have- the on/off switch!!
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Reply By: Member - Jay Gee (WA) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:26

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:26
Just about any man and his dog can afford a UHF CB capable of getting into a repeater. As a result the UHF channels and repeaters in populated areas are very busy and have a high proportion of foul language frustrating seroius users.

Meanwhile 27MHz Cb has lost popularity with the young ones who use colourful language - are not so cheap to buy transcievers for and the frequencies are not used very much anymore.

Seems to me we should all leave the idiots on UHF - and start using 27Mhz again.
AnswerID: 159477

Reply By: madcow - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:28

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:28
No idiots using language here as yet. Generally people are good in the bush as a lot of farms use them for 2 way comms. Also a lot of emergency people use them as a tool as well. eg: channel 15 in the Falls Creek area is monitored by the local SES as most hang gliders use uhf and can call for assistance if needed.

cheers
AnswerID: 159479

Reply By: Mike Harding - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:31

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 12:31
Useless in the city - good in the bush.

Mike Harding
AnswerID: 159481

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
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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
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FollowupID: 414150

Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:19

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:19
I find the problem is at it's worst around major populated areas during working hours. A lot of smaller companies (excavators, local transport, etc) use UHF for their business. I find some of these the worst.

Out in the country we don't have much of a problem.

As a result, we only have the UHF on when travelling or when on 4WD Club trips. For that purpose it is great.
AnswerID: 159495

Reply By: 4runner - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:41

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 13:41
From personal experience, I have found that in Perth, the best thing you can do is switch the darn thing off and listen to you car radio/tapes/or Cds. My UHF is only used when going on a club outing on Ch10 and have never had any problems when in a group. I also have reverted back to using the old 27 Mhz on upper side band with better results than the UHF. Most of our club members are reverting back to 27 Mhz as we get beter coverage when we are spread out doing a recce for new palces to go to. UHF just doesn not have the range. So having both is a plus, but you will always get morons that will abuse any system, hence the reason why 90% of Mundaring has now been closed.
AnswerID: 159498

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
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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
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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
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Reply By: Member - Omaroo (NSW) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 15:12

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 15:12
Mine has two uses:

1) Club convoy work where everyone is in close range.

2) Channel 40 on the freeway IF there is a traffic problem - it's useful to hear what the truckies have to report to each other.

"Civil" use by most others in the city areas is becoming a rare thing indeed. Language is usually made up of 80% profanity and 20% English. We even have a bloke in southern Sydney who hogs channel 1 24/7 and won't allow anyone else to use it.
AnswerID: 159521

Reply By: Darian (SA) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 16:45

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 16:45
Yep - same in Adelaide - not much point in having it on - pity about the truckies channel 40 - that is infested with unspeakable low-lifes now. Conversely, you will find the radio of great use in he regional and bush areas - convoy work, talking to trucks or caravanners, or just monitoring the locals on scan.
AnswerID: 159533

Follow Up By: Member - Dedalus (SA) - Friday, Mar 10, 2006 at 09:23

Friday, Mar 10, 2006 at 09:23
Hi Darian, I agree. I'm living in Kangaroo Island and hete we dont have any problem .... sealink (the only big company using UHF) are on Ch 24 now ... They are wery polite and professional becouse theey are on tour (busses) with 50 plus people on board! I keep my radio on at all the time also when I'm driving on the Flerieu peninsula but when I reeach Adelaide the radio is OFF !!! Too many idiots talking ...

Luca
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Reply By: Member - David 0- Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:28

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:28
Here in the country language is not usually a problem (except on Ch40)

Whenever I get within Coo-ee of Brisbane I turn it off- too many foul mouthed wankers.

Dave O
AnswerID: 159572

Reply By: Nick R - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:43

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 20:43
Foul language can be a problem everywhere but I find it more common in the city from the sheer volume of traffic.
Invariably the language gets worse when you point out that their vulgarity may be offensive to other radio users and that their use of such language is unnecessary. My next offensive on such people will involve a rubber band on the mic and sit it next to something really noisy, maybe some german heavy metal, maybe with a directional aerial as I know where it comes from.
NickR
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AnswerID: 159574

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
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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 ..

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AnswerID: 159582

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 21:54

Thursday, Mar 09, 2006 at 21:54
>>> So should I bin the CB now or just keep it turned off untill I'm ouside of the big city?

Give up I would say and bin it if your offended by the words bleep bleep bleep or bleep in bleep
AnswerID: 159596

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

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