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Old 9th Sep 2011, 11:08 pm   #41
russell_w_b
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Wasn't legal FM CB 27/81 limited to 4W into either a short base-loaded whip or ¼-wave vertical? Perhaps the 'top-loaders' and helicals disapeared from sale for a while.
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Old 10th Sep 2011, 8:35 pm   #42
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Happy memories, indeed.

I started off 'illegally' in early '81 and went to FM in early '82. A lot of my school mates were also on FM at the time so it really was fun. We arranged eyeballs and went to the local CB club every Sunday night. Here, a 16 year old lad could indulge in a pint of snakebite or two, without being challenged!

I still have a few old rigs knocking about somewhere but haven't used one for about 20 years! My main legal rig was a small Audioline 340, which used the excellent Uniden chassis. One of my friends had the Fidelity 1000, and this was an awful set, very prone to large amounts of bleedover.

I do have a souvenier of my CB days, though - the wife!

10 -10 'til we do it again..


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Old 10th Sep 2011, 11:15 pm   #43
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Quote:
Originally Posted by russell_w_b View Post
Wasn't legal FM CB 27/81 limited to 4W into either a short base-loaded whip or ¼-wave vertical? Perhaps the 'top-loaders' and helicals disapeared from sale for a while.
I think the aerial restrictions were more or less ignored from the start, and there was a very wide choice of aerial types available all the way through the eighties.

As far as I know the restrictions were relaxed quite a long time ago so that the ubiquitous half-wave base verticals which were being used absolutely everywhere anyway were finally legal.
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Old 11th Sep 2011, 7:01 am   #44
Neil Purling
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

I must say I have no idea that CB radio was still on the go.
My major memory of the wedding of Charles & Di was that my mate was watching it while I was outside in his car on his extra-legal Cobra AM CB set.
Even then there were irresponsible people, like the guy with a 'burner'* who just walked all over everybody.

* Burner from Afterburner, meaning a Linear Amplifier. Also referred to as a pair of boots I believe.

Last edited by Neil Purling; 11th Sep 2011 at 7:02 am. Reason: correction of spelling mistake
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Old 12th Sep 2011, 11:11 pm   #45
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

When I was a lad/yoof I used to have a Midland 2000(FM) with a loft aerial and a mains power supply as a home set up when I was growing up in South Gloucestershire.
It got out best off the top of my Bedford CF with a DV27(good ground plane?) Parked atop a local hill I could get across the river to Lydney and Chepstow, and down as far as Filton/Patchway and talk to the truckers on the M4/M5. That SWR meter was worth every penny! On a visit to York, I once reached Skipton! I also had a mid loaded mag mount(which I sometimes used clamped to an old fireguard in the loft) but that wasn't as good as the DV.
I always remember my first "copy" his handle was "Postman Pat", and he suggested my handle of "Warlord", as I was involved in battle re-enactment at the time. (I ran into him some years later at the scene of a crashed mail van, but that's a story for another time.)
I also used to chat to my college friend at the time who lived a couple of miles away, it was cheaper than using the phone. In the Bristol area channel 19 was the general "Breaker" channel, rather than 14 as in other places( 19 is/ was usually for our trucking friends).

Quote:
Also referred to as a pair of boots I believe
Yes ISTR you are right. eg." I/he has got his boots on"

I sold my "rig" a few years ago. I never seemed to use it once I was married...................
I suppose it's less relevant now everyone has a mobile phone, but much more fun of course!

I never had a licence, but was none the less a responsible user.

Got to go, need a 10-100!
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Last edited by Tim; 12th Sep 2011 at 11:30 pm. Reason: Adding more prattle...........
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Old 12th Sep 2011, 11:31 pm   #46
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Like a lot of people I started off with the old AM sets probably about 81. A lot of my mates had them fitted into tractors, cars etc and living in a rural area it was a really good (the only?) way to keep in touch and find out who was going to be where etc. A lot of folk knock CB radio but used sensibly I think it's a good thing. As you say most of the idiots have disappeared off into the exciting world of texting and apps, so the channels are fairly quiet around here apart from the local quarry, farmers, and some unidentified users who seem to spring up from time to time late at night?? Once the channels are harmonised with Europe and SSB is allowed it will be better.
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Old 13th Sep 2011, 8:29 am   #47
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

I remember spending the night before going for a GPO job interview at the Whitehaven telephone exchange eradicating all traces of my mobile CB radio set and DV27. I didn't think it would look terribly good if spotted...
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Old 13th Sep 2011, 3:12 pm   #48
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Do you still need a licence for cb ,s ?

The amateur radio fee was phased out a few years ago

Dont get me wrong you still have to pass a watered down exam and I think do a practical construction project

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Old 13th Sep 2011, 5:23 pm   #49
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

val33vo, the CB licence has also been abolished, probably due to so few people actually using the CB these days.

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Old 13th Sep 2011, 10:38 pm   #50
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

The reason behind it's abolition was the same as that of the Amateur License fee - it cost more to administer than the fees collected....
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Old 14th Sep 2011, 11:03 am   #51
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

The same goes for VHF Marine Licences.
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Old 15th Sep 2011, 10:29 pm   #52
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

My latest Newsletter from Thunder Pole shows the 2nd of November as a possible organised date for a get together.
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Old 16th Sep 2011, 10:27 am   #53
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

On he subject of cb radio has it always been Illegal to use AM even in the early days.How come there where so many AM rigs in the uk 70s/80s,iam sure i bought a AM rig from Tandy in the 70s
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Old 16th Sep 2011, 7:15 pm   #54
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Quote:
Originally Posted by Top Cap View Post
My latest Newsletter from Thunder Pole shows the 2nd of November as a possible organised date for a get together.
Sounds great, i wonder if local celebrations will take place?
I am trying for a get together locally, but only have about four people so far....

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Old 16th Sep 2011, 7:50 pm   #55
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Quote:
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On he subject of cb radio has it always been Illegal to use AM even in the early days.
Most definitely! I believe that is still the case to this day.

Quote:
How come there where so many AM rigs in the uk 70s/80s...
Because there were a lot of people using them illegally!

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Old 19th Sep 2011, 6:56 pm   #56
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

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On he subject of cb radio has it always been Illegal to use AM even in the early days.How come there where so many AM rigs in the uk 70s/80s,iam sure i bought a AM rig from Tandy in the 70s
Basically, CB radio had been legal in the USA for a long time before we got interested in it, and the CB movement here was initially started by people importing radios which would have been perfectly legal in the USA to the UK, where their use was not legal.

As it happened, the USA system (originally launched in the 1950s, I believe) used AM, not FM. You would never have bought an AM radio from Tandy, by the way. They didn't start selling CB equipment here until it was legal.

One exception to this rule was that they sold Power / SWR / Modulation meters, the modulation section of which was useless for the legal UK market because it was designed to indicate AM modulation rather than FM deviation.

FM was chosen for the new legal system here for sound technical reasons - essentially, FM is a little bit harder to accidentally demodulate than AM is and so if your FM transmissions got into your neighbour's stereo system it was less likely to come out as demodulated audio.
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Old 19th Sep 2011, 7:03 pm   #57
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

If AM CB is legalised in the UK it will be interesting to see whether the signals get demodulated in neighbour's telephones and audio systems. This can be a major problem for UK Radio Amateurs using AM, but they generally use higher power than legal CB sets.
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Old 27th Oct 2011, 10:49 pm   #58
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

The 30th anniversary is nearly upon us (November 2nd, 2011). Anyone planning to warm up an old CB radio on that day / evening?
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Old 27th Oct 2011, 11:06 pm   #59
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

Hi.
Why not, I am off work for a few days including the 2nd so perhaps I will head up to the nearest big hill and give it a go.
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Old 27th Oct 2011, 11:12 pm   #60
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Default Re: UK CB radio 30th anniversary

10 and 11M are quite good at present, so expect a CME to occur on the first, wiping HF out!
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