CBs and Radios

fweddy · Post by **fweddy** » Sun May 27, 2007 9:48 pm

Got a CB with my cruiser

Its a GME Electrophone TX830N 26 MHz Transceiver

What can you tell me?

mate has two uniden handhelds but we can't get them talking to my unit, well actually he can hear me if he is real close, but as soon as he's a few meters away he looses me and I can't get him at all.

I think our MHz ranges must be different (although seems strange he can get some of mine)

My frequency range is 26.330 to 26.770. His is more like 476.*** - 477.***

mine looks like a pretty old thing, but these things do seem to be a bit behind the time in external design...

I know nothing about these things - appreciate any help

dazza85 · Post by **dazza85** » Sun May 27, 2007 10:15 pm

What you have there is a CB which is good for medium range between trucks on a trip etc. These sets have been around for about 30 + years.

The ones your friend has are the new PRS radios that are good for talking between the truck and winch man, towed & towee.

The reason that you can receive some of the CB on the PRS at close range is because on old sets there is a lot of what they call spurs on other frequencies that are very low power and the PRS is receiving these.

From what I've seen on here I would keep the CB for coms on trips and in time buy yourself a couple of PRS radios for the close work.

http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=90

or
Dick Smith have a special at the moment ...
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4659563501772e1c273fc0a87f33065e/Product/View/D9129

Hope this helps

fweddy · Post by **fweddy** » Sun May 27, 2007 11:30 pm

Thanks heaps

this appears to be the same as what I have

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4659563501772e1c273fc0a87f33065e/Product/View/D1436

He has some thing very much like this
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4659563501772e1c273fc0a87f33065e/Product/View/D1804

he's considering swapping for simular to mine or would these hand held CBs work?
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4659563501772e1c273fc0a87f33065e/Product/View/D1848

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4659563501772e1c273fc0a87f33065e/Product/View/D1852

These state they are PRS CBs, what about them?

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4659563501772e1c273fc0a87f33065e/Product/View/D9129

Steve_t647 · Post by **Steve_t647** » Mon May 28, 2007 10:28 am

CB works over a much larger area PRS is only 1-3km line of sight.

Depends on what you are doing but I have a hand help PRS and most clubs have PRS radios.

Personaly unless i go for a dual channel CB and PRS I would stick to PRS as if that stuck I can usualy find cell coverage to "phone a friend" to get rescued or be with other 4wd's. The only issue is when in convoy the group can spread out and the handhelds don't pickup all the far end.

CB used to be very popular but since the little VHF handhelds came about almost all the club's have changed to useing them.

albundy · Post by **albundy** » Mon May 28, 2007 11:46 am

PRS is only 1-3km line of sight

only hand helds, depends on the wattage. On my truck mount prs I was on top of the old man range near potters and was talking with dudes on the serpentine approx 50k's as the crow flies.
Al

northland_pajero · Post by **northland_pajero** » Mon May 28, 2007 7:12 pm

I have a cb / prs unit in my Pajero... it works well as the club uses both and I can listen and transmit on both

fweddy · Post by **fweddy** » Tue May 29, 2007 6:00 pm

I don't seem to get anything on any channel my CB regardless of if I'm home (country) or in town - should I worry?

Was using the mates PRS unites last night and even parked beside each other it was hard to hear him clearly.

What units are most people using?

Should we aim at VHF rather than UHF? is AM different again?

MATT4U · Post by **MATT4U** » Tue May 29, 2007 6:08 pm

I reccomend this unit.
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/465bbfab00e300722740c0a87f3306a7/Product/View/D9061

NJV6 · Post by **NJV6** » Tue May 29, 2007 6:09 pm

Possibly you were too close. CB's do not work well if you are close if you don't turn the squelch down.

Yes AM is different to those mentioned. AM is the old 'Citizens Band' that was free to anyone to use when normally you had to pay to have a frequency. Hence why everyone then used it and it became a pain. The PRS is taking over in this role due to it being clearer (vehicle mounted) most of the time. Hand helds typically do not work so well, 5 watt ones are available but are nearly as dear as a vehicle mount. Any hand held does not work so well inside a vehicle as a vehicle mount with a proper aeriel.

NJ

4wdnuts · Post by **4wdnuts** » Tue May 29, 2007 6:39 pm

hey fweddy, let me know when your around those radios again. i could come and have a look for you and see if you can pick me up on my one.

nuts · Post by **nuts** » Tue May 29, 2007 9:26 pm

fweddy wrote:Got a CB with my cruiser

Its a GME Electrophone TX830N 26 MHz Transceiver

What can you tell me?

mate has two uniden handhelds but we can't get them talking to my unit, well actually he can hear me if he is real close, but as soon as he's a few meters away he looses me and I can't get him at all.

I think our MHz ranges must be different (although seems strange he can get some of mine)

My frequency range is 26.330 to 26.770. His is more like 476.*** - 477.***

mine looks like a pretty old thing, but these things do seem to be a bit behind the time in external design...

I know nothing about these things - appreciate any help

im running a uniden uh088sx uhf radio

seems to get pretty good coverage

4wdnuts · Post by **4wdnuts** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:14 pm

im running a uniden uh088sx uhf radio

seems to get pretty good coverage

i also have this one and it works very well. have no trouble picking the repeater up on mt grey from chch. which is roughly 41kms from home.

fweddy · Post by **fweddy** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:34 pm

So just boiling this down....

Is CB and PRS totally different things - I notice PRS radios are called CBs in some settings

Is the main difference AM ('old school' CB @ 26MHz) vs UHF ('new school' CB @ 477MHz)

been reading up a bit and found this [/img]http://zcat.wired.net.nz/radio/about/

Sadam_Husain · Post by **Sadam_Husain** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:36 pm

fweddy wrote:So just boiling this down....

Is CB and PRS totally different things - I notice PRS radios are called CBs in some settings

Is the main difference AM ('old school' CB @ 26MHz) vs UHF ('new school' CB @ 477MHz)

been reading up a bit and found this [/img]http://zcat.wired.net.nz/radio/about/

You got it :thumright:

Post by **Mark** » Thu May 31, 2007 10:37 pm

fweddy wrote:So just boiling this down....

Is CB and PRS totally different things - I notice PRS radios are called CBs in some settings

Is the main difference AM ('old school' CB @ 26MHz) vs UHF ('new school' CB @ 477MHz)

been reading up a bit and found this [/img]http://zcat.wired.net.nz/radio/about/

That's exactly right. The old school CB (26 MHz AM - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cb_radio) is what is still used by most truckies. It is still used in some 4wd clubs, but not so many these days.

It is definitely being taken over by UHF PRS radios (0.5 watt handheld to 5 watt vehicle mount). UHF covers a large frequency range, between 300 MHz and 3 GHz, and PRS (Personal Radio Service) is a subset of that range that is allocated to private and unlicenced use.

Here's what it says about PRS here: http://www.rsm.govt.nz/publications/pibs/pib20.pdf

In radio spectrum terms, the Personal Radio Service (PRS) consists of 40 channels spaced at
25 kHz between 476.400 MHz and 477.425 MHz using frequency modulation (FM). A
General User Radio Licence (GURL) has been issued for this service, meaning that
possession and operation of approved radio apparatus on these channels does not require an
individual licence.

In general, any PRS device that you pick up, be it handheld or vehicle mount, should be interoperable on those 40 channels. However, some of the channels are reserved for special use such as repeater channels. See PDF doc above for some details.

In some countries the PRS spectrum is still referred to as CB (Citizen Band), but this is just confusing. They are definitely not interoperable because of the huge difference between frequencies.

You will get interference at close range. I found that my scanner picked up a CB broadcast on just about all channels that were programmed into it when I was too close. I had to be at least 20m away before it picked the signal up on the right channel.

With the CB you have you will find that as you drive down the main highways you will suddenly pick up truckies talking bollocks to each other on channel 10 (or is it 11??). Normally you will be travelling in the opposite direction and you will only hear them for about 60secs before they start breaking up again. This is a common past time for truckies to keep themselves interested during long hauls. Some of the things you hear them talking about just blows you away sometimes!

Baldrick · Post by **Baldrick** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:09 pm

Mark wrote:

With the CB you have you will find that as you drive down the main highways you will suddenly pick up truckies talking bollocks to each other on channel 10 (or is it 11??). ........ Some of the things you hear them talking about just blows you away sometimes!

Channel 11 - and if you have kids in the truck be prepared to turn the CB volume right down/off if the kids are real young.

The truckers language is rather "colourful" to say the least. :wink:

But can also be very informative....where speed cameras etc are :shock:

fweddy · Post by **fweddy** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:48 pm

any one got an opinion of this one

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/465ea2ba001dc1202740c0a87f3306ba/Product/View/D1764

Baldrick · Post by **Baldrick** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:54 am

fweddy wrote:any one got an opinion of this one

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/465ea2ba001dc1202740c0a87f3306ba/Product/View/D1764

Looks good. Has the Scan function. $50 cheaper than 4WD Bits - so this cover the costs of an aerial, mounting bracket & coax.

I think that some people mount these in ashtray holes - as they are a good small size.

Get much better coverage than the heand-held UHF radios, and also operate on the duplex channels - allowing the use of repeaters in the area. (If there are any)

Sadam_Husain · Post by **Sadam_Husain** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:32 am

Baldrick wrote:
fweddy wrote:any one got an opinion of this one

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/465ea2ba001dc1202740c0a87f3306ba/Product/View/D1764

Looks good. Has the Scan function. $50 cheaper than 4WD Bits - so this cover the costs of an aerial, mounting bracket & coax.

I think that some people mount these in ashtray holes - as they are a good small size.

Get much better coverage than the heand-held UHF radios, and also operate on the duplex channels - allowing the use of repeaters in the area. (If there are any)

If your looking at buying a PRS there's a few comercial traders selling new ones on trademe, they're pretty popular but you can still strike the right auction and save up to 50%

basics · Post by **basics** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:10 pm

the guys at work were saying its 30 bucks a month to have a cb? true or false?

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:22 pm

false, unless you are paying one off. The units you buy from Dick Smith and elsewhere, for 4wd use etc all operate on free channels.

basics · Post by **basics** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:29 pm

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/D1764

what do you make of this?

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:41 pm

Uniden UH 012
read these threads that mention them. sound good to me. I'm running an older uniden Sundowner unit and its great.

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/modules ... ight=uh012

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/modules ... ight=uh012

http://www.offroadexpress.co.nz/modules ... ight=uh012

basics · Post by **basics** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:58 pm

thanks for the links smurf

just lookin at TM and see this one.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-ph ... 63.htm?p=1

- up to 18km range*

*Maximum range under ideal line of sight conditions. A better guide to range may be gained by equating 1W power = to 1km range

.

thats not fvery far at all. am i going to be disipointed if i bid on this

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:16 pm

all mounted UHF radios are (should be) 5W, so they will all have roughly the same transmitting distance. Distance can be affected by aerial set up and mounting, weather conditions and the terrain you are in, etc. You will be able to transmit further in clear open conditions than in hills/mountains.

basics · Post by **basics** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:20 pm

wheres the best place to mount the areial?

is there much difference between areials?

Dick · Post by **Dick** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:32 pm

basics wrote:wheres the best place to mount the areial?

is there much difference between areials?

Aerial - If you can, go for a steel (I think it is), not the fibreglass ones, as the fibreglass ones break easier than the steel. However i dont know where to get the steel ones from.

Mounting - go for a front bullbar mount, or gutter of the front guard/bonnet or even some people mount theirs on the spare wheel carrier at the back - this is very tidy, however you can loose range with this. Where-ever you put it, make sure you have considered how much that area gets hit by trees etc which in the bush, as the aeirals, and bases not to mention, will break if hit often.

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:33 pm

mounting in the centre of your vehicle is supposed to be the best as it gives you an equal transmitting/reception field in all directions, but it is highly impracticle, you'll wipe it off and who wants to drill a hole in their roof, most people mount it off a bull bar or spare tyre carrier. It is important to get a good earth when mounting it.

this would probably be what you would use for mounting on a 4wd
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/D4000

or for a bit more reception/gain. But more likely to be damaged
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/D4104

mroffroader · Post by **mroffroader** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:34 pm

Pm sent basics, i set up mine on my vitara so if you go and buy a antenna and radio during the week and come round on the weekend il help you out :wink:

wjw · Post by **wjw** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:51 pm

Smurf wrote:It is important to get a good earth when mounting it.

Check the details on your antenna, some must NOT be earthed. They usually say "ground independant" antenna somewhere...

CBs and Radios

CBs and Radios

Re: CBs and Radios