So, i bought a new CB on Monday and fitted it in the truck, but there never seems to be anyone on there, so either i bought a dud CB or the waves are dead nowadays, your thoughts please, do you have one? are there many people on there on a daily basis in which case mine is a dud as there never seems to be anyone on?
Do you regularly hear people on there/chat to people on there?
Madguy 
My cb is on from morning till night, all I ever hear on there is people in houses with them arguing with each other. Only hear other truckers if there’s an accident or really bad traffic
What is the range on a CB?
FarnboroughBoy11:
What is the range on a CB?
Properly installed 20-30 miles unless there’s hills in the way. Installed like crap like a mate of mine did, barely 3 to 4 miles even with 100W.
finaly re-fitted mine & the answer is no, unless you got the local bible basher or pensioners talking about their neighbours very few drivers will be heard, , you’ll usually get lots of tipper drivers in & around quarries & maybe the odd driver to driver either passing each othe or traveling together , but rarely much else , mine’s on all day & sometimes i get constant chatter other times it’s nothing all day .
question; i been given an SWR meter , but not really sure how it’s meant to work 
I have what is considered to be a good set up in my truck, I think 10-15 miles is maximum range on a flat open area but they are few and far between, usually 4-6 miles even less in built up areas.
We run on 22 around the west midlands and 9 in the east midlands, you’ll know if it’s working cos you’ll be able to hear the ■■■■■■■■Russians that seem to have hijacked the airwaves for their bloody taxi service.
Remember a standard CB only gives out 4 watts so unless both people have a good setup the conversation can soon end.
Most of our conversation is in the quarry or just when passing which lasts about 2 mins maximum in reality.
Conor:
FarnboroughBoy11:
What is the range on a CB?Properly installed 20-30 miles unless there’s hills in the way. Installed like crap like a mate of mine did, barely 3 to 4 miles even with 100W.
What’s the right way and wrong way to install I get about 4 miles on mine with a decent arieal
we tend to run in convoy if we get seperated by a mile or so ours are useless
MolePower:
finaly re-fitted mine & the answer is no, unless you got the local bible basher or pensioners talking about their neighbours very few drivers will be heard, , you’ll usually get lots of tipper drivers in & around quarries & maybe the odd driver to driver either passing each othe or traveling together , but rarely much else , mine’s on all day & sometimes i get constant chatter other times it’s nothing all day .question; i been given an SWR meter , but not really sure how it’s meant to work
SWR = safe working resistance, when you have it set up and key the mic the needle needs to move very little, red is bad, under 1 is excellent but hard to achieve, last time I checked I was running a SWR of 1.3 thats with a K40 on a magmount and a Harrier CBX.
I left Shardlow quarry yesterday heading to Stoke and could still hear the shovel driver and another trucker talking when I was passing Hilton ind est which must be 12 miles.
MolePower:
question; i been given an SWR meter , but not really sure how it’s meant to work
I’ve just been educated 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_wave_ratio
hodgeR500:
Conor:
FarnboroughBoy11:
What is the range on a CB?Properly installed 20-30 miles unless there’s hills in the way. Installed like crap like a mate of mine did, barely 3 to 4 miles even with 100W.
What’s the right way and wrong way to install I get about 4 miles on mine with a decent arieal
Hole drilled through metal roof is the right way. Mirror brackets and magmounts on the back of cabs with the coax crushed by the door when it closes is the wrong way.
Also you need to check the antenna is tuned once its fitted where it’ll be used.
MolePower:
question; i been given an SWR meter , but not really sure how it’s meant to work
Connect the SWR meter to the CB and the antenna goes to the SWR meter “ANT” connection.
Go to Ch1. Put the switch in the FWD position and key the mike. Adjust the knob so the needle goes to the max reading on the scale. De-key, move the switch to the REF position, key up and note the reading.
Do the same on Ch40.
An acceptable SWR reading is anything below 2 across all 40 channels but a decent install should be able to achieve less than 1.5. Perfect needle doesn’t move readings very ever rarely happen.
If the reading is higher on Ch1 than Ch40 you need to lengthen the antenna, if its lower than Ch40 you need to shorten it. Lengthen or shorten in small steps no more than a centimeter at a time, re-testing after every adjustment.
If the needle won’t go out of the red no matter what you do you’ve got issues.
Invest in ham radio instead. Job done.
Ken.
shortfatbaldbloke:
MolePower:
finaly re-fitted mine & the answer is no, unless you got the local bible basher or pensioners talking about their neighbours very few drivers will be heard, , you’ll usually get lots of tipper drivers in & around quarries & maybe the odd driver to driver either passing each othe or traveling together , but rarely much else , mine’s on all day & sometimes i get constant chatter other times it’s nothing all day .question; i been given an SWR meter , but not really sure how it’s meant to work
SWR = safe working resistance, when you have it set up and key the mic the needle needs to move very little, red is bad, under 1 is excellent but hard to achieve, last time I checked I was running a SWR of 1.3 thats with a K40 on a magmount and a Harrier CBX.
I left Shardlow quarry yesterday heading to Stoke and could still hear the shovel driver and another trucker talking when I was passing Hilton ind est which must be 12 miles.
SWR = standing wave ratio
madguy:
So, i bought a new CB on Monday and fitted it in the truck, but there never seems to be anyone on there, so either i bought a dud CB or the waves are dead nowadays, your thoughts please, do you have one? are there many people on there on a daily basis in which case mine is a dud as there never seems to be anyone on?
Do you regularly hear people on there/chat to people on there?Madguy
Unfortunately CB is nothing like it used to be, when I worked nights it was superb with almost every lorry bing on channel as well as home bases up and down the country to chat to and get directons from. Charlie 03 in Swindon has to be one of the best driver information groups ever to have existed, I used to love chatting with Bob (sadly no onger with us) he was a lovely man, Ray and the others on there but now it’s all gone.
Unless you’re running with a mate or find a couple from the same fleet to natter with there’s little actiivty on channel these days with the exception of bucketmouths, mic keyers & music players.
I’ve had one in the cab since the AM days & wouldn’t want to be without it simply because they’re handy for us but it spends more and more time switched off nowadays.
BB
Basilbrush:
madguy:
So, i bought a new CB on Monday and fitted it in the truck, but there never seems to be anyone on there, so either i bought a dud CB or the waves are dead nowadays, your thoughts please, do you have one? are there many people on there on a daily basis in which case mine is a dud as there never seems to be anyone on?
Do you regularly hear people on there/chat to people on there?Madguy
Unfortunately CB is nothing like it used to be, when I worked nights it was superb with almost every lorry bing on channel as well as home bases up and down the country to chat to and get directons from. Charlie 03 in Swindon has to be one of the best driver information groups ever to have existed, I used to love chatting with the late Bob, he was a lovely man & Ray and the others on there but now it’s all gone.
Unless you’re running with a mate or find a couple from the same fleet to natter with there’s little actiivty on channel these days with the exception of bucketmouths, mic keyers & music players.
I’ve had one in the cab since the AM days & wouldn’t want to be without it simply because they’re handy for us but it spends more and more time switched off nowadays.
BB
Yeh i noticed the other day at Lymm, just some know playing music and the next time i heard someone they were just talking crap and swearin everyother word…not what i remember at all.
I thought i had a dodgy rig and no one was getting through.
Madguy
I fitted one in the shovel and it worked well…Until someone snapped the cig lighter plug off it when I was off. I know it wasn’t accidental as the quarry machine ops either said it shouldn’tve been in there or took the ■■■■because I preferred it to using the quarrys’ 2-way system. Which broadcasts rivetting information about water levels in the digging area, power output on the conveyor belts and “what time are we shooting the ducks this weekend?” Fascinating 'tis not.
we are on channel 39 (emersons) say ello if you see me. 