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You don't have to have an illegally modded radio to get bear reports from 75 miles away. The reports roll up the highway in the opposite direction you're travelling. "I saw a smokey with a customer back at mile marker 238..." That was an hour ago. Meanwhile, you're headed toward mile marker 238. That's how that works. Of course, by that time the information is incredibly stale and useless, and I think that was Crew Chief's point.
Anyway, CBs are still somewhat helpful for sniffing out bears. Cops are getting more and more creative with disguising their patrol vehicles, and it sometimes takes experienced truckers to sniff them out. That said, a CB is a supplement to, not a substitute for, a high-quality radar detector. And yes, it can help stave boredom by either providing chances to chat with fellow travelers or providing for some colorful people-watching opportunities (or "people-listening" as the case may be). For a city lad like me, it's also a fascinating study in cultural habits/differences.
Thanks, Drover! Glad to see you're thinking... I'm gonna play "devil's advocate" for a moment because I'm not very much like most of the truckers portrayed on TV (and I'm not even as good looking as Jerry Reed...) For the most part, my opinion about "bear reports" is that I'm not going to aid and abet some "Super Trucker" that wants to fly at ground level on the open highway. I set my cruise control (if weather/traffic conditions permit) at 2 mph over the speed limit. The cops won't even look at me because there are SO many people driving WELL over the speed limit. The other nice thing about doing that is I rarely have to brake because most traffic just goes on past. (that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to go a little faster (65 mph is fine) or that I agree with split speed limits (I don't) But I drive that way because my driving skills are always on display. AND the name of the retailer I deliver to is in LARGE letters on the trailer.
I use CB.
It's a good tool, and no matter where you go or what you do, there are pottymouth morons ready to show off their intellijints.
AFAIK, outfits like Car and Driver, Motor Trend, etc. use CBs during their group road tests.
I used to travel in convoys to rallycrosses. We all used FRS radios, and I would imagine C&D, Motor Trend and the like also do that. Better range (assuming compared to an unmodified CB transmitter), better portability from vehicle to vehicle, clearer signal, the ability to use sub-channels to filter out other channel traffic, etc.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,757,602 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crew Chief
Thanks, Drover! Glad to see you're thinking... I'm gonna play "devil's advocate" for a moment because I'm not very much like most of the truckers portrayed on TV (and I'm not even as good looking as Jerry Reed...) For the most part, my opinion about "bear reports" is that I'm not going to aid and abet some "Super Trucker" that wants to fly at ground level on the open highway. I set my cruise control (if weather/traffic conditions permit) at 2 mph over the speed limit. The cops won't even look at me because there are SO many people driving WELL over the speed limit. The other nice thing about doing that is I rarely have to brake because most traffic just goes on past. (that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to go a little faster (65 mph is fine) or that I agree with split speed limits (I don't) But I drive that way because my driving skills are always on display. AND the name of the retailer I deliver to is in LARGE letters on the trailer.
You also get a relay factor, one guy gets the call from 4 miles away, then he transmitts it and so on, pretty soon that bear call has been transmitted a long distance.
I still have a CB although it's somewhere in a closet, when I was young my friends used them to get together on weekend nights. I used to work on a loading rack in a refinery, I bought a few nicely modified radios from truckers.
My Son is 24 and has one in his car.
When we travel with others we use hand held radios to comunicate between vehicles.
There is a phenomenon called "skip." The signal bounces off the Ionosphere and can be heard for long distances. I've heard conversations from Texas, while on I-95 in Philly.
Read it 6X over. I understand it's all about the antenna, have not heard of anyone getting that far though.
6X over and you still didn't get it. *Sigh* I give up.
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I'm gonna play "devil's advocate" for a moment because I'm not very much like most of the truckers portrayed on TV (and I'm not even as good looking as Jerry Reed...
) For the most part, my opinion about "bear reports" is that I'm not going to aid and abet some "Super Trucker" that wants to fly at ground level on the open highway. I set my cruise control (if weather/traffic conditions permit) at 2 mph over the speed limit. The cops won't even look at me because there are SO many people driving WELL over the speed limit. The other nice thing about doing that is I rarely have to brake because most traffic just goes on past. (that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to go a little faster (65 mph is fine) or that I agree with split speed limits (I don't) But I drive that way because my driving skills are always on display. AND the name of the retailer I deliver to is in LARGE letters on the trailer.
Signal Skip
