I am confused

[Kardar2]

Hello,
I am confused
I was always thought that SSB users had the have a ham license. But then I was watching some videos on YouTube that kinda left me thinking you don’t need a license. But in the videos everyone talking on a Ssb was using ham call signs. Now also you can can talk up to 150 miles ? So how do you know how not to go over 150 miles seems kinda silly to restrict a radio signal. Thank you for your help

[jessejamesdallas]

no Ham license required for SSB...for as I know, there never has been either! SSB on a CB Radio, is just part of the 11 meter band...And as for the 150 mile deal...That got lifted...

[Kardar2]

So you use a amp and go as far as you want?

[Deleted User 30222]

It's not a matter of going as far as you want. Even with a kicker. The most important thing is a good antenna. And a well tuned radio.

[295 antenna]

Hello Kardar2 Having a ham license or not depends on what frequencies you can use .The mod of operating is not. If your communicating in the 11 meter band you are good. Ham operator also use sideband but in the (Ham bands) As far has using ham call signs a CBer can use most any call sign they want . its an unwritten rule to pick something nobody else is using of course . So your unique.
I hope this clears it up for you. If not maybe someone else hear can say it better. When (skip ) is in i prefer 38 LSB.

P.S.Amplifiers are not allowed for cb use . The fcc part 95 says 4 watts peak envelope power for am and 12 watts for side band

[Kardar2]

It's not a matter of going as far as you want. Even with a kicker. The most important thing is a good antenna. And a well tuned radio.

Yes I hear you on that. I just bought a uniden 980 and from what I seen on YouTube you can’t Tweak the radio much. Thanks for helping me understand about the SSB

[Deleted User 30222]

It's not a matter of going as far as you want. Even with a kicker. The most important thing is a good antenna. And a well tuned radio.

Yes I hear you on that. I just bought a uniden 980 and from what I seen on YouTube you can’t Tweak the radio much. Thanks for helping me understand about the SSB

That's why i went with the Galaxy DX959, all kinds of mods here. [Please login or register to view this link]

Plus the fact it has ssb. Plus the option to do a channel expansion. I now have over 400 different freqs.

[Kardar2]

Okay thanks

[Bozo]

P.S.Amplifiers are not allowed for cb use . The fcc part 95 says 4 watts peak envelope power for am and 12 watts for side band

CQ CQ CQ DX!!!! Idaho 538 is QRT and reading the mail!

Oh oh! I'm been breaking the law since I was 14 years old!!!

[jessejamesdallas]

P.S.Amplifiers are not allowed for cb use . The fcc part 95 says 4 watts peak envelope power for am and 12 watts for side band

CQ CQ CQ DX!!!! Idaho 538 is QRT and reading the mail!

Oh oh! I'm been breaking the law since I was 14 years old!!!

There's always a clown in every group....

[MDYoungblood]

Hi Kardar2,
There is a lot of things illegal on CB radio, modding equipment, amplifiers, extremely high antennas, the list goes on and on, luckily SSB transmission isn't one of them. BTW, distance is still in the rules;

§ 95.413 (CB Rule 13) What communications are prohibited?
(9) To communicate with, or attempt to communicate with, any CB station more than 250 kilometers (155.3 miles) away;

Now the thing is everyone does break one or more of these rules simply by opening the radio and making an adjustment. Years ago you could find FCC citations being to CB'ers regularly but now a days they are few and far between. It is pretty much anything goes as long as you aren't causing major interference to a municipality (fire or police), hospitals, or religious domains (churches).

I plead the fifth amendment on if I have done any of these things above.

3's

Greg

[Blue Ox2]

I can't wait till conditions are such that I CAN DO some serious distance communications. LOL.

73 ya'll,

Mike

[Scipio Kid]

OK, with all that cleared up, I'm more confused than ever. Beachbum says he has 400 extra channels. My Connex had all kinds of extra channels, AM-FM, A,B,C,D,E,F, G, H, +10 kHz and so does my Galaxy 48T, plus a whole lot more than 4 watts. I wrecked my watt meter testing it because it only goes to 100 watts and the Galaxy apparently, goes a whole lot higher.

So, if it's all illegal, why do I have it. And what do I need to do to be legal? Are all these other frequencies in the HAM bands? And, can you go 150 watts on them legally? I've never heard anything on any of them (granted, I never listened very long, but still ...). So, unless some of them are for the space shuttle or Zimbabwe, who is Beachbum going to talk to on his 400 rogue frequencies?

Also, and perhaps most confusing of all, does anyone here believe, for one minute, that Bozo was ever 14???

[Bozo]

OK, with all that cleared up, I'm more confused than ever. Beachbum says he has 400 extra channels. My Connex had all kinds of extra channels, AM-FM, A,B,C,D,E,F, G, H, +10 kHz and so does my Galaxy 48T, plus a whole lot more than 4 watts. I wrecked my watt meter testing it because it only goes to 100 watts and the Galaxy apparently, goes a whole lot higher.

So, if it's all illegal, why do I have it. And what do I need to do to be legal? Are all these other frequencies in the HAM bands? And, can you go 150 watts on them legally? I've never heard anything on any of them (granted, I never listened very long, but still ...). So, unless some of them are for the space shuttle or Zimbabwe, who is Beachbum going to talk to on his 400 rogue frequencies?

Also, and perhaps most confusing of all, does anyone here believe, for one minute, that Bozo was ever 14???

You're right... I went from 13 to 15

[Scipio Kid]

As did the majority of us. And yet somehow, after all those skipped years. We all seem to be stuck at 29. I've been giving that out as my age for decades. Worked for a while, then it was funny for a while, and now I think the response I get the most is "that's pathetic".

But is is true, I'll always be (at least) 29 (or maybe more).

[jessejamesdallas]

OK, with all that cleared up, I'm more confused than ever. Beachbum says he has 400 extra channels. My Connex had all kinds of extra channels, AM-FM, A,B,C,D,E,F, G, H, +10 kHz and so does my Galaxy 48T, plus a whole lot more than 4 watts. I wrecked my watt meter testing it because it only goes to 100 watts and the Galaxy apparently, goes a whole lot higher.

So, if it's all illegal, why do I have it. And what do I need to do to be legal? Are all these other frequencies in the HAM bands? And, can you go 150 watts on them legally? I've never heard anything on any of them (granted, I never listened very long, but still ...). So, unless some of them are for the space shuttle or Zimbabwe, who is Beachbum going to talk to on his 400 rogue frequencies?

Also, and perhaps most confusing of all, does anyone here believe, for one minute, that Bozo was ever 14???

To be "Legal"....Sell it, and buy a stock Cobra 29...

As for all those "Funny-Channels" that radio has, be careful talking on them...if for no other reason, your antenna won't be tuned for most of them...

[TNT1450]

OK, with all that cleared up, I'm more confused than ever. Beachbum says he has 400 extra channels. My Connex had all kinds of extra channels, AM-FM, A,B,C,D,E,F, G, H, +10 kHz and so does my Galaxy 48T, plus a whole lot more than 4 watts. I wrecked my watt meter testing it because it only goes to 100 watts and the Galaxy apparently, goes a whole lot higher.

So, if it's all illegal, why do I have it.

Probably because your Conex is an "export" radio, meaning it's only legal for use in some countries outside the U.S. and is sold supposedly with the expectation that it will be exported and not used where the FCC has jurisdiction. But in reality they are sold by distributors knowing full well they will be used on illegal frequencies and with more than legal power. So technically these radios aren't legal for use for CB as they're not type-accepted.

And what do I need to do to be legal?

Basically a stock, unmodified radio without a power amplifier.

Are all these other frequencies in the HAM bands?

Some are, some aren't. Most of the extra frequencies are above and below the standard CB channels in the 25, 26, and 27 MHZ band, and some are in the 10 meter ham band. It's highly suggested to stay off 28 & 29 MHZ as hams are very protective of their frequencies.

And, can you go 150 watts on them legally?

Not in the U.S. Only 4W AM and 12W SSB is legal.

So, unless some of them are for the space shuttle or Zimbabwe, who is Beachbum going to talk to on his 400 rogue frequencies?

Back in the day when sunspots were plentiful and the band was open about all day long, you could hear a lot of foreign CB stations between 27.405 and 28.000 MHZ. As well as below the CB band on 26 MHZ.

[Scipio Kid]

Thanks JJD and TNT, (Hey, that sounds like a good start to a Country-Western hit!)

Or not.

I'm good with being CB legal, although most my radios have been tuned and tweaked some and show 8-15 watts on the power-meter. So far, no one's given me any grief about it. No "Uncle Charley" today like there was back in the 70's. What are the power limits on HAM frequencies? I have a couple of mobile HAM radios and antennas, but the most I've ever done is hook them up and listen and never heard anything. (Well, I did hit the TX and say "Breaker 1-9" several times, just to be annoying and ruffle some feathers, but either no one heard me, or no one cared.) I googled one and found it has a factory output of 40 watts, so I assume that's legal (for HAMers).

I remember my shop foreman, who was a real CB enthusiast (nut, if you will), showing the fellows at the shop his radios and we were in awe! He had extra channels in all of them and I remember the empty space on the dial between 22 and 23 was set up for extra channels on a lot of radios. But it was all hush-hush because it was illegal. Then, one bright day in 1976, yeah I know it was supposed to be later, and my memory is extremely unreliable, but ... I remember getting the brand new, 2" thick, Sears Catalog and flipping right to the electronics section and seeing the new " Sears RoadTalker40" lineup. They had a real nice base station with digital display and big meters, a nice AM mobile unit with more features than I'd ever seen, built in SWR meter, digital channel display with auto-dimming & such and they also had a mobile SSB unit, but it didn't have the digital display, just the big selector knob in the middle with the 40, tiny channel numbers all around the dial. I showed it to my Foreman and told him his extra channels were no longer so cool. All he said was, "ahh ... Sears is just junk anyway". He was a die-hard Radio Shack freak, and anything else was junk to him, even Cobra. He was always making fun of my Midland. I also remember being so proud of my license and how cool it was to have to use my call sign every time I started transmitting. The new Radio Shack catalog came out about the same time with all the new 40 Channel radios as well and it seems like they dropped the license requirement at about the same time. The other long-gone memory is the "REACT" groups and individuals who always monitored Channel 9. You could get someone on "9" any time, night or day and they'd get help right away. Go to channel 9 today and all you get are bucket mouthed Mexicans. (I'f only I could learn Mexican, then I could communicate with them.)

I remember being at Lake Powell, in Southern Utah in 1978 with a buddy. We were camped on a plateau, high above the lake as the sun rose to the east. Always a beautiful sight. I"d just flipped on the ol' CB and started to make breakfast when a REACT unit broke in, told us there was an emergency and for everyone to go to channel 9. A little girl had wandered away from her family during the night and they needed help. If you've ever been in the area, you know how rugged and unforgiving the terrain is, and how hard it might be to find a little 4 year old. We had 20 or more radios on-line in 2-3 minutes, both on-shore and in the water (a lot of boats had CB's back then). We had dune buggies, trucks, Jeeps and boats and over 100 people on foot searching for her within minutes ... and she was found alive and well in under a half hour. You couldn't do that today with cell phones. Sadly, you probably couldn't do it with CB's either. (But I have been involved in a couple search and rescue operations using FRS hand helds.)

Oh well, it's good to be legal. I did sell the Connex for a lot more than I bought it for. Seemed like everyone wanted it. I've still got the Galaxy 48T and a few others like it, but I guess all the other channels, the AM & FM and the +10 kHz features are useless in the states? Not that I really need them, just never knew what they were all for. I guess next time I drive my truck to England or Australia, I'll be set. But like I said earlier, I just don't know how well I'd do learning a new language.

[TNT1450]

Full legal power for amateur radio is 1500 W. The reason you didn't hear anyone on those mobile ham radios is because I'm guessing they are 10 meter (28-29 MHZ) radios and the band wasn't open at the time. Where I live there aren't a lot of local hams, and the ones who are around aren't often hanging out on 10 meters.

I happen to have some Sears Roadtalker 40's here which were given to me a month or two ago. I'd like to convert them to 10 meters but so far swapping crystals hasn't gotten them to where I want them. It would be helpful if there were schematics available for them but so far I haven't found squat.

[Scipio Kid]

Back in '78 or '79. I walked into the local Sears and found a table full of "Factory Repaired" units that looked brand new with original packaging and warranty for a fraction of the normal price. So I bought 3, the one with all the features, the mobile SSB and the base station. They turned out to be phenomenal radios. Put up a 5/8 wave antenna on Dad's chimney on the mountain side above the valley and could talk easily all over the valley, 30+ miles. We even had an 'Uncle Charley' agent show up one night, who'd followed the signal on his range finder, accusing us of having a linear. Scared me at first, he had a badge and everything. He checked us out and told us we were legal and then told us what a great rig we had and couldn't believe that Roadtalker base station sounded so good, said he could hear us anywhere in the valley. We ended up talking CB's with him for an hour or more. The base got lost or stolen in a move, the side-band got wet and shorted out and I still have the one with all the features, use it in my pickup every now and then just to see what it'll do. In fact, I pulled it out and set it up on my bench when we started talking about 'em the other day and it's still pluggin' away.

You mentioned you picked a few up and were converting them to 10 meters by swapping crystals? I haven't opened one for years but I remember they had banks of crystals in there. we had a couple of big midland hand-helds back then with 4 channels each but they had plug-in sockets for the crystals and we had a container full of extra crystals we'd plug in and out to get the other channels (which didn't last long because we just left 9, 19 and 22 and one other in them). Can you simply plug in a HAM frequency crystal and be on your way with an old radio like that?

[Deleted User 30864]

§ 95.413 (CB Rule 13) has been lifted.

[MDYoungblood]

§ 95.413 (CB Rule 13) has been lifted.

Yep, they also moved Subpart D to the .900 designation;
[Please login or register to view this link]

They must have changed the rules recently, the one I cited was 10/01/09.

3's

Greg