Why You Should NEVER Install A CB RADIO!

I am a "back in the day" trucker. I drove in the 90s spent 20 years in the Army then came back to trucking. I was amazed how few truckers had CBs, but there are still a few of us out there. Don't get rid of your CB, we are out there. We may be few and far between, but we are still out there.

Keep your cb, they will be back. It's basically unregulated , uncensored communication and that's becoming rare these days

As a trucker I can tell you that they are still used by a lot of trucks. Not nearly as much as back in the day because new drivers don't understand the importance of having them. Having a CB in my rig has saved me more than once from coming around a blind curve on a mountain side and slamming into stop traffic that I could not see ahead.

Every Spokane truck stop: “You’ll never guess who sells professional-level CBs…”

I once got stuck on a remote high mountain dirt road while doing a K turn. My rear wheels dropped into the ditch and I was stuck for the night. I had a portable CB with antenna, similiar to the one in the video. I called for help, no one answered. I also had a 6 pack of beer, so I drank myself to sleep and someone happened by at dawn and pulled me out. .....Moral of the Story: Always carry a 6 pack of beer for emergencies

Some say hes still out there trying to get a simple radio check...

Important notice: You should tune your Antenna, the screw that locked the top part of the antenna is used to change the length of it, with a SWR meter you tune the length. Because without it the antenna actually radiates some of the tramitting signals back into your radio and of long periodes break it.

My dad was a truck driver for TNT Holland until he passed away in 96. My dad was a woodworker so he created a wooden box that could be placed in the passenger seat. Inside the wooden held the CB radio, Linear Amplifier, and AM/FM Radio including speakers. The box also had a quick disconnect for the power and normal antenna connector's for the CB radio and AM/FM Radio. My dad sold quite a few of those boxes to fellow TNT Holland truck drivers. At that time it was quite common that truck drivers ran Linear Amplifier with their CB radios. I remember going with him on the road when I was a teen. At that time a lot of truck drivers used the CB radio it was nearly nonstop talking. When I got older I pickup a old 70's 40 channel CB base and my grandpa gave me an antenna for it. When I owned it I was able to reach another person with a CB base 20 miles away.

Been on the radio since I was 9. I'm 48 now. Got 3 base stations and tweaked mobiles in each of my 4 vehicles. It ain't dead, people just don't have as much time or desire anymore. We're still out there.

I would never respond to "Can I get an old fashioned radio check with whipped cream on top please"

70 years old have always had one in my rig. Nice to have going over mountain passes to get alerts from truck drivers to other truck drivers about wrecks ahead of you. Couple times i broke down and no cell service. Called on cb and gave trucker information what i needed, when he got in cell range he made call for me...

I was big into CB from 1975-1983 or so. Had a talkin' base, and had tons of fun with my CB friends, some who have become life long friends. I used strictly Robyn radios, a D-104 base mic and a 102" whip on the vehicle. I started with Hustler on the car until I got the whip. My buddy at the CB shop he worked at bumped my rigs from 4 to 5 watts, never used a linear. Talked skip to Florida one day, was cool. I remember when we added the channels up to 40 before everyone got new radios, we could talk to people 30 miles away or more at night and the noise level then was nothing. When you unkeyed, it was silence. One of the best times of my life. You were never alone on the road back then.

OK,... WHY SHOULD I "NEVER" INSTALL A CB RADIO ??? ...in your case its because you have no idea what you are doing.

I have a black 1980 Trans Am. A CB radio is a must have for my situation, lolz.

Also, get the largest antenna you can install, typically smaller vehicles will have smaller antennas, while larger vehicles will have a larger antenna. Get a firestick, mine being ~24-36 inches long. If you have a garage, get a base spring on the firestick antenna, so the antenna flexes when hitting the top of the garage door. Make sure the antenna is grounded to the metal vehicle/roof, providing an extended ground plane. Then tune the CB/antenna!

I had a CB on my Camaro in the mid to late 70's. It was great for travelling on the interstate to find out about speed traps, roving police as well as conversation. This was the time when the speed limit was changed to 55 MPH after being 70vMPH for decades. Going 55 added a lot of time if you were driving between states in the west and using the CB 10 codes there was like playing cat and mouse with the highway patrol. The highway road markers were used to alert where speed traps were. It was fun but by 1980 it started fading in use.

“Can I get a good old fashion radio check” yeah I probably wouldn’t respond either lol

Like others have said, when installing a radio transmitter, the antenna needs to be tuned for lowest SWR (at the frequency/channel you use most). That takes a separate meter connected between the radio and the antenna. You adjust it by incrementally adjusting the length of the antenna's top section by loosening that Allen screw and moving the top section up and down till you get the lowest reading possible. A more here is that magnetic base antennas aren't the greatest to start with because they aren't directly connected to a metal surface to establish a strong ground plane. The "booster coil" is not actually a booster. It's adding length to the antenna by sending your signal thru a coil of copper encased in the plastic. This is because radios work best with antennas that are matched according to their wavelength.

I grew up in the 1970's. My Dad always had a CB Radio in all of his vehicles up into the 80's. Back then they were a life saver due to the emergency channel you could monitor. Plus over hear truckers talk about an accident up ahead. They were well needed for communication. I still have one of my Dads CB Radios out in my shed in a bin along with other stuff of his I kept after he passed away. Today you can use your smart phone for traffic updates and your GPS can even monitor traffic today. But I miss hearing the truckers chatter on the highway.

Had a cross-coutry trip last year and CB's saved our hides with absolutely zero cell crevice, so a tuned antenna works absolute wonders when in a convoy.