CB Radio is Going FM! Why is the FCC Doing It?

[@JamesSmith-wy7zk]

Anything that Google can’t monitor and record in your name is a good thing.

[@gfl1957]

If you do like me and don't use google it is no problem. And use fake info here.

[@rayh592]

@@gfl1957 Stated on a Google own site. DUHHHHHHH

[@RedRabbit4230]

@@rayh592 😂😂😂😂😂 true

[@j.d.schultzsr.9215]

Well forty rogers own that

[@johnturner5691]

5g towers can track every move you make especially if your vaccinated...

[@oldskooldriver9379]

Consumers can thwart this messy free-for-all on 11 meters by simply adopting a strategy of using even channels for FM and odd channels for AM/SSB. This preserves things like channel 9 emergency for old and new gear, and allows a way for old and new equipment to coexist without a lot of clutter on every channel.

[@spaceflight1019]

Have you listened to channel 9 lately? It's become a Puerto Rican shootout channel with Bleedover six channels in both directions.

[@spaceflight1019]

@user-kh1yg7tq4r It's been my belief for a while now that the idea of the "emergency channel" has been taken over by cell phone users. It went from channel 9, to hams using the repeater autopatch to call 911, to today where everyone can call 911.

[@BOB12349307]

@@oldskooldriver9379 am and ssb don't mix well

[@gatorguy76]

I am a Ham guy and I got into radio with my grandfathers CB. They are a great segway into amateur radio. I am happy about the addition of FM. In my opinion it might be about 20 years too late to save CB, but what a blast it would be to have CBs come back to life like in the 70's and 80's.

[@James_Knott]

When I got my amateur radio license, almost half a century ago, CBers were considered scum of the earth. ;-) The CB band was created from the 11M amateur radio band.

[@plasticinthetree4261]

CB doesn't need to be "saved." There is plenty of activity, and FM won't charge that.

[@Bootyhunter1971]

Ham is flopping much faster than cb. I monitor both all the time. Cb has remained constant while ham has taken a nose dive. Ham needs to worry about ham and not about cb and Im a general class ham licensee and have held license constantly since 1996

[@K7DFA]

@James C : Unfortunately, with a lot of the new (and, let's be honest, quite a few of the old), neighborhoods having C C &R's, and HOA's, in place that restrict what, if any antennae are going to be available, for those who want to use two-way radios, regardless of the frequency range, it's not going to be "coming back like the 70's and 80's". After all, back then, you didn't have any restrictions, other than local ordinances, on placing your base station antenna system wherever you wanted it to be. Some would be C.B. radio operators also found out the hard way that the power lines near their house were, and are, a "force to be reckoned with" when it comes to antenna system placement.

[@danielt.8573]

The beer bug got many people back to CB. I'm one of them as well.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

You hit the nail on the head: Cobra and President want more sales.

[@K0LWC]

Yes!!!!

[@hwsadberry6781]

STRYKER SR-955HP series for the win. Clean audio, plenty of power, stays on freq., has vfo and the list goes on and on. Ranger (RCI) will be poised and ready also. The new Ranger X9 is a powerhouse radio. Options will be out there. My humble opinion.

[@hwsadberry6781]

@@ronb6182 You don't need C.B.? Yet you profess 11 meter is dead?! Crystal ball maybe? You have a "ham license" do ya? Impressive! Glad you shared that with us. I say you are a liar and have zero radio knowledge or you are proof that any idiot can get licensed. Which is it?

[@1001011100101001]

@@ronb6182 Which ham frequency do I turn to to know which lane is closed from the accident ahead? Or that the weigh station is open, so I have plenty of time to get in the proper lane?

[@deezgoddamnnutz2139]

Yes, but also it's fm so you will be able to understand people a whole lot better

[@mosherj666]

FM was the only legal mode from 1981 to 2014 here in the UK. SSB and AM became in 2014, and SSB has since become the mode of choice for many.

[@markmayfield2228]

I'm not buying a new CB. I like my 29 Nightwatch...even though the backlight doesn't work anymore. I've had it in my truck for 20 years and it still works great. Plus, with not many people using CBs anymore on the road, or if they do, they are rude drivers just starting up drama. I normally only use it for speaking to scale operators at quarries and cement plants.

[@ronb6182]

To Mark Mayfield if I buy another CB I wouldn't mind getting an old 23 channel model with one that has channel 22A as well as channel 22. My friend had an Eico that had 22A on it. That CB was able to communicate with California from Pennsylvania without a linear amplifier.

[@notsure7874]

Get that backlight fixed man! Those are excellent radios. Hard to beat a 29.

[@markmayfield2228]

@@notsure7874 I'd like to. Just too busy runnin' to get to a radio shop. Gotta make the Benjamins.

[@notsure7874]

@@markmayfield2228 No doubt. I've been burning the candle at both ends myself. Not gonna get ahead waiting around on money getting handed out right?

[@nickzankowitz2100]

@@notsure7874 how do you fix the backlight? I can't find new base is, and it seems the bezel is commonly the issue. My local shop said there's nothing he can do about it. I have 3 NW radios that the backlight doesn't work on

[@georgimmanuelnagel6603]

In Europe FM is the most popular modulation on CB. I do not see a problem here. The local chat is on FM and when you want to catch DX you switch to AM or SB.

[@alzeNL]

Hmm, well, popular, ok, subjective. You are right, when local FM is where it is. SSB is the way for the CB on 11 meters. 73, 2E0FWE.

[@TelstarFirst]

As a Brit I can tell you that we've been dropping FM into American rigs for years, however if you are going to sit on the ssb calling channel on FM then all hell will break out. When the skip is running we get US ssb blasting through the middle of our domestic FM bands. The frequencies need to be separate for different modes or the whole thing will become unusable. I've still got an old President Lincoln with FM and modified to cover the whole of 10 and 11 metres, there is plenty of room if someone allocates it intelligently.

[@jeep6242]

Yeah except it's not here. So every time you try to establish urgent local communications with someone you are never going to know if they are there. It's going to be a nightmare without a huge majority user base either way.

[@tramey1961]

They have a lot more frequencies too

[@JohnSmith-wl8cv]

Uhf is the way to go i think in the UK ,uses small antennas not as long as ugly 11 meters, maybe 40 chn 12.25 5watts i started out on CB in 1979 gave it up 2011 became ham operator found it boring use pmr 446 grat band just need 5 watts instead of 500mw.so uk went tge other way to you guys in the States FM is great

[@RhythmicSensations]

Back when cb was a 23 channel radio, users went to channel 16 for sideband. When the channels were increased to 40, some of the upper most channels were selected by people using the radios for sideband. If you want to talk to others who are using sideband, you go to where you know they are. It'll likely be the same for fm. This band isn't crowded any longer, so when you get your fm enabled radio, you'll be turning it to fm and scanning for fm signals. As more people start appearing on certain channels while talking in the fm mode, those channels will likely become popular and they'll begin to be set aside by users as where to go to talk on fm. People have this tendency to figure out how to be cooperative when they want to use new features. You could go anywhere on any of those 40 channels to use sideband, but if you actually want to talk, you'll go where sideband is being used. It'll be the same with the new fm mode.

[@raycash5804]

I vote for the lower channels being FM since it seems that the higher are popular for SSB

[@johnregan3075]

@@user-3tf67bk46u saved me a ton of typing, that’s for sure. 😉

[@BrotherTimothyClark]

Be careful, your making to much sense here. No seriously though, I tend to agree with you.

[@manuelgomez1166]

I would hope that FM could have it's own channel like 41 -80 and leave 1 - 40 alome for AM.

[@DiggerX]

Below channel 1 would be better, SSB Freebanders use all the Freq. above channel 40. There's a few International calling Freq. above channel 40 that FM would couse problems with.

[@michaelterrell]

Who do you plan on taking that spectrum away from?

[@lesjones7019]

@@DiggerX digger butt real deep Man .lol.

[@williamharshman9572]

I miss my old CBer friends; Channel Master, Straight Shooter number One, Twenty Century Fox, Geno Mitchellino, Major One, Earthquake, Fat Man, and many more.

[@lesjones7019]

@@williamharshman9572 brother black. Chicken bone. And me junk yard dog .lol

[@KKEM641]

I have to admit my first experience with radio was with CB, then scanners, then I got my Amateur Radio License. You make a valid point about 11 meters. KC0KM

[@MauriatOttolink]

FM has a characteristic known as "Capture Effect." This causes the receiver to take the sound from only the strongest signal on the channel. Others are not processed.This applies at its best when the multiple sigs are FM. With mixed signals, chaos can occur. Regardless of mode, the strongest signal can over-ride any other even if it cannot be read...SSB or FM

[@NightRunner417]

My opinion is that for free-wheeling vast area communications like hf ham and CB, SSB is definitely the way to go. If you have a very active channel with a few people trying to talk around each other, it just ends up sounding like a typical in-person conversation in a room. You can understand everyone even if they're talking at the same time. There's no squeal from heterodyne and nobody "stomps" anyone else no matter how strong they are. It's just louder or softer. I can see this whole FM thing just creating yet another layer of "Mud duck stuck in the mud stomp smack squish! You ain't gettin out! You ain't gettin out! This be the Mr. Magic Radio Master saying no way you gettin out from under my monster truck madness world wide FM station we back QUIEEEETTTTT" 🤣 One on one, though, yeah I can see FM being nice if it has similar reach to AM. The ability to reject AM type interference is a definite plus. Still, seems super weird to me, the idea of working skip on FM, lol. I'm too old school I guess.

[@scvjeff]

Noise is noise. If the skip is in and theres a million carriers on the channel, FM isn’t going to fix or help that. With that much competing RF on the same channel, the FM discriminator won’t have a clue what to do

[@VicGreenBitcoin]

FM is so much better then AM, it also has a greater range and sounds better. However skip is also present on FM...for a HAM you not that smart😂

[@14KiloWhisky]

​@@VicGreenBitcoinFM is crap 😅 except at short distance between base station with solid signal. Try FM in mobile and you'll see... 🤣🤣

[@spaceflight1019]

@@14KiloWhisky What's your definition of "crap"? If FM was crap the commercial services wouldn't have embraced it 60 years ago. It has two distinct advantages: not having to constantly fiddle with the squelch, and the ability to use subaudible tone squelches for privacy. That said, it is subject to the same propagation physics as AM or SSB.

[@hugoromeyn4582]

Here in Europe, The Netherlands, exactly the opposite happened. The first legal CB radio's where FM and it took until the late 90's before AM (1W carrier / 4W PEP) and SSB (4W PEP) became legal. I've heard a lot of truckers from the US during the summer of 2003 in AM. Sometimes S9+20 at the peaks of the skip, 8200 kilometers away and interfering with local stations within a 5km range.

[@_-_SK_-_]

where I lived it was Russian taxis :)

[@funkypaul2822]

Indeed, Hugo. My first license with call-sign IBBE305, was for 40ch/4W/AM, back in 1978. Afterward came a change with 23ch/500mW/FM, which resulted in Belgium with its many hills and valley's in an effective death sentence for the CB-community.

[@johntaylor6885]

We had radios in the 70s that had a lot more chanels than 40. Put a little work inside of it you can get more power more modulation and a shit ton more chanels of course this was all illegal then.

[@Perririri]

10-4, *G E K O L O N I S E E R D!*

[@faustteufel9727]

@@_-_SK_-_ Yeesh, lol.

[@shalininaicker]

We've been using UHF FM Cb 477MHz in Australia since the late 80s. 27MHz AM is almost obsolete down here. A few years ago radios were increased from 40 to 80 channels as well.

[@geoffroberts1126]

It's worth adding that the extra 40 were achieved by going narrow band fm (2.5khz deviation) and putting the extra channels in the gaps created by narrowbanding. So you do get some adjacent channel issues with older 40 channel radios. They still 'talk' to each other, though NB sounds a bit soft on wideband and wideband is overdeviating to a NB radio, but you can live with it.

[@therealwolfspidertoo]

Similarly we have Family Radio Service 462 megahertz band. And for a small fee you can be licensed for General Mobile Radio Service for the same frequencies at considerably higher power than the power limits for AM CB radio which is only 4 Watts whereas GMRS gives you up to 50 Watts and repeater use similar to amateur radio.

[@geoffroberts1126]

​@@therealwolfspidertoo Our 477mhz CB is 5w narrowband (2.5khz) or wideband (5khz) FM and high gain antennas and repeaters are allowed. It's a free 'class' license, as long as you use type approved equipment, you don't need an individual license of any kind. Same for the old 27mhz CB as in the US. It's all free to use.

[@anttiroppola4414]

Key thing to note is that UHF left 27MHz alone and it is still used in some niche circumstances where it makes sense, I like the audio quality of UHF. Putting FM on top of your existing band sounds like a bad idea (unless you think you are going to sell more radios). What chance it will just make the whole CB space a bigger mess and less attractive?

[@williambowman7244]

@@geoffroberts1126 didn't use to be I rember 27 mhz had 20$ liscence in the 70s I was not adult yet so my father signed up the liscence for me thinking the fcc would be monitoring closely!! Ha ha I didn't complain cause he also got me my 1st ssb a browning baron that was hecka radio.to have as your first ssb before that I had 23 ch rad shack mobile

[@Ossie12pints]

Hi, here in the UK we use FM but some countries in Europe use AM even though both modes are legal. I actually prefer AM because FM can be harsh on the ears when receiving a low signal. When it's a nice strong signal FM is nice and clear but CB doesn't always have great range before you get a lot of static coming through. I hope you all in USA have fun with both FM and AM. Love and respect from the UK 👍

[@14KiloWhisky]

Same here in France, FM is rarely use, too much qrm on weak signal and useless in mobile station. It works great between two base station with solid signal 😁

[@Alessioalessio-qv1ff]

Fm is crappy on cb. Am reaches further and is easier on the ears. CB doesn't have the fidelity to hear any difference between fm or am modulation

[@Alessioalessio-qv1ff]

So you have all downfalls of fm and none of it's benefits. Just stay on am and don't fall for this snakeoil

[@Prepologyblog]

Hell Cobra bring back the 148GTL-DX that was a great radio with FM already in it.

[@johnvradenburg192]

or that 200 gtl (i think) export lol

[@gatesmw50]

ElectroGaming Been using a COBRA 148GTL-DX for years. FM CB works quite well from my experience.

[@jamesvw769]

Export radios were junk.

[@MessianicJudaism]

That's awesome. I'm looking forward to it. I've been on cb since 1973. My mother named me Little Owl 🦉. I've kept it all these years. Lol.

[@1OFGODSOWN]

FM is worse than AM because you only have the carrier power & Zero forward output power like AM & SSB.Totally Useless & for sure on 11 meters.

[@williamjones4483]

I acquired my first Citizen Band radio in 1973. Over the years I had other radios and i also got my own license. In the 80's I discovered "outbanding" and realized first hand how I could talk all over the world using just a few watts on SSB and a 5/8 wave ground plane vertical antenna from Radio Shack. Heady times indeed. Soon I realized i wanted to do this legally and that led me to getting my Amateur Radio operator's license. I became licensed in 1986 as KB4OLX (novice). After a period of time I became N4RGQ (Technician). During much of these years I was inactive but maintained my license. I am now working on my General Class ticket.

[@kablammy7]

I am right there with ya - now i like to play call of duty and yell at people over the game chat instead of continuous - yeah - this and - yeah that - blah blah blah . cod - kablammy and goody2shoes - those are my 2 names in the game When i first got my HAM license - they gave me KN4GQJ - i could not even say that much less remember it - i got a vanity K7CET - got the license plate for my truck and my motorcycle

[@wsbill14224]

My neighbor had an old 23 channel Courier tube base station back then. It was strong you could hear it all over town. I'm pretty sure it was more than 4 watts. More like 10!

[@hackyman7815]

I've had export radio's with AM/FM/SSB/CW since the mid 80's here in the US on of my favorite was a Galaxy 2100 , Then a Ranger 3500 after that one of the best radio's made to modify to 11 meters was a HR 2510

[@ecoalfa4801]

In Spain they legalized in August 1983. We could only have teams with 40 channels and FM. The AM and SSB came many years later. It is currently free of license.

[@8bitwarrior]

FM will require more robust output finals and possibly cooling fans since they will drive at 100% while keyed up unlike AM which is dependent on the audio.

[@James_Knott]

AM & FM have similar requirements. It's only SSB that has less than 100% duty cycle.

[@americaswayout4489]

While they are at it why not just add the UK 40 FM channels to prevent the bad interactions. We all know this just makes it easier to build radios that are all the same, including FM. The dead use of the upper 27 meg frequencies not allocated for use by anyone now should be allocated for FM or maybe splitting this 40 channel between SSB and FM?

[@spaceflight1019]

They'd rather have us shoot one another. One goes to jail, the other to the graveyard. Gets two signals off the air.

[@garthlocklin6355]

Damn, I guess I shouldn't be surprised! I have had my 12 watt Cobra since it was custom built in 1995 but I hardly use it anymore; no one is on the CB unless we're all in traffic for miles.

[@goldenglowladore3842]

As a newbie on CB subject, I really appreciate this info! Thanks 😊 from BC, Canada 🇨🇦

[@lgroschiensalle]

Citizens Band in Canada now no longer requires a licence. But the good antennas are pretty expensive, and not so easy to set up.

[@TheTreegodfather]

Let's be real- most guys on CB are using radios that already have FM anyway, along with a linear.

[@paulmazzola398]

My ranger 3500 has been modified to cover cb band. It has FM AM Upper side band and lower. Been using mostly on side band. FM is great but it's only line of site like marine band is. It's much clearer than AM USB and LSB. FM has it's pros and cons. I'm a side band person for the most part.

[@BubbaWarbucks]

@@paulmazzola398 FM skips the same way as AM and SSB. It's all RF.

[@gravesclay]

@@BubbaWarbucks Agreed, but with a caveat... It depends on the bandwidth and eventual spectral density of the signal. The same watt, does more with a 3khz ssb signal than a 12.5 or 25khz wide fm signal.

[@BubbaWarbucks]

@@gravesclay We'll see what the deviation they decide on is. The FCC just went from 25kHz to 12.5kHz for commercial radio traffic, which works fine. Tough to accomplish that when your channels are but 10kHz apart!

[@BubbaWarbucks]

@@gravesclay Also I've worked into Europe on 10M FM, and that's at 5kHz deviation.

[@lavioyantoos7390]

We have had this all along and anybody that knows how to use a linear and knows how to tune a radio can put that into any CB Box no matter what the brand

[@lesjones7019]

I still have a 300 watt. One.

[@vsmichael1]

Say that again? Put what in FM?

[@lesjones7019]

@@vsmichael1 keep getting sauteed

[@Theywaswrong]

I was big on CB especially before I got my first ham license and was limited to only Morse Code. Still had one in my car just for travel and emergencies before cell phones existed.

[@RioHondoHank]

Actually you can receive FM on an AM receiver by a method called slope detection. If you tune to the side of the band pass of an AM receiver the FM modulation appears to be AM. We did if back in the 60’s with converters connected to our AM car radios to monitor FM police radio before the time of scanners. It does require the ability to fine tune the receiver frequency. I don’t know if the CB radios with SSB capability and clarifiers if the clarifier is active in the AM mode. By the way in the 60’s I was the sales manager for then CB radio manufacturer International Crystal. We also manufactured a converter like I spoke of above called a Mobilette. 73 W5HJ

[@spodule6000]

I've got an old portable communication receiver (Sangean ATS 803a) here in the UK and sometimes listen to the FM CB Comms using that method. So I'm guessing ppl with old CBs could be easily confused if they pick up stuff not realising it's FM.

[@terrygillam2700]

Great idea love ❤️ that.Ive had 10 &11 meters for over 30 years.Just used regular cb channels.But 10 meters is fantastic operation user friendly

[@joestreiff9401]

the users will define the rules, just like they did with SSB and the super bowl channel 6

[@cbradioghosttalk1986]

as always

[@88njtrigg88]

Classic..

[@Mac-tw3zu]

The people who amp accross country on 6 really piss me off. Half the time its not even intelligible audio, and it always interrupts my scan.

[@cbradioghosttalk1986]

@@Mac-tw3zu You are correct and it is a shame that a few can ruin it for many.

[@howdydo2108]

@@Mac-tw3zu yeah...."blah,blah,blah... I'm king this or that, you're not and I'm out..bye bye bye"....

[@mikehemeon2473]

FM can still receive interference from FM. You won't hear the AM whine that you do hear on AM CB. With FM you have the Capture Effect and the strongest signal wins. A form of this happens with Broadcast FM and ducting.

[@milfordweeks9994]

Tone use will help a LOT. As will the digital transition once that hits in a future FCC game play

[@davidcox2197]

FM will result in much shorter communication distances with cb, since no repeater involved.

[@jamessilva5857]

It's Cool that the FCC is actually looking at this. It'll create a whole new spectrum for sure. And the new person getting into the CB world almost always will go with the cobra and or uniden.

[@dxscotland5901]

Don’t think it’s a bad thing so long as the fm portion is away from the ssb/am portion of the band 73 Gm4zji

[@hwsadberry6781]

FM will be a very narrow TX/RX. I see there being little to no problem for most folks. The only problem I see is the splatter box AM radios that bleed everywhere already. Yes, those loudmouth, dirty, channel 6 bunch, are the ones I'm talking about. I have monitored FM on 27Mhz and found it to be noisy in S units but doesn't seem to have much in the way of bleed over from AM/SSB so we are probably okay. Yes my radios already do FM/AM/SSB 10-12 meter. Don't care who knows it.

[@nndorconnetnz]

@@hwsadberry6781 Yes don't care. 10 meter/11 meters. Short range stuff unless the Sun wants to play ball. 20 meters is where DX is, where it's more reliable. But then it all depends on what foot ball field you play in. But yes, weather it's AM or SB double or single each has bleedover, FM does not have the bleed over AM and SB has. There will be more issues with dirty power lines, dirty AC units, dirty switching power supplies etc that will have more impact on receivers and reduce membership.

[@ve2zzz]

...Next FCC decision: The "Superbowl" amendment: Maximum RF power: 50 kW ERP.. ...FM ???? We're in 2021 !!!! I'd prefer DMR !!!

[@K0LWC]

I'm only in if they make it 100kW. I want to compete with my local broadcast stations. 😁

[@LarryGivens]

don't you mean minimum 50 kw

[@rickjones6414]

Wow, DMR would be cool ! - And on the Superbowl Channel 6 thing: They use massive amplifiers with thousands of watts on one-band. Meanwhile Hams can talk farther with only 100 watts on 40 meters.

[@terrym3543]

DMR sounds like complete crap. keep that digital garbage off of these frequencies.

[@K0LWC]

DMR sounds fine, especially compared to D-STAR

[@hillbilly4christ638]

I was doing cb before it was 40 channels. The cb radio helped me do my job on the road for many years. The distance limitations of the radio was always a problem.

[@mach1553]

Watts & antennas fixes that, but FM will not.

[@mike777yeah]

Generally 5 miles is enough for our sectors in a moving rig. IF you broadcast 25 miles out, it does not leave open air for flash-traffic incident reports inside for others to alert those closer. Things happen in seconds. You think about your own skin in dominant power, but it's misused and deadly. Kills people.

[@Sparks52]

Precisely my first thought when I saw FCC changing the regs for 11m FM . . . manufacturers selling radios in a severely saturated market. It's MBA 501 that product sales in a completely saturated market can be generated and driven by obsolescence. The same occurred when additional channels were added increasing it to 40 along with SSB, and that was the real motive for doing it.

[@321CatboxWA]

CB will sort itself out like always does . FM has been around on CB a long time already without much conflict or use . It is novel and works great as long as you can use squelch . thanks for posting ! well done. 73s

[@subaquaticsleepwalker7240]

They're creating problems to sell more radios. Government is prob hoping well get frustrated and quit and just use cell phones they can track and contr0l.

[@321CatboxWA]

@@subaquaticsleepwalker7240 Not too many kids getting CB radios for x-mas these days . I doubt it will become a thing if even a fad .

[@ehayes5217]

Great info to know & thanx for the update!🇺🇲

[@ラッセル-x5g]

So many 11m radios have misadjusted modulation limiters and “power mics”. Over modulation on AM causes distortion, but on FM over modulation causes splatter. Noise canceling mics are one thing, but it might help if the new radios have a different mic plug to keep someone from using a power mic without wiring a new plug to it.

[@spaceflight1019]

FM's bandwidth is measured in " kHz deviation", not modulation percentage as with AM. Overdeviation typically results in the signal being unreadable due to its bandwidth exceeding that of the receiver. Cranking the mod up on a FM transmitter results in no one being able to hear you.

[@huskypup3489]

The maximum frequency deviation and thus bandwidth of an FM signal is fixed by the transmitter and does not increase with increasing audio level. Driving more audio into an FM transmitter will simply distort the audio; the bandwidth of the signal will not increase.

[@der_pinguin44]

Back in 2018 I was short hauling from Tennessee to Florida and had been somewhere in the southern end of Georgia, approximately 110 miles north of the Florida state line on 75. I was in a 2018 International LT equipped with two custom antennas from Raccoon at the Tampa TA, a Cobra 29 LTD, peaked and tuned by the very same. I decided to hop on the radio and give a long "Auuuuuuudioooooooo," to which someone replied, "No one wants to hear your audio, driver." So I replied, "Viiiiiiiiideooooooo," and the same guy came back "Nobody wants to hear your video, either!" I get a little funny with him and retort, "Mainly because you don't hear video, you see it!" And we started bickering back and forth and he finally says "Alright, boy, where are you?" as though he was about to start a fight. I told him I could pull off at a numbered exit to a truck stop, and he replied with "Where? You're not at the rest area?" Turns out I had been talking skip to a guy all the way up in north Georgia, a solid 200+ miles away.

[@HELLHAMMERHANDHIX]

The government outlawed am cb radio in the uk back in 1981. The reason was to try for a licensing fee from the public. We were told that it caused less interference. If you were caught with an am set ,then it would be confiscated ,all fm sets had a little 27/81 decal on the front to distinguish them from am sets. We would simply peel the decals off the retail boxes ,or cut out the cardboard emblem off the box ,and stick them on our am sets. Am radio has always been clearer ,and has further distance than fm. I've been on am cb since 1980 ,and still use it to this day. (OIL CAN HARRY 1980-PRESENT).

[@T200026]

The good old days, FM was noisy though 😂

[@HELLHAMMERHANDHIX]

@@T200026 ...sure was, I think the amount of idiots made it noisier, you always got a better quality breaker on AM ...this is of course my experience ,so no offense meant before we all jump on our war horses !!!.

[@mcsdrd8]

Of course Amateur Radio went through this with the addition of SSB when everyone was using AM back in the 50's and the later when FM became popular on 2 meters.

[@hansbaeker9769]

In the 1960's, some of our neighbors and us had a radio in just about every house, shop, barn, tractor, combine, truck, pickup, car, ... . We also had a call sign back then that we were required to use. Pretty much anyone who we heard on the radio was someone we already knew. When the CB craze hit, it killed it for us. After a couple of years of all that crap, we quit using them.

[@ahndeux]

Rogo Rogo 10-4 on that, I'm back quiet.

[@stephentaylor280]

It's about time the FCC does this, how ever the FM CB has been out for over 25 years. Tried it back in the nineties and wasn't to impressed with it. If they are going to do this they need to add additional frequencies to the CB band for FM only in my opinion. But keep the frequencies a safe distance from amateur 10 meter frequencies. Good video. KK7T.

[@VanishingNomad]

What is commonly known as the "Freeband" channels should be the new FM channels.

[@americaswayout4489]

FM is an option that the exports have had for 40 years, yet seldom used, just make them legal and forget about it. But it is time to open up 26 -27.999 for legal use worldwide?

[@johntaylor6885]

I had an old ranger talked around the world with it.. but i also had an old golden egale that would do the same.

[@izzzzzz6]

We have almost always been on FM over here in Europe! None of that noise from every single electrical device or car alternators. On the negative side when you do get a quiet band you don't get such good distance coverage. Thing is that these days the noise is insane. All these switching PSU's, LED lighting, solar inverters, and communication equipment such as the type that communicate your power consumption back to the power company down the power lines. Seriously, where i live i would love to use AM but it's a nightmare with surrounding noise.

[@williambowman7244]

Power communicate down power lines??? What decade you in?? Our gas company uses mini digital phone data transfer or a tiny cell phone style after they added one to my house my son's cell phone gathered interference since his room was backed up to the transmitting meter as he stepped to central part of house the interference stopped the meter utilizes both solar power and battery to transmit never saw the company swap batteries or transmitter in 10 years + but I believe they do cause they still want meter cleared to 3' radius around it

[@eddiesmith1982]

This is fantastic news! Once again Cobra is changing the industry for the benefit of the people. Thank you for sharing this wonderful information!

[@rudyschwab7709]

I have a feeling they're just going to rebrand the MURS frequencies as the new CB FM channels.

[@lesjones7019]

You got that right. Lol

[@plasticinthetree4261]

It already is.

[@lesjones7019]

@@plasticinthetree4261 credit card in the tree.lol.

[@tuckermoreland147]

i think you're spot on, always follow the money. fcc should have dedicated channels for fm use. they certainly know about the problem and didn't do a thing about it.

[@markpaul1154]

FM was the only legal mode in the UK for many years. What it did do was increase normal everyday range over the american AM sets quite substantially. A contact of 3 miles mobile was a good copy on the old AM sets, when it went FM you could work 10 miles most days with good audio, it also caused far less bleed through interference.

[@scdevon]

FM is terrible for weak signal communication. You can understand SSB and AM signals during quiet conditions that don't even move the needle. If CB is intended for short range communication only, it should have never been on 11 meters. It should have been on VHF / UHF.

[@joracer1]

FM is the bomb, sounds so clear, you'd think they are in the same room. It will be a great experience. Galaxy already has it.

[@stanpatterson5033]

As did RCI-Ranger back in the day.

[@terschellingfilmsvanvroege6467]

I prefer AM mode much much more, because listening to weak signals with the squelch open is more pleasant to the ears thanks to the much lower noisefloor. AND there is no capture effect! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_effect

[@Theywaswrong]

Years ago, I had an Elmac AF67 that was primarily an AM transmitter/exciter but it had "narrow band" FM. I don't know anyone who used it so to me it was a novelty. This radio was built in the late to early 1950's as models AF54, AF67 and AF68.

[@karlschulte9231]

Still legal on 10m i believe. The early Central Electronics 10 and 20a models had it too. Easy way to modulate without big modulators and transformers. AM receivers could hear it by tuning off center a bit. Nice idea but never caught on. AF67 was a great radio for it day

[@ve5uo]

I'm not sure that FM will be better for those that want to communicate over short distances, especially on 27Mhz. At the peak of a solar cycle (if it's a decent one), FM demodulators will 'capture' the strongest signal presented, and this can very likely be a dx station over someone even 5-10 miles away. You hear this happen on the upper end of 10m when the band gets hot.

[@spaceflight1019]

It's been like that on CB from the beginning. You're talking with someone when the band opens and a skip signal starts interfering. Both of you turn on amplifiers to get over the skip signal so now you start interfering with stations far away. They turn their amps on and pretty soon the noise level is 20 dB over S9. This is how it was on many summer nights in 1970, 71, and 72. Channel 23 was the worst, with many commercial paging services running high-powered signals from their "beepers", tone signals that activate pagers. I had a Robyn T-123 and the noise level would be 30 dB over S9.

[@spuddyspud8178]

FM is the way to go for short distance local. Here in the UK we have been doing it from late 80s. We call your freq over in the USA 40 channel mid block European still use it Am,FM,ssb,our UK FM is like 1 block above so the start of our freq for 11 meter FM is 27.61125 channel 2 is 27.62125 and so on even on good sporadic e days where 11 meters is open on 27.555.00 doesn't really interfere with UK FM don't get me wrong you can here ssb but not enough to warrant amps here in the UK we use 10 meter radios which get nodded To go say from 26.000 to 29.000 something like the ranger ic 2950. There are only a few legal radio manufacturers listed for legal 4 watts use I would of thought it would be 1% who use the correct radio no doubt the USA government will do the same Even your older am,FM,ssb radios which can use different modes and have a good frequency range no doubt be made illegal to use with your new FM,they will try and make you buy New 40 channel 4 watt radios good luck with that from 26JR3303. jolly Roger

[@gatesmw50]

ve5uo Agreed ! Last summer, listening in my car, a local New Jersey FM broadcast station WKXW with 50 kw erp of power some 20 miles from my location was getting wiped out by a Louisiana station hundreds of miles away. Capture effect and most likely weather related ducting.

[@spaceflight1019]

@@gatesmw50 , you get that effect with broadcast FM because their frequency difference is so small. On the ham bands you get a catfight between competing stations. FM CB will sound just like FM ham radio.

[@altfactor]

Maybe FM might prevent "skip" (long-distance transmission and reception) that often occurs on the shortwave bands. In the case of 27 megahertz skip is prevalent during daytime hours. On lower shortwave frequencies (3-7 megahertz), skip occurs at night.

[@ronaldpelleteri9454]

As a former CB operator from the 1960s living in South Florida, I cherished those days when most operators were licensed and on-the-air sanity was commonplace. Back then, most rigs were out-of-the-box stock (unmodified) tube units transmitting legal power. My first radio was a Lafayette tube set, a six-channel crystal-controlled transmitter with a tunable receiver (the "high-tech" digital readouts were still science fiction during that era). On a good day, I'd get three watts out of my little radio into a quarter-wave ground plane about 15 feet off the ground. Eventually, the band became crowded and disorderly as the popularity of CB radio grew. I tolerated the madness as long as possible and then progressed into amateur radio. I rolled my eyes when the FCC authorized FM on CB radios without proposing mode-specific plans for the band. That was irresponsible. Of course, the FCC is different from what it used to be, and nowadays, enforcement is an afterthought. KB1ARM (New Hampshire)

[@409novaman]

“I wonder what they’re going to do?” Turn on the big amp and try to drop the hammer on these new upstarts, just sayin’.

[@howdydo2108]

Who caresthough

[@michaelterrell]

I visited the now gone VOA station in Bethany Ohio when they replaced the transmitters in the late '60s. The new transmitters were 50KW each, and if desired all ten could be fed into their huge East/West curtain antenna on any frequency from 2.0MHz to 30MHz. That was a half million watts into an antenna system that effectively would give it several million Watts of RF. I joked with the engineers, "Are you ever tempted to put a spare transmitter on Ch 19 and yell, '18 wheeler, there's a Smokey on your tail!'?" One turned pale as a sheet!

[@stefeniedavidmusic]

What if you have a 1960s, tube, 5 channel Raytheon TWR II. No FM, No side band and 5, count 'em, five channels total. I love it and it still works. Got one when I was 15 om 1969. Still works.

[@merguetroidrittzlesnat2287]

Ahhhh, FM (or "F'n Magic), the follow-on to Ancient Modulation. OGH here (Old Guy Ham.) As a ham I've mostly used SSB & CW, except for 50, 144, & 432 MHz, where FM is the norm in most commercial systems. Analog FM has some advantages over AM amongst "lawful users." I'm a properly adjusted FM transmitter the RF output does *not* vary with modulation; it's right in the name. So FM users who stick with lawful power output will enjoy quiet, reliable local communications. Capture Effect will keep most potential interfering signals from being heard in a receiver. However, one of the reasons that Aviation VHF voice comms still use AM. Where life safety is paramount (like for pilots) the ability to create an audio heterodyne by transmitting on a freq where somebody is already transmitting will alert a professional communicator that someone else needs to be heard. Radio discipline among pilots & controllers helps folks who might only br heard because of that AM audio beat note is being heard along with a stronger signal that is holding the squelch open on someone's receiver. Ideally that should prompt acknowledgement of the weaker signal. In my little retirement hobby repair shop, I know I've seen lotsa "export amateur" radios (Ranger, President, Connex, etc) come in where I may be the first "real" tech to have it on my bench, after a litany of Bubba Screwdrivers and/or the owner has popped the covers off a brand new "10-meter" rig, looked around the board, seen a pot marked "FM mod" and cranked it to its stops. Some of these have come in with FM deviation up as high as +/- 27 KHz. So most of the signal is falling outside the receiver's ability to recover it because of I.F. filtering. Instead, it just splatters into adjacent channels. Sound like an AM splatterbox? Aside from the base modulation mode, the result for channel neighbors is the same. And for the morons who will insist on "more power" to be able to talk that extra mile, or to "lock down the channel" there will be little recourse. Fortunately (?) many of the cheapie RF amps out there are already made for Class C, like FM. On the good side for polite/lawful/responsible users, with no variation in RF output, the amps will fail early -- much to the delight of "real" techs everywhere. I have no idea whether the proposed/authorized FM max deviation will be +/- 2.5 or 5.0 KHz. Running 2.5 into a receiver expecting 5.0 will result in a very quiet recovered audio; running 5.0 into a 2.5 receiver will yield really coarse audio, maybe too coarse to be usable. Sorry if this seems to have morphed into somewhat of a rant instead of just usable technical information. I got my Novice 60 yrs ago, 20 WPM Extra almost 30 yrs ago. Also a 2nd Phone (now GROL) since 1981. Had a career in land mobile radio for many years, mostly in KL7-land. BTW, I believe 27 MHz FM repeaters will only extend the RF footprint of the naughty users. Just what they'll want? 73 de KL7HNY diddly dahdidah dit dit

[@390WagonMaster]

CB Radio Users in the US have had FM capable rigs for decades, we don't use it. This push for sales may work for a while. However, most buyers will figure out it is a very inefficient mode and does not "play well" with the other modes. You want FM? stay on GMRS/FRS or god forbid 2M. Great video LWC, Cheers.

[@K0LWC]

For sure, exports have been around a long time, but I think those have mainly gone to the hardcore folks. Having all radios start coming with FM will be a long-term change over a period of years for 11 meters that will be different.

[@Aaron48219]

I remember using FM on 11m modified 2950s and 2510s back in the mid 90s. Honestly surprised it took this long for this to happen.

[@bodazaphfa]

The good ole Ranger 2950 and HR 2510s. I loved them both!

[@flatheadfletch]

Yup. Great radios

[@ronfullerton3162]

A company I worked for had FM Business Channel radios for our communications from offices , delivery vehicles, and salesmen to stay in touch with one another. I know the clarity and range of those radios would be nice for trucking.

[@terschellingfilmsvanvroege6467]

I am from the Netherlands and here FM is most common for short distance. AM mode (and SSB of course) is also allowed here, but because FM has been established here since the 80s, there is not much modulation in AM. I regret that, I just like AM, it is much more pleasant to listen to with the squelch open, thanks to the much lower noise floor. Listening to a weak station in FM mode with the squelch open is very irritating to the ears. In AM you will not be bothered by this due to the much softer noise floor. In my opinion, AM signals also extend a bit further than FM. (read: easier to receive due to the simplicity of an AM detector, only a diode) And AM has no Capture Effect! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_effect FM has the advantage that it suffers less from interference. FM and AM both have their pros and cons. I myself prefer to listen in AM, also because I think it sounds nostalgic which really fits HF radio which is CB. So yes, FM can be a good addition, but I prefer using AM mode! Expansion of the 40 channels would be maybe useful and perhaps an allocation to channels only FM modulated on.

[@la7dfa]

I am using FM on VHF and squelch is set low and is effective. These days we often use sub tone to open the receiver, so it is very quiet. AM have not been used for four decades here, but SSB is popular.

[@autoshotty]

Just expand the frequency below channel 1 for FM use. Some of us are using them already called " Freebanding." Did Cobra drop the ball when they stopped production of their sideband radio (148) a few years ago ?

[@MrStaybrown]

Yes. True

[@psychodad1961]

Import radios have had FM for decades. Used that mode in the 90's on my President HR2510. Not that exciting really.

[@K0LWC]

I believe imports are a small part of the market, given they’ve been illegal. When EVERY CB comes with FM it’s a new ball game.

[@jrhalli2]

I had the same radio. There was a guy in the same subdivision with an FM capable radio. We chatted a couple of times FM but that was it.

[@KA5IVR]

Time to dust off the HR2510!

[@jrhalli2]

@@KA5IVR Wish I still had the HR2510.

[@howdydo2108]

@@K0LWC honestly, I think it is irrelevant since so few will be using radios now. Add FM. Add Direct Tv to the thing while they're at it and whatever else... won't matter much. This is just one of many ways to communicate now, unlike the CB Radio heyday.

[@2metercrew389]

Shhhhh….. some of us already use FM on 11m😀

[@enumrob]

My 1990's RCI 2950 did FM but none of my friends or anyone for that matter were using FM along with me, Of the few contacts I made back then it did sound pretty good and was nice to not have so much noise ( Ignition noise, alternator whine etc)

[@2ftg]

FM has been a thing on CB for absolute ages in europe. People just upgraded from the old 23ch AM only rigs to AM/FM things.

[@jameskj3mee269]

Shhhh, some of these 'Merican's don't like change or forward progress...some in this thread might even tell you that 4K sucks and they want their 520x480 CRT TV back because it wasn't a piece of shit...LOL. 73

[@jeep6242]

@@jameskj3mee269 No smart person is arguing against the tech but to not set aside channels or sunset AM just means no one is ever going to be able to reliably communicate. Literally 99.9% of the user base doesn't use FM now. The transition with no guidance is going to suck. You either drive on the left or the right. Imagine just phasing in switching from one to the other while allowing both. Not going to work well jokes about progress aside.

[@westelaudio943]

@@jameskj3mee269 *taps fedora*

[@DavidVaughan001]

Most of us drivers are using converted 10 meter radios that already have fm. Conex, Galaxy, Stryker.

[@lostsoulca6449]

With everyone getting brand new radios peaked and tuned…it’s FM that any of them work.

[@slidewaze]

That's funny! I see what you did there. :^)

[@K0LWC]

Need to up the power to overcome the bleed over. 😏

[@johnsiders7819]

A lot of hack so called technicians? Out there they do more harm than good I use a local shop that works on the hams equipment I stay away from the ones at truck stops .

[@jrhalli2]

@@K0LWC Yessir, one of them leenyurs would do the trick.

[@FirstLast-vr7es]

It's so fun to listen to a "peaked" radio. Sounds like a pocket transistor radio with the volume all the way up. Loud? Sure. Intelligible? Nope.

[@dougtaylor7724]

I remember the old Mad Magazine quiz. What does FM stand for? One of the choices was Felix Mulvaney, the first man to successfully record the belch of an Owl.

[@coon-si3ce]

I'm sure that it is a marketing thing. I don't think they should do it, but I think that there are better solutions... like adding GMRS or LADD frequencies. This would make allot more people happy.

[@renoobtard]

Same as it ever was. I operated four channel 27MHz radios for Civil Air Patrol nets in the 1960s. The 1970s brought us 23 channels, then 40 channels, then SSB. It's always been about 'churning' the market to stimulate new sales from existing customers. Same as it ever was.

[@cousinfester4621]

I remember the CB craze of the 70s. People screamed for "more channels." They were given more channels. What did the people do with those channels? They kept hanging out on channel 19.

[@14KiloWhisky]

You're right 👍 it's "new" , so I need this new stuff... In my country, we don't use FM, too much qrm on weak signal...

[@datsun620bulletside3]

I'm a ham of over 30 years and yes I still enjoy the CB radio

[@geraldwalk3544]

1978 Plymouth Lori actually sold a car with an AM/FM cd unit built right in back in the day. I am one of these cars and love it.

[@zeproo]

FM is already available in EUROPE for ages.

[@jamiew1664]

I bought an old retro CB radio online, im in england, and the retro CB i bought was from america. Today i went to the top of a tall hill and turned it on and i was picking up people on CB radio in america!!! wtf! I could only hear them, they couldnt hear me. But still, i was picking that stuff up from thousands of miles away.. I didnt expect that. Its an old 'realistic' 40 channel CB with a hella long antenna

[@stevenlynch7477]

In my opinion I say more power to COBRA and president Electronics for pushing this petition. I mean yeah it's going to make them more sales but it's also going to interest some younger people which is what we need in the radio community

[@franklinnoblitt8387]

It will only make them money if it is functional and if it would help you find out why you had been parked on the interstate for an hour then perhaps you should view the appropriate DOT camera available on a smart phone

[@jacksonmarshallkramer5087]

A modded 25-60w 2m is the way to go. Range and clarity. Every cop in my large city including city/sheriff had a radio for secondary traffic. I was one of em.

[@K1ZEK]

Simple solution would be to adopt the channel allocation used in the UK. This will keep the old and add the NEW channels. Also there is NEW interests in adding " automatic" GPS coordinates to GMRS and FMRS and other "public" radio transmissions by the US Government. There are multicable irons in the fire with everyone having a different reason. The manufactures for the new sales and the current government to: you know, the big-brother stuff. Nice video 73 Leo k1zek ps Yep SWL to CB to Ham Radio 1-2-3

[@K0LWC]

I agree. Not sure what that allocation is exactly, and if it would be feasible. Makes sense to me, though.

[@brianchandler3346]

Yeah. I don't like the automatic GPS stuff either. Nothing was mentioned requiring them to have hardware cutoff if built-in or automatic support, but GPS unit must be disconnectable from the radio. If they build it in, but don't have a way to turn off it'll drain quicker like a cell. Not to mention privacy concerns.

[@alfries9736]

Many, many years ago folks who had recently purchased a 23 channel c.b. from Radio Shack could get it upgraded to a 40 channel for some low cost. Perhaps this will become an option on the Cobras.

[@stephanieonlife3657]

I want greed out of the equation. This totally angers me.

[@howdydo2108]

Its one of humanitie's crowning, signature traits

[@jfrphoto01]

It would be nice if they could include CTCSS (tone squelch) in these radios for use on FM.

[@LampLighter]

Greetings from Western Canada! Ha! After many years (1976-1985) of not being involved in c.b. radio, I've just purchased and installed a brand new President McKinley 40 ch. ssd mobile in my pick-up truck. Sadly there's no one out there in radio land close to where I live!!! 😭 Mercy, this is Pink Panther xm12-31113 down on the side channel 11!!! 10-10 on the side! Cheers! 👍😎

[@johnsmiley2922]

This is no different from ham band changes.....nearly every change is initiated by the manufacturers.

[@oldfilmguy9413]

Great commentary and style. Cheers!

[@jamieb9556]

They won't be able to see that swing on FM

[@spaceflight1019]

No...jacking the modulation up on a FM radio results in overdeviation, which results in your signal not being heard.

[@dannyo6699]

All technology has to move forward. If CB technolog hasn't advanced in 40+ years, something needs to come along and shake up that industry. It will draw interest in the industry and bring new people into it. It's only a good thing....and yes, Cobra will sell more radios too.

[@davewormfood4472]

Once I added FM to a CB radio. I don't remember the make/model, but it was using an export PCB, that had the Tx output modified, as to not have all the traces for dual finals, but oddly enough, the traces for the FM were still on the board. I looked up the schematics on the export version of that board, and found out the values of the missing parts, and pulled them out a dead (export) CB radio. It worked quite well. I didn't have the equipment to measure the FM deviation, but it sounded ok, and everything worked. Making an AM transmitter transmit FM is actually quite easy. Just don't modulate the finals, and tap off a small amount of audio, and feed it into the VCO., which will ultimately modulate the output frequency. The PLL's error voltage does not interfere, because the frequency is changing too fast. For receiving an FM transmission on an AM receiver, it's not all that hard...if you can vary the Rx frequency. You'll want to tune the receive frequency, slightly above or below the FM transmission, then you can listen to it. By doing it this way, you in effect create a "slope detector". Interestingly enough, this technique works better on a lower quality receiver. I have zero doubt, that there will be FM mods, for existing radios. Too many people have radios, that for some reason or another are special to them, and want to continue to use them.

[@therhetoricalman8936]

I would guess each new radio could broadcasts a unique data code like FM radio stations do to show you the song name. This way they could know exactly who is saying what, or at least which radio it came from. Driving sales is old hat. Everything is about collecting data/tracking, now. All Hail Cobra!

[@CrawldaBeast]

I gonna say negatory on that. Identifiers? Seriously? Thought we already have that with Google, FB and your phone carrier.

[@billmasen3923]

Uk has had legal FM CB for years, My own rig is 10 and 11 meter, AM/ FM/SSB and all of the European CB bands

[@alexanderevanska4274]

In the UK, it was always fm. Had to jump through loops to obtain am. am was ilegal. A lot of radios back in the 80s came with am as well as fm but we were not allowed to use am.

[@125southernnh2]

Since Cobra no longer manufactures SSB radios because building a good one is expensive, they want to sell FM as if it's some kind of magic.

[@mrbyamile6973]

If they can build it at an affordable price than good for them. The fact that they will be selling a device that they've already been building for other markets/countries should make prices affordable. Im a licensed ham so I can still play with ssb on those bands. I would like to have had a cb radio that has ssb capability I admit. I don’t want to spend that kind of money... I already spent twice as much on ham equipment. If cb FM gets my wife and daughter on the air with an inexpensive mobile rig than great.

[@hwsadberry6781]

Just say it.. Cobra screwed up moving manufacturing to china. We all know it. Cobra 148GTL with a Philippine PCB sales for a solid $250.00 used but the china 148GTL you get for maybe $25.00. Sad really how the brand has suffered. Maybe Cobra will take this opportunity to fix the manufacturing issues.

[@jaguarracingus]

my vote: planned and legislated obsolescence = sales. your sales theory is spot on sir.

[@markgabello58]

I grew up being young about 12 years old in the 70s 7 CB walkie talkies and ride around on my bicycle and we had a really cool radio my brother was a ham radio operator he's passed away now he was of advanced class radio Heaven

[@karlschulte9231]

CB was not meant to be a chat hobby. No need to talk far away. Farm coms, farm to town when telco is down, forester, hunter, truck/ car to truck stop for aid and info. Maybe a howdy to neighbor, call for doctor if you tel line is out. Then it turned into a poor man's fun and hobby radio. Just fine as long as that use respected ch 9 and 19 for serious users. And became a pathway to ham radio. I helped a bright young man do just that in Chicago subs years ago. Became Amateur Extra in 2 years. And it sparked an interest in science too. He became a PHD scientist. Wrote his story in 73 ham magazine. So I am also CB fan. 73

[@TheRoadhammer379]

Well that's your opinion. I enjoy being able to talk 50 or 60 miles to other truckers, I also enjoy running 800watts on my export radio, I can warn truckers 100 miles away about weather, accidents etc. You have your view, I have mine, agree to disagree

[@joesitter20101]

I'm an avid 11 meter user and electronics engineer. If the FCC makes any modulation change I think they should make 11 meters SSB only. I've tried FM and I know that it sounds great but it limits transmitter range and the number of users to one at a time per channel, just like AM does. SSb however allows as many as three conversations to take place on the same frequency, simultaneously. SSB makes the best use of transmitter power and spectrum bandwidth, doubling the number of available channels because you get both Upper and Lower sidebands of every channel.

[@petersack5074]

just in: i am a cb'er of the mid-70;s to about 84, driving semis/other types of trucks. FCC here in Canada, required registration, so i got my XM-3496 call name, label. Probably more range, on fm frequencies, on old ' chicken band '.....take care !

[@hfvhf987]

You know FM skips too, right?

[@orion_13]

My 1990's radio for 11m has FM on it. I would have to go out to the motor home to get the model but it was wildly popular mid to late 90's. No big deal.

[@n8mail76]

I've had a fm/am 11m for years. This is easy. 1st there are 40 channels. 2nd there are 3 modes, with a range of around 10 miles there aren't enough users to fill up the channels so we'll all just change modes and channels until we figure it out. 1-19AM, 20-29 FM, 30-40SSB

[@n8mail76]

@I AM the ONE Man REVOLUTION [ ccw ] then there were more

[@mikemoyercell]

except for the people pushing a billion tx watts all over the globe.

[@rod462]

I went through this type of confusion before. TWICE. When CB got Sideband everyone said the same stuff you just said. But it all worked itself out. During the 23 channel radio era, the sidebanders went to Channel 16.. as the 40 channel radios came out they moved to the 36 to 40 channels. I also remember how much confusion happened when they wanted to move the Truckers off of CH 10 to 19. It took awhile but ...again... it worked itself out. Maybe the FMers will move to a select group of channels. Like my Aunt always said "It will all come out in the wash"

[@edisonjohn6346]

It was known that all these insistence for a change in the mode of issuance came from the hand of a clear commercial profit. In these times; that we are amazed ??. Similarly, legally or illegally, many of us have also used frequency modulation emission. 73´dx, YV2ESB.

[@rachaelchapman9090]

I first used 11m FM in 1980 here in the UK using an illegal hygain 3 with 80ch am/fm. I always preferred AM.