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Don't
hog the One Nine! - Channel 19 is not for general conversations.
Move off channel 19 a.s.a.p. & keep the calling channel clear for other breakers ! CB RADIO INFORMATION Welcome to our CB Information page. See the headings below to find out more about each subject! INTERFERENCE From "BT HOME HUB" & other 'B.P.L.' devices Coming YOUR WAY SOON: MORE >> How to make a call on a CB: see below > Channel Numbers: see below > CB Controls: see below > Signal Reports: Using the RST reporting method to provide other breakers with meaningful signal reports - strength, audibility, over or under modulation. see below > Signal Meters: How to read S meters and what the scale represents. see below > Phonetic Alphabet: Useful for making yourself understood when signals are weak. see below > Abbreviations: e.g. TX, RX, etc. see below > CB Language: e.g. breaker, good buddy, etc. see below > 10 Codes: e.g. 10-20 see below > Q Codes: e.g. QTH - not used much in CB but you may hear 10 codes sometimes. see below > Decibels: What are decibels? See below > Pleasures and Pitfalls: see below > Freebanding and SSB: Here > Freebanding Frequency and Band Charts - both UK Specific & General: Here > Technical Issues, Transmission Methods and Modulation: SSB, AM, FM: Here > Music about CB Radio: Here > Who uses CB: see below > Ofcom Information: Regulatory & Equipment requirements & CB Operating Practice: Here > A page of CB radio rig and antenna information from Right Channel Radios USA: Here > The CB Calling Channel Traditionally channel 14 was used for home-base calling and channel 19 was used for mobile calls. These days only channel 19 seems to be used as a calling channel. This is done by keying the mic' and saying "One nine for a roger?", "One nine a roger", "One nine for a copy?" or even "Hello, is anyone on channel?". CB etiquette dictates that once you have found another breaker to talk to you move to another clear channel to continue the conversation. However it seems that far to many breakers ignore this etiquette and rudely stay on the 19 chatting away and thereby preventing anybody else putting a call out on the channel. When you use the 19 to make a call and find another breaker to talk to, be polite and "Pick another window" i.e. promptly move away to a different channel to continue your conversation there! A conversation on the CB is often called a "QSO". You might also want to say "One Nine For A Rig Check?" if you just want to check that your station is working properly To try to (politely) join in on an existing QSO (conversation) between two other breakers it would be normal to say quickly between natural breaks in transmission "QSK" (which means "Can you hear me between transmissions") or simply say "On The Side". If the other CBers can hear you and *want* to bring you in, they will do so. The conversation will then be three way. CEPT (EU) and UK Channels: EU
(CEPT) Channels
UK Channels
The Controls On A CB Radio  CB
Controls - explained
HOW TO GIVE MEANINGFUL SIGNAL REPORTS: Often when you are asked how good somebody's signal is, it is good enough to say that "You're shaking the windows" or "Blowing the doors off" or "Plus thirty here" when the signals are extremely strong or report "Thin" or "Weak" when the signals are poor. If another breaker requests a "Radio Check" or "Rig Check" it would be better to provide a more accurate report. This is when the amateur radio operator's RST signal reporting method is a better choice. RST is: R: Readability - A rating of how well what is being said is understood. The readability of a signal is given on a scale of 1 to 5; "5" being perfectly understandable with no difficulty - reported as "Radio 5". A rating of 1 means that the signal is completely un-readable. S: Signal Strength - A rating of how strong a received signal is. The "S" rating is given on a scale of 1 to 9. A rating of "Signal 1" indicates an extremely faint signal while a rating of "Signal 9" is an extremely strong signal. T: Tone - This is only used for Morse Code, so does not apply to CB radio. The "T" rating would be used to give an indication of the tonal quality of the Morse Code signals. T1 would indicated an extremely rough tone and T9 a pure tone. (Used in Amateur Radio, but not relevant to CB radio!) Being as it is only the R and T parts of the RST code that are applicable to CB radio, you may hear reports being given such as "You're Five and Nine" which means perfectly understandable with extremely strong signals. A report of "4 and 5" would mean quite easy to understand with fairly good signal strength. Even having explained all this, there are some CB operators will give everyone a "5 and 9" report, even if the signal being received is weak and difficult to understand! - I don't know why this is. Maybe they feel that it makes their rig or their own powers of understanding weak signals seem better! It takes some practice to develop the useful skill of providing Meaningful Reception Reports - but give your ears plenty of practice and this skill will improve. (Don't rely on Signal Meters! - see below)
SIGNAL METERS Signal meters are included on many CB radios and can be helpful in comparing received signals, but be careful - two different signal meters rarely give the same reading!
A signal meter will give an indication of the received signal strength - referred to in CB parlance as 'Poundage'. But not even the signal meters on the most expensive radios are accurate or properly calibrated, and as such "S" meters should only be used to provide a visual representation of relative signal strengths and not actual strengths! Signal meters are handy for making comparisons between different CB operators that are being received and especially useful for antenna experiments: Using the "S" meter for checking the received signal strength of a new antenna or antenna location with an older antenna or location is very useful for optimising your antenna system. Most modern CB's have a signal meter in the form of an LED bar-graph (like a mobile phone) but others have the more traditional 'swinging needle' analogue meter that many CB operators prefer since it looks like rigs of old and can show infinite movements in signal strength rather than jumping from LCD block to LCD block. Signal meters have scales marked S1 - S9. S1 being the weakest signal and S9 being strong signals. On high grade amateur radio equipment it is widely (though not universally accepted!) that the "S9" point represents a received signal of 50 microvolts and that each successive lower "S" point is 6 dB below this, though this is contentious statement as some would argue that gradations of 5 dB or 4 dB might be more typical. You can see how "S" meters cannot be wholly relied upon for laboratory standard accuracy! There are additional markings above "S9", usually marked +30 on CB radios, which means a voltage of 30 decibels above 50 microvolts which is 1580 microvolts. Many S meters also double as a very rudimentary power meter to provide an indication of the power output when transmitting (TX). Below is a table that shows what the actual received voltage would be on a perfectly calibrated Signal Meter using the often accepted 6 dB per "S" unit calibration and comparing this with the 5dB and 4dB per "S" unit calibration. "S"
Meter
This table should merely be used to give the CB radio operator a general idea of what the actual received signal voltages might be, and should not be taken as the actual voltages. N.B. The receiver section of many CB radios requires 0.5 uV (microvolts) of RF input to produce a signal to noise radio (S/N) of 20 dB. + 6dB = 4 x the power or 2 x the voltage or approximately 1 "S" point +10dB = 10 x the power or 3.16 x the voltage or approximately 1.5 "S" points +20dB = 100 x the power or 10 x the voltage or approximately 6 "S" points See more detail about Decibels below: Throwing A Cat Amongst The Pigeons Ranger Communications inc. set a specification in their service manuals that an input voltage of 100 microvolts should produce a reading of S9 on the signal meter. If this is to be the accepted norm then the resulting 'S' readings would be as follows: "S" Meters calibrated to Ranger Communications spec's
PHONETIC ALPHABET The phonetic alphabet is always very useful for making yourself understood when signals are weak.
ABBREVIATIONS
CB LANGUAGE Jargon and codes and CB slang is not as commonly used as they might have been in the early years. You may hear some of the "Q" Codes like QTH, QSK, QRM, QSO, QSL etc and the odd "10" Code, like 10-4 or 10-1 10-20 (usually shortened to "Twenty") for example. You will often hear "Roger" and sometimes "Roger Dee", Pounds, 73 or Seven Three, Square Wheeled. However it's more usual to use plain English rather than codes and slang these days - unless we're just having a bit of a laugh! It is possible that you may hear all sorts of peculiar words and expressions from seasoned CB operators, so it might be as well to have a reference list of the common ones so that you can understand what is being said! That is what we have here: CB
"Slanguage" - explained
CB 10 CODES 10 Codes came from the USA when CB was first used in the UK in the 1970's and 1980's. They were originally used by the authorities, such as the police, but were also adopted by the CB community. They are not used so much these days, but you'll still hear them. The most commonly used 10 codes are in bold:
INTERNATIONAL "Q" CODES The more common Q Codes are in bold type:
DECIBELS: The decibel is not a measure of a particular electrical unit and therefore figures that are expressed as a decibel are completely meaningless unless they are related to a particular reference. A decibel is actually one tenth of a Bel and is derived from the logarithmic ratio of two voltages or current or power levels: One of these levels must be measured to act as the reference point in order that the other level (or levels) can be expressed as dB relative to that point. So; Decibels (dBs) represent a RATIO of one voltage to another, or one power to another at the same impedance. Decibels can be either a positive figure representing gain or a negative figure representing a loss. Here is a table of decibel relationships:
e.g. a power gain of 2.5 dB is dealt with thus: 2.0 dB plus 0.5 dB i.e. 1.585 X 1.122 = 1.778 When thinking about our CB signals here are some quick examples: + 3dB = 2 x the power or 1.4 x the voltage + 6dB = 4 x the power or 2 x the voltage or approximately 1 "S" point +10dB = 10 x the power or 3.16 x the voltage or approximately 1.5 "S" points +20dB = 100 x the power or 10 x the voltage or approximately 6 "S" points Transmitter Power Transmitter power is usually simply expressed in Watts, however it is also quite common to come encounter a transmitter power expressed in dBW. This is the power in decibels relative to one Watt. For example if a transmitter is quoted as having an output of 6dBW then that would be the same as saying that the power is 4 watts. If a transmitter is quoted as having a power of 14 dBW just multiply the 10dBW figure (i.e. 10 watts) by the 4dBW figure (i.e. 2.5 watts): 10W x 2.5 = 25 Watts. Here is a table showing the conversion between dBW and Watts:
PLEASURES & PITFALLS CB is great: The Citizens Band can be especially useful for clubs, drivers, truckers and other groups of people to keep in touch. A good but basic CB installation is very inexpensive to establish. CB radio can also be great fun and entertaining when just used for chatting and tittle-tattle! CB is easy to use and there is a wide range of excellent equipment available. Radio and CB radio is a fascinating hobby - there is much fun and enjoyment to be had while experimenting with antennas, radios and other accessories. Under certain atmospheric conditions, especially at the height of the solar cycle when sun-spot numbers are high, it is possible to make contacts over great distances. Distances of hundreds or even thousands of miles can be possible! But: Don't give out your address over the air. Don't give out your telephone number over the air. Don't give out personal details over the air. WALLIES: Most areas of the country have one or two "Wallies" - people who try to disrupt conversations or block channels with a 'dead key' (a silent, un-modulated carrier), by playing music or by making silly noises. These idiots are in a minority, but as with society in general there is always a moron somewhere who just likes to be annoying. (It's the - stupid little brain-dead bully who likes to steal your football - syndrome.) The ONLY way to deal with these cretins is to IGNORE them! NEVER respond in any way. Never try to argue with them. Responding to idiots like this will only encourage them. Either move to another channel, or switch the radio off for a while. FREEBANDING AND SSB See the FREEBANDING page Here > Who uses CB radio? e.g. 1: You may have a convoy of cars going on a group holiday or regular outings and CB allows you to keep in easier contact than mobile phones since everyone can hear each message. This applies to 4x4 clubs, caravan clubs, motorhome or caravanning clubs etc. e.g. 2: You may be involved in a business activity that would benefit from a group of colleagues being able to talk to each other as a group easily and freely, something mobile phone calls cannot do. The best example of this is truckers who can talk to their colleagues or just have a friendly ratchet with any other truckers in the locality - or any other breakers in the area. e.g. 3: You may be a farmer, in which case a CB radio is an ideal way to keep in touch with the farm vehicles from a base CB radio installed in the farm offices or farmhouse. e.g. 4: You may have a group of friends in your locality who just want to keep in touch using radio or you all have a mutual interest in radio as a hobby and CB is a great way to foster that interest and have a good time on the airwaves at the same time. You establish your own little 'net' and may talk to each other at regular times and often on a favourite channel. e.g. 5: You may have an interest in DXing, that is to contact other CB operators in far flung parts of this country, Europe or the world. This is fun and exciting and is dependent upon the 11 year 'sunspot cycle'. Such long distance DXing ("Skip") is best when the sunspot cycle is at its maximum - currently we have fairly low sunspot numbers so it's not so good.This activity benefits from a bigger twig like a 1/2 wave or 5/8th wave silver rod or Sirio 827 or A99 etc.) An off-shoot from this part of the hobby is "Freebanding" where users use out of band frequencies to make contacts using SSB (single side band) rather than the more usual FM. See more about Freebanding here > e.g. 6: You may have a canal boat, river cruiser or marine vessel and CB is an ideal way of keeping in touch with other members of the community. Antennas specifically designed for the rigours of such a damp environment are available from manufacturers such as Sirio. Those are just some examples. CB radio front page Top of this page ^ HAVE
LOTS OF FUN & TAKE GOOD CARE
Wishing you GOOD CB-ing!
73 More information at
these great forums, and be sure to say that Big Cat sent you :-
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Mike Smith - www.MDS975.co.uk © 2003 - 2009