Posts Tagged ‘CB Radio’
Call in for supplies…
When on the Lake of the Woods ice fishing, it quickly became apparent that use of the CB Radio
was essential to their operation. When you are out on the ice 9 miles or more, you can’t afford to be running back and forth for forgotten supplies. You have to plan ahead for those anticipated needs because with the fuel cost for those vehicles, I was told his fuel bill exceeded $800 per month to deliver folks to their designated ice house (which, by the way, was extremely comfortable with carpeting, a little kitchen, bathroom, a furnace, lights, and 6 fold down beds)! Oh – did I tell you that I caught the most fish and we ended up with 11 walleyes and 2 saugers (kind of a walleye family “look-a-like”). So, we had a very successful day. Oh, and of course, there was that one that got away!! No foolin’ – I tied into something in 30 feet of water that I couldn’t get off the bottom. It ended up biting through my 20 lb test line I was using for a leader and I lost it – hook and all. The guide said it probably was a big northern pike – or more probably a lake sturgeon. Oh well, you can’t fry up bites and good fishing stories!
CB’s for Ice Fishing
This past weekend I spent some time looking at a hole in the ice some 9+ miles from shore on the Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota. We rode out there on a vehicle that was remade with “army tank” type tracks underneath it and we could drive through nearly anything. This vehicle I noticed had a very tall antenna on the back of it, a CB Radio mounted on the dash and an escape hatch in the roof for use in the event we went through the ice. This didn’t turn out to be a very real possibility as we found we were standing on 27 inches of ice. Good to know that these communication devices are being used very actively on this lake and many others, I’m sure. Personal CB Radios are a clear ticket to a direct communication with others.
CB’s alive and well…
Occasionally I fill in as a local school bus driver for the local school district. All of the buses are equipped with CB Radios which are crackling to life constantly as I drive the students home. I really had no idea that they were so heavily used for this purpose! I guess it just goes to show that just because we aren’t aware of something happening, it has no bearing on just what is really going on out in the world. Using a CB Radio has become common place of all of the drivers and is commonly used for everything from reminding the bus driver that an instrument was left at school to the notification that another bus needs assistance. This “fad” of the early 60’s is still very alive and well! Not only is it alive and well, the quality of these radios and the speakers they are played through have reached a new level of sophistication. Let’s sit back and enjoy the strides that have been made with these units! Certainly a lot of boaters are including a CB Radio as a basic necessity when outfitting their boats. Have a great weekend – see you Monday!
What’s the tie between Snow and CB’s?
Part of the exciting part of Northern Minnesota is that you really never really know what you’re going to wake up to in terms of the weather – no matter what the weatherman says! The Lake Superior basin puts funny and strange “twists” into the normal patterns of weather and makes it quite unpredictable. That’s what happened last night. I woke up to another 4 inches of snow on the ground so plowing and snow blowing were two of the main items on the agenda for this morning. As I was plowing and saw the county snowplow go by I noticed he was talking on his radio. It occurred to me just how important it would be for each driver to have his own radio (very likely a CB Radio) to report traffic problems as well as road conditions to the county garage. CB Radios and hand held CB radios are becoming more and more popular although they sure went through a dry spell from the early 70’s until the mid 90’s! Finally something affordable that is extremely useful and also something that a person can have a lot of fun with! …time to shovel again!!
What if I use batteries?
If you are using a hand held unit – whether it’s a CB Radio or a VHF Marine Radio, you’re going to have to use batteries to make it work. A good point to remember when using your hand held VHF Radio is that the higher wattage setting you are using, the more power it will draw so don’t use more than you have to. Remember – you can very effectively communicate over 20 nautical miles with a hand held unit at only 1 watt. Some are finding that buying a radio that has the capability of running on standard alkaline batteries vs the “more popular” rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Why? Because (as we all know from using our cell phones) the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries can poop out on you when you need them the most whereas the standard alkaline batteries can be stored on board for a number of years with little or no loss of stored energy. Have a great day!!
CB’s can be a real asset…
Imagine if you will, riding through the nature trails on your ATV. Sure would be nice to have means of communicating with the “outside” world if the ATV your on decides to break down for some unknown reason. That’s why it’s always important to carry with you a hand held CB Radio.
Why not improve work efficiency?
I can’t remember how many times I heard pages going over the speaker system trying to find a shop foreman so he could be of service to someone in the office that just happened to come in off the street for a need. Many times he would come to the office only to find out that the question that was asked takes him back out onto the shop floor to see if we had a certain product in stock. If a CB Radio had been used for communication, both steps could have been accomplished with one sweep of the broom so to speak. Much time is needlessly wasted in industry nowadays because of very similar situations. Don’t find yourself in the same predicament – take advantage of the technology available in today’s world for our everyday use!!
Soggy conversation??
A great reason why CB Radios are used a lot today (and hand held CB Radios in particular) is that they can be effective where cell phones fail. Cell phones don’t like water. A CB Radio is typically water repellent, however, if you did manage to drop your CB Radio in the water, your next stop would be the nearest electronics store to buy a new one because your old one would no longer be functioning for some strange reason! Let’s make sure our outdoor “fun” includes communication equipment so we can get help if we needed to quickly and this can be accomplished at a very inexpensive dollar amount in today’s world. Be safe, not sorry.
CB’s have come a long way!
CB’s have sure come a long way since I was a youngster! I can remember the latest and greatest thing on the market was a 2-way wrist radio like the one in the Dick Tracy cartoon in the Sunday paper. Wow – did I ever date myself just now!! These finely tuned instruments are not just for kids anymore – what we used to call a walkie talkie is now a very useful piece of communication equipment whether you’re on the job or simply out on the tractor, etc. Many hunters won’t even consider going into the woods for deer hunting or some other type of hunting without a CB Radio hanging on his/her belt! They have become an essential part of the survival equipment and are considered “basic” to a lot of folks. Don’t limit yourself to these uses. I’ve see people use them in malls, talking to their traveling companions in the car in front of them, or folks just wanting to find out what their fishing buddies are catching on the other side of the lake.
Let’s not be ‘chit-chatting’ on channel 16
When using your VHF radio, you must remember that it isn’t the same as using a CB Radio. Enforcement of proper use can include hefty fines, especially for false distress calls. It is possible that you could cost someone else their life if you are chit-chatting on channel 16 preventing the Coast Guard from hearing someone else’s faint distress call – so always use channel 16 for meeting and then switch to a working channel to carry on your conversation. Those working channels could be channel 68, 69, 71, 72, or 78.
Keep in mind this summary of channels for normal operation…
Channel 22A (Twenty-two Alpha): Primary working channel for Coast Guard use. They use it to relay weather alerts, etc to the general boating public.
Channel 13: Navigation and piloting channel
Chanel 6 : Ship to ship frequency – safety related communications
Channel 16 : General meeting channel and monitoring channel