Posts Tagged ‘CB Radio’
How about a CB Radio for that special guy!
You know, there are a lot of folks out there that really believe that CB Radios are a thing that went by the wayside sometime in the late 60′s or early 70′s. These little radios are actually increasing in popularity with the RV’ers as well as those lone travelers that simply want to have someone to talk to when driving. I have to admit that I currently don’t have one installed in my car, but I have had several of them and did enjoy talking to different folks as I drove along. With all the road construction out there, you can really save yourself a lot of time if you hook up with someone who just traveled through the area you are about to enter. They can advise you of construction delays and possible better routes to take to make your road trip more enjoyable. Then, there’s that teenager with that 2-seater go kart…why not put a CB on that rig?? Just the other day, I had to go out an find a couple of kids on one of those. Their parents were worried because they had been out there for such a long time. I went looking and found them – walking way back in the forest. Their kart had run out of gas and they were hoofing it back to their home. I gave them a ride and all turned out well, but wouldn’t it have been simpler if they had had a CB Radio on the cart and parents had a matching one at home base? All they would have had to do is to radio their problem to their folks and it would have saved a lot of fretting. Oh well, all turned out well in the end. Happy Boater.
Easy to get tongue-tied when learning to talk on your CB Radio…
If you think about it, it’s really kind of funny how a person can get tongue tied when talking to someone on the other end of a CB Radio connection. As far as that goes —-on ANY radio. I can remember getting on line for the first time. I was doing ok until I actually connected to someone out there. I didn’t know this guy from Adam, and naturally the only thing that I knew I had in common with him was that he was talking on his CB and I was talking on my CB Radio. I do believe that I set a new land speed record for going blank on what to say. Over time, it did get easier and I did get pretty good at picking up right away who was new on line and who was an old hat at it. Besides meeting new people on a CB Radio, it can really come in handy for listening to truckers talk as they weave their way in and around traffic and construction zones. It’s like they are breaking trail for you as you go. Just fall in line and enjoy the ride. Who knows – they may even know where the best fuel prices are along the way! Happy Boater.
The further away you are, the more critical the need for communication…
Hello – It’s Monday again and I’m reminded of a conversation I had this weekend while attending a wedding. The wedding was in farming country and I discovered that what I used to consider a farm isn’t even a drop in the bucket. I used to consider a farm about 400 acres or so. Upon sitting around after the wedding and talking to a few of the “kids” that were children of the folks I know were now farming around 5,000 – 6,000 acres each. Even the thought of farming that many acres blew my mind. Imagine how important the communication would be on a farm that big. Now with the technology available in today’s world, I would consider a VHF Marine Radio for a farm this size. True – these require that there be no obstacles in the way of the broadcast as the broadcasts always require a straight line between the two points (i.e. there can’t be a building between you and the receiver of the transmission). But, on an area that large, I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be a real nice fit for using a VHF radio. Now, if you have some obstacles, a CB Radio may be your best option, but for the most part, you will receive clearer radio signal with a VHF Radio. After all – it’s always nice to know when dinner is…………….right!! Happy Boater.
CB’s are great for keeping your fishing group coordinated.
I’ve been on enough fishing trips to know that when you have a few boats in the group, everyone has his own idea as to where the best fishing will be. The trouble with that is that those spots are rarely within sight of one another. The handiest thing you could have in this situation is hand held CB Radio to just keep in your vest pocket. You can keep in touch with your fishing buddies to coordinate when the “shore lunch” is going to be and where to meet – after all – fishing trips are all about shore lunches, right?? I don’t know why the food tastes soooo good when cooked outside over a fire, but it does. CB Radios are available as fixed units or as hand held units. I’ve found that there is really very little difference on the water for range between the 2 units. The fixed unit is supposed to have a range of a couple of miles and I believe you can hear clearly for about a mile with the hand held unit. Either way – nobody likes to be late for supper!! Happy Boater.
Tractors need communication too…
I know I usually blog about marine radios and communication available for boats and pontoons, but lets consider for a minute all those farmers out there that are spending a lot of time in the fields right about this time of the year. My brother-in-law farms in Kansas and I know he has spent some really long days in the fields lately…after all, when the crops are ripe for picking, they’re ripe for picking…no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. While they’re out in the fields, it sure would be nice to have communication with the home base, wouldn’t it? Now, I’m not sure he even has a radio in his tractor, but I intend to ask him. Of course, some of his fields are up to 5 miles away from his home base, so a CB radio wouldn’t work without a tall antenna, but a VHF Radio certainly would work – as long as there are no hills or tall buildings between the 2 points of broadcast. That’s because the beams travel in a straight line and don’t easily “sneak” around hills or buildings. That’s also why they work better on the water than on land. With them you can achieve a broadcast distance of over 20 miles. Whichever you choose – a CB Radio, or a VHF Radio – you can be sure of one thing…they will be more on time for supper!! …..and happy wives make for happy lives. Happy Boater.
CB’s are well rounded in their applications…
It sure seems like as long as there have been trucks, there have been CB radios. At least, that’s where I think they got their start. I’m sure glad they got their start somewhere, otherwise there would be a lot of folks coming up on the short end of the stick for communication needs today. Think about it…a lot of farmers use them in the fields to communicate with home, boats use them to communicate between other boats in their fishing group, construction workers use them on the job site, factories use them to contact someone in the warehouse, and it goes right down the line to commercial boats, trucks, motorcyclists, snowmobilers, vacationers, truckers, and many, many more folks just like you. CB’s aren’t dead – they didn’t die off in the 60′s like a lot of folks think…they’re out there and I believe they’re more popular today than they were 20 years ago. The best thing is that they are very affordable. Granted, the broadcast distance isn’t as great as a VHF Radio, but you can sure have fun with them in a 1 -2 mile radius. Get on board and enjoy. Happy Boater.
CB’s help pass the time when stuck in a construction zone…
Summertime in Minnesota (and I’m sure a lot of your locations as well) is a time widely focused on road construction. We often say in Minnesota that we have 2 seasons – Winter and Road Construction. Those of you that live here know what I mean. Sometime you get stuck in a traffic jam due to construction for 15 – 20 minutes at a time. During those times I have found that it’s really quite entertaining to talk to others on the CB. It helps pass the time of day and let’s face it – if the other person is also stuck in the traffic – misery loves company!! Sometime you are able to talk to someone ahead of you and can be advised to take a certain exit to save a lot of time and other times you may be the one in front “breaking trail” for the others listening in and you can become the hero for the day. Nothing wrong with that!! Good speakers are a must or it takes the fun out of talking to someone else because they would be too hard to understand – especially if they speak with a bit of an accent. Enjoy your summer – turn on your CB Radio and make the most out of your inconvenient times stuck in traffic. Have fun. Happy Boater.
Sometimes having communication is priceless…
We just passed my brother’s birthday and couldn’t help but think back to some of the funny things that happened to us when we were younger. I recall when I was about 12 years old and my brother was 10, we were out at the “cabin” our family owned. Now, back then, the roads we took to get there were just 2 ruts for the tires to drive in and sometimes we had to steer way to one side of the road or the other to keep the bottom of the car from hitting bottom on a big rock in the middle of the road (which was usually about 2 feet high with grass). This also made it very difficult to see the obstacles in the middle section! To make a long story short, we were out in the woods playing when we saw a big black shape coming at us through the brush. Our hearts skipped a beat, we looked at each other and without speaking another word, turned and ran faster than we’ve ever run before! As we entered into the cabin clearing, we were hollering a bear was after us and Dad looked at the look of horror on our faces and gently smiled. What he saw from his angle, was a logger coming out of the woods with a black coat on and laughing like crazy, knowing he’d scared us out of some of our life! Well, I guess it turned out not be an emergency, but I can assure you that in our young minds I’d have given a million dollars for a radio (possible a hand held CB Radio) that could have put us in touch with someone to help us out of our “imaginary” dilemma. Enjoy the summer. Happy Boater.
When you loose communication contact, you loose a lot…
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you really didn’t know where someone that you were looking for was? Maybe the area you were in didn’t have any cell phone service and you knew that if they were out driving, they didn’t have a 2 way radio or anything in the vehicle they were driving. If you have ever experienced this, you know just how helpless or unnerving this can be. Just this weekend, while out at our lake home, we had a part fail on the well and I had to run to town to find a part. My wife and her sister were out on the golf cart driving down 4-wheeler paths in the woods and they had been gone for about an hour. No telling where they could have been because there are so many paths they could have gone down. To make a long story short, I had to resort to writing a note, taping it on the door, and maybe take a brief drive down some of the main arteries to see if they were anywhere in sight before taking off to town. Sure would have been nice if they would have had a portable radio with them because more than likely they would not have been outside “broadcast” distance of about a mile with even a hand held CB Radio. Sure makes life much simpler if the right communication equipment is in place! Note: We even had a set of 2-way radios all charged up, but they had failed to take one with them. Sure doesn’t do much good if they aren’t used!! Happy Boater.
CB Radios, in some ways, bring you back to basics…
There was a time – not all that long ago – that the CB Radio was used widely for communication lines for a lot of rescue personnel. These radios have seemingly gone full circle and are coming back into the limelight. From the early 60′s to now we’ve seen quite a swing in the use of CB Radios…from being a “fad” in the early 60′s to very little use during the 70′s and 80′s (except for truckers) and now, since the 90′s we are seeing quite a recovery in popularity of these radios. Many, many “snowbirds” (as we call them) use CB Radios to communicate with their traveling partners as they pull their rigs south every fall. If you are one of those and maybe you don’t have a CB in your rig, let me tell you that Father’s Day is coming and what a great gift for him – something that all can use!! (best kind of gift!) This year as you travel south, you may be able to talk to others on the road and be able to zero in on where the best places to stop and eat are, or maybe where the best deal on fuel may be. We all need that!! It’s good to see so many CB’s coming back into use. The nice thing about them is that they are both fun and functional!! Enjoy. Happy Boater.