# Do you own a CB radio? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110 "2008-03-28T22:09:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/21 "2008-03-30T14:39:56Z")
[QUOTE=Broomstick] Diesel dummy = dummy riding in a diesel, as opposed to a _professional driver_. [/QUOTE] _slaps forehead_ Ah! Got it, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/22 "2008-03-30T17:58:19Z")
I didn’t realize that CB radios were some kind of fad a long time ago, but that doesn’t reduce their fundamental usefulness. Truck drivers, or people who drive around a lot in the back country, have a very good need of CB radios. I would have one too. Really, a CB is just a high-powered walkie-talkie with 40 channels. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/23 "2008-03-30T18:05:33Z")
My best friend has one in his truck. He’s not a hunter or a person who uses his truck for his job. He’s got it hooked up to a speaker on the outside of the truck. The only time I’ve ever witnessed him using it is when he pulls up in my driveway and harasses my dog by calling her name over the speaker. Whee! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/24 "2008-03-30T18:16:11Z")
I bought a handheld for our trip up to Prudoe Bay on the haul road. Lots of heavy truck traffic up there and it came in handy. Now it’s in a drawer somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/25 "2008-03-30T18:31:39Z")
I got one in my classic car. It’s a lot of fun chatting with truckers on the drive to car shows. I once drove to Little Rock and back (to Wisconsin) with a friend following in his vintage police car. We caused a lot of bear reports, even though the police car was a 70’s model. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/26 "2008-03-30T18:40:10Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] Do you own one? [/QUOTE] Still own one, but haven’t used it in … oh, maybe 15 years. Trying to get rid of it. > [@](#): > > The sad thing is that many of the CB/HAM hobbyists I’ve heard here seem to be paranoid conspiracy theorists, guys that never really got the hang of the internet, or just generally… odd, which doesn’t help their impression with the general public. We can pick them up at the store on the display radios sometimes (especially on weekends) and all I can say is that some of the theories I’ve heard them spouting off make the “JFK Was Assassinated by Aliens!”-type theories sound well-thought out and plausible. That’s why I became disenchanted with radio hobbies. The two meter ham band is completely dominated by old men who delight in talking about the weather, their medical conditions, or technical arcana for hours on end. CBers – the ones that aren’t rednecks, at least – seemed like the Ron-Paul-and-colloidal-silver nutjob types. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/27 "2008-03-31T12:41:41Z")
I still have one that I haven’t used in quite a while. It’s actually an import model with 240 channels including some of the 2 meter band. It also does more than the 2 watts that is legal for CB radios. As a matter of fact, I think even the built in reverb and echo is technically illegal. (edit) Hell, I just remembered… it even can transmit and receive in FM - also illegal on a CB. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/28 "2008-03-31T18:21:20Z")
[QUOTE=Who\_me?] I still have one that I haven’t used in quite a while. It’s actually an import model with 240 channels including some of the 2 meter band. It also does more than the 2 watts that is legal for CB radios. As a matter of fact, I think even the built in reverb and echo is technically illegal. (edit) Hell, I just remembered… it even can transmit and receive in FM - also illegal on a CB. [/QUOTE] That would be part of the **TEN** meter band - and does more than the **FOUR** watts that is legal for CB radios. Why yes, I’m a Ham geek…why do you ask? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/29 "2008-03-31T18:30:53Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] I didn’t realize that CB radios were some kind of fad a long time ago, but that doesn’t reduce their fundamental usefulness. [/QUOTE] I didn’t either, though we had one for a while (late 80s/early 90s). They’re pretty useful for fishermen too, and cheaper than a satellite phone. Some people keep them in their houses to be able to tell what’s going on out on the water. I suppose it would help keep the wives from worrying too much–at least until the words “Shit, we’re sinking!” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/30 "2008-03-31T23:41:33Z")
[QUOTE=Rico] That would be part of the **TEN** meter band - and does more than the **FOUR** watts that is legal for CB radios. [/QUOTE] CB radios here in Australia go up to 5 Watts. HAM Radio has pretty much died since the Internet took over, although there are still enthusiasts out there tinkering around with them. In theory you’re supposed to get special licences and stuff to broadcast on the HAM frequencies, but I’m told by a bloke I used to work with that very few people bother these days because it’s a lot of hassle and there’s a lot of maths involved, partially (he believes) to keep the HAM guys as an exclusive club which “commoners” can’t join. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/31 "2008-04-01T11:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=Rico] That would be part of the **TEN** meter band - and does more than the **FOUR** watts that is legal for CB radios. Why yes, I’m a Ham geek…why do you ask? 😃 [/QUOTE] Who am I to contradict a mod? 😉 I never cared what ham band I had since I never intended to transmit on it… but it was kind of cool to listen to and know I could respond if I wanted to. When I picked up the audio from a remote broadcast for a news report on it my hand started to twitch… even though I knew that the FCC would not look kindly on me if I even keyed up the mic. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/32 "2008-04-01T11:21:36Z")
[QUOTE=Who\_me?] I still have one that I haven’t used in quite a while. It’s actually an import model with 240 channels including some of the 2 meter band. [/QUOTE] That’s an _export_ model, mudduck. What, a Galaxy, Ranger, Northstar, or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/33 "2008-04-02T03:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] Still own one, but haven’t used it in … oh, maybe 15 years. [/QUOTE] My SO has one in storage, hasn’t been used in at least that. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110/34 "2008-04-02T09:03:06Z")
We have several, and they’re all in use. My husband is an OTR truck driver, so he has one in his semi, one in his pickup, I’ve got one in my car, our daughter has one in her car, my mother has one in her car, and we have a base unit set up in our laundry room (which we keep turned on all the time, as the laundry room doubles as my husband’s radio workshop). They’re handy to have available when you need them. If for some reason there is no cellphone service in the area where my husband, daughter or myself may be traveling, and if one of us happens to have a problem (illness, vehicle trouble, just checking in, etc.), we can always get a message to someone here at home, to let them know of the situation. My husband works on radios in his free time, and the things are really just a regular staple with us, I suppose. We haven’t been without one for over 20 years. I don’t think I’d want to be without one, as they’re just too convenient to have around. You just never know when they might be needed, and ours have proven to be valuable in certain situations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-cb-radio/443110.md?page=1)