Run both.
Good fun :D inexpensive and not big uits.
Run both.
Good fun :D inexpensive and not big uits.
Yep as mentioned elsewhere SSB 27Mhz is becoming more inviting now all the yahoos have moved up to UHF. SSB is a different MODE to AM. And UHF CB (477Mhz) is in FM, a different mode again.
They all have there advantages, with UHF CB being the best, IMHO, for convoy ops. (Less interference, shorter wavelength and therefore antenna and no need for fiddly fine tuning.)
SSB HF (27 MHz) operates on the 11 metre wavelength therefore effective antennas are generally longer (get caught in trees, break fluro tubes in the garage, can be a bit fiddly to fine tune)
AM 27Mhz transmits a carrier + two side bands. THe information (voice) is transmitted by modulating the amplitude of the signal (Hence "A-M") This is why it is a third of the wattage. Key the mike on AM and it will transmit a carrier (Everyone who has used AM CB will have had someone "Drop a carrier" on them and the resulting hetrodyne makes a hellavu noise)
SSB will only transmit the full 12 watts when you are at full modulation. Ie Try and "drop a carrier" on SSB and nothing will happen. "Power Mikes" were the bee knees in the 70s - they boosted your modulation and effective output.
In the right conditions radio wave will bounce (or skip) off the ionosphere - much more likely on HF. (30Mhz or lower)
If you have got this far, think about this.
An amateur (or ham) radio license is now much much easier to obtain. You can have all the fun of HF, VHF, and UHF by doing a simple course (usually a couple of weekends at your local amateur club) and you will qualify for a foundation license.
(When I did it you needed to do Morse code and fairly lengthy electronics exam)
Ham Radio is bags of fun if you like playing with SSB CB, here is a link for more info The Wireless Institute of Australia
73's
VK3GPS
Well I hope they are coming back, I have a lovely Uniden PC 122XL which I would love to sell. :cool:
be nice if they did...I have a midland that I bought over from the uk very little tidy unit which was also chipped for europe which gave a hundred more channels
Geez.. Flash backs...
Stupid call signs, mobile setups..
1000w Linear amps, skip whips, 9' stainless whips... Megatrons, homebases...
Car mounted (yes) 3 element Yagi's...
Parking at Lofty with homebase antenna mounted on cars...
Digiscans, Extra channels, slides.....
Oh the horror!!!!!!!! :angel:
It's interesting that HF radio is gradually dying as well. Lots of Govt sites are being decommissioned and replaced with satellite comms. Makes me wonder what sort of dire straits we would be in if the sattelites suffered a major outage.
It would be interesting to see what could be done if the same amount of research was put into HF as has ben expended on ADSL over the last 10 years. A communications format that had a bandwidth of about 4k is now transmitting 8kb/s and more.
Regards,
Tote
Me too, a uniden super panther i think it was mounted on my motorbike i would sit up on Mt Dandenong and talk to guys in the airforce base in Hawai on a good night . Still have the CB in the cupboard and a base station antenna- will have to drag it out, i know it still works.