That '70s gadget, the CB, hangs on! Chicago Tribune article.

[ThaDood]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-08-25-0808230026-story.html       CB is still alive and well where I am.

[i_hear_you]

I scan it from time to time. Aside from the occasional skip from down south, I've not been hearing anything. Perhaps it's time to put more energy into it.

[Josh]

One good emp or coronal mass ejection and the lowly cb will become the country's party line.

[East Troy Don]

The article is from August of 2008.   Can you even buy these things anymore?

[skeezix]

Sure can still buy these things.

I have a scanner with me in the car and have it set to scan the CB band, among other things. The skip is pointless and highly annoying, but there are some around the Minneapolis area that are on the band. Its especially fun when a group from a company are  on the way back to the shop. One could almost say a tiny convoy, but they're more of a collection of vehicles going the same direction with incessant & non-stop complaining. Still fun to listen to.

There is another company in the south metro that actually use it for trucks delivering their product.

[BoomboxDX]

Here where I live even the CB band is dead. It died when skip went south about 5 years ago. Then again, the spectrum above 14 Mhz went south. I think a lot of preppers still have CB's, and I know they're still available online.

Like Josh said, one national disaster and CB's will come out of closets and garages and people will be using them.

[Pigmeat]

A nearby truckstop always has a variety of CB's and related accessories for sale. That's where I get my coax and connectors. Nothing but Belden on the latter two.

I don't know if it's still the same way with connectors and coax, but I was stunned the first time I walked in to look their coax over.

[ThaDood]

I've posted the same thing on The FRN, but asked if anyone remember that 'Good Times' episode where Bookman ditched a CB away from his 'ol lady. Boomer found it on Youtube!    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TBOp7XtOz4   Yep, CB is very affordable today, no monthly bill, can work anywhere that cell phone can't, and you can be almost anyone you want to on it. What's old is new again? So, ya think that Millennials will catch back on it?

[JimIO]

There's an app for that...   

   https://androidappsforme.com/cb-radio-apps-for-android/

[Brian]

Haven't heard any local CB here in at least 5 years although I still see the odd CB aerial on the boy racer cars, just for show as they're not plugged into anything 

[ChrisSmolinski]

Quite a few local CBers here, several of them found my KiwiSDR and use it to check their signal 

[R4002]

CB is alive and well, although a lot more so in some places vs. others.  Even just having mobile CB gear and a few handheld FRS radios puts one several steps ahead if/when the North Koreans explode a high-altitude nuke over the middle of the country and knock out the power grid with the resultant EMP. 

In rural areas, its still quite popular and more often than not, installed in pickup trucks, etc.  I have seen many an Antron-99 (and similar vertical CB base station antennas) installed on many a farmhouse. 

There is a slow migration from CB (read: export radios with extra channels and amplifiers) and/or the VHF marine band to licensed VHF business band frequencies as far as the hunting clubs in my area go but there's still a lot of them who still use CB as a fall-back.

It's what a certain state government emergency management communications official I knew once called "redneck interoperability".  Yes, you certainly can still buy them and they are producing/developing new radios all the time.  The state police actually have a Cobra CB as part of their communications equipment installed in their mobile command posts, and the state DOT motorist assistance trucks have CBs installed for listening to channel 19 (and talking to truckers, when required). 

With a proper antenna and use of SSB, CB, even at modest power levels, provides excellent range.   The sheer number of radios out there also cements the usefulness in an emergency situation.  This could also be said about FRS/GMRS...there are just a lot of radios in the hands of a lot of people. 

Local CB around me exists in both AM and SSB forms, with the SSB operators operating both within and above the CB frequencies, depending on if the band is open (when the skip comes rolling in, they change frequencies).  I have heard local AM CB chatter on the "lowers" too, but that seemed to be hunting club related comms and not a regular net. 

Also truckers.  And kids with Jeeps.  And preppers.  Even snobbish ham operators...  CB isn't going anywhere. 

[Josh]

A lot of 4x4 (=16) guys and gals use cb to talk whilst trail riding. Had a Francis Wheeler Dealer .25wl antennae on the Samurai, people told me it looked like an rc car.

[CoolAM Radio]

CB "Online"

http://romasdr.ddns.net/



also

http://virtual-cbfunk.de/



André
CoolAM Radio

[R4002]

A lot of 4x4 (=16) guys and gals use cb to talk whilst trail riding. Had a Francis Wheeler Dealer .25wl antennae on the Samurai, people told me it looked like an rc car.

Ahh, yes, the 102" (or 108") stainless steel whip, 1/4 wave for CB.  Pretty hard to beat as a mobile antenna, especially with the massive spring at the bottom. 

Yes, you can still buy CB radios and yes people still use CB radios.  Here are some of the newer CB radios on the market:

Ranger (RCI) Superstar SS-158FB4.  The SS 158FB4 is the latest incarnation of the famous Superstar 3900 series radios, this all-mode AM/FM/SSB beast includes a built-in amplifier and is rated at 100w carrier/400w PEP AM/SSB and covers has 12 bands to choose from covering 24.265 MHz to 29.655 MHz.  An easy mod can change that to 24.715 MHz to 30.105 MHz, giving the operator full coverage of the 12 meter ham band, the 10 meter ham band, the CB band and all frequencies in between:

https://www.bellscb.com/products/tenmeter/ranger/Ranger_SS-158FB4.htm

Uniden Bearcat CMX560 - hide the radio itself under your seat and control everything from the handset/microphone.  Designed for very small vehicles and off-road/Jeep applications.  40 channel FCC approved 4 watt AM carrier power.

https://www.bellscb.com/products/cbradios/uniden/Uniden_Bearcat_CMX560.htm

Uniden Bearcat CMX660 - tiny 40 channel 4 watt AM CB radio designed to fit in modern, small vehicles and for off-road purposes (read: install this in your Jeep, bro).  This radio is quite small, 4 inches wide, 1 inch tall and 4 inches deep.

https://www.bellscb.com/products/cbradios/uniden/Uniden_Bearcat_CMX660.htm

Stryker SR-25MC (available under a dozen other brand names and model numbers, I believe it is a rebranded Anytone) - coming in at a tiny 4.9 inches wide, 1.4 inches tall and 4 inches deep! this clearly-designed-for-the-Russian-taxi-drivers 11 meter export CB radio covers the usual 240 channels - 25.615 MHz to 28.305 MHz AM/FM modes. 

https://www.bellscb.com/products/tenmeter/Stryker/Stryker_SR-25MC.htm

Ranger (RCI - the company that builds Galaxy, Ranger, Superstar, Connex, Mirage, etc. radios), Uniden, Cobra and the various Chinese companies wouldn't be putting the money into designing and building new radios if the market wasn't there. 

The SR-25MC (and others) are examples of several dozen Chinese AM/FM export rigs that have flooded the market over the past few years.  Here's a list of the current models produced by Chinese radio manufacturer Anytone: 

http://cbradio.nl/anytone/anytone.htm