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G6Tanuki · 16th Apr 2021, 8:11 pm

On 2 November 1981 CB radio became legal in the UK (CB27/81) - I was wondering if any of you have memories to share?

Before it became legal there was a _lot_ of illegal use - particularly in rural areas; I remember listening to a lot of these operators while I was living in mid-Wales, and got quite good at spotting the ubiquitous DV27/DX27 antennas. Rich people flaunted a red Firestik...

I was a supporter of NATCOLCIBAR back in those days - though to be honest I didn't really care whether the legal CB would be on the US channels or sonething-else. There were various alternative frequencies to 27MHz proposed; given that 405-line TV was in the process of being closed-down I remember one suggestion was that some of the Band-III TV-allocation could be a good place for CB. I actually got a copy of the Government's Green Paper and wrote to my MP! Back then they didn't call it CB though, it was "Open Channel".

I got my first legal CB [a Lowe TX40] a couple of weeks after legalisation, used with a Valor "Half Breed" base-loaded whip. Fond memories of sitting on a hill outside Aberystwyth and working all the way up and down the coast of Cardigan Bay.

Then in the mid-80s driving sometimes 20,000 miles a year having a CB in the car was really rather useful for warnings about jams etc. in those days before RDS station-switching for traffic-bulletins. This saved me quite a few hours!

My last use of CB was during the 'fuel crisis' back in 2000 - when a call on Channel-19 was the fastest way of finding a petrol-station that actually had any fuel.

These days quite a few of the local tractors have a 'springer' type CB anrenna on the cab roof but that seems to be the only place you still see CB.

16th Apr 2021, 8:11 pm	#1
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 14,007	40 years of legal CB in the UK. On 2 November 1981 CB radio became legal in the UK (CB27/81) - I was wondering if any of you have memories to share? Before it became legal there was a _lot_ of illegal use - particularly in rural areas; I remember listening to a lot of these operators while I was living in mid-Wales, and got quite good at spotting the ubiquitous DV27/DX27 antennas. Rich people flaunted a red Firestik... I was a supporter of NATCOLCIBAR back in those days - though to be honest I didn't really care whether the legal CB would be on the US channels or sonething-else. There were various alternative frequencies to 27MHz proposed; given that 405-line TV was in the process of being closed-down I remember one suggestion was that some of the Band-III TV-allocation could be a good place for CB. I actually got a copy of the Government's Green Paper and wrote to my MP! Back then they didn't call it CB though, it was "Open Channel". I got my first legal CB [a Lowe TX40] a couple of weeks after legalisation, used with a Valor "Half Breed" base-loaded whip. Fond memories of sitting on a hill outside Aberystwyth and working all the way up and down the coast of Cardigan Bay. Then in the mid-80s driving sometimes 20,000 miles a year having a CB in the car was really rather useful for warnings about jams etc. in those days before RDS station-switching for traffic-bulletins. This saved me quite a few hours! My last use of CB was during the 'fuel crisis' back in 2000 - when a call on Channel-19 was the fastest way of finding a petrol-station that actually had any fuel. These days quite a few of the local tractors have a 'springer' type CB anrenna on the cab roof but that seems to be the only place you still see CB.