2nd November - UK CB anniversary

[SiriusHardware]

A quick reminder that Wednesday 2nd November will be the 41st anniversary of the beginning of (legal) CB radio in the UK - there is usually increased activity on that night of the year. On past such occasions many of the people taking part were using era-appropriate radios which had been dusted off for the occasion.

In the past the channel used as the 'anniversary centre of activity' has been equal to the anniversary year, but of course this sequence ended last year with channel 40, the highest channel number, being used for the 40th anniversary.

I have seen suggestions that this year the centre of activity channel will be channel 27 (for MHz), although ultimately it would be better if it found a permanent home on 14 or 30, as sets with a reduced number of channels, like small handhelds, usually only have one or the other or both of those channels and are excluded from the activity if some other channel is used.

I may go out for a run up to high ground myself, weather permitting.

[Techman]

I'm going to try to make the effort. Last year was a special occasion that will never be repeated, with the band being alive with operators and I'm pleased that I made the effort and took time out to take part.

Channel 40 was a good one to use last year, not only because it was the 40th year, but because it also falls immediately under the bottom end wing of the 28MHz notch filter, therefore virtually negating all the noise and digital hash that home bases have to contend with these days. Sadly, for many users operating in built up areas, that out of all those now legal channels it's only the top five (35-40) that are of any use for anything other than talking down the road or to the next street in the worst instances. It's unfortunately made CB radio unusable at the legal 4 watts on FM, as it just won't get over the noise floor with people reporting S9 and over of noise hash in some areas.

So although I think that channel 27 is as good a choice as any, I think the increased noise levels on this lower frequency are going to spoil things a little for those who can't go out into non urban areas - it'll be interesting to see if this turns out to be a major issue. It may well be that not so many folk will bother this time round. I never normally bothered with any of these anniversaries, but seeing as last year was a special occasion I decided to make the effort and I have to say that the frequencies were very busy, and just thinking about last year, many of the lower channels were being used as people moved away from the pile-up on channel 40, so perhaps there won't be so much of a problem with noise as I think there will be after all.

I intend to 'controversially' (and deliberately) use the Fidelity CB 1000 that I bought at the Newark Ham Fest this year. I've never owned a working/complete one (although I've got the butchered remains of at least one - can't remember where it came from, probably in a junk job lot sometime years ago), but I've always wanted one to see how bad they really are. Interestingly, it's not that bad with very good reports on the transmitted output and the received audio is a very pleasing tone to listen to. The squelch has a nice gentle action with no popping and clicking. The set is exceptionally sensitive on receive and outputs a good 4 watts (actually slightly more) into a dummy load. They say that these were a bleed-over box back in the day, but with less users operating these days this isn't going to be such a problem. However, I see what people mean when I noticed that stations operating on the top CB channels were being knocked about by some morse code. I instantly checked the bottom end of 28MHz and found what I had suspected to be the case that the 'skip' was up and it was alive with continental morse transmissions and that they were actually affecting the top end (at least) of 27MHz on the Fidelity. I've never known that to happen on any other radio, so there is some truth in what they say about these sets.

Anyway, I'm going to dispel the myth that the Fidelity 1000 is rubbish and the worst CB radio ever made by using it on the night and I intend to tell every contact what set I'm using. However, just in case it gets totally obliterated by strong nearby stations and becomes unusable, I'm going to have another period set in reserve.

Getting this Fidelity (the chassis are made by 'Great' and are badged under a couple of different brands, ie, Gecol, which is the scrap remains that I'd already got and Lake etc., although the Fidelity model was the most popular one) was a bit of a necessity seeing as I've already got other 'controversial' Fidelity products in the shape of TVs, Tape recorders, record players, etc. Not only that, but I was taught fault finding on Fidelity transistor radios in my first year of 'City & Guilds' back in my college student days, so Fidelity seem to have followed me about throughout life, although completely unintentionally on my part until this latest purchase.

[G6Tanuki]

Somewhere in my sub-attic I think there is a Lowe TX40, my first legal CB bought at the end of 1981. I may go and dig it out, hopefully it'll still work. And my Hy-Gain 12AVQ vertical antenna is resonant at 28.4MHz so I should be able to get it to match without too much difficulty.

[electronicskip]

Well i shall certainly have a go at it .
Will probably use my Modern President Jackson 2 along with a period correct Amstrad CB901 and my K40 Magmount aerial,drive up to Minchinhampton common which is a great please for DXing.

[Techman]

I had to look up what a Lowe TX40 was - quite a nice looking set and I see that there's a 'Trader Sheet' service manual available for it.

I know somebody local(ish) with a Jackson and suspect he'll be using that, although it's not exactly that modern and it's one that I've had in for a minor repair about six years ago - it's got MRF477 finals...bad luck if they ever fail!

As I said to a chap I know on air last night and who I know has a few period sets from back in the day, but doesn't use any of them, I don't want to hear any of these modern CRT 6900 things, which is what he and most others are using these days, so I suspect that'll be what a lot will unfortunately be using.

When I first started using CB again after a long break and heard people talking about CRT, I thought they were talking about TV set picture tubes!

The truth is that these 'modern' so called '10 meter' transceivers are actually quite good and folk don't need to bother with extra amplification these days because they already put enough power out of the back of the set to get over the modern day hash. It's not people using excessive power for the sake of it, it's just what's unfortunately required these days to make the band usable. I know what power most people round here are running and it's pretty much no more than about 40 watts in most cases and to be fair, with these sets being adjustable, they often wind them down to the lowest that works to be able to chat.

[SiriusHardware]

a good 4 watts (actually slightly more) into a dummy load

I'm sorry but that is obviously a very atypical example, therefore your entire experiment may be null and void.

It's no good subjecting yourself to the trial by ordeal of using a Fidelity 1000 (AKA Lake, Cheiza, etc) if it happens to be an accidentally good one. Honestly, in the four years or so that I spent working on UK CBs during my day job, I never once saw one that could knock out more than 2.5W.

I salute your bravery, anyway.

[stevehertz]

I realise that it was very popular, and indeed a lot of my friends became hooked on CB radio, but it never bit me I'm afraid! Guess I was too busy collecting old wirelesses!

[Techman]

Yes, I've heard that they're pretty much a 2.5 watt set, so was quite surprised. It was reading around 5 watts down at the bottom end of a Bird 100 watt HF slug, so I changed to a 10 and then a 5 watt slug for a more accurate confirmation and it was a notch over the four.

It looked fairly untouched inside other than cut and badly joined speaker wires and had some 'void if removed' round stickers over the case joins, so perhaps it had an 'expert' tune it up at some time in the past.

It'll be a bit of fun and it is after all the 'working mans rig' from back in the day, so very appropriate - if it works!

[Techman]

Originally Posted by stevehertz

Guess I was too busy collecting old wirelesses!

These CBs seem to be becoming the new collectables.

A lot of people seem to be buying them on auction sites, although it's commonly said that few are actually using them to transmit with.

[SiriusHardware]

I realise that it was very popular, and indeed a lot of my friends became hooked on CB radio, but it never bit me I'm afraid!

It was pre-internet, pre mobile, the 'social media' of its day and indeed the only example of that genre that I have ever subscribed to or ever will. It put me in touch with a good little group of friends who were all technically interested types.

On a day to day basis it is rather quiet these days but on occasions when there is some nominal excuse to do so, a lot of the old timers come out of the woodwork for a few hours and the bands light up again.

Ever since I was small I can remember being fascinated by transmitters and the idea that you could fling a signal off a wire into space and it could be caught by someone else, who knew where. When I started to get into electronics, transmitters were the first things I was interested in making.

Even now some 50 years later the novelty still hasn't worn off, although I have been a radio amateur for about 25 years now so CB is no longer my only possible outlet - but I still have a soft spot for CB.

[electronicskip]

Originally Posted by Techman

These CBs seem to be becoming the new collectables.

A lot of people seem to be buying them on auction sites, although it's commonly said that few are actually using them to transmit with.

I think i must be in a minority , i have one permanently in the car just for fun and for sure i collect them (up to about 60ish now inc handhelds).

[Techman]

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Ever since I was small I can remember being fascinated by transmitters and the idea that you could fling a signal off a wire into space and it could be caught by someone else, who knew where.

Even now some 50 years later the novelty still hasn't worn off,

Exactly!

Once it's in your blood...

I don't use any other sort of 'social media', although I'll concede that my pig headedness over such things possibly means that I'm missing out on some interesting groups that are on such as Facebook etc.

[G0HZU_JMR]

I'm not sure I'll join in, but I'll try and have a tune around on Nov 2nd. I can remember when CB was first legalised back in 1981. I was still a teenager back then and it was all very exciting. I can remember several of us sat on the stairs and the landing, all huddled around a little Cybernet Beta 1000 FM CB powered by a car battery with the coax fed through the open loft hatch up to the classic DV27 antenna on a metal ground plane.

I think we actually started doing this slightly before the 2nd of November 1981 as the CB radio had been bought in advance. It's so long ago I can't be certain now.

I had a rummage to see what UK FM CBs I've still got, and managed to find:

Fidelity 2001FM
Cobra 21X FM
Uniace 100 FM
York 863 (bought recently on this forum)

Up in the loft somewhere I've got several DV27 and DX27 antennas plus the classic Modulator. I still have a magmount somewhere but no 12V cigar adaptor for any of the power leads. I have mikes for all the radios but could only find power leads for the Fidelity 2001FM and the Uniace 100.

[Techman]

Originally Posted by electronicskip

I think i must be in a minority , i have one permanently in the car just for fun and for sure i collect them (up to about 60ish now inc handhelds).

I have a Midland Portapak virtually permanently shoved down the side of the front seat (that's just the radio without the soft case and battery pack), although I don't often bother with the mag-mount that lives in the boot or to plug the connecting lead of the set into the fag lighter socket.

If I go out on Wednesday night I intend to run the set I'll be using off a small car battery in the passenger footwell (as I did last year), I don't want to have to sit there with the ignition turned on or the engine running for the duration as I would have to do when running from the fag lighter socket.

I seem to have at least doubled my collection of old CBs since I started using the mode again, pretty much given to me for helping folks out etc.

From the CB radio community I've also been given record players, gramophones, radios, tape recorders - you name it!

[SiriusHardware]

York 863 (bought recently on this forum)

If you need a power lead for the York - the plug looks quite similar to a 2-pin mains 'cassette recorder' plug - try googling 'CB2 power lead'. Still quite widely available after all this time.

As a Cybernet man I would naturally say that the pick of your collection there is the York 863 (I have one too) as long as it hasn't been messed with but I know you like the Fidelity 2001 (Amstad 901 chassis).

Your small collection spans the range of manufacturers quite well, Maxon, Uniden, Cybernet.

It strikes me that you and electronicskip aren't too far from each other, the only question would be which of his 60 or so rigs would he be using on the night?

[G0HZU_JMR]

Thanks. I'll have a look on ebay. I fudged a basic power connection to check out the 863 but I do need to get a proper power lead for it. The York 863 appears to be original inside, nothing seems to be replaced although one of the channel change pin connections to the main PCB needed re-tinning as it had become slightly intermittent when operating the channel change.

All of the FM CBs appear original inside, with no signs of parts having been replaced and no 'mods' done. They are all healthy examples, but I don't use any of them on air anymore.

[Techman]

I'll have a pair of big croc clips on the battery with a terminal strip for connecting various radios etc. I'll probably have the big Barracuda and/or a Radiomobile CB202 in reserve for when the Fidelity is obliterated on its front end!

[SiriusHardware]

I don't want to have to sit there with the ignition turned on or the engine running for the duration as I would have to do when running from the fag lighter socket.

One of the first things I always do is to modify the wiring so that there is permanent power to the lighter socket for my radio gear. I can't do with being nannied that way. If I want to run the battery flat and strand myself, then let me.

[Techman]

Originally Posted by Techman

I know somebody local(ish) with a Jackson and suspect he'll be using that

I've just been on the radio and spoken to the chap with the Jackson and he tells me he doesn't own it now. He's an occasional member of this forum and I've told him about this thread, so he may pop on and comment - if he can remember his log-in details

[Techman]

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

One of the first things I always do is to modify the wiring so that there is permanent power to the lighter socket for my radio gear. I can't do with being nannied that way. If I want to run the battery flat and strand myself, then let me.

Yes, that's a good idea, although it's my intention to run a hefty supply directly from the battery (suitably fused, of course), to a dedicated socket - when I eventually get 'round-to-it'!