Pros and Cons of a AM CB Radio?

Submitted: Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 11:45

ThreadID: 80141 Views:4733 Replies:6 FollowUps:24

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P3377

Hi there.
im an 18yr old male.
ive just purchased my first car.

And i have invested in a PA system for some fun, this comprises of a AM CB radio, because (after weeks of research) i discovered that NO UHF radios have a PA function.

however, i REALLY dont want to buy a second mounted radio... what are the conns of just plugging in an ariel to my AM radio that will be mounted in my car.

im not going to be asking for 20 killometers of range or anything, due to my age, none of my friends wil have powerfull CB's

P.S i picked up an ariel at a swap meet from an old guy who insisted that it was a UHF ariel. its something like a 5 ft. whip.

i want to have a crappy handheld i can give to a friend if they leave the vechile.
it will undobtdly be UHF... are they backwards compatible in a sense?

can anyone help me? thanks.

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Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 12:46

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 12:46

Well if you are going to play cops with a Loud speaker I guess you will end up talking to one in the near future.

1 Cb is useless as you need someone to talk to and almost everyone uses UHF these days

Why wont young people have decent radios ??? age is not a barrier

The aerial could fit anything or nothing "About 5 feet" means nothing

1 crappy handheld is just that.

1 and crappy and no they arent backward compatible.

Your "weeks of research " were obviously on the wrong subjects.

AnswerID: 424374

Follow Up By: Joe n Mel - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 12:57

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 12:57

....... Grumpy Graham on grumpy Sunday .......... "smile" he was only asking ?? :-)

FollowupID: 694803

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:09

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:09

Not grumpy at all

Thats how it is

Enough bogans around

The loudspeaker did it for me went down hill from there..

LOL

FollowupID: 694804

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:21

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:21

Just to make you happy I'll rephrase my reply.

Having fun and frightening people with a loudspeaker may not be viewed as "fun" by the law.

A CB is old school and not used by many nowadays.

One is useless unless you have someone with another one to talk to.

Maybe usefull if you and your mates who have them are in a convoy.

The aerial may or may not be of any use depending on what it actually is.

One handheld, crappy or not is also useless. Two are obviously better.

No UHF and an old CB are not compatible so apart from the ability to scare old ladies you have wasted your money.

Your research would have been better spent researching UHF radios.
Sorry but thats the way it is.

FollowupID: 694805

Follow Up By: P3377 - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:23

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:23

I am obviously not stupid enough to impersonate a police officer.
im not going to even use the PA except when around friends in an open area, mabey at partys too where there is already an exsess of noise.

my research was aimed at a PA system, due to PA functionalilty, amplification due to the 5Watt regulation, and where to find an appropriate speaker.

you answer however was helpful, in telling me that i cannot interact with UFH users... thank you.

that means i plan on getting a decent handheld and a crap one, or two fairly median ones.

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4c4272bb014668e8273fc0a87e0106ad/Product/View/D1883

can you find any problems with this handset?

i am also i lifesaver at Inverloch and have been offered the role as Radio Supervisor, which is a faily mediocre position, however it may further enhance my knoledge in radios.

bogan is a harsh word for someone you dont actually know. try less trolling and more informing.

FollowupID: 694806

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:39

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 13:39

If you are planning on making a noise at parties you would be better installing a doof doof system and cranking that up because any CB I have owned can only receive and send voice messages.

Some I believe can be used as public address systems but are still only the rated wattage. Some may be able to be used as amps, I dont really know never having the need.

Bogan was used as a general term as in loud parties, loudspeakers etc.

However when I was 18 we used smoke signals as radios werent around LOL

Read my second reply if my first offended you..

FollowupID: 694807

Follow Up By: P3377 - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:28

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:28

i have a holden HQ premiere.
here it is:
http://s613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/peter__619/?action=view¤t=100_0615.jpg&newest=1

it has a new Alternater (80A) however i dont think it can handle the amp for a doof doof system.
also i listen to what you would call "Death Metal" so a Subwoofer would not be bennifitial. i have a 4 peice 50W stereo system. its just loud enough.

however i have just received my PA speaker today ("aparently" 60W from malasia.) and i have a small 40 watt mono amplifier to boost the 5W output from the CB radio.

i plan on telling police that it is an extended speaker to my immobaliser. haha

FollowupID: 694812

Follow Up By: Therifleman - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:36

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:36

P3377,perhaps you could study a spelling bookalso.Cheers

FollowupID: 694814

Follow Up By: P3377 - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:46

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:46

Please define the lexeme "bookalso" i couldn't find it in the dictionary.

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Follow Up By: Muntoo - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:49

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:49

Enough of the attacks.

Therifleman, i think you might need to study your spelling.

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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:54

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:54

Hmm Stones and glass houses come to mind but typos are excusable I guess.

Agree the spelling book is needed though.

I may not have been far out in my original assumption ROFL

FollowupID: 694819

Follow Up By: Therifleman - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:57

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 14:57

Muntoo,not a spelling error.I thought you would be able to work out it was 2 words but I missed hitting the space bar.I was sure some idiot would pick it up & I was not disappointed.Cheers

FollowupID: 694820

Follow Up By: P3377 - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 16:06

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 16:06

It's good to see that even mature, informative forums have users who enjoy distrupting the peace, however it may just be all this talk of PA systems.

FollowupID: 694827

Follow Up By: aussiedingo. (River Rina) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 17:25

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 17:25

This post has been read by the moderation team and has been moderated due to a breach of The For Sale/Wanted to Buy Rule

.

Forum Moderation Team

FollowupID: 694841

Follow Up By: Maîneÿ . . .- Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 20:31

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 20:31

aussiedingo,

P3377 can't PM you :-)

Maîneÿ . . .

FollowupID: 694869

Reply By: howesy - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 15:41

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 15:41

Thee are still some people on the AM and it can be handy if your mates have one and you can get em at give away prices. Hardly anyone on them means not as many idiots have you listened to uhf lately.
When I went in some remote areas few years ago I ended up fitting my old AM unit with the UHF and ran 2 arials. I figured that my old AM unit also had USB and LSB which on the skip can at least get someone in a crunch who can make a call for you even if they were a thousand or so K's away. It also had PA function but I never used it. If you really like it then get one with all the bells AM/USB/LSB & P.A and run 2 radio's. You can also buy units that run both AM and UHF from the same unit but not sure if they come with the P.A. toy.

I maybe around 50 yrs old but I still remember what it was like to have fun so be your own person and do what makes you happy as long as your not hurting anyone.

AnswerID: 424397

Follow Up By: Therifleman - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 16:18

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 16:18

This post has been read by the moderation team and has been moderated due to a breach of The Advertising/Self-Promotion Rule

.

Forum Moderation Team

FollowupID: 694830

Follow Up By: P3377 - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 18:18

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 18:18

The benifits of AM arnt really there for me with UFH being so available and compatible. that is a very kind offer, but i wil have to decline as i will undoubtedly go for the option of handheld UHF.

FollowupID: 694849

Follow Up By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 18:46

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 18:46

P3377 (a name would be nice here),

Therifleman is offering you a pair of UHF handheld radios....it is a good offer and is generous of him ;)

Andrew

FollowupID: 694851

Follow Up By: P3377 - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 19:09

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 19:09

Name is Peter. P337 = Peet, however username was taken.

I see now that i missread Therifleman's post, but i was in no way implying he was a bad person. therefore i do not belive he owes me anything. I intend no offense over this decline.

FollowupID: 694853

Follow Up By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 19:14

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 19:14

No problems Peter, just thought you may have misinterpreted his kind offer. No problems also with declining offers :)

Good luck with your setup.
Andrew

FollowupID: 694855

Follow Up By: Member - Geoff H (QLD) - Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 09:33

Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 09:33

Hi P3377,

We just returned from a trip to the Cape and used a couple of 3 watt hand held radios to communicate between vehicles and they were great when in convoy. I think you can get 5 watt hand helds these days which would give you more range.

Regards
Geoff

FollowupID: 694914

Reply By: blue one - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 16:55

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 16:55

I think you guys have been had.

Cheers

AnswerID: 424404

Follow Up By: Therifleman - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 19:32

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 19:32

Well Peter,I think this has gone on for long enough,no offence was taken by me,nor did I want to offend you.Cheers.

FollowupID: 694862

Reply By: Member - Prickle (SA) - Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 20:09

Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 at 20:09

LOL

Thanks for the laugh guys.

Pete, you asked some questions, and have got some valuable info.

Keep up the good work with the life savers we need them.