we have one as hubby is a truckie also............what I can not work out is how come it is illegal to talk on a mobile phone but totally legal to talk on a cb radio, I really don't see much difference myself.
-- Edited by pauline on Monday 9th of April 2012 01:48:02 PM
We have friends staying with us who have just had 6 weeks in Tasmania. I asked them if they found the CB radio handy. They liked it but found it very frustrating when on at least 4 occasions they wanted to alert a fellow caravan driver that something was wrong with their van, but they found the other persons did not have their radio turned on. What's the point of having one?
Police can allege your driving was affected and give evidence of say, the car weaving all over the road and narrowly avoiding a collision. That is, the cop would have to rely on something other that you were on the cb at the time, for example that you were driving without care and attention. It so happened that using the cb may have contributed, but it is legal to operate one and while using the microphone - how else can it be used?
There are cowboys who embarrass other police.
Until someone can show the law that forbids it I will continue to comply with the one that allows it.
Just talking about distractions, the GPS road navigator is a problem for some and the location of units can take attention well away from the road ahead.
The other problem is texting on mobiles, which requires looking at the keyboard and is more dangerous because of that. I make an effort to turn the mobile phone off completely (and the cb on if towing).
-- Edited by johnq on Monday 9th of April 2012 07:00:47 PM
That's exactly what I thought you'd have it for but if it's not turned on you can't hear them either! One of the caravans had a jack leg half down, one had a hatch open. I think I'd want to know about that too.
I keep mine on 40 so I can listen for advice or warnings. Has come in handy. Also have spoken to truckies who wanted to overtake, telling them I would pull over as soon as safe. They were very polite and thanked me when I was able to get out of their way, after advising me where the next pull off could be done.
I can't stress enough the value of having a CB UHF radio in your vehicle, on channel 40 at all times. Telephone vs radio - You are able to use mobile phone in vehicle if it's hands-free using bluetooth or similar technology. Using the radio only takes a few seconds, and most of your time is spent listening, not talking.
What I find much more distracting is the thumps and bangs of a commodore or falcoln motoring up the road with sub-whoofers roaring. How can that be in the best interest of the driver when the sound takes up all the brain space of the driver and the drivers in the vicinity of the sub-whoofer car? They can't hear their own vehicle, if anything is wrong or noisy, and they can't hear what's going on around them such as other vehicles, fire truck, ambulance or police with sirens blaring. Nothing gets around the sub-whoofers. They don't watch their mirrors or other vehicles from any direction.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
I have mine set to scan 5, 11, 18, 22, 35, 40 at all times. On the back of my camper I have my first name and 18-40, that way anyone behind knows I have CB Radio and they can call me on 18 or 40 then I would ask to move to another channel if we were going to chat. Channel 5 and 35 are emergency channels but the amount of people that talk rubbish on these is very annoying. I like to scan 5 and 35 as you never know if you can help someone in need if you don't listen.
My understanding is you can't actually transmit (Talk) on CB if you are the driver and driving at the time as with a mobile phone unless it has hand free capabilities as CG said.
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Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
Wrong Doug. We use the radio microphone all the time. The talk time is very short, but rarely sweet. LOL. I don' t know if there's a hands-free UHF CB radio, but I certainly haven't come across it with any of the trucks I've worked with. I have a hand-held and the installed unit in the tug. The hand-held is essential for the job in case we have to call the tune out of the vehicle.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
That's interesting Chrissy, a mate and I were chatting on CB about a month ago, I was about 1km away going the other way and he was pulled over by the police and fined for talking on the CB while driving. He hasn't done anything about it yet so I will mention it to him and he might like to check on it further before he pays the fine. I think he said it was something like $120 fine plus 3 points can't remember the exact amount.
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Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
I keep mine on 40 so I can listen for advice or warnings. Has come in handy. Also have spoken to truckies who wanted to overtake, telling them I would pull over as soon as safe. They were very polite and thanked me when I was able to get out of their way, after advising me where the next pull off could be done.
This is exactly why we have ours on too Marj, and have been thanked - and had quite a few chats with the truckies too!
Possibly the cops that booked the truckie may have thought he was on his mobile, not his CB - just a thought.
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Pejay are travelling in a 2014 Holden Colorado LTZ Twin Cab Ute + 2013 Coromal Element van
Doug I think your mate needs to check out what he was pinched for. If it was assumed he was on the telephone he may have to prove he wasn't to have a case for appeal. If it was illegal every truckie in this country would be pinged all the time, and they get hit with enough penalties. As I stated, I don't know of a hands-free UHF or any other 2-way radio. There is a big difference between talking on the phone, holding the gadget to the ear with one hand, steering wheel in the other, thinking about what is being said to you, while you think about an answer or response. With the phone the line is open 1 to 1, whereas the radio is an open line for many users within range, but you may not have to chat, just listen. The 2-way communication is just short chat, well, unless you're one of those chatters who sit on ch 40 and ramble on with their chat instead of going to a chat channel, eg 39. If 2 vehicles are heading towards each other on the road at 100 KPH, they only have a 5-10 kms window in which to say "g'day", update road and weighbridge status etc. They usually don't carry on when they are heading in the same direction.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Totally agree texting is a definate no no..........but I still don't see much difference at all to talking on a phone or a cb, and there is quite a lot of chit chat goes on on them.
Its frustrating trying to inform a driver towing his van that the poptop on his van is flying in the breeze and you are trying to alert him on the CB. Even female hand waving logic didn't compute. Needless to say he would have been up for a cheaper repair if he was listening to his CB.
Speaking to another vanner about the high flying poptop at a wayside stop further down the road and he indicated that he also tried the CB and hand signals with no success.
To all nomads with a UHF CB fitted TURN IT ON and don't be afraid to use it.
It also helps if you have a CALLSIGN on the back of the van.
Hallelujah Two Strays! At last someone gets it. I've seen vans with the CB frequency displayed, but when I've tried to call them they're not home. Whether I'm travelling or working I find the need to call up sometimes to give them instructions about what we want them to do as we approach with an oversize load. The chatters are usually the passengers of a convoy heading in the same direction for the annual, or once in a lifetime trip to Cape Yorke or the Gibb River Road or somewhere. The chatters need to go to another channel. It's times like this that you may experience the wrath of the truck drivers and get told to shove off. My call sign is on my spare wheel, "Cruising Granny". Pauline, if you have a 2-way CB radio in your vehicle you will understand the difference between holding a phone to your ear or just responding to a 2 way in 1 or 2 words. I'm not talking about the chatters. Blue tooth is the best thing since sliced bread if you do have to use the phone while travelling somewhere mobile phone reception is available. I don't use the phone more than I have to when driving, but it's hands-free with blue tooth for work calls only. Magic! The cab of my tug looks like the c o c kpit of a 747 with all the gadgets and cables.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Chris...I just so loved your 'brain space' description..another good belly laugh, even though the subject matter is more serious.
I got pinched by a copper many years ago whilst chatting with other truckers thru a ground fog between Swan Hill and Piangil which was hiding a mob of sheep which had made their way under a buggered fence..
Got the book thrown at me in court...was hoping it went out the door, but not that time.
So now I only use the UHF if is a life threatening situation and no bloody wallopers around.
Cant understand people who go to the trouble of putting a UHF CH 40 sign on the back of their vehicle/van, and then not turn it on! To us its a very useful way to communicate or just listen while on the roads. Nice to be able to warn traffic about a mob of roos near the road etc, and always listening out for the wide-vehicle pilots or accident warnings.
Thanks Zoomtopz. We try really hard to avoid the Pacific highway, will try to remember if we ever go that way again!
-- Edited by Gerty Dancer on Tuesday 10th of April 2012 02:50:33 PM
Can I get a bit of advice on what type to get please. I'm with Marj, the times I have listened I can't undstand a thing they say anyway. I was travelling with a turckie friend who translated for me and I was astonished with his explanations...... Didnt sound like that to me. I can see the value in them and family would like it if I had one but like everything else they can be expensive or affordable. What's the difference and what would do the job for a newbie please? I hope I'm not changing the thread here, if I am sorry and I'll restart if need be just let me know. Tess
Tess, I wouldn't have one except Myrtle came with one installed. The only reason I wouldn't have one was because I would never even have thought about getting one and like you would have no idea what to get or how much to pay.
Why Channel 29 on the Pacific Hwy ? We always have ours on Channel 40 for the reasons stated that the truckies are a great source of information about the roads.
We try really hard to avoid the Pacific highway, will try to remember if we ever go that way again!
