bigred1cav
ohio
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What CB Radio channel is used to get traffic and road reports/ I seem to get no chatter whatsoever. My CB is new and just installed gets me talk but never much.
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narcodog
Georgia
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CB's are used very little. Sometimes you'll hear a couple of truckers but that's all. They will be on 19.
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sirdrakejr
Las Vegas, Nevada
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With the sunspots being as bad as they have been, little if any traffic is heard these days. It MAY get better but don't bet your house on it.
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jetboater454
Camping or home
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If your in an area that has a lot of rock haulers (dump trucks) try channel 23.You don't get the junk you get on 19,and they can be a great help for cheap fuel and easy access.
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Engineer9860
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If you are having RX/TX issues check the SWR of your antenna.
As far as chatter, Sesame Street (ch19) is where you will find all of the truckers. Language can get quite colorful. When I was an OTR trucker, my wife would ride with me on occasion. Listening to ch19 is how she earned her street cred. 
Anyhow, if you are in need of traffic reports, or directions, or just information in general, just jump on ch19 and call out "how about some local". Eventually someone will reply with "go ahead local". At that point you can ask your locale specific question.
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bigred1cav
ohio
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Engineer9860 wrote:If you are having RX/TX issues check the SWR of your antenna.
As far as chatter, Sesame Street (ch19) is where you will find all of the truckers. Language can get quite colorful. When I was an OTR trucker, my wife would ride with me on occasion. Listening to ch19 is how she earned her street cred.
Anyhow, if you are in need of traffic reports, or directions, or just information in general, just jump on ch19 and call out "how about some local". Eventually someone will reply with "go ahead local". At that point you can ask your locale specific question.
What does this mean and how is it done? If you are having RX/TX issues check the SWR of your antenna.
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Juggler
Michigan
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RX/TX is receive/transmit. SWR is standing wave reflection. It's best to get someone knowledgeable to set your SWR.
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hershey
Albuquerque,(fulltime) NM, USA
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If you haven't had the antenna and cb installed by a professional, then there is a process that tunes the antenna to your cb. Thats where the SWR term comes from. A meter is put between your CB and the antenna and the antenna is trimmed to get the best possible transmit function. Reception has little to do with the adjustment, you can receive just fine with a coat hanger.
Some truck stops have a CB shop on premise and someone who can check the SWR (balance) on your system.
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mowermech
Billings, MT
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Actually, SWR means Standing Wave Ratio. That is the ratio of the power put out by the finals in the radio compared with the reflected power that the antenna could not radiate. 1:1 is ideal, but not often achieved. 1.5:1 is pretty good. Anything less than 2:1 is OK. 2.1:1 to 3:1 is acceptable. Anything over 3:1 could cause radio damage due to overheating the final transistors if you did a lot of talking, AND it wastes about 25% of the power the radio is feeding into the coax.
If nothing else, contact the local amateur radio (HAM) club and see if one of the members would help you tune your antenna. You can get an adequate SWR meter at your local Radio Shack store. I think they still have them. They did the last time I looked for one.
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hershey
Albuquerque,(fulltime) NM, USA
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mowermech wrote:Actually, SWR means Standing Wave Ratio. That is the ratio of the power put out by the finals in the radio compared with the reflected power that the antenna could not radiate. 1:1 is ideal, but not often achieved. 1.5:1 is pretty good. Anything less than 2:1 is OK. 2.1:1 to 3:1 is acceptable. Anything over 3:1 could cause radio damage due to overheating the final transistors if you did a lot of talking, AND it wastes about 25% of the power the radio is feeding into the coax.
If nothing else, contact the local amateur radio (HAM) club and see if one of the members would help you tune your antenna. You can get an adequate SWR meter at your local Radio Shack store. I think they still have them. They did the last time I looked for one.
Your absolutely right in your definition of SWR etc. I only tried to make it as understandable to some one thats obviously new the the world of CB. Contacting a local amateur radio club is indeed good advice. I wouldn't suggest anyone new to CBs to just get a SWr meter, theres a lot more to the tuning than just getting the meter. A novice without any help would probably be as lost as I am trying to figure out how a Mac works after having a PC for years
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