New member and call sign request pls (Issued)

Hey everyone, recently back on CB after 30 or so years - got the bug again and whilst quiet in my area - have made some great regular contacts and hoping to get back into DXing when we get some decent propagation.

My names Paul and live North Devon UK.

Please could I have an official call sign?

Howdy Paul!

Hey Paulie

Hi Paul

Three months and still no callsign lol

Hello Paul,

Thanks for being patient buddy, I have backtracked but TBH many of the requests from the time you joined are from people that are no longer active so I'm waiting for people to bump their posts now.

I am delighted to allocate you 26-CT-3298 may you have good luck with it!!

73's Gary.

C.T. Admin.

Many thanks Gary

73

Paul

Congrats on your CT callsign Paul and your patience in receiving it

We had a period of waiting for our callsigns but we all can see Admin and mods have been working hard.
The forum is looking great and the amount of recent posts to the left with "(issued) GaryWilson" shows us how hard poor Gary has been working. (Crack of dawn and late at night -bless him!)

73s to ya.

Well said Victor Gary has been doing a fantastic job with the call signs , not an easy task working through the huge backlog

Also the quality of content posted by the members has improved tenfold , some really great advice and help given especially for our new members

Big pats on backs all round


Well done !


Craig CT Admin

Awwww Thanks Vic & Craig, I do appreciate your comments!

The forum was an invaluable source of information and support for me when I returned to the hobby after the obligatory gap for career kids etc we've all been there!!!

I am truly delighted to be part of the C.T. Admin team and able to give back some of the help and advice that I gratefully received myself.

The migration through two different forum changes in a relatively short space of time was clearly a difficult process that took it's toll on all of us and the forum in general, however I feel that we have turned a corner and we are seeing lots of new members and plenty of chat and discussion things are starting to feel more like the pre tapatalk days!!

Craig I don't think it can go without mentioning the amount of work that you have undertaken in the reconstruction on the call sign database it was a huge task and we all have to thank you for that!!!!

So there we have it the forum is in good shape and we will all get out of it what we put in so keep those discussions and topics bubbling and most importantly don't forget to get on the air! I had a reasonable afternoon on 20 & 40 the farthest contact Algeria but plenty of south east europe today.

73's Gary.

You guys have all been doing a great job - hats off to you all.

Believe me, I wasn’t too worried to wait - I had my own obligatory 30 or so year time out (stealing a quote from Gary ) and since coming back on air just July this year I have made loads of great new friends both on the air and through the various FB groups I joined.

Amassed more radios and antennas than really necessary (I discovered this to be an important part of the hobby) and organised five of us to take our Foundation Licence (all of us passed with flying colours - two even managed full marks).
So in between introducing myself here for the first time and to date, I’ve made a heap of new friends, made many contacts across Europe, learned a great deal and equally importantly, thoroughly enjoyed getting back into the hobby.
Makes me wonder why I ever left it behind in the first place (apart from family, career, etc lol)

Anyway, glad to be back.
Keep up the great work guys
73
Paul

Nice one Paul, it's funny how many of us have had that break then came back after finding those radios in the loft!!! First rule of radio buddy, you NEVER have enough radios! lols. I hope to work you on the bands Paul 20 & 40 were pretty good yesterday, no inter-G on 40 though.

73's Gary.

Good morning mate. You seem like a man who can help me. Like many in the 80s I got into this CB thing too. Had a cobra 148 rig strapped to my mum's chimney. A Bremie 200 burner. Sigma 4 twig and a silver eagle mic. (Nice set up) sold it all for chips. Anyway I want to get back on. I now live in a tower block (still in wonderful London) on the 5th floor. I obviously can't stick a twig on the tower block wall so was thinking I could get a silver rod type rod and poke it out the window at an angle. Do it have to be straight? I can get my hands on another 148 for about £100 (friend prices). Is there many people on in London? Is it worth me spending what will be about £200 to get back on? Looking forward to your reply.

Morning Keats,

A bit harsh on your rig, strapping it to your mom's chimney like that

I'm not too familiar with the Cobra myself but a quick google tells me it may be somewhat limited on band coverage. Most have moved away from UK FM 27.60125 - 27.99125 in favour of the Mid and High blocks.

You will find more coverage on:

Mid Block: (European) 26.9650MHz - 27.4050MHz (27.3150 - Ch 31 quite popular calling DX on FM / USB)
High Block: 27.4150MHz - 27.8550MHz (27.555 "T5 / Triple Nickel" - Ch 12 - very popular calling channel for local and DX mostly on USB) Undoubtedly the widest used band across the UK and Europe to be fair.

UK FM: 27.60125MHz to 27.99125MHz - I can't speak for London but down here it's pretty dead - though I do occasionally talk to one of my friends in Cardiff (think most know Colin in Cardiff) if we decide to band hop down there occasionally.

If the Cobra is capable of the above (may be a mod to wideband it - others may know better) then great.

Otherwise I would keep my eye out for something like the CRT SS 9600 or better still the 9900 model. I have the later as a backup myself - excellent radio for the money - you can pick them up seconds for around £100.

Antenna for your situation?

Hmmm I'm not sure the Silver Rod will work too well as a "fishing rod" to be honest - you're likely to have SWR through the red like that my friend - think it needs to be vertical polarised - e.g. pointing straight up! However, I would never say don't try it - one of the best things about this hobby is the fun of finding out what works and what doesn't - ideally without spending too much

You should have a good lift off being on the 5th floor - so could try (from my own experiences):

Sirio Signal Keeper indoors maybe (they have 3 radials that act as legs so you can just plonk it on the floor in a room - really easy to SWR by adjusting the top section). I have one in the loft along with an inverted v dipole but gotta stress - anything indoors will limit your distance coverage. They are only cable of handling around 100 - 150 w though.

Siro Balcony 27A or 27W - worth considering if you can mount outside on the wall at all - which I doubt being on the 5th floor. 27A is slide adjustable and so are the newer versions of the 27W but the older 27W (like mine) has to be cut a little (5mm) at a time to get the SWR down reasonable. NOTE: I commented earlier about the polarisation of the Silver Rod based on my experience of THIS vertical antenna - it has to be exactly vertical - otherwise you'll never get the SWR down. That said, both models have an adjustable radial which angled perpendicular to the main radiator.

What could work outside (I have actually tried this) is get (or better still make) a T2LT (basically a piece of coax with an air choke) and dangle it out the window on a fibreglass pole (risky in the wind) with around 10m of RG8 mini-8 coax. You'll be surprised how well these work - BUT air of caution - I broke my pole trying this out as the weight of the antenna and coax was too much. Thought I'd share this as it was funny for me when it happened.

But, perhaps not funny for you if the thing snaps and drags your rig out of the window five floors to the ground!! PERHAPS I WOULDN'T RISK IT IF I WAS YOU

Mine is now on a 10 m pole strapped to another 5 m pole against the side of our "Catio" out doors now - much safer there and gets out reasonably well.

That said - I have a perpetual "antenna farm" going on in my house much to the annoyance of my wife

Wait till she sees the multiband antenna I have planned for 80 down to 6m - hehe!

@GaryWilson

Thanks Gary, Yeah been listening in on 20 40 and 80 past few days - lots of USA in the evenings on 40 but unfortunately I’m still working on ideas for a Multiband antenna so can only listen - small garden so a G5RV or even a mini out of the question (don’t want the wife hanging clothes on it while I’m transmitting ). So currently limited to 10 and 12m HAM bands as my built in tuner allows.

Looking at vertical options too due to space limitations but want to keep 11m coverage which is difficult as there are sacrifices with resonance using a Multiband and few work well on 11m. So may keep my Permanent T2LT in situ along with a multi for DX on the HAM bands

Hi Paul, yep if you are very limited for space a vertical might be the only option they can be a bit noisy but you have to make the best of what's available to you. Have a look at this it might just be short enough for your space and is resonant on the 10-20-40m bands. https://www.gwhip.co.uk/421-triband-antenna. it's only 12 meters long so on the slope might be okay for you. The Mrs can hang the clothes on it and you can dry them with RF lols I would keep the T2LT for 11 meters they're amazing for what they are I've worked Europe and beyond on mine on 10 and 11 all good stuff.

73's Gary.

Hi Gary,

Will add that one to my growing list of options - thanks. Though trying to avoid end fed really as feed point (no matter which direction) would end up next to a neighbour - block of flats one side - cardboard new builds the other - and I really don’t intend to dig and bury coax (though at times I secretly would love to leave a nice feed point right next to the flats to test the EMC worthiness of the crappy TVs, wall warts, micro lines and bt crud that spews out qrm im my direction ???? ). But that’s another story

Been trying to make a comparison between my own T2LT and the Hawkins Radio Thunderbolt SSD12+ (which has been said to be better) but I haven’t really been able to tell the difference myself - though have to say the SSD12+ build quality is excellent and certainly performs well. Can reach Clee Hills Shropshire on Net Nights when static quiet enough - 180 miles from me and made a good number of QSO’s into Germany, Sweden and Poland two days ago up around T5 down to 27.315 on the mid. Most of the Germans were coming in between S9 and +20 and they were all giving me 5and9 back (though I kinda hate it when everyone gives 5and9 to every QSO -,often that’s all I hear)

Hi Paul, I was myself a bit nervous about using an end fed because it goes against what you've been taught about EMC. The problem for me is although I have a 80 foot garden I really don't want a mast or pole half way along to support a balanced antenna. The neighbours are fine it's just my personal preference. I have been using an end fed which is fed from the house end for convenience for a couple of years now and I haven't suffered and RFI back in the shack or had any breakthrough on mine or my neighbours T.V. etc. I might have just been lucky though!!!

I wouldn't expect any difference between antennas of the same size so I'm guessing the only difference between those T2LT's would be build quality which isn't insignificant.

Yeah the 5/9 merchants what can you say nothing more than indicative of a reasonable signal. I do chuckle on the ham bands when they ask for the call sign over and over then when they finally get it you get a 5/9 and 73!!! lols

73's Gary.

hello every one my name is Ryan
i am from chatham kent dose any one use CB in my aera i am new to CB

Hello Ryan, I’m sure there are plenty of stations in Kent. Best way to get a more informed answer (and likely from those in and around your area) is to post an introduction about yourself in a new thread in the New Member Introductions section.

Good luck and welcome to the Charlie Tango Forum.

73 for now
Paul

CBradiogirl wrote:

hello every one my name is Ryan
i am from chatham kent dose any one use CB in my aera i am new to CB

Hi Ryan.....the link below is from the old forum and shows where members are located. I've just had a quick look through it and there are quite a few in Kent (and surrounding areas).

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/copythat/england-2000-2499-t24881.html

CBradiogirl wrote:

hello every one my name is Ryan
i am from chatham kent dose any one use CB in my aera i am new to CB

Hello Ryan, welcome to the forum, yes there are a number of opps in Kent.

73's Gary.