This is why we moved from CB to GMRS. They've had FM in England for many years. And with GMRS you can buy 50 Watt radios and use repeaters. My Grandfather was really into Radio. He's long gone but we removed the CB Radios at our camp and replaced them with GMRS units. Much better

Awesome! Thank you!

I use JS8 on 27.245 USB, had 4 contacts with just 12W to station 2AE2331, east coast.

I agree with all of what you said!

@@FarpointFarms Thank you sir, wish you all the best!

Kieth their the same radios. They just use a blocking diode to Block the CB band. The US versions have a receive board bored installed for the US weather radio instead of FM transmit. Just have to swap them out. I own two base stations US version and export version. Both the same thing internally.

These export radios do not meet the correct FM bandwidth system for CB its 8K0 F3E Super Narrow FM, same system we use in UK and Europe.CTCSS\DCS and repeater shift are also a new addition to cb over here,it may happen in USA. 2.00Khz max dev CTCSS 300Hz Dev 60% dev=1.25Khz If using export radios please get them set up correctly as it will cause "issues" I and many others agree 120-160channels would be better to spread modulation systems. Legalized High power is something most agree on now for CB for improved communication ranges 25-50w range erp area. interference signaling Export radios def do meet meet the right setups in most cases,being a lot wider fm (typically 11K0 or 18K0 bandwidth) then for 10Khz spacing system (FCC\ETSI 8K0 F3E)They can however be setup up correctly in most cases by a tech engineer. Best of luck with new mode,fab news Rob P 73's

@@rpcomms1 Appreciate the info Rob. 73's

Their all ready in use. Just have to remove the weather radio circuit board and replace it with a FM transmit board. Uniden has a lot of these in use. They had to modify them for FCC certification for sale in the US. The real reason why they have built in weather radio. Just swap out the board and they will transmit on FM with the proper channels.

@@VickyGeagan Thank you Vicky, I'll see about finding a used Uniden that has weather built in. Smart tip. Thank you.

Same here. I think someday it will be a bigger thing, but for now it's just nice to have it.

thank you, feeling better every day. Still far from being 100%

I hope they use the old abandon FM studio to transmitter Broadcast 26 MHZ broadcast link frequencies. They radios out currently will do it.

@@VickyGeagan good idea some people like to talk on the radio with sounding drunk or high and not using profanity

First 23 channels AM/SSB only Channels 24-40 FM/AM/SSB. That is unless the FCC converts all of CB to VOIP.

Your comments on range are correct. There is a UK video on the internet (YT) of a UK ham getting usable 40 W FM comms into Corsica (using a Stryker 94HPC type FM unit). THat's about 1500 km. So a FM radio of that power is capable of getting a signal from Houston to Guatemala say. or Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia (1270 km). That's massive c'/w what a 5 W AM CB can manage. NB these were from fixed installations. TE. Fidler. Transatlantic contacts at that power level seem possible but not very likely.

Thanks for the info. Good to know!

Totally agree, AM is also my favorite for the following reasons. The much lower noise floor makes listening with the squelch open much more pleasant, especially for weak stations. Weak stations in FM start to stutter and signal drops out. AM stays up much longer and you get further than FM. FM is good for clear communication at short distances. While FM sounds clear, I like AM much better with the crackle of approaching thunder in the distance. CB is shortwave radio and AM is standard modulation for the shortwave bands. AM also gives me a nostalgic feeling, being busy with shortwave radio. I love that. FM with clear sound is somewhat VHF-like, great for when you want to talk without interference. Take advantage of both, FM is a great addition to CB. Now some more transmission power and CB will only become more popular. CB radio is great!

Thanks and welcome

Public safety will never go back to having cb radios. Most now are moving to digital radios and dont even have cbs in any of the cars

The real low band frequencies public or private agencies still like to use such as the military are down in the 40-60 MHz range, you can still get away with an efficient antenna that is not overly large, easy to ground and have the benefit of better groundwave propagation. But that's it, unless it is a specific application like NVIS in the 2-8MHz range, everyone has moved into the VHF, UHF and SHF bands. Most public safety systems are trunked and many of them are some form of digital voice (usually P25-II) in the 700-900 MHz range. Many commercial systems with multiple users have moved to DMR because of encryption and channel efficiency, for example you can have two people transmitting at once within the same 12.5 kHz of bandwidth due to the time split. So in essence 4 users can chare the same 12.5 kHz without bothering each other. The same is true for other modes such as NXDN, Tetra, etc. Licence free WiFi 2GH/5GHz and now 6GHz radios that use glorified routers as repeaters are becoming popular with warehouses and stores. None of these agencies have any interest in CB, they don't purchase CB radios and they don't monitor CB. In fact most DOTs have integrated their systems with Waze because everyone seems to run that on their phone and through vehicle NAV systems etc. Apple Maps, Google Maps and BB QNX all draw from the Waze database too. Outside of that, DOT integration has gone into GPS units where the data is sent through a sub-channel over the FM broadcast band (87-108 MHz) or via Sirrius-XM. CB frequencies are too low, portable radios are incredibly inefficient and only work over very short distances (maybe a couple hundred feet between portables?) due to their compromised antennas, and to get somewhat "decent" mobile antennas you need a very well grounded (RF ground, not DC) system. But 4 watts on AM/FM/SSB does not cut it and the noise level in some places is so high on 27 MHz it's unusable. If everyone for vehicle to vehicle comms used MURS or GMRS you'd say CB is terrible for local point to point comms. Introducing FM to CB helps to squeeze out all the power and reject noise but truthfully, I have heard people on AM and especially SSB beat out FM for local point to point communications on 10 meters, that said FM maintains better clarity overall before falling apart. What might be cool is if band conditions improve and you can suddenly talk to someone 1500 miles away on CB FM. But that said, SSB is the best way to talk to someone with skip. The only reason CB is a thing for commercial transport and people driving cross country, is because for the longest time, it was all that there was, there was no alternative unless you had a private commercial radio or you were a HAM operator, but for everyone else, that was it. Now with GMRS, MURS, cell phones and everything else, CB has shown how inefficient and underpowered it is sadly. Now that's not to knock on CB, a lot of people cut their teeth on CB and people still use it, I'm just saying FM won't bring it back to life and it wont suddenly work as well as other frequencies/services. A long time ago UHF FM CB should have been introduced like what Australia did, that would have been a help to CB users.

Why not just go VOIP and allow repeaters?

@@vaughanweather The average person can't beat CB for SHTF scenarios. No license, inexpensive, base/portable/mobile. They should up the power however to 100 W AM and 150-250 SSB and allow repeaters, FM at lower wattage say 50 W but best VOIP and data transmissions on the CB band.

@@stuarthirsch I’ll be honest, I’ve found 11M to be pretty unreliable for BVLOS communications. While attenuation may be high on GMRS it’s easy to makeup the difference with high gain antennas and then the reflective properties of the band are also helpful too in rocky areas etc. With 11m outside of a 1/4 wave antenna which is ~102 plus a 4-6 stud, anything is a compromise, especially on the RX side. A better band is low band VHF - I’ve found a dipole on 6m to work far better for point to point comms while the same antenna on 10m does not work as well. I’ve tried it camping and 6m was very good cutting through tree cover and rolling hills while 10m underperformed at the same power. I agree that the proliferation of cheap CB gear means it is readily available and easy to use, but from an efficiency and functional standpoint, it’s problematic. If you take a portable 4 watt CB radio into a metal warehouse with rooms, doors, and lot’s of crates, you’ll be lucky to get 400ft out of it, while a cheap FRS radio at 1/2 a watt will easily cover the same distance and if you swap out that FRS radio for a commercial one with 2-5 watts you’ll blow the doors off :-)

Nice!

True i'm from the EU and FM is excellent for DX. Works fine.

Sweet... I've been looking at the Lincoln II+. Just haven't bit the bullet.

Might of been me .... lol I started the " FM calling channel 26.805 " now over 2400 members ! Unit 613 Windsor Ontario Canada 🇨🇦

Glad to hear it!

Thanks for watching!

I really can't say. President must have felt FM would get more use with that radio.

They have FM mode YES,but do not meet the new standards for cb in 10khz spacing system,RCI CONNEX and others tend to use a lot wider fm system (typically 11K0 or 16Ko bandwidths for 10m ham uses in USA.

@@rpcomms1 That's pretty close to the splash I get on the superstar , and pretty much the only reason me and a few friends ever ran in FM , just to piss off the coal bucket drivers with their splatter boxes . Tightening the bandwidth would be a more user friendly experience , for everyone . Now , I'm kind of interested to see what Cobra may be hiding , bringing new life to the 148 and 2k platform , I could dig that .

the only way to go is a opened up ham rig or military set all modes 1-30mhz and more power out of the box!

Nope!

I still have high hopes sometime down the road.

In my opinion I would not go with the FM, the cost of them might not be worth having that feature. There are a ton of great CB's that you can get used that will have more features for a much lower cost.

I have made over 40 long distance contacts on FM Posted on my group page is me talking to the east coast of Canada 🇨🇦 from southern Ontario 🙃

The interference comes from Radio Caroline and their DAB + Wi Fi radio network. Their not Licensed for it. Here in the US we have the same problem with BPL from our power companies. Also wireless routers and data bridges. Causes a lot of RF smog. FM is so much clearer. As well as Side band.

Fm is much cleaner here too..

I will see if I can work on that - some of the videos do

The new Anytone at500m FM/ AM radio all you need to do is push a certain button and it opens up all the frequencies. No mod required

@@conmullen1670 No SSB though. Seriously, is it so much to ask for a 10/11m radio with SSB, AM, FM, and the ability to be easily switched between VFO and Channel mode?

I am hoping for a AM/FM SSB McKinley radio soon.

I think you are right about this.

Thank you for the kind words

Good point

True. During high levels of skip, FM would do well for noiseless comms.

It’s not a hobby for me…CB is my profession…passing on information about travel and weather to drivers from inside room…plus…I enjoy chatting with very social drivers who enjoy a good conversation.

Their the same radios as the US. The US radios have the US weather radio receive board in them to comply with FCC certification just have to swap the board with a FM transmit board.

Thank you for sharing that information

no you can not talk to hams with out a license! now for listening to 10m 28.300-28.500 usb would by the range to scan. but tune around just do not transmit. the 10m band is big! get the arrl band plan for 10m off the net and the radio Manuel for the radio is at bell cb. just look up the radio and down lode the Manuel. this will explain how the band function works! have fun!

It would be a game changer!