wavin steemers, i managed to get in with my mudduck cellphone, lol.
I'm gonna be your information channel for anyone who might be interested in cb radio. i'll be covering everything from the radios to DX. I dont know if I'll get any kind of a following, but if atleast 1 becomes interested, that'll be a win in my book :)
anyways, on with the first official steemit cb radio infohub post.
Broken Needles Radio 11 meter radio report
local chatter
the local radio chatter this week has been on the unfolding scenario with North Korea's now 2 failed missile launches, random chatter on different radios antennas, covering mainly beam antennas like the maco V-quad. And a little bit of chatter on the decent amount of skip that rolled in yesterday after not having any for over a month.
Yesterday was also fun with a drunk needlebender 454 letting off some steam and testing a big box called the palomar 350Z, he was having fun using it in the skip conditions making plenty of contacts.
and last, i had fun on yesterday nights 7 PM puget sound 11 meter band logins, made the login with my big radio, the cobra 142 gtl.
Skip chatter
with yesterday's nice skip suprise, the 11 meter radio band woke up and started talking. me, needlebender 454, world radio 190, and other locals were doing our thing, making those long skip contacts to cali, nevada, arizona and other states. I was able to make a few contacts in nevada and cali running barefoot, which was nice :)
the skip wasnt strong like it has been in the past, but there was a few stations that rolled in strong on channel 38 lower side. most of the skip for me, was at 2-3 S units, and running barefoot, those would've been hard fought contacts to get, so i sat back and listened to the skip wave.
Radios and antennas for new 11 meter cb radio operators
for anyone who might be interested in getting their first radio, a good starter is the cobra 29 LTD, to run this radio as your first base station, you will need a basic 12 volt 5 amp power supply. an antenna to go with it is the american made procomm proton pt99, its a well made fiberglass antenna, it has some flex, but dont worry, it wont break on you. just remember to put it up at a decent height, 30 feet or higher from the base of the antenna will be good.
another antenna of choice, is the simple 11 meter dipole, it can be 20 feet high, and have greater range then the vertical pt99. dipoles are also great for talking skip, so for those who don't have the money for the big fancy maco quads or 3 element yagis, this is the antenna for you. you can find both the radio and the antenna for a good price on ebay, just remember to get the coax, which can be pretty much any 50 ohm coax, like RG58, RG8X, or LMR400.
Last words
Hope you guys like this first edition of the BNR radio report, Broken needles radio is a local washington area club I am working on starting, if anyone is interested in joining the group, feel free to contant me on channel 38, 35, or 17, or on the BNR site. enjoy the report and feel free to ask questions, 350 broken needles radio on the side and standing by :)