Comment Below on our Range test. Tell us what we did right and wrong to improve for the next CB video. Check the description for the final word. Like and subscribe if you enjoy CB videos and check out or other wide range of topics we cover here on the channel. Help support Variety Channels like ours by hitting the like and subscribe and comment below. 640 out!
Shows the versatility of the CB band over others like GMRS but you must respect the skip or the skip will take you out. Similar to rip currents. Thanks for the comment. 640 out .
Great test. But I think you should do it again maybe late in the afternoon or early morning when the DX is not in there as bad then you should get more accuracy with the range
Appreciate the feedback but believe it or not but this was filmed in the late afternoon unfortunately that's when the skip tends to rolls in but that day it was what was available for us to film. Maybe next time I try around noon and see how that goes. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Thanks for the feedback and yes it would increase the range on both accounts and plans are already on the way for another range test in different surroundings to showcase 27mhz as a reliable form of local comms to compete with frs, gmrs and pmr bands. Thanks for watching.
cool lil test. I did some testing with my Midland, apparently these only put out maximum of like 2 watts with a battery. Hooked up to the mobile, they can put their maximum four watts out.
One thing you might try is what is called a counter-poise. It is a wire that is 1/4 or 1/2 wave length of the transmitting frequency. ( approx. 9 feet or 18 feet in length) The way to connect it to the radio is to find a screw on the radio that is at ground potential (- side of the battery) and securely connect the wire to it. Another way is to find a ring terminal the size of the BNC connector and solder the wire to it and slide it over the BNC antenna connector and then place the antenna back on the connector. Allow the counter poise to stretch out somewhat straight from the radio and to the ground.( In otherwards, don't leave it coiled up by the radio....) I hope this helps in your CB range adventures!!
Hey! Thanks for the great suggestion. I have plenty of speaker wire here at the AM Radio station and I will try it! Maybe even make another range test. Thanks again for the suggestion and for watching . 640 out.
In the UK we have the same 40 midband channels as the US and EU which can be used in AM/FM/SSB mode and then another 40 UK-only channels higher up in the 27Mhz range which are FM only. Skip can happen on all modes but it's usually very easy to find a skip-free channel due to the almost total lack of CB users.
I agree. I know some of the history on the UK CB bands and I know it was a hard fight for the “mid block “ but now that you have both it’s a great thing . Thanks for watching.
@@640amthemix Yes, in fact it's only been legal since 2014 to use AM and SSB in the midband. Until then everything was FM only. Actually using FM is a pleasure on a handheld CB when you are outdoors hunting or fishing because the channels are all empty and so the Rx sound quality is really good.
Good range you got on these. Shame the skip took us out. We are going to put another Range test after another subscriber suggested we do it in the evening after the skip has faded. Thanks for watching. 640 out
I've got exactly same radio and haven't really checked it's range to another identical Midland 40 channel portable, although i did a radio check on either, channel 19/ 14/ and 28 at about 6 miles from a truck stop and i received a truckers signal loud and clear, mine transmission was good he told me and not excellent, but he did hear me. So, o purchased a road pro car antenna and haven't tested yet. I got to soon.
No according to the research desk here at 640 AM The Mix, tropospheric skip is more weather and regular skip is the atmosphere . Great question. Thanks for watching.
You should do the test over because your partner was not holding his radio straight up probably not the most efficient for maximum signal output 10 4. 473 Richmond california
True that didn't cross my mind. We are planning another portable hand held test. This time maybe at the beach so nothing blocking signal. Thanks for the comment.
What has happened to cb, why has it become so noisy. 60 years ago it wasn’t like that. You could easily talk from one county to another. At night you could easily transmit 30-40 miles with no noise. We would have to search for skip. Is it electrical noise from cars ? What makes so much noise on this band ?
@@640amthemix I finally got it, had to add more channels was my issue. Thanks, I know it should have been common sense but it was accessing the other channels was the obstacle. Stay safe out there
Unfortunately, FM is worse than AM in terms of intelligibility when there are reflection interferences. When the military gave up the 27 MHz band in 1957, no one had such high transmitting power as pirate radio stations do today, it was assumed that for a power of 2 to 3 W there would be no reflection. In Europe, FM is used, but AM still works, FM gives a more pleasant, calm sound. Moreover, it is better for portable stations because the FM modulator does not need to have high power and the portable station can produce just as loud modulation as an expensive and large base station. Generally, FM modulation does not like noise interference, receivers with low sensitivity are recommended because the FM demodulator itself is an amplifier and amplifies noise in case of slight ambient noise, it is sometimes worth using RF gain to limit the receiver's sensitivity. But it's good to have a radio with naturally low noise and medium sensitivity like Yaesu/Icom etc. In Europe, the 43 MHz band was temporarily allocated in Italy for civilian users to explore, but there was no interest even though the portable stations worked much better, there was no ionspheric reflection, a clean band, twice the range on a 25 cm miniature antenna (about 2-3 miles in an open field). It's a pity that such a good standard was abandoned. It was supposed to replace the 27 MHz band because everyone was disturbed by ionospheric reflection. Europeans were only interested in the range of large 27 MHz base stations and car stations, handheld stations were not adopted, they were expensive and had low radiated power due to the long wavelength and poor RF grounding. The antennas often broke. Cheap slave production took its toll on hand-held devices. In addition, the base antennas were unstable and broke frequently. Europeans could not afford to constantly replace antennas. Moreover, the huge amount of interference from technical devices in cities meant that there were fewer and fewer CB 27 MHz users. So there was no interest, also much better for small stations, 43 MHz. Portable stations were mainly used by teenagers and children, they were the poorest and rarest consumers. Production is unprofitable only for them. 43 MHz radios ruined the producers, even when they had slaves, they did not pay off, no one bought them. Even ordinary CB production is unprofitable, the devices are too cheap, they are made by very poor communist workers who do not have their own house and live in the same room with many people. Due to lack of food, they accept any conditions to survive. This is what CB radio production looks like. In the past, they were made in the USA - Motorola, but today you would have to pay even more than $1,000 if they were made by an educated American. Maybe robots will help? A typical Policeman's radio made in Motorola - USA costs $7,000.
Thank you for the well educated comment. I have always used 27 mhz AM portable communication since I was young and with addition of FM here in USA I now enjoy comparing both AM to FM modes with experiments in distance and quality of audio and in terms of interference. I now enjoy FM over AM but it is still not popular here. I do not have FM portable unit yet but I have FM mobile unit and I have compared them to AM and SSB. Grazie per aver guardato il video.
Today's FM radios are much, much better than the old models from the 1990s. In the past, even in Europe, it was preferred to work with AM modulation because FM works worse. Today it is difficult to assess. In any case, higher powers of the same amplifier can be used for FM modulation. Modulation is always good. FM is especially good for portable stations because AM modulation requires a strong modulator, which a walkie-talkie station does not have. In FM modulation, there is no problem with microphone squeaking. Good health and good luck!.
Trees have no effect on a 10 or 11 meter signal. That’s 36 feet tall, these signals simply bounce right over trees. This is opposed to signals using 462 MHz which is in the 70 centimeter range. Those signals are simply eaten up by trees, leaves, and foliage.
Comment Below on our Range test. Tell us what we did right and wrong to improve for the next CB video. Check the description for the final word. Like and subscribe if you enjoy CB videos and check out or other wide range of topics we cover here on the channel. Help support Variety Channels like ours by hitting the like and subscribe and comment below. 640 out!
hello from England , loved your review ... have subbed to ur channel ... This is Stray Cat 10 4
@@simonnoble7589 Thanks for watching! Will keep an ear out for UK Skip on 38LSB.
Skip is an amazing phenomena. It brings in far signals but also kills local signals.
Shows the versatility of the CB band over others like GMRS but you must respect the skip or the skip will take you out. Similar to rip currents. Thanks for the comment. 640 out .
Great test. But I think you should do it again maybe late in the afternoon or early morning when the DX is not in there as bad then you should get more accuracy with the range
Appreciate the feedback but believe it or not but this was filmed in the late afternoon unfortunately that's when the skip tends to rolls in but that day it was what was available for us to film. Maybe next time I try around noon and see how that goes. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Great video to sit down and really see how far they go
Thanks for the feedback. Good to show these radios working in real world environments.
Interesting test in the urban environment.
I wonder how it would do out in the clear on a hill or top of a building?
Thanks for the feedback and yes it would increase the range on both accounts and plans are already on the way for another range test in different surroundings to showcase 27mhz as a reliable form of local comms to compete with frs, gmrs and pmr bands. Thanks for watching.
cool lil test. I did some testing with my Midland, apparently these only put out maximum of like 2 watts with a battery. Hooked up to the mobile, they can put their maximum four watts out.
Thanks, we had fun that day. For two watts not bad. These are versatile units with the car kit. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for the interesting test!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video.
One thing you might try is what is called a counter-poise. It is a wire that is 1/4 or 1/2 wave length of the transmitting frequency. ( approx. 9 feet or 18 feet in length) The way to connect it to the radio is to find a screw on the radio that is at ground potential (- side of the battery) and securely connect the wire to it. Another way is to find a ring terminal the size of the BNC connector and solder the wire to it and slide it over the BNC antenna connector and then place the antenna back on the connector. Allow the counter poise to stretch out somewhat straight from the radio and to the ground.( In otherwards, don't leave it coiled up by the radio....) I hope this helps in your CB range adventures!!
Hey! Thanks for the great suggestion. I have plenty of speaker wire here at the AM Radio station and I will try it! Maybe even make another range test. Thanks again for the suggestion and for watching . 640 out.
In the UK we have the same 40 midband channels as the US and EU which can be used in AM/FM/SSB mode and then another 40 UK-only channels higher up in the 27Mhz range which are FM only. Skip can happen on all modes but it's usually very easy to find a skip-free channel due to the almost total lack of CB users.
I agree. I know some of the history on the UK CB bands and I know it was a hard fight for the “mid block “ but now that you have both it’s a great thing . Thanks for watching.
@@640amthemix Yes, in fact it's only been legal since 2014 to use AM and SSB in the midband. Until then everything was FM only. Actually using FM is a pleasure on a handheld CB when you are outdoors hunting or fishing because the channels are all empty and so the Rx sound quality is really good.
@@gower23 I agree with you that FM sounds great.
I get about .5 - 1 mile range with the rubber ducky antenna. I can get up to 5 miles with a small mag base roof antenna
Good range you got on these. Shame the skip took us out. We are going to put another Range test after another subscriber suggested we do it in the evening after the skip has faded. Thanks for watching. 640 out
I've got exactly same radio and haven't really checked it's range to another identical Midland 40 channel portable, although i did a radio check on either, channel 19/ 14/ and 28 at about 6 miles from a truck stop and i received a truckers signal loud and clear, mine transmission was good he told me and not excellent, but he did hear me. So, o purchased a road pro car antenna and haven't tested yet. I got to soon.
All part of the fun experimenting with range and audio and be prepared if need be.
@@640amthemix thanks,😐👍10-4
Shouldn't you both be holding the antenna vertical?
Yes that’s the correct position
Is skip the same as tropospheric ducting?
No according to the research desk here at 640 AM The Mix, tropospheric skip is more weather and regular skip is the atmosphere . Great question. Thanks for watching.
You should do the test over because your partner was not holding his radio straight up probably not the most efficient for maximum signal output 10 4. 473 Richmond california
True that didn't cross my mind. We are planning another portable hand held test. This time maybe at the beach so nothing blocking signal. Thanks for the comment.
Mr.Squirrel @ 09:38 LOL
Yes he made a special guest appearance. Thanks for watching
What aftermarket antenna are you running on the stationary handheld?
HYS 27mhz telescopic whip antenna .
What has happened to cb, why has it become so noisy. 60 years ago it wasn’t like that. You could easily talk from one county to another. At night you could easily transmit 30-40 miles with no noise. We would have to search for skip. Is it electrical noise from cars ? What makes so much noise on this band ?
All the electronic equipment that we have in our homes and in the outside world. Bluetooth,wireless , electric vehicles, cameras etc.
Good video. I’d try it again in the evening, when skip isn’t rolling.
True. A night range test. Great 💡 idea!
So all you do is change the channel to the person with you and talk? Cus and my friend are having trouble?
Find a clear channel and talk to your friend .
@@640amthemix I finally got it, had to add more channels was my issue. Thanks, I know it should have been common sense but it was accessing the other channels was the obstacle. Stay safe out there
@@640amthemix thanks
Unfortunately, FM is worse than AM in terms of intelligibility when there are reflection interferences.
When the military gave up the 27 MHz band in 1957, no one had such high transmitting power as pirate radio stations do today, it was assumed that for a power of 2 to 3 W there would be no reflection.
In Europe, FM is used, but AM still works, FM gives a more pleasant, calm sound.
Moreover, it is better for portable stations because the FM modulator does not need to have high power and the portable station can produce just as loud modulation as an expensive and large base station.
Generally, FM modulation does not like noise interference, receivers with low sensitivity are recommended because the FM demodulator itself is an amplifier and amplifies noise in case of slight ambient noise, it is sometimes worth using RF gain to limit the receiver's sensitivity. But it's good to have a radio with naturally low noise and medium sensitivity like Yaesu/Icom etc.
In Europe, the 43 MHz band was temporarily allocated in Italy for civilian users to explore, but there was no interest even though the portable stations worked much better, there was no ionspheric reflection, a clean band, twice the range on a 25 cm miniature antenna (about 2-3 miles in an open field). It's a pity that such a good standard was abandoned.
It was supposed to replace the 27 MHz band because everyone was disturbed by ionospheric reflection.
Europeans were only interested in the range of large 27 MHz base stations and car stations, handheld stations were not adopted, they were expensive and had low radiated power due to the long wavelength and poor RF grounding. The antennas often broke.
Cheap slave production took its toll on hand-held devices.
In addition, the base antennas were unstable and broke frequently. Europeans could not afford to constantly replace antennas.
Moreover, the huge amount of interference from technical devices in cities meant that there were fewer and fewer CB 27 MHz users.
So there was no interest, also much better for small stations, 43 MHz. Portable stations were mainly used by teenagers and children, they were the poorest and rarest consumers. Production is unprofitable only for them.
43 MHz radios ruined the producers, even when they had slaves, they did not pay off, no one bought them.
Even ordinary CB production is unprofitable, the devices are too cheap, they are made by very poor communist workers who do not have their own house and live in the same room with many people. Due to lack of food, they accept any conditions to survive. This is what CB radio production looks like. In the past, they were made in the USA - Motorola, but today you would have to pay even more than $1,000 if they were made by an educated American. Maybe robots will help? A typical Policeman's radio made in Motorola - USA costs $7,000.
Thank you for the well educated comment. I have always used 27 mhz AM portable communication since I was young and with addition of FM here in USA I now enjoy comparing both AM to FM modes with experiments in distance and quality of audio and in terms of interference. I now enjoy FM over AM but it is still not popular here. I do not have FM portable unit yet but I have FM mobile unit and I have compared them to AM and SSB. Grazie per aver guardato il video.
Today's FM radios are much, much better than the old models from the 1990s. In the past, even in Europe, it was preferred to work with AM modulation because FM works worse. Today it is difficult to assess. In any case, higher powers of the same amplifier can be used for FM modulation. Modulation is always good.
FM is especially good for portable stations because AM modulation requires a strong modulator, which a walkie-talkie station does not have.
In FM modulation, there is no problem with microphone squeaking.
Good health and good luck!.
In reality the Italian 43 MHz low-vhf CB band is populated with telemetry signals from water infrastructure, rather than two way voice.
Standing on a table where people eat is probably only the 4th worst thing that happens there.
Very true. Gotta remember it’s NYC
You should try in a less tree filled area to see the difference
Great idea. Thanks for the feedback. I shall submit your idea to the production staff here at the station.
Trees have no effect on a 10 or 11 meter signal. That’s 36 feet tall, these signals simply bounce right over trees. This is opposed to signals using 462 MHz which is in the 70 centimeter range. Those signals are simply eaten up by trees, leaves, and foliage.