A Short History Of Citizens Band Radio For Beginners

There was, and is, another media craze which has nothing to do with the Internet, though it does depend on technology. What I’m talking about is Citizens Band Radio.

Although Citizens Band Radioreally came to fame in the 1970′s, with over 7 million CB radios sold in one year, the Citizens Band (CB) radio service was established by the FCC as one of several personal radio services designated for use by the public back in 1945. The original CB radios were UHF, they operated in the 460-470 MHz frequency range, and were rather expensive for the average household. In 1958 part of the CB service was moved away from the UHF range to 27 MHz, where it remains to this day. The remaining CB services on UHF later evolved into the GMRS and the Family Radio Service.

Not long after that businesses began to use the CB service for communication; anyone who needed to make service calls found CB useful, including electricians, plumbers and repairmen. CB Radio was regulated by the FCC and everyone needed a license. As time rolled by, the technology improved and became both smaller and easier to use. Quite rapidly CB clubs were formed and a completely new jargon evolved for CB users, an adaptation of the ’10′ codes used by emergency services.

An explosion of popularity occurred in the 1970′s when President Nixon signed the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act. This act banned speed limits higher than 55 mph, effectively imposing a 55 mph maximum speed limit on all American roads.  Despite of the ongoing oil crisis, many drivers were bothered by the new law believing that the right to set speed limits should belong, as it always had in the past, to the individual states.  29 states had to lower their limits, some, like Nevada and Montana had no limits on some roads. Fuel rationing was a problem and CB radio came into its own as a way for travellers to communicate and warn each other of empty gas stations or police speed traps. CB radio was also used to organize protests. The phenomenon spread to film with ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ and TV programs like ‘The Dukes Hazard’ as well as popular songs (Convoy) and the CB phenomenon spread across the world. Large groups of people ignored the regulations, operating without a license and using made-up names rather than an authorized call sign. These ‘handles’ as they were called, were similar to the names many use on the Internet, and allowed for a certain privacyas CB users could chat anonymously. To satisfy the public they dropped the license requirement and in 1977 the original 23 CB channels
were extended to 40.

Now people are pushing the envelope again ignoring the requirements to operate a 10 Meter Radio or “ham” radio. Many flock to the 10 Meter Radio because it offers more broadcasting power. However CB Radio is not done yet. New technology like a Handheld cb radio promises to ensure a bright future for CB Radio

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