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Should We Put A CB Radio In Our RV?
by Ursula Malvasio
(Big Pine Key)
Using a CB Radio in Your RV During Emergencies - When Your Cell Phone no Longer Works
Note From RVing Al: I know that a lot of folks believe that there is no reason to have a CB Radio in their RV or car because they own a cell phone. But, the recent hurricanes in the Carolinas, Texas and Florida have proven that during certain emergencies Cell Phones can end up being useless. If you have a CB you have a chance to establish communications with other people and in most cases with emergency personnel. So in light of these recent events, I figured I would reprint this article in the hopes that some of you might consider a CB as a needed accessory for your RV or car.
We are newbies on the road with our 5th wheel. What do other RVers use to communicate? We wonder about a CB unit.
ANSWER Hi Ursula, a lot of RVers use their cell phones
There are also still rural areas in the US where your cell phone may not work. The CB Radio can still transmit in those areas.
Pictured Above: Uniden 40-Channel CB Radio
By listening to channel 19 (this is the CB radio's "unofficial trucker’s channel") on a CB radio you can get updated information on road conditions by listening to a trucker 10 miles ahead of you traveling on the same road. You cannot do this with a cell phone, unless you happen to have that trucker’s cell phone number.
CBs are also a great way to communicate when traveling with a group of other RVers. Before your group takes off just choose a channel and have all the RVers in the group use that channel to communicate with each other. Just so you know CB channel 13 is the "unofficial RVers channel"; unfortunately not many RVers know that
What Types Of CB Radios Are Available And How Much Do They Cost?
There are all types of CB Radios
available in all price ranges, see the list below:CB Radios that cost less than $50.00
CB Radios that cost between $50.00 and $100.00
CB Radios that cost $100.00 or more
For example for around $50.00 you can get a basic 40 channel CB radio. but if you want a CB Radio with a lot of bells and whistles that could cost you well over $100.00.
You will also need a CB Antenna so you can send and receive on your CB Radio and you do not need to install one of those 12 foot tall whip antennas (unless you want to) on your tow vehicle or motorhome. The type of vehicle you have will determine what type of CB antenna you actually need. If you are planning to install the antenna on a fiberglass RV you will need a No Ground Plane CB Antenna
. For a non-fiberglass RV or towing vehicle there are all types of CB Antennas you can choose from.Take a look at the video below for a little tutorial on how to properly use a CB Radio.
OK, As mentioned in the video above, if you really want to get into using the CB properly, you need to know some of the Basic CB 10 - CODES. 10 -codes are numbers that are used in place of sentences. Take a look at the most commonly used 10 - codes below:
10-1 = Receiving poorly
10-2 = Receiving well
10-4 = OK, message received
10-20 = My location is
and of course 10-100 = Potty break
Hopefully this information has been helpful to you. If any of our visitors have suggestions or tips for you they can add them to this page by clicking on the add a comment link located near the bottom of this page.
Happy RVing
RVing Al
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