80m Amateur Radio AM on a CB Radio PART 1

1-9 for a QSO old man!!

80m Ham band on a CB - no mods needed to the radio. This converter made from the junk box in 20 minutes on a piece of veroboard. You can just see it in the background behind the transceiver. It plugs into the areal socket on the CB.

THE STORY....
So I knocked over a junk box full of components and they spilled on the floor. At first I saw a mess I was going to have to tidy up, but then my wierd "geek head" saw the 80m Ham band on a CB radio instead !!. There was an old pocket radio tuning capacitor, a crystal oscillator from a computer, 2 chokes and some other bits that looked useful. I contemplated for a minute, and a design popped out on the back of an envelope a few minutes later. I didn't have many parts and I was only going to use what I had, but, as a dedicated shortwave listener, I wanted the best results I could get.

20mins later I could receive all the 80m Amateur band and more. I haven't got SSB on my CB so much of it I couldn't resolve, but I could get the AM stuff on 3615KHz and 3705 KHz during the daytime. Later I got an old ham friend of mine to put out a short test signal in AM mode on the 80m band for this video. Unlike UK CB radio, it is quite legal for them Hams to use AM mode. He is some distance away from me so I wasn't sure how well my converter would work, but here is a video of the result from my end..

Is it useful ? - Well, if you have an old Cobra 148 or an SSB Stalker or something then yes, because you can hear all the SSB stuff on 80m too, and the signals come booming in. On Sunday I also listened to the 75m pirates broadcasting their alternative form of shortwave broadcast radio on 3932 KHz. - Great Fun and the signals are very clear. Much clearer than on my realistic shortwave receiver.

If you have one of those newer Multi region CB radios with the AM mode, then this may also work for you.

I will publish the schematic on my website when it goes live soon. Don't forget to subscribe or favourite this channel to keep up to date with more geek projects.

Does it transmit ? - No - at least not yet.. I'm not a ham, but I could build a transmitter section if a ham wants one. But not for CB'ers.

That's all folks

Emerald48

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• SSB
• Amateur
• CB
• Radio
• shortwave
• short
• wave
• listener
• SWL
• Cobra
• 148
• 11m
• 11
• meter
• band
• Midland
• Cybernet
• Commtron
• Nato
• FM
• Uniden
• Convoy

[umpalumpa101909]

i have a cb radio wich has a am/fm switch.. can i listen to Amature radio with the AM Toggle?.. im new to this

[emerald48]

@umpalumpa101909 - No. AM, FM or SSB is just the mode that is used to add your speech to the radio frequency, you are still on the same frequency (Channel). Amateur radio operates in different frequencies and mainly uses SSB mode for speech. Go to RSGB or ARRL to find out more information.

[K9FON]

You just cant beat the older CB rigs from the 1970s. They were made in Japan and not China, and made to last unlike the junk out today.

[emerald48]

@K9FON - Most 70's /' 80's CB's in Europe were made in Korea or Hong Kong. The old rigs were well made, but badly designed by today's standards. Poor RX blocking, wide IF's + wide modulation (nice audio - but bad practice!), poor image rejection (many with only single conversion IF's) barely passable harmonic suppression. This was a problem in UK cities in the late 1970's due to station proximity, but less of a problem today with few stations on air. I find many of todays CB's much better.

[jesjammin]

Just stumbled across your video after checking into the DX-60 net on 3.880 AM. Lots of the AMers on there are home brew enthusiasts. When I saw that you were able to receive 75 m am phone I thought, "Wow! I need to try that." my ISP can't locate your web page. I'd really be interested to see your schematic for the frequency converter and how it hooks up to the cb. To have one in the living room for those nights when nothing is on TV. I could see if any of my pals are on in the am window. - Mike

[emerald48]

@freakzilla10 - Indeed it appears to be the case that you in US can use a marine VHF radio for recreational boats without a license. But here in UK, we have a requirement for a marine radio licence along with fairly strict operating procedures. A short course needs to be taken first (usually run by a RYA training centre), and if passed a licence is issued by Ofcom.

[freakzilla10]

@emerald48 who says you need a Marine VHF licence??? i have a handheld and use it all the time when we go boating on the Mississippi River and the last time i checked, i didn't need a licence!

[W6CSAhamradio]

I am impressed. I wonder if you can do it for 6 meters as well being that 6 is the second harmonic of 27 MHz. Very good job and seriously I am impressed.

73 de W6CSA Get your license and I will be glad to hear you on the air.

[DrMotorDude]

@SoccerDJRob emerald48 is correct...the best thing to do is join a local or online amateur radio club. You'll learn what frequencies are limited to which purposes. IE: CB is AM and Marine VHF is FM - each has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Which is "better" will be determined by what you want to do.

[SoccerDJRob]

@emerald48 so if i buy a vhf in off the webb it wont work like i wont be able to her boATS?

[emerald48]

@SoccerDJRob - CB is used by anyone that needs to use a license free radio. More CBs are sold today in Europe than in 1978. Boats use VHF at 156 - 161MHz CB uses 27MHz. VHF is better for short range comms and uses smaller aerials. Buy whatever you need. CB is great for mobile up to 10 to 15 miles. Marine VHF needs license and is only for boats (mainly emergency). UHF is even higher in frequency and great for handhelds like PMR446. Go and learn some then you know what you need.

[SoccerDJRob]

ok um like who uses cb's now? what do boats use? like what is the diffrence between a cb and a uhf vhf marine radio things? what should i buy, what is what? what is the uhf vhf who uses them?