As long as I can remember export mode radios at the least came with 120 channels (low,mid,hi) also known as inferior, normal and superior channels. But with 2018 fast approaching it’s time this was swapped for something a little more advanced. Having checked now the details of many radios on the market the following conclusions can be made.
Even the cheapest CRT, Team, Albrecht, Merx, Intek, Midland, come fully packed for the market (25.6-30.1)
tti-550 Another low end user radio also comes fully loaded (25.6-301)
So based on this the limited number of other radios that have 120 channel need to change. I’m not saying go 400 channel but why not compromise and run 26.065-27.855 (plus UK40) thus running lo-lo to high band. I’ve asked around and costings are not too serious. Advances are already made with for example 0 & 5 ending channels. As far back as the late 70’s with the Cobra 148 GTL-DX and Superstar 360 it was low, mid and hi. It’s now 40 years + later now and times have changed. It’s time now that standards were adjusted for the new generation of radios, new generations of users who expect the most for the money.
Sure, if it’s not broken then why fix it? Reason is simple. New times, new customers need new and more interesting band plan than was around the 40 years before.
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I don’t see the point myself, it is rare to hear anyone outside of the Mid band, UK40 or the Freeband part in the middle. Adding more channels will just mean more empty channels.
I’d say they should go for 12/11/10 meter range and make them only in AM/FM/SSB.
Make them more usable to the amateur radio community, as well as the CB and Free band user. Drop the echo, roger beep, channelisation, and other nonsense, and concentrate on making a radio that can’t be modified/hacked for over modulation.
The limit of AM/SSB in the USA is out dated, as well as the 4/12 watt power limits. There are very few users in this country who run “legal” power limits any way. Make a radio the will do a 10 watt carrier and 40-50watts on SSB.
If one looks at reality, the unlicensed Radio hobby is fading due to the younger generation being more interested in their cell phones and the internet… Hobbies like radio require more than the standard “appliance operator” can handle… Probably why most of the idiots on CB stay on AM, the clarifier for SSB confuses and overwhelms them.
Will there be more dead/unused channels? Maybe, but they are not being used now anyway…
When was the last time anyone heard the US NAVY was heard on 27555? They are the assigned user of that freq… 😉
25.615 TO 30.105MHZ Seems to be norm now on modern sets and quite happy with that,i would say 120 channels is old hat for a modern set,it all depends on how solid the front end “Q” factor of tuned circuits to cover extended bands and what overall effect it has on blocking\intermod properties of radio.
I cannot see any excuses technically with modern SMT & good solid designs ( yes they are still makers of tuned hi Q coils so no excuses ie Coilcraft USA) to do this and get your cake and eat it.
If moto can make a low-band VHF radio to cover 29.7 to 50mhz and meet higher commercial specs,Im sure a CB radio can too if effort put in 🙂 as not of lot of dollars extra.
And that was my point really. To still have 120 channel export mode brings nothing much. Low is legal 26.565-26.955 so you gain a few channels till 26.515 and hi band after 27.6 it’s splashing UK40. So I thought why not go 26.065-27.855 at least make it worthwhile.. If you can make 120 then why not 160. I think 2018 just needs small change to keep current and up to date.
Can see your point Simon, maybe slightly extended to 25.615 to 27.995mhz in export +UK40,that would keep the rx front end reasonably tight without too much effort involved in design and keep most users happy Am,FM and SSB users and cover most countries where extended bands can be used ie Russia,middle East,South America,New Zealand etc.
To complement this as it is related,improved crystal roofing filtering that’s not bandwidth compromised would further improve RX performance and interference immunity using a ,3-6 pole roofing filter around `15khz wide,this will cut and shape signal before going onto the individual am,ssb and fm filter and IF amplifiers circuits and cut out a lot of issues seen with wide band white noise.
the roofing filtering would chain up with the std filters to give even better performance,lower background noise,and being slightly wide band it will accept all modes fm-9khz,Am-6khz and ssb 2.8khz and uneffect the noise squelch systems if used.
I have tested this method on SS-3900 (plus others)and is very effective at reasonable cost and very little redesign to current circuitry maybe this is also an area that could be looked at as well.
The two things are related,wide-band rx front-end,better performance filters\or roofing filters required for blocking\inter-modulation etc,last thing we need is barn-door front-ends capable of picking up all sorts of rubbish breaking through.I think this seems a weak spot in modern cb designs that needs addressing too and very easy to fix.
The other more expensive method is tuned separate front-ends ie 26 to 26.5mhz,then 26.5 to 27.0mhz are very Hi “Q” tuned and switched per band jump.
While this maybe not for all and not even related in home countries legally,it maybe the way forward for the export scene\legal markets for getting improved performance and extra channel capabilities without compromising the RX performance of the cb set.
At end of day it all depends on the user and his individual applications needs are ,everyone is different some just sit on one channel all day and happy,some use it for closed groups,some countries uses are more serious and require extend channels or 25-26 mhz marine uses (not UK) where legal and the DX freebanders happy bears,
I think performance and build quality is were cb radio need to focus more on now and like you said Simon,a retake on how far we really need export channels to go without compromising performance of set too much and strike a good balance.
Analogue\Digital Voice\Data and 25w higher power rated sets and infrastructure maybe the next step for cb radio in the extended bands for personal radio maybe the push\future we need to keep it going and bring it up to date and quite capable with current technologies.
Rob 73’s
Why does an 11m rig need anything other than Mids & Highs? Go any higher and you are in the Amateur 10m band. There aren’t enough people using the frequencies that are legal, without having to start looking at 26 & 28MHz.
Lows: Legal Germany 26.565-26.955
Low Low: Legal New Zealand 0 ending frequency
And while we’re at it, it’s about time for the marketers to abandon that term “10m export radio” wich is a total lie and an insult to intelligence as everyone knows they are targeted since day one at cb niche customers not ham radio… calling them free band or “export” cb’s would be more appropriate.
And even the term “export” makes no sense as this or that radio have the same ou tof cb band range capabilities wether it is sold in Europe or north America…
you have to move with the times Simon, the hobby has changed and get things up to date a good idea and it just might make more come back to the great hobby