Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Ever get tired of hearing nothing but garbage coming out of that CB radio. You pull into a truckstop and your ears are assaulted by “CB shop channel 15″, “Hey truckers this is CiCi, anyone want some company?”, or “Anyone want to buy a new in the box (fill in blank)?”. More often than not the volume on my CB is turned to off. But for those of us who actually enjoy talking on the radio, there is hope. Recently I got my Ham radio license, now I can talk on the radio all I want and don’t have to listen to the uncontrolled garbage that has taken over the Citizen Band Radio. I am able to talk to people all over the country while traveling down the road with not a single cuss word or offer of some kind of economic exchange heard.

“I thought it was hard to get a Ham license” you say. Not at all, a technician level licence will get you on the air and talking in no time. Many have stayed away from Ham radio because they were always afraid or didn’t have time to learn Morse code(CW) but as of a few months ago the requirement for code was dropped from all classes of Ham licenses. All you are required now is pass a fairly simple 35 question exam. If you can pass a CDL test then the Ham exam for a technician class license is a cake walk.

Once you get your Ham radio license what can you do with it? For starters you will have access to a whole new community that uses ham radio. With a technicians license you will be able to communicate on the 2 meter and 70 cm bands. These bands are what most repeaters operate on. Repeaters are usually higher powered radios that sit atop high hills or mountains, water towers or tall buildings that you can talk into at low power and the repeater will re-broadcast your signal out at a higher power and are able to cover a large area. Generally you should be able to talk with another ham up to 50-100 miles away using a repeater. Try doing that with a 4 watt CB radio.

Not good enough you say? Once you have your ham license you will be able to use the Echolink system and IRLP. Both of these systems use the internet to send your transmission across the country or around the world. I can and have sat in Mississippi and talked to other truck drivers in Missouri by connecting via Echolink to a repeater in my hometown. Cool, eh?
Want to learn more, here are links to check out:
ARRL.org
E-Ham.net
Echolink
IRLP
Ham radio can provide those of us who have become dis-satisfied with the state of CB radio nowadays. I am going to make this an on-going series about using ham radio from your truck. We will discuss getting your license, equipment and community in future articles so check back often.
73′s
Don Rogers KD0AIN