CB uk am fm

[Papa Jupe]

I'm a little confused with using the legal AM wattage for the uk with my CB..

I have a President JFK 2, which is set up on 'U' for the uk, which gives me 40 uk and 40 Cept.

Both are FM.

I understand that i can legally use AM in the UK, max 4w.

I don't seem to be able to select AM in this configuration.

If i set the country to 'EU' i can get the 40 eu, FM or AM, but AM is only 1w.

It's there any way i can get this radio to utilise 4w AM with the uk channels?

Or am i seeing this all wrong?

[ChrisMagpie]

AM is only legal on the CEPT channels in the UK. The UK channels are FM only.
CEPT channels you can legally use AM/FM/SSB in the UK.
On your radio, if you set the country code to "E" (Spain) then you'll get the CEPT channels with 4w FM and 4w AM. That's all perfectly legal to use in the UK now.
In a perfect world, setting the country code to UK would give you UK FM and CEPT FM and AM, but a lot of these newer radios were designed before the rules changed to allow the use of AM here in the UK.

[Papa Jupe]

Ah, I see now..

I hadn't realised that it just related to the CEPT channels.

That's great. Thanks for the information.

This opens another question though:

Listening in with the 'U' (UK configuration) set, and only receiving FM, I assume that any received AM broadcasts will just be a garbled mess?

Also, if scanning saved CEPT channel frequencies with my BCT15x, and as CEPT broadcast can be AM or FM (forget the SSB bit for now), then is it good practice to set the modulation for these channels as 'Auto'? (Rather than duplicate channels with different modulations).

I suppose i I might have answered my own questions there.

Regarding the SSB bit - Never really looked into this before now. But I'm guessing that SSB needs some extra techie stuff that the BCT15x won't have?

Does anything come through on an FM modulation receive setting if the received broadcast is on upper or lower sideband?

Not that I expect to hear talk, but rather whether I could write off instances of noise as possible SSB broadcasts.

[The Collector]

Regarding the last 2 paragraphs, SSB on FM receive will sound a bit like a muffled "wahwiwahwoowahwihwahhwah.." with the needle bouncing up a down a bit, whereas general noise will most likely give a steady signal. I've never used SSB apart from listening for a few minutes now and again over the years, but have heard plenty of it whilst using UKFM, especially on channels 1-26 I think it is.

Also, AM and FM can talk to each other on the same frequency, but only if the signal is very strong. I used to chat to a mate half a mile away on his AM Scooper radio from on my FM Fidelity Homebase, but further AM contacts sound "whiney" and quiet and eventually get lost in the mush.

[Papa Jupe]

Interesting stuff..

I missed out on the SSB thing altogether, and purchased my JFK 2 not long before they announced the 4w AM as street legal.

Usually do buy the wrong thing at the wrong time. Good decisions were never my strong point.

Still, is does me ok as a home base for what little cb traffic that there is.

Hear very little on the UK channels, and only ever came across anything on CEPT when the skip was up.

[The Collector]

There's no one on locally to me, but I can hear the odd Bristol or Welsh contact babbling on ch19uk about the usual mundane stuff. Nothing I've heard in 10 years here has yet prompted me to key up and actually try and make contact though ...zzzzz...

Although my Antron's only about 8ft off the ground, I have heard contacts from the US, Canada and europe on FM alone (SSB should be even better) when the skip's in, so fingers crossed you'll hear plenty soon, especially when this solar cycle reaches its peak in a few more years time.

[Papa Jupe]

I can hardly wait..

Although, apparently the peak in 2022 could be "One of the weakest in centuries":

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/s ... _longrange

According to this particular NASA boffin:

Hathaway's prediction concerns Cycle 25. "The speed of the conveyor belt predicts solar activity two cycles ahead," he explains. "The belt was moving slowly during Cycle 23; that means Cycle 25 will be weak."

There goes that 'wrong thing at the wrong time' rule again.

Sigh.

[original45]

There's no one on locally to me, but I can hear the odd Bristol or Welsh contact babbling on ch19uk about the usual mundane stuff. Nothing I've heard in 10 years here has yet prompted me to key up and actually try and make contact though ...zzzzz...

Although my Antron's only about 8ft off the ground, I have heard contacts from the US, Canada and europe on FM alone (SSB should be even better) when the skip's in, so fingers crossed you'll hear plenty soon, especially when this solar cycle reaches its peak in a few more years time.

Lol ,I too often don't key up for a few reasons simular I guess to yours.
Today however was different. I had my antron put higher than its ever been potentially for the next few weeks,weather permitting.

It had been base just bellow ridge and worked quite well. But taking it 8' plus a above the ridge made a massive difference.
In fact it amazed me . I was able to talk to a mate in Nuneaton like he was 10 miles or less away on s8/9 when we tried before audio wasn't heard only the tone of our bleeps.

Very impressed I was considering their meant to be crap. I'd still love a 5/8 high quality vertical .
Personally I like the antron but proving to myself height is so so crucial tops my day .

[The Collector]

Yep, height helps in most situations.

I had a mate who lived on the top floor (11th) of a tower block with a half-wave silver rod and could get for miles and miles just on 4watts. A neighbour of his with a 5/8th wave 10ft off the ground needed about 100watts to get out as well over distance.

Shame he couldn't hear those using just 4watts that could hear him.