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Let's Take a Look at CB and VH.F by David Underwood I planned to write about depth sounders this month. There couldn't, I thought, be a more misunderstood piece of equipment. I was wrong. After attencng the recent Boat Shows, there's obviously a greater need to unravel the intricacies of CB and VHF. So here goes. At one time or another, every boater wants to com- municate with land or with other vessels. For many, this is a transitory need, and they either row ashore of holler. But, for an increasing number of boaters, good communica- tion is becoming essential - for safety if nothing else - and it is for these that this article is written. We'll try to cover th subject with minimal references to microvolts, mil- liamps, and other such jargon ences to microvolts, miii- amps, and other such jargon so beloved by many of us in the electronics trade. Let's first look at the general characteristics of CB and VHF. CB stands for Citizens Band. (Properly, this is called Gen- eral IRadio Service--or GRS - in Canada, but as most people still call it CB, so will we.) CB stakes out a section of the radio frequency spectrum within which John Q. Public can use a radio transmitter for just about whatever purpose he desires, with the minimum of legislative hassle. Buy one at your local store, plug it in, and you're on the air. The set has to be licensed - though not its operators - but this is a simple over-the-counter tran- saction at vour local Federal Department of Communica- tions office. (You'il find them in the phone book.) License fee is $10, and good for three lears. CB sets are small, ightweight, low cost, easy to install and use, and miserly in p ower consumption. You can ave one on your boat, another at your cottage, a third in your car, and a fourth on your power mower if you feel like it. Speech range is roughly line of sight (but more on this later) and CB gives you 23 two-way speech channels to use. In fact, it's everyman's portable radio telephone sy- stem. VHF stands for Very High Frequency, and often the intials FM are added. FM stands for Frequency Modula- tion, the type of transmission used to ensure clarity (think of commercial FM radio sta- tions, compared to the regular AM - or Amplitude Modula- tion - ones). An intriguing article I read recently in another magazine cautioned boaters to only buv VHF-SSB (Single Side Band) equipment --_a statement roughly equivalent to urging people to buy only short neck ed giraffes or cats which bark. VHF does not, repeat, does not corne in SSB flavors, despite what you may have read eslewhere. The VHF band is split into sections for aircraft, land, and marine operations and is closely regulated by the Fede- rai Government. Only equip- ment approved by DOC may be used and each radio installation must be licensed, as should each operator. Brisk, businesslike voice mes- sages are standard practice, and conversations must be limited to marine matters. General chit-chat is strongly discouraged. VHF equipment is usually bigger, heavier, and uses more power than CB, and normally costs twice or tbree times as much. Also, while you can have a VHF set in your boat, the other locations mentioned are no-nos. Like CB, range is roughly line of sight, but while most marine VHF sets have twelve two- way speech channels avail- able, at least two, and perhaps more, will be "off-limits" for continuous conversations. Which Way To Go? You might now feel that CB bas it all over VHF, right? Well, as the song goes, it ain't necessarily so. The brief capsules above didn't cover some very important areas, and we'll review these from VHF and CB viewpoints. (a) The VHF band is set up to serve marine needs exclusive- ly. CB, on the other hand, can fairly claim to be- the first radio hot inue. Boaters, long distance truckers, fishermen, hunters, elderly ladies, and kids with too much pocket money ail seem to have CB's. There are an estimated fIfteen thousand CB sets ir. the Toronto area alone -hence the feeling that the original -- and very commendable concept of Everybodys Radio may have been just too successful. Because of this congestion, Single Sideband CB sets are now being introduced. CB-SSB sets use just half of the CB-AM signal bandwidth, which has the effect of doubling the number of channels available and also improving the range a bit - provided, of course, your recipient also has a CB-SSB receiver to hear you. But, as the price of some CB-SSB sets moves them owards "Basic" VHF sets (see Channels and Crystals, later), their advantages be- come somewhat debatable, as points (a) to (e) here apply equally (o CB-AM and CB- SSB. (b) On VHF, a 24 hour listening watch is maintained by MOT and US Coast Guard, to provide immediate assist- ance to mariners, with one channel (16) specifically re- served for emergency com- munications. On CB, it's sometimes said that everyone keeps a listen- ing watch, if only to get a word in when someone else pauses for breath. In any event, neither MOT or USCG monitor CB - though channel 9 (CB emergenc.y) is often monitor- ed-by CB'ers in major cities. But when you are out there in 'the fog, your call for help could well be received by a couple of moose hunters deep in the bush or some good ol' Southern boy rolling his big rig along the Georgia State Freeway (see Skip, later). And, if you get into trouble at 4 o'clock in the morning, you may not find anyone, any- where, to talk to about it. (c) Marine weather reports and forecasts including wave heights, gale warnings, etc., are continuously broadcast 24 hours a day on VHF. There's no CB weather service, except in answer to such questions as "What's it like up where you are, Fred? (If Fred is a vacationing meteorologist, O.K. Other- wise, watch out). (d) The nature of the FM design of VHF sets allows only one transmission on the fre- quency in use to be received at one time, and all others are cut out completely. Converse- ly, the AM and SSB modes used in CB allow you to receive two, three or even more transmissions on the same frequency simultan- eously, and this can make conversation difficult. (e) Direct connections to Bell Telephone or its local equiva- lent are, available through VHF shore stations, and you can then use your radio just as you would your telephone at home. There's a nominal fee for each connection, plus applicable charges from the shore station to the number you call. There's no phone facility on Citizens Band, although, of course, you can ask people on shore to make calls for you. New TV Experience You can make your TV set the center of active family participation rather than sim- ply passive viewing. If the tele- vision room is already the ma- jor home gathering place (as it is in many American homes today), extending its use should be easy. e 1' 1, -l' - - , JOINING THE TV SET- New home video games let everyone join the TV action. In fact, it can be as easy as hookin'g up a new electron- ic game to the set and watch- ing family members compete in games of skill and coor- dination that appear right on the screen. The game is called Odyssey, and when Magnavox introduced it in 1972 it was the first home video game. Since then, it has gained na- tional and international ac- claim. Now, there's all-new Odyssey 200 and 100, which connect to any brand of tele- vision set-color or black and white-and with any size screen. The games you can play are hockey, tennis and smash, with maneuvers con- trolled from an electronic center. 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