CB Radio Usage Around the World

CB radio, which is short for Citizens Band radio, is a selection of 40 channels which can reach a moderate distance for personal or business communication. This type of radio is usually broadcasted within the 27 MHz band, and differs from FRS, GMRS, amateur radio, or MURS in many ways.

For one, CB radio does not usually require a license to transmit. You simply have to wait until a channel is available to broadcast on. This is why the CB radio is used by a lot of people for personal communication. For instance, truck drivers use CB radios to communicate with one another about driving conditions, weather, and just for general socialization while driving on the road.

CB radios are popular in many countries. The United States, the UK, Canada, Indonesia, and Australia are just a few of the countries where CB radio became very popular. Around the 1970’s, CB radio reached a peak in popularity. They were so popular, in fact, that the millions of Cbs being used by citizens became the idea's own downfall.

Since there were so many people on the CB, it became noisy and annoying to even try to talk on it...which is why a lot of CB hobbyists put their sets down by the time 1980 rolled around.

Nowadays, CB radios are still enjoyed by radio hobbyists around the world, but not to the extent that they once were. In the United States, CB radios are almost synonymous with semi truck drivers, mostly due to the different regulations, though a CB radio amplifier is not allowed in the US.

Actually, regulations are less stringent in the United States than they are in other countries. For example, in Europe, some regulations make effective CB use by truck drivers impractical. Most countries also operate on some different bands, though the main frequency basically remains the same.

More information on CB radio usage is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_band_radio.