MAKING THE MOST OF THE OFF-GRID CB, by NC Scout

(NC Scout / AmericanPartisan.org) I get a lot of questions revolving around the need for simplicity of communications setups. There’s many folks out there that simply don’t have the time or motivation to jump into Amateur Radio, and that’s perfectly understandable – its a deep undertaking. Further, the options can quickly get overwhelming especially when you don’t quite know where to begin. It’d be nice if someone taught a class for that, huh?

With that said there’s much to be offered with a basic Citizen’s Band (CB) radio. That’s right, the old days of Smokey and the Bandit and Breaker Breaker is still very much relevant now, and does a great job when rigged the right way. The radios are pretty simple to operate, the frequency range allows for decent local coverage and sometimes longer distances should the ionosphere cooperate. But we can’t always count on that. Where it does shine, however, is a fact I point out in class – by the numbers there’s no other radio system in as widespread use as the CB.

Midland handheld brought to class and rigged up somewhere in eastern Washington.

A game I play on the road headed to and from courses is to see what I can source on the go. This mimics reality in an austere environment in a bunch of ways; what you can actually get versus what you wish you had, and what can you source on the go if you literally had no other options. Its a valuable skill to develop for anyone whether you’re a clandestine operator or a prepper, or anything in between. CB radio is available pretty much anywhere along interstates along with everything you need to get one rigged on a tight budget. And since CB is relatively easy to set up and use, its a valuable tool to equip others with in a hurry.

The back wall at a Flying J truck stop.

Rigging a CB off grid is a lot easier than you might think. The radios themselves are common and pretty much the same across the board. Differences you’ll run into are really limited to audio features and more control over things like audio gain, etc, until you’re making the jump to Single Side Band (SSB), but then you’re talking a substantially higher investment and the radios themselves are far less common. That might be a consideration, it might not be. Only a call you can make. But with that said if commonality and budget are the parameters, then sticking to the plain old AM analog sets are the way to go.

My battered old Cobra 29, mounted to a 50cal can in the center console, still providing CB capability in the War Criminal after a decade of spilled coffee, Rip Its, and beer.

The most common way people use CB is inside vehicles, with the power coming from either the alternator or batteries and run to a single, vertical antenna. That’s a pretty straightforward system that doesn’t need much of an explanation. As long as you’ve got your truck, you’re good to go. What we’re taking about is setting one up totally off grid and totally self contained. Its a lot easier than you think.

First things first, clamp on some Anderson Power Poles. Its just a good idea in general for all your communications gear to have them on the power cords for commonality. I can run my rigs from virtually any power source with a cable I built using power poles on one end and jumper cable clamps on the other, so should I need power, any of my equipment can be run from any source. For long term use, the best bet is always going to be deep cycle batteries. I run Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries for their ease of use and flexibility between charge cycles off grid.

Let’s talk about the antenna. Antennas are the real importance of any radio system, and they get next to no attention. In class I cover antenna theory in detail and have every student not just build working models but get hands on with them. Buying a bunch of stuff, while gratifying, doesn’t teach us much. Validated skill on the other hand, gives us everything. Armed with a working knowledge of antenna theory, we can build a simple vertical CB antenna from parts you probably already have laying around.

We test it in class, and the basic groundplane wire antenna always performs, whether its a simple handheld CB radio to a full sized base unit. Having a purpose-built antenna with the proper calculations gives us up to 6db of gain on our signal, which in layman’s terms makes our radiated signal using 4 watts have the equivalent strength of 16. That means far better range and overall better capability. Antennas make all the difference.

Its simplicity might come as a shock, but that’s all you really need for running a CB off grid. Even for well-seasoned Hams or anyone in between, knowing how to make the most of your gear in an austere setting, off grid, is a critical skill. The same applies to to any radio system, whether you’re rolling with a Baofeng UV-5R or something more sophisticated, or even something more primitive. Running the systems off grid and creating effective communications in an austere environment relies on what you know and sourcing the right gear to support that knowledge. Get out and train.