CB or not CB, that is the question

When Hubby mentioned getting a new CB set, I was all for it. Everything was duly ordered, and arrived in good time.
Since then, it has been a learning curve due to my naivety.

My only dealings with CB was when we organised a treasure hunt years ago and got people out at the weekend in their cars to enjoy the New Forest and find the clues we’d set. It was a wonderful day actually, prize money was made up from the entrance fees of vehicles taking part, and everyone had a lot of fun.
My Mum couldn’t get on with the CB set we lent her and Dad. She kept forgetting to hold down the switch on the mike, and was forever shaking it when it didn’t work as she shouted ‘Hello? Hello?? Helloooo…….’ into her fist.

So, my idea of Hubby setting up shop and wiling away an hour or two on the wave bands has been hit very squarely on the head as extra bits and pieces have been required, and original plans have been modified. But we are making progress…………………..

Hubby was all set with the battery from the remote controlled boat he made a year or so ago and could often hear voices, but no-one could hear him.
He joined a forum and has learned a lot, so much so that he agreed perhaps his existing battery wasn’t man enough for the job, and so ordered a new one.
This arrived the following day as promised, post free,  and it was noted that it needed to be vented,  so sourcing some 5mm pipe was in order. Not quite as easy as one would think, but we found some. As you can see, the new battery is just a tad bigger than the first.
Something raised its head that neither of us had thought about, and that was charging it. Luckily we had a battery charger, so set everything up and kept an eye on it.
Five hours later, not much was happening, so it was going to be left overnight. Hubby had put the pipe out of the window but by 11.30 pm both of us were getting anxious, so he decided to switch everything off and try again this morning.
It would appear that our charger was either not up to it, or we had a duff battery, so we went to a friendly garage who tested it and said it seemed OK. The best way to confirm it was to come home, set everything up, and try it.

This afternoon, Hubby has drilled another hole through the wall for his ventilation pipe, reorganised the spare bedroom, and got rid of a lot of stuff that had accumulated from heaven knows where. It’s a good tidy job, and to stop bugs getting in up the pipe, he’s put a fine tea strainer on the outside wall over the pipe end. Inspired!

Hopefully tomorrow he will be transmitting. He’d taken the aerial down because there was thunder and lightning about yesterday, so installed a ground spike as a safety measure. Another good job handmade from basic materials.

It’s laughable now that my thoughts of unpacking, setting up and beginning to enjoy his hobby immediately were nowhere near accurate!

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