With 40 channels and the use of sideband or a.m. modulation there are plenty of free channels to choose from on cb. Most of the nasty banter is confined to channel 19, the trucker channel. Channel 9 used to be the emergency channel, often monitored by REACT, an emergency help volunteer group. Don’t know that they even exist anymore. I haven’t used CB in decades. Back then channels above 19 were rarely used, I remember when there were only 23 channels, not 40.Have you heard a CB radio lately? Such vulger talk, nothing a child should hear. Marine VHF would be OK if you don't get on the wrong channel.
I hear ya. My wife facebooks, and an old friend was talking about getting his license last year, so I told her to congratulate him and sign it with my call sign. AB8TF. He had no idea I was a ham. Motivated me to get the shack in order, still got some antenna repairs or upgrades to finish, well….antenna projects are never really finished. Maybe I will get to recapping some of the drake and Collins boat anchors I have someday. First on the list is my clipperton L, but I need better antennas before I start down that road.Amateur here for 30 years now. Not as radio-active as I used to be, but I don't think most are either. Years ago, two meters was crowded. Even if you had 30 repeaters around, there would be a lot of traffic. Today, I can scan repeater frequencies and hear nothing for an hour.....
I used to enjoy HF CW, it was quite relaxing.
Maybe someday I'll get motivated again.
