{"id":50443,"date":"2021-10-05T17:35:34","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T21:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=50443"},"modified":"2021-10-05T17:35:34","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T21:35:34","slug":"guest-post-citizens-band-fm-mode-is-long-overdue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/guest-post-citizens-band-fm-mode-is-long-overdue\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Citizens Band FM mode is long overdue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Peter Laws, who shares the following guest post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Adding FM as an allowable mode on CB seems long overdue<\/h1>\n

by Peter Laws<\/strong><\/p>\n

The FCC’s recent action to add FM as an allowable mode on CB seems long overdue.\u00a0 See the final rule as published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2021: https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2021\/09\/28\/2021-19399\/review-of-the-commissions-personal-radio-services-rules<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking through old CB and amateur radio magazines from the 1970s it appears that the FCC considered allowing FM around the time that the service expanded to 40 channels.\u00a0 The FCC being the FCC took their usual “what’s the least we can do to make this issue go away?” path and just added 17 new channels starting at the beginning of 1977.\u00a0 Other than that expansion, they didn’t really change anything.\u00a0 There were incumbents on the spectrum re-allocated to CB, too, and licensees were given a 2-year grace period to vacate what was to become channels 24, 25, and 26 and up.<\/p>\n

Personally, your humble reporter is happy that the Commission has finally allowed FM on CB.\u00a0 This should be a big improvement for people who are actually trying to communicate.\u00a0 The reduction of static alone will be welcome.\u00a0 There are claims that AM has better range than FM at the same power levels.\u00a0 I suspect that people who make that claim are confusing AM broadcast (on MF) to FM broadcast (on VHF) but the proof will be in the pudding once we start to see new FM CBs hit the market.<\/p>\n

And what about that?\u00a0 When will we see new radios?\u00a0 It should happen pretty quickly, almost certainly by the end of the year “Christmas” rush assuming no supply chain delays.\u00a0 If you are unfamiliar with CB outside of North America, you may be surprised to find that radios that will meet the new FCC rules already exist.\u00a0 I don’t mean those quasi-legal “Export” radios that many are fond of, but main-stream consumer radios from vendors like Midland, Cobra (the petitioner that got FM approved), Uniden, and President.<\/p>\n

If you are an amateur licensee, you may be familiar with CEPT, the Conf\u00e9rence europ\u00e9enne des administrations des postes et des t\u00e9l\u00e9communications<\/i>.\u00a0 That’s an association of the various FCC equivalents (and USPS equivalents) in each of the European nations.\u00a0 In the amateur world, CEPT has a simple reciprocal licensing regime that allows US amateurs to operate in CEPT countries and amateurs from CEPT countries to operate in the US without any extra paperwork.\u00a0 CEPT also works to harmonize radio and other telecommunication rules regimes between the different nations to make it easier for vendors to build equipment acceptable to all and making the market bigger.<\/p>\n

For the most part — there are<\/i> exceptions — CEPT nations have all adopted the same CB radio band plan and rules.\u00a0 Here’s the surprise: they are nearly identical to the FCC rules!\u00a0 Same 40 channels, even with the weirdness between channels 22 and 25 and the skipped channels for radio control, the 4 W power output, etc.\u00a0 The only big difference is that CEPT allows FM in addition to AM and SSB.<\/p>\n

So a CEPT-spec radio will meet the new FCC rules today<\/i>.\u00a0 A vendor will simply need to make certain that their product’s firmware and other components really do match US requirements, get it tested by a contract certification facility (those facilities will also need to update their FCC CB test procedures for the addition of FM), and file the paperwork with the Commission.\u00a0 This is far simpler than actually having to engineer the addition of FM to an existing AM-only product.<\/p>\n

One jurisdiction that has their own rules, in addition to allowing CEPT rules, is the United Kingdom.\u00a0 When CB was legalized in the UK in 1981, the government allowed FM (only) on 40 channels that start at 27.60125 MHz and go up every 10 kHz to 27.99125 MHz.\u00a0 A decade or two after that, the UK also made operation of CEPT-spec CB radios legal with the result being the UK CBers have 80 legal channels available – 40 CEPT channels with all three modes and an additional 40 with FM only.<\/p>\n

Don’t expect to see “multi-norm” radios in the US like those marketed in Europe.\u00a0 Multi-norm units allow for switching between CEPT, UK, and other national channel\/power\/mode layouts, often with only a few simple button presses.\u00a0 Historically, the FCC has been reluctant to allow radios that have user-adjustable operating parameters outside of the Amateur Radio Service so watch for firmware on US versions to be locked down.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, some will claim that this is all being done so that Cobra (the petitioner in this case) can sell more radios.\u00a0 What is the problem with this?\u00a0 The new rules do not change anything with regard to the current rules.\u00a0 If you have a legal AM or AM\/SSB radio now, you will still have a legal AM or AM\/SSB radio after October 28, 2021.\u00a0 And after that, it will be legal to sell an FCC-approved radio that includes FM in addition to AM or AM and SSB.\u00a0 That’s right – radios may<\/i> include FM but must<\/i> have AM.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, I am one that is not<\/i> in favor of deregulation.\u00a0 But if you look through old FCC regulations, either in Part 97 (Amateur) or Part 95 (CB, GMRS, et al), there really were a lot of silly regulations.\u00a0 But only silly by the time they went away; at the time they were created they were, or were at least thought to be, vital.\u00a0 Time showed that some of those rules really weren’t vital and many have been removed.\u00a0 One of those rules was the 250-km limit on CB communications.\u00a0 It’s likely that at the time the rule was promulgated it was intended to reinforce that Class D CB (as it was known then) was intended as a short-range communications system.\u00a0 The ionosphere made sure that the “DX rule” was nearly impossible to enforce as even regular, law-abiding citizens could and did answer a “breaker” who ended up being 1000 miles away!\u00a0 In Cobra’s initial 2017 petition to the FCC, they requested abolition of the distance limit and the Commission agreed but in that same Report and Order, they declined to add FM.\u00a0 Cobra petitioned for reconsideration of that point (FM) and here we are.<\/p>\n

While there are still allocations<\/i> for other services between channel 40 and the start of the 10-m amateur band, and while there are still licensees <\/i>there, it is hard to imagine that those licensees are actually using<\/i> that spectrum.\u00a0 Free-banders, yes, licensed stations, unlikely.\u00a0 A quick tour of the Commission’s Universal Licensing System shows a number of licensees in the spectrum between channel 40 (27.405 MHz) and the start of the amateur allocation at 28.0 MHz.\u00a0 Most, however, appear to be dealers, consultants, and manufacturers in the communications business that are required to have blanket licenses for any band that they intend to use.\u00a0 As a result, there are many licenses that cover 25-50 MHz (and many other bands) inclusive for demonstration purposes.<\/p>\n

So where is this story going?\u00a0 Why not petition the FCC to allow UK-spec radios to be used in the US?\u00a0 Literally, almost no one is using this spectrum aside from freebanders that may already be there.\u00a0 The reason that the Congress reserved to itself the ability to regulate the radio spectrum, later delegated to the FCC, was to ensure that the spectrum was used in the most efficient manner possible and to prevent interference.\u00a0 Since almost no one uses this patch of spectrum at 27 MHz, why not let it become an expanded “national park” for hobbyists?<\/p>\n

If you are thinking, “well, if the FCC does that for 27 MHz, why not new bands in other, largely-abandoned spectrum?”\u00a0 This reporter’s answer is “sure, why not?”\u00a0 This is, after all, how amateurs got bands at 630 and 2200 meters – the spectrum was largely abandoned.\u00a0 WL2XUP is an Part 5 experimental station that is transmitting various digital modes between 40.66 and 40.7 MHz.\u00a0 This roughly aligns with 8-meter amateur allocations that are popping up in other jurisdictions.\u00a0 Maybe this 8-meter experiment, too, will pave the way to a new allocation like the Part 5 operations did on the new MF and LF bands mentioned above.<\/p>\n

It’s a brave new world in CB.<\/p>\n

Peter Laws has been licensed as a ham since 1991 (after a false start c.1978), has listened to scanners since 1982, was on CB in the late 1970s, and started DXing on MW and SW in the mid-1970s.\u00a0 He edits columns in both LWCA’s Lowdown and IRCA’s DX Monitor.\u00a0 He lives in Norman, Oklahoma, with his wife, several small doggoes, and many radios and antennas.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Peter Laws, who shares the following guest post: Adding FM as an allowable mode on CB seems long overdue by Peter Laws The FCC’s recent action to add FM as an allowable mode on CB seems long overdue.\u00a0 See the final rule as published in the Federal Register on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2644,3],"tags":[5711,604,605,9474,9482,4342,9481],"class_list":["post-50443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cb","category-news","tag-cb","tag-cb-radio","tag-citizens-band-radio","tag-fm-cb","tag-fm-citizens-band-radio","tag-guest-posts","tag-peter-laws"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-d7B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50856,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/guest-post-peter-discovers-the-first-fm-capable-cb-radio-for-the-us-market\/","url_meta":{"origin":50443,"position":0},"title":"Guest Post: Peter discovers the first FM-capable CB radio for the US market","author":"Thomas","date":"November 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Peter Laws, who shares the following guest post: Thomas is Famous! by Peter Laws A few weeks ago, a summary of the recent change to Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 95, Subpart D -- better known as the rules for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CB"","block_context":{"text":"CB","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/cb\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/President-THomas-ASC-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/President-THomas-ASC-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/President-THomas-ASC-1-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51124,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/guest-post-peters-fm-cb-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":50443,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: Peter’s FM CB Update","author":"Thomas","date":"December 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Peter Laws, who shares the following guest post: Thomas - Still Famous by Peter Laws We're getting closer to the first legal FM CB on the market in the USA.\u00a0 President Electronics\u00a0 USA has announced that the President Thomas FCC CB radio will hit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CB"","block_context":{"text":"CB","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/cb\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/President-Barry-II-CB-FM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50406,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/fcc-approves-fm-for-cb-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":50443,"position":2},"title":"FCC approves FM for CB Radio","author":"Thomas","date":"October 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron who shares the following news via the Southgate ARC: FCC signals FM CB will be permitted on 27 MHz 63 years after the introduction of Class D 27 MHz AM CB Radio the FCC has agreed to permit FM to be used From\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CB"","block_context":{"text":"CB","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/cb\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Robyn-CB-FM-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Robyn-CB-FM-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Robyn-CB-FM-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Robyn-CB-FM-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Robyn-CB-FM-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1923,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/listening-to-citizens-band-cb-radio-on-your-shortwave-receiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":50443,"position":3},"title":"Listening to Citizens’ Band (CB) radio on your shortwave receiver","author":"Thomas","date":"September 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Did you know that you may be able to listen to CB radio on your shortwave receiver? If you have a digital receiver that covers from 26.9-27.5 MHz, you can listen to CB frequencies in a matter of minutes. Below, I've posted a chart of all 40 CB \"channels\" and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/React.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":34101,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/citizens-band-cb-radio-celebrates-60th-anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":50443,"position":4},"title":"Citizens Band (CB) radio celebrates 60th anniversary","author":"Thomas","date":"September 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who reminds us that today is Class D CB radio's 60th anniversary. From Wikipedia: On September 11, 1958 the Class D CB service was created on 27 MHz, and this band became what is popularly known today as \"Citizens Band\". There were only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Robyn-CB-Radio-Robyn-T-240D.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Robyn-CB-Radio-Robyn-T-240D.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Robyn-CB-Radio-Robyn-T-240D.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Robyn-CB-Radio-Robyn-T-240D.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8876,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/drews-cb-tapes\/","url_meta":{"origin":50443,"position":5},"title":"Drew’s CB Tapes","author":"Thomas","date":"March 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader, Chris, writes: \"I found this web page \u00a0that my be of interest to your blog readers. A guy named Drew Durigan has saved CB radio audio of himself talking to his friends when he was a teenager in the 1970's. Its mostly kids talking smack about each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"77realisticcbradio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/77realisticcbradio-214x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}