45 Years of Legal CB Radio in the UK!

[delboyonline]

Are you feeling old?

Well, on 2nd November 2026 we will be celebrating 45 years of legal CB Radio in the UK.

Stations all across the land will take to the air for "The Big Net".

Channel 27 UKFM (27.86125) from 19:00 hours until late.

So it's an ideal time to dig out those muppet boxes and get on the air!

[rob42]

Delboy. I did not know that you used these Forums. Thanks for the notice.

While I'm handing out the thanks, I also thank you for your blog regarding the PMR446 Yagi Antenna, which has been an inspiration for me to get building.

[delboyonline]

Delboy. I did not know that you used these Forums. Thanks for the notice.

While I'm handing out the thanks, I also thank you for your blog regarding the PMR446 Yagi Antenna, which has been an inspiration for me to get building.

Thanks for the flowers and yes I've been on forum for a long, long time

[Antoni]

I'm thinking Beeley Moor near Chesterfield at 1050', yes, and take the RVC-230, the B300PS, and either the 7' Firestick or pick a fence post and use the Galaxy compact 5/8th wave - but maybe not that one - it was on the market much later.

Since yesterday I've been mentioning the date and channel to most people I talk to on 2m.

2 7 a copy...

[109 Jim]

When CB became legal most in my area stayed on AM , i will have a listen but its mostly 19 they all hang and never move

[GrahamG]

For future years, can I suggest another channel? I get why '27' for 27MHz, yes, but not all UKFM sets had / have all 40 channels. Handhelds in particular sometimes came with twelve, six, three, two or only one channel and none of them AFAIK came with channel 27 as standard, so by sticking with 27 we are always excluding sets like that from the event.

Small two channel handhelds like the Sonic 'Envoy' and its clones and the Harvard 020 and its clones came with channels 14 and 30. The Realistic TRC1008 (single channel) came with channel 30. There were several different models of the Binatone 'Longranger' handhelds but I don't know whether some or all of them included channel 30. (Does anyone know?) The Realistic TRC1002 (2ch, 1.5W) was a bit of an oddball as only one of its two channels came populated, with channel 20 - however for a few years in the 1980s you could buy extra plug-in crystals for them for channels 9, 14, 19 and... 30.

So if we aren't too obsessed with the idea of 27 for the sake of it being 27MHz, channel 30 might be a more inclusive choice for future years, allowing more participation with handhelds (not just the 40 channel ones).