An observation on CB radio "roger beep"

The wife and I use cb radios to communicate when we are following each other on the road. She was following me the other day and I noticed something I had not noticed before. Since she was close behind me, I had my squelch cranked fairly tight, I knew I would be able to hear her but not much else. We were on a channel that did not seem to have much traffic on it, of course that could be any channel other then 19 here. I started hearing just a random beep, nothing else. I knew it was not her, her radio has no beep. I backed the squelch all the way down, and could faintly hear someone just over the ground noise, but I could hear their roger beep very clearly.

My question is, is this normal? My thinking is that if this is normal, using the roger beep function may be a viable way to send morse code over a longer distance then voice. Granted I doubt this is legal at this time, but if SHTF it might be handy.

Yes, I know a proper, licensed HAM rig is the way to go, but not all of us are there yet.

 

Ham licence is stupid simple to get with minimal amount of study. Way easier then learning morse.

Whynot

 

Hey ... "Homey"... I got sumthin' for ya...

 

I've never learned anything about ham radio, but, I might be curious now.
I'm not too knowledgeable about CB or Ham (at this time).
But we should definitely be planning / coming up with alternate commo.

[my "To Do" list just keeps GROWING]

 

Lots of sites on the internet have sample tests and answers. Technician license is pretty darn easy. I think every town and hamlet has a ham club with volunteer examiners who are more than willing to give you the test.

 

Getting back on topic to the question in the original post, no, it would not really be a viable way to send Morse code as you can not control the duration of the beep to differentiate dots from dashes.

That said, you can use the roger beeps for simple alternative codes. As an example, in some specific situations, I often just give two quick keying of the mic to acknowledge we received the last transmited instruction instead of radioing "Roger," "acknowledge" or "that's a big 10-4 good buddy," especially when it was good to keep the channel mostly open. You might develop some other shorthands but as you noted, secret codes are against the FCC rules for ham operation.

Keep ya ears on good buddy.
AT

 

-
WoW.... I'm "in". any monkey can pass it... how MUCH is it?

 

Well if it hasn't changed since I took the test, there's no charge from the FCC. The club or VE that administers the test can charge about $15 for copying, supplies, etc. But a local one that I went to when I tested for general class refuses to charge anything. I suspect many other clubs are much the same.

HAM just opens up so many different possibilities for communications, even with a technician class license, that you'll probably never get around to using them all.

 

Very Awesome. Will do.

 

Right... Most of the clubs are charging $15.00 and that covers their gas money to get to the club house and back.

Any silly Monkey can pass the Technician test and even the dumb monkeys can pass the General test... to pass the Extra test, you need to study up on Smith Charts, and other Engineering nonsense, this is coming from an EE that used to know how to use a Smith Chart, but now couldn't care less... kind of like Morse Code.

Rancher

 

Wow.... I'd read a NRRL book from long long ago......
and I've got THAT in my memory....
So I am imagining this huge imposing (impossible) thing ...
thanx for the feedback.
I thought it'd be an impossible barrier. Now I see they simply HOPE... people will take the test. And at least TRY to learn something to "earn" it.

being a "busy" person I just never figured it'd be so "easy" to become "officially" capable of it.

 

I used a free phone app to train for tech level (passed) and are currently reading general questions when time allows.
It will run you through any questions you missed, until you are letter perfect.

 

Ultimately, you've just described the rationale for the various digital forms of radio communication -- succinct, crisp audio bits are more robust at "punching through" a weak signal than a human voice is.

I also discovered while taking a long-haul train ride this summer that many times the conductor will use a series of microphone clicks to acknowledge information or provide confirmation, instead of a verbal instruction (e.g. simply clicking the push-to-talk button rapidly 2 or 3 times in response to an inquiry or information). Granted this is short-range VHF so nobody is struggling to pull a weak signal out of the ether... I think it's more about convenience.

So... if it is convenient for you and your SO to come up with some non-verbal techniques, I'd say to go for it. One caveat, ham radio expressly forbids the use of any sort of encryption or codes to in any way obscure the message; GMRS may as well. (I'm not certain but I don't believe CB or FRS share this same prohibition.)