How to use a CB Radio when going in the forest

How to use a CB Radio when going in the forest

Installing

First, connect the antenna’s cable to the CB box. Install the antenna somewhere on the exterior of your vehicule, ideally as high as possible. Install the CB box somewhere easily accessible from the driver seat. Plug it into the power outlet of the car.

Adjusting

There are three main things you will need to adjust with the CB while in the field: Volume (VOL), Channel (CH) and Squelch (SQ).

• Volume needs to be increased a bit to turn the CB on. Afterwards you can turn the dial to adjust the volume
• Channel decides on which frequency you will emit and receive. Usually when entering a new road there will be a sign to tell you to what frequency you should set your CB. When in doubt, the default channel is 10.
• Squelch changes the amount of empty noise that passes through the radio. If it is too low, you will always hear noise, which gets annoying quickly. If it is too high, you won’t hear it even when someone is emitting. You should set it just beyond the point where you don’t hear noise. That way, any signal emitted will unsquelch the receiver and you will be able to hear it.

What should you say?

Hold the microphone close to your face, press the button and say something like this: “Kilomètre 01, en montant, un pickup” “Kilometer 01, going up, one pickup”

Position, direction, vehicule

The kilometer number will be indicated on the side of the road, you should announce yourself at every kilometer if possible. To know if you’re going up or going down (en montant/en descendant), just check if the kilometer numbers are increasing or decreasing. To announce your vehicule, you don’t need to be precise, you could even just say “one vehicule”. If one or more vehicule is following you, you can save them the hassle of announcing themselves and just say “x vehicules” where x is the number of vehicules.

If you hear that a large forestry vehicule such as a log truck (van de bois) is getting close to you in the opposite direction, immediately move to the side of the road and wait for them to pass. The whole reason for the CB system is because these large vehicules are unable to stop quickly, they often go very fast and are very heavy. Therefore pay close attention to those.

Stay safe in the woods!