EM-COMM-PJ

CB Radio

Table of Contents

TODO: Create Chirp CSV for UHF and HF Frequencies

UHF CB Frequencies

Channels in UHF CB are generally 12.5 Khz wide.
Channels 1-8, 31-39 are reserved for Repeater operation
Channel 5 & 35 are reserved for emergency operation only - fines do apply for impropper use or interferance.

Channel Frequency Notes
1 476.425000 Duplex – Repeater Output
2 476.450000 Duplex – Repeater Output
3 476.475000 Duplex – Repeater Output
4 476.500000 Duplex – Repeater Output
5 476.525000 Emergency - Duplex – Repeater Output
6 476.550000 Duplex – Repeater Output
7 476.575000 Duplex – Repeater Output
8 476.600000 Duplex – Repeater Output
9 476.6250 Simplex – General Use
10 476.650000 Simplex – 4WD Drivers, Convoys, Clubs & National Parks
11 476.675000 Simplex – Call Channel
12 476.700000 Simplex – General Use
13 476.725000 Simplex – General Use
14 476.750000 Simplex – General Use
15 476.775000 Simplex – General Use
16 476.800000 Simplex – General Use
17 476.825000 Simplex – General Use
18 476.850000 Simplex - Caravans and Campers Convoy
19 476.875000 Simplex – General Use
20 476.900000 Simplex – General Use
21 476.925000 Simplex – General Use
22 476.9500 Data Only (No Voice – No Packet)
23 476.9750 Data Only (No Voice – No Packet)
24 477.000000 Simplex – General Use
25 477.025000 Simplex – General Use
26 477.050000 Simplex – General Use
27 477.075000 Simplex – General Use
28 477.100000 Simplex – General Use
29 477.125000 Simplex – General Use
30 477.150000 Simplex – UHF CB Broadcasts
31 477.1750 Repeater Input
32 477.2000 Repeater Input
33 477.2250 Repeater Input
34 477.2500 Repeater Input
35 477.2750 Repeater Input
36 477.3000 Repeater Input
37 477.3250 Repeater Input
38 477.3500 Repeater Input
39 477.375000 Simplex – General Use
40 477.400000 Simplex – Highway Channel
41 476.4375 Simplex – General Use
42 476.4625 Simplex – General Use
43 476.4875 Simplex – General Use
44 476.5125 Simplex – General Use
45 476.5375 Simplex – General Use
46 476.5625 Simplex – General Use
47 476.5875 Simplex – General Use
48 476.6125 Simplex – General Use
49 476.637500 Simplex – General Use
50 476.662500 Simplex – General Use
51 476.687500 Simplex – General Use
52 476.712500 Simplex – General Use
53 476.737500 Simplex – General Use
54 476.762500 Simplex – General Use
55 476.787500 Simplex – General Use
56 476.812500 Simplex – General Use
57 476.837500 Simplex – General Use
58 476.862500 Simplex – General Use
59 476.887500 Simplex – General Use
60 476.9125 Simplex – General Use
61   Reserved For Future Expansion
62   Reserved For Future Expansion
63   Reserved For Future Expansion
64 477.0125 Simplex – General Use
65 477.0375 Simplex – General Use
66 477.0625 Simplex – General Use
67 477.0875 Simplex – General Use
68 477.1125 Simplex – General Use
69 477.1375 Simplex – General Use
70 477.1625 Simplex – General Use
71 477.1875 Simplex – General Use
72 477.2125 Simplex – General Use
73 477.2375 Simplex – General Use
74 477.2625 Simplex – General Use
75 477.2875 Simplex – General Use
76 477.3125 Simplex – General Use
77 477.3375 Simplex – General Use
78 477.3625 Simplex – General Use
79 477.3875 Simplex – General Use
80 477.4125 Simplex – General Use

HF CB Fequencies

Channel Frequency Notes
1 26.965 Mhz  
2 26.975 Mhz  
3 26.985 Mhz  
4 27.005 Mhz  
5 27.015 Mhz  
6 27.025 Mhz  
7 27.035 Mhz  
8 27.055 Mhz  
9 27.065 Mhz Emergency
10 27.075 Mhz  
11 27.085 Mhz Call
12 27.105 Mhz  
13 27.115 Mhz  
14 27.125 Mhz  
15 27.135 Mhz  
16 27.155 Mhz Call
17 27.165 Mhz  
18 27.175 Mhz  
19 27.185 Mhz  
20 27.205 Mhz  
21 27.215 Mhz  
22 27.225 Mhz  
23 27.245 Mhz  
24 27.235 Mhz  
25 27.255 Mhz  
26 27.265 Mhz  
27 27.275 Mhz  
28 27.285 Mhz  
29 27.295 Mhz  
30 27.305 Mhz  
31 27.315 Mhz  
32 27.325 Mhz  
33 27.335 Mhz  
34 27.345 Mhz  
35 27.355 Mhz  
36 27.365 Mhz  
37 27.375 Mhz  
38 27.385 Mhz  
39 27.395 Mhz  
40 27.405 Mhz  

CB Radio Clubs in Western Australia

CB Radio Repeaters in Western Australia

Callsign Channel Location Sponsor
BTN06 6 Bridgetown NRA
ALB03 3 Albany NRA
PER04 4 Perth - North Eastern Suburbs - Ellenbrook NRA
PER05 5 Perth - Eastern Suburbs - Martin/Roleystone NRA
BUN02 2 Bunbury - Brunswick Junction NRA
MTB07 7 Mount Barker NRA
KAL01 1 Kalgoorlie NRA
ROC46 46 Rockingham - Naval Base NRA
MTJ07 7 Mandurah NRA
BIN02 2 Bindoon NRA
PER01 1 Wanneroo NRA
MNP06 6 ManyPeaks (Stirlings) NRA
PER08 8 Perth CBD NRA

CB Radio History in Australia

The following information was gathered from https://radiorescue.org.au/cb-radio/cb-history/

Pre-Legalisation

Citizens Band Radio (CB) was not legal in Australia until 1977, even though it was gaining popularity in the USA where it was already legal. In the Australian Senate on 1st December 1976, Senator Kilgariff directed a question to Senator Carrick, representing the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, regarding the plan to legalise CB in Australia, stating that there were some 25,000 Australians currently using CB that were unlicensed. In response, Sen. Carrick said that estimates from the Department of Post and Telecommunications placed the number of unlicensed CB operators in Australia at between 15,000 and 20,000, and the one concern held at the time was the potential for interference to other services.1

At this time there was no radiocommunications service available for personal communications (Amateur Radio was intended for scientific and experimental use). Various CB clubs, including the National Citizens Radio Association (NCRA), Australian Citizens Radio Movement (ACRM, later to become Australian Citizen Radio Monitors), Citizens Radio Emergency Service Teams (CREST), and numerous truck drivers, all petitioned the Government from 1974 for the legalisation of a CB service in Australia. A significant number of 23 channel 27MHz CB sets from the USA had made their way into the Australian CB scene and were being used illegally, given that the band was already in use by the Amateur Radio service.

Legalisation

27MHz CB was formally legalised at a meeting of the National Cabinet on 2nd June 1977 where the Hon. Eric Robinson, Minister for Post and Telecommunications, submitted that some 50,000 CB sets were currently being used illegally in Australia. He submitted that the licensing of CB equipment in the HF band (27MHz) be approved for a period of 3 years, and that the CB service be moved to a UHF band after that. This was to allow current CB users to have a suitable return on their investment in current CB equipment, and allow Australian manufacturers time to equip themselves to make UHF CB equipment for the Australian market. The licence fee was initially set at $20.2

Following this meeting CB was legalised as of 1st July 1977 using the existing 23 channel sets imported from the USA (26.965-27.245MHz), although an Australian 18 channel standard (27.015-27.225MHz), along with UHF, was introduced on 1st January 1978 under RB249. Licensing was under the Handphone option of the Wireless Telegraphy Act and Regulations. The allocation of a channel designated for emergencies (channel 5 on both 27MHz 18ch and UHF bands) only came after the initial legalisation and was disclosed in a question to the Minister for Post and Telecommunications during the 31st Parliament on 3rd April 1979. Although this question was posed from the viewpoint of a channel for CREST, the Minister recognised that a number of volunteer groups provided emergency monitoring.3

End of 27MHz

The cut-off date for the 27MHz band was set as 30th June 1982, with 21 days for 27MHz operators to cease transmissions on this band. As the 1982 deadline for the complete transfer of CB to the UHF band approached, users of the 27MHz CB equipment rallied to keep the band alive. CB groups protested against the removal of the 27MHz band. Motorcades were run in every major city and petitions were lodged with the Government. These petitions also called for an expansion of the 27MHz band to 40 channels, mirroring the USA band 26.965-27.405MHz, and retention of the dual-band 27MHz and UHF CB service.4, 5, 6, 7, 8

These petitions and protests were successful, and the Government not only removed the “use by” date for 27MHz but expanded the service to the 40 channels it still has today. While fees changed over time, initially “per radio”, then “up to 5 radios”, the need to obtain an individual licence for your CB station continued until 3rd October 1994 when the Citizen Band Radio Stations Class Licence was introduced (announced by Roger Smith, Acting Spectrum Manager, Spectrum Management Agency).9 This removed the need for CB users to apply for a licence and pay an annual fee, but it did not remove any of the legal channel designations or conditions of use that had previously appeared in the RB14/DOC14 documents.

CB Today

Today, the CB service in Australia continues as a dual-band service with 40 channels between 26.965 and 27.405MHz (AM/SSB, 10kHz steps) and 80 channels between 476.4250 and 477.4125MHz (FM, 12.5kHz steps). While the 27MHz band is the same as that used in the USA and several European CEPT countries, the UHF band is unique to Australia and New Zealand. All CB equipment must also comply with Australian/New Zealand Standards and be approved for use on the CB bands with either the Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM), or the older C-Tick (also known as “type-approved”). It should be noted that many people incorrectly believe all UHF commercial equipment approved for use on the Land Mobile Service (LMS) can be used on UHF CB. In fact, not all LMS equipment is dual-approved for use on LMS and CB services.

References

Commonwealth of Australia, Senate, Debates, 1 December 1976, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/senate/1976/19761201_senate_30_s70. ↩︎

National Archives of Australia: Cabinet Office; A12909, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Fraser Ministries – Cabinet Submissions (with Decisions), May 1977 – 2 June 1977; 1307, Submission No 1307 : Licensing of transceivers for personal communications – Citizens Band Radio – Decision 3172. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, House of Representatives, Debates, 3 April 1979, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/hofreps/1979/19790403_reps_31_hor113. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, Senate, Debates, 27 August 1980, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/senate/1980/19800827_senate_31_s86. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, Senate, Debates, 10 September 1980, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/senate/1980/19800910_senate_31_s86. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, Senate, Debates, 20 August 1980, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/senate/1980/19800820_senate_31_s86. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, Senate, Debates, 31 March 1980, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/senate/1980/19800331_senate_31_s84. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, Senate, Debates, 30 April 1980, viewed 22 October 2023, http://historichansard.net/senate/1980/19800430_senate_31_s85. ↩︎

Commonwealth of Australia, Radiocommunications Act 1992 Citizen Band Radio Stations Class Licence. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special (National : 1977 – 2012). National, September 16, 1994. Viewed 22 October 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240385824. ↩︎

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