comments:
There are so many morons and knuckleheads blasting illegal power on channel 19 (AM 27.185 MHz) that during the day you should be able to hear somebody or something. If that isn't working then it's either something wrong with your antenna system or something broken inside the radio with regards to the antenna connection. The most likely suspect, though, is your antenna system. When you are starting off in CB radio (or VHF / UHF amateur or GMRS, for that matter) and buy an inexpensive set, it's not unheard of to spend far more on the antenna system than on the radio itself. It feels weird. Do it anyway. The magnet-mounted Wilson 1000 is a perennial favorite antenna amongst truckers. If that's too tall, look into the shorter Wilson Little Wil. Stay away from the $25 cheap trash antennas at your local truck stop. The next thing you'll need to check is whether or not you are getting a signal out when transmitting. An SWR meter will help you with this. The CB-only ones are inexpensive, but any HF amateur radio ones will do as well if you have deep pockets (ask a local amateur radio club very nicely for assistance, and don't be surprised if they invite you to a meeting. XD). If you want something better than the $30 Amazon SWR meters, the nanoVNA is reasonably-priced for its vast capabilities. The Citizens' Band is centered on 27.185 MHz, the frequency of channel 19. An SWR of 1-1.5 is good. 1.5-2 is acceptable. Anything above that is putting undue wear and tear on your radio's final output stage. Snarky P.S. When you're tired of all the garbage behavior on CB, we'll be waiting for you over at r/amateurradio, r/hamradio or r/lowsodiumhamradio. XD