Buying UHF CB radios on eBay- beware of sellers trying to offload old 40 channel units.

[missythedingo]

I've been buying a few UHF CB radios recently and I am finding that a few sellers are trying to unload 40 channel units when the standard is now 80 channels by what I consider to be misrepresenting the product in their listing and title.

Breifly- In the olden days UHF CB radios operated on 40 channels, 1 to 40.  The standard has now changed so that there are 80 channels in use, 1 to 80, although the new extra 40 channels have been slipped in between the old 40 channels (so like making every house in the street a duplex ie 1, 1A, 2 2A etc)).

Although old 40 channel radios still work, they will be phased out and illegal by 2016, and they don't work on the new channels (41 to 80).

Some sellers are trying to palm off 40 channel radios by deliberatly not mentioning this fact in their listing, or by outrightly lying.

For example- I have found that Uniden radios distinguish old 40 channel radios and new 80 channel radios apart by adding the prefix NB (Narrow Band) to the new 80 channel radios.  So a UH720SX is a 40 channel radio, while a UH720SX-NB is an 80 channel radio. 

Some sellers are listing non-NB radios as 80 channel, or listing them with minimal detail so that only someone who knows the exact product code would realise the difference.  They also ad statements like 'current RRP on this item is $250', when in fact you probably couldn't give away a 40 channel radio now let alone get someone to pay full (current 80 channnel radio) price for one. 

When the poor sucker receives the radio and finds out he got ripped off and bought a 40 channel unit the seller can simply say ' that model number is only 40 channel, you should have checked'.  I have found more than a few sellers doing this and when questioned they say it was a mistake but don't show my question on their listing and ad that it is only 40 channel burried deep in the technical data in their listing. 

I tried to report this to eBay but there is no category for this on the 'report item' form.

I know it's 'let the buyer beware' but I don't like seeing people ripped off as I was.

If you are looking to buy any UHF CB radio on eBay, ask the seller to confirm it is 80 channel if it is not specifically stated in the listing.

[harleyfxstc2008]

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@harleyfxstc2008 wrote:

Comparing the channel alloction between the 40ch & 80ch radios there are 25 channels (+one  Data channel) shared between the two units if used in the simplex mode.

As duplex channels are dependant on operating repeaters this may reduce the available channels on a 40ch Radio but only if there is a repeater in that area.

I think you will find that the other 14 channels may become "illegal" and not the radios themselves and not available to to 80 channel users.

In the "Ancient  days" a similar thing happened when Australia went to 18 Channel 27mhz rather than using the US 23 channels 27mhz, 16 channels carried over and Australia lost some channels but gained 2 brand new channels exclusive to Australia, then the US moved on to 40 Channels 27mhz..

I do find it surprising that the "emergency" channel didn't carry over but as this is monitored by volunters and reliant on repeaters it's not the greatest radio system in an emergency anyway, your better off using a mobile phone if you have reception.

But I do agree that sellers should state how many channels are on the UHF's that they are selling.

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Correcting myself again...it appears all 40 channels have carried over to the new 80 channel radios, 40 channel users won't get to hear the "extra" 40channels

[harleyfxstc2008]

40CH		80CH
Channel:	Frequency:	Channel:	Frequency:
Channel  1	476.425	Channel  1	476.4250
Channel  2	476.450	Channel  2	476.4500
Channel  3	476.475	Channel  3	476.4750
Channel  4	476.500	Channel  4	476.5000
Channel  5	476.525	Channel  5	476.5250
Channel  6	476.550	Channel  6	476.5500
Channel  7	476.575	Channel  7	476.5750
Channel  8	476.600	Channel  8	476.6000
Channel  9	476.625	Channel  9	476.6250
Channel  10	476.650	Channel  10	476.6500
Channel  11	476.675	Channel  11	476.6750
Channel  12	476.700	Channel  12	476.7000
Channel  13	476.725	Channel  13	476.7250
Channel  14	476.750	Channel  14	476.7500
Channel  15	476.775	Channel  15	476.7750
Channel  16	476.800	Channel  16	476.8000
Channel  17	476.825	Channel  17	476.8250
Channel  18	476.850	Channel  18	476.8500
Channel  19	476.875	Channel  19	476.8750
Channel  20	476.900	Channel  20	476.9000
Channel  21	476.925	Channel  21	476.9250
Channel  22	476.950	Channel  22	476.9500
Channel  23	476.975	Channel  23	476.9750
Channel  24	477.000	Channel  24	477.0000
Channel  25	477.025	Channel  25	477.0250
Channel  26	477.050	Channel  26	477.0500
Channel  27	477.075	Channel  27	477.0750
Channel  28	477.100	Channel  28	477.1000
Channel  29	477.125	Channel  29	477.1250
Channel  30	477.150	Channel  30	477.1500
Channel  31	477.175	Channel  31	477.1750
Channel  32	477.200	Channel  32	477.2000
Channel  33	477.225	Channel  33	477.2250
Channel  34	477.250	Channel  34	477.2500
Channel  35	477.275	Channel  35	477.2750
Channel  36	477.300	Channel  36	477.3000
Channel  37	477.325	Channel  37	477.3250
Channel  38	477.350	Channel  38	477.3500
Channel  39	477.375	Channel  39	477.3750
Channel  40	477.400	Channel  40	477.4000
		Channel  41	476.4375
		Channel  42	476.4625
		Channel  43	476.4875
		Channel  44	476.5125
		Channel  45	476.5375
		Channel  46	476.5625
		Channel  47	476.5875
		Channel  48	476.6125
		Channel  49	476.6375
		Channel  50	476.6625
		Channel  51	476.6875
		Channel  52	476.7125
		Channel  53	476.7375
		Channel  54	476.7625
		Channel  55	476.7875
		Channel  56	476.8125
		Channel  57	476.8375
		Channel  58	476.8625
		Channel  59	476.8875
		Channel  60	476.9125
		Channel  61
		Channel  62
		Channel  63
		Channel  64	477.0125
		Channel  65	477.0375
		Channel  66	477.0625
		Channel  67	477.0875
		Channel  68	477.1125
		Channel  69	477.1375
		Channel  70	477.1625
		Channel  71	477.1875
		Channel  72	477.2125
		Channel  73	477.2375
		Channel  74	477.2625
		Channel  75	477.2875
		Channel  76	477.3125
		Channel  77	477.3375
		Channel  78	477.3625
		Channel  79	477.3875
		Channel  80	477.4125