The other day I heard a guy in Southern Ca having a convo with a guy in Colorado on my CB. The best part is I'm in central Florida. Has anyone else experienced this? What's the farthest away you've ever heard someone?

 

I am in WA, and I have talked clear across the US.
I hear Tennessee and Okies all the time when it is nice out.

 

Yea when the skip rolls in I can hearfrom Main to oklahoma. It's neat.

 

Is there any special trick to skipping? I know on clear nights, and on a hill you can hear people from quite a ways a way. Ive talked to people in canada before, but i was only 35-45 miles from the border....

 

It was 3 in the afternoon when I heard it. I don't knwo why I didnt try to respond

 

Skip is an atmospheric phenomena, get the ionisphere at the right altitude and the radio waves go up from the sender and reflect off to the distant receiver. However, a lot of times the transmitter you hear from far off is likely highly amplified (with a linear amp). So while you might hear someone clearly from 100's of miles away, your little 5W reply may be able to make the return trip.

 

That works for AM radio signals too, doesn' it?

 

I know it works for FM radio to some extent as well. I've picked up radio stations when I am 3 times farther away than thier normal range.

 

I don't think the type of modulation (AM, FM, etc) makes much difference, but the frequency does have a lot to do with it. In general, the lower frequencies work better for skip, but thats just a general rule. There are too many things to consider and I'm not up on it enough to say much more. I live North of Corey in Seattle and also hear a fair amount of what sound like SE accents on the low CB channels. Most of the time they seem like they're just rambling on without making any attempt to actually get someone to respond.