cb vs. ham

[SilverBullet01]

so i purchased a cobra cb radio to fit in the ashtray section on my third gen, and while asking a family friend who is an enthusiast on mobile communications, he suggested that i get my radio license and get a ham radio instead. is there anyone out there that could tell me why they are using either system, and what made them choose that over the other. havent really searched in depth, but i will be doing some research when i get home from work tonight.

i apologize if this has been covered, just wanted to post before i left for work to see if i could get a few responses.

 

[fourwd1]

so i purchased a cobra cb radio to fit in the ashtray section on my third gen, and while asking a family friend who is an enthusiast on mobile communications, he suggested that i get my radio license and get a ham radio instead. is there anyone out there that could tell me why they are using either system, and what made them choose that over the other. havent really searched in depth, but i will be doing some research when i get home from work tonight.

i apologize if this has been covered, just wanted to post before i left for work to see if i could get a few responses.

I'm a licensed ham and have various types of ham radios in all my vehicles.
Ham radio makes CB seem like 2 cans and a string (it's vastly superior )
But if you just want it to see where the traffic jams are, CB is best.
On the trails CB is most popular because it's just been around a long while and it's license free, so no test is required. Even when the little FRS radios are also license free but superior, 4 wheelers still stick to CB on the trails.

So it depends on what your use is.

 

[GrantK]

Apples & Oranges

If all you're looking for and need is a 'smokey' report and to stay in touch with people on the trail, then CB is what you want. Although I don't know of any hams that use CB on a regular basis once the get their ham license, there's no reason you can't. I have a ham radio in my truck for general day-to-day use and a CB walkie-talkie I bring along when going on trail rides.

Ham is a different world. We're a close knit group that like to talk to other hams just to talk eveen if we don't know each other. With mobile comms it can be about where we are, are going, how we're doing, general chit-chat etc. Other times it's about the hobby itself. Ham radio's also cover a much larger area. Through the use of VHF/UHF repeaters and higher power you can easily cover a complete major metro area. With HF you can talk all over the world. Ham radio gear is also much more expensive (several hundred to start is common and the top end is unlimited) because it has to do more and is higher power.

Yes, I'm a ham. I have an extra class license, am a volunteer examiner, club Trustee, Elmer (teacher) and member of the local Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) group that helps police, fire, etc by providing backup communications during emergencies. I have a ham radio in my truck and at home. I use my ham gear to talk all over the world as well as locally. The nickname for a ham like me is radio-active.

 

[CXS]

I also have both, most folks still use a CB on the trail which is my primary use. Unlike Grant I rarely use my Ham which is primarily for emergency situations that I may find myself in when wheeling solo. I don't like chatting in general so the ham sits idle most of the time but I like having it "just in case," and consider it like the hi-lift jack - hope I don't ever need it but it could save my skin depending on the situation.

 

[Daisy 53]

Alot of folks are going to ham only for 4 wheeling. I have run both on runs and ham is vastly superior for call quality and clarity. Not to mention, you can talk to someone who is further away than a mile!
HTH

Daisy

 

[SilverBullet01]

well its main purpose will be for trail use. im not getting it to listen to chatter on the radio, or mess around with, just so when my buddies and i go camping, we can chat on drives, and for minor wheeling.

ham seems like it would be the best option, but im thinking cb cost wise for now, seeing as how all of my friends have cb currently. would be pointless if everyone had cb and i had ham

 

[SLOJack]

Ham radio

All the other posters are right on. My off road is in very isolated areas of Baja California Mexico. Also I spend time off road exploring old ghost towns and mines in Nevada. CB would be useless due to its limited range. With ham radio I can always contact another ham somewhere. There are hundreds of ham nets that are regularly scheduled in the US, so these are able to be contacted. There are Pactor modems that enable hams to send e-mails on the Internet just like you were home. So, your choice depends upon your particular usage. One problem with CB is during the summer when "skip" comes in and signals come in from all over creating a channel unusable. For local, limited range, on trail, probably CB would meet your needs. Jack N1IY

 

[Maxil]

I am a ham also and have used CB's a good bit. The main advantage I see for CB is no license required, anybody can pick one up for $30 and be on the air.

As stated before, the Ham frequencies sound a ton better (FM especially). As for cost, a 2 meter Ham Radio can be shipped to you for about $130. One thing not mentioned is how tough a Ham radio is compared to Cb's, they are very solid. Most last for decades without any problem.

 

[SP Jon M3]

I posted this up on another forum. Might have more info that you were looking for because it's just a copy/paste:


Well, I'm a big advocate of amateur radio (Ham radio). The range will exceed that of CB, and much more so if you include repeaters. Then to go even further, you could get into HF. Its not unheard of to get 60+ miles of direct comms between Hams using UHF/VHF, and if you add in a good Repeater, then you're looking at 300+miles between hams (and help if there's an emergency). On my way back from Death Vally I was able to hit a Repeater up in Big Bear, CA that was about 180 miles away.

I was on a trail run in anza-borrego last year. There were CBs in a few of the rigs, the leading rig couldn't get a hold of the rig at the tail end. Yet with the 2m radios, were were able to easily reach everyone in the group as well as others in another group several dozen miles away and, if I recall, people at the camp site. So those towards the end of the group with both 2m and CB were asked to relay the info the the person at the end that had only CB.

Now, the only issue with Amateur radio is that not everyones adopted them. So if you mainly go out with a group only on CB, then you'd be better served with a CB radio at least for trail comms. But for emergency comms, you'll probably have a much better chance reaching someone on 2m (especially if you're in range of a Repeater). Now probably the best for of emergency comms is getting into the HF amateur frequencies. With a decent HF mobil rig, you can easily get several hundred if not thousand miles of direct comms. That you would need at least a general class license to operate on.

For the test, it is really not all that difficult for the Tech license. It takes a good few days of studying and running through the practice tests. As long as you spend a little time studying for it, you'll be fine. I think most that are licensed would agree. Right now I'm studying for my general, and this is a bit more technical and looks like it's going to be more of a challenge.

EDIT: for clarification (or possibly more confusion ).

Tech has access to all UHF/VHF and a small slice of 10m HF
General has access to the same as the Tech as well as all of the HF bands, but not all of the available amateur frequencies within those bands.
Extra has access to all available frequencies within all bands.

UHF = 70cm (420MHz), 33cm (902MHz) and 23cm (1240MHz)
VHF = 6m (50MHz), 2m (144MHz) and 1.25m (222MHz)
HF = 160m (8MHz), 80m (3.5MHz), 60m (5.3MHz), 40m (7MHz), 30m (10.1Mhz), 20m (14MHz), 17m (18MHz), 15m (21Mhz), 12m (24MHz) and 10m (28MHz).

Most common used bands that I've personally seen on the trails is 2m, then some on 70cm (you'll find that most available UHF/VHF radios run on these two bands).

Hope some of that makes sense and help with your decision.

 

[Pikeman]

CB- great for traffic reports while driving to destination and among other members in your group. Limited range and greatly affected by terrain.More popular however all users need to be in range and on same Frequency. Frequencies are end user chosen so may not get anyone.

Ham- not as expensive as some have mentioned. Wouxan is a new Chiniese brand that has had very solid reviews Handheld version under $100. I picked up a Kenwood 2M Mobile for $150 and a Larson Antena- total out the door was $225. Advantage is you have almost unlimited range when using repeaters more likely to get someone when calling for assistance. Purchase a Repeater Almanac and then no matter what you and your club are using for Frequency if you need Emergency assistance can tune into a Repeater(assigned freq.s and tones.) to call for help.

I don't use my Ham yet but will be going for my Tech ticket in two weeks. To be licensed on ham it takes a couple hours of study and then $15-$20 testing fee.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Central Overland uses both. The Trail guides communicate on 2m or 70cm based on terrain, and all of us have dual band recievers. For the individual teams, we use CB partly due to the lack of range, so they are not interfering with each other. Each trail guide communicates to his team on a designated frequency and updates the other team leaders on progress / problems.

On the recent Texas Hill Country trip, trail guides were in constant communication over a larget area, with distances between groups exceeding 20 miles. No problem. We did have some trouble with CB comm, and one group had to change channels 5 times due to chatter and poor quality comm.

If I was not a guide who catored to customers who prefer CB, I would be running only 2m / 70cm. Its just better in every capacity, plain and simple.