Why ham radio vs cb radio??

[Old Griz]

What are the advantages of having a ham radio and a cb radio or instead of cb??
I already have a cb in my suburban.
It's a Uniden 787 with a .....hhmmm...I forget if it's a k30 or k40 antenna . It worked well back home in Michigan, but here in the mountains of north Idaho. ....not so much.

 

[Flipper]

The main difference is the range. 60-75 watts compaired to 4 watts. If you tag a repeater with the 2M you can talk over 100 miles. My main use is emergency communications in case we run into trouble. I have a CB and 2M in my rig and hardly ever us the CB.

 

[Kevin108]

I'm finding that trail coms isn't a case of this or that, but this and that. I have a rig-mounted CB and Baofeng handheld ham. I feel like that covers most situations. The little ham is pretty amazing. It does the usual ham stuff, plus FM, weather, FRS, and GMRS. You can easily program in your local repeaters with a free program called CHIRP and an inexpensive USB cable.

 

[Kent R]

What are the advantages of having a ham radio and a cb radio or instead of cb??
I already have a cb in my suburban.
It's a Uniden 787 with a .....hhmmm...I forget if it's a k30 or k40 antenna . It worked well back home in Michigan, but here in the mountains of north Idaho. ....not so much.

There are lots of Ham, GMRS, FRS, CB threads on the forum with lots of great information. I use the forum search function to find these threads and you will get the info you need.

 

[natematos]

It does the usual ham stuff, plus FM, weather, FRS, and GMRS.

As an addendum, The FRS/GMRS communication channels are illegal to use with a HAM as they can put out 50-100x the power of FRS/GMRS radios. Lots of people do it, and the odds of being busted are incredibly slim. But it's worth mentioning.

 

[rlpetty43]

2 meter is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Ham radio, it is as deep as one wants to get it is a big topic and there are far more smarter folks than me that can elaborate but depending on what license class one has privileges can start at 160 meters and go up into microwave I have a portable station I can set up that I can easily make contacts coast to coast and beyond with nothing but a battery some wire and transceiver. also it isn't just voice communications there are new digital modes being developed everyday, not to mention amatuer radio sateilites. Cheers AC5XJ

 

[Prerunner1982]

AC5XJ de KF5WUF. 73.

 

[rlpetty43]

AC5XJ de KF5WUF. 73.

haha we run into each other every where.

 

[CavGeek]

I have run CB and Ham in my past rig and even had to resort to GMRS to accommodate those who only had those radios. While Ham is an undertaking unto itself, when Communication is the goal, the frequency range is not important as long as the message can be reliably sent and received.

 

[Kevin108]

Ham guys, is there a set of frequencies favored by the offroad crowd?

 

[TerryD]

Ham guys, is there a set of frequencies favored by the offroad crowd?

2m is 146.460

 

[Prerunner1982]

Ham guys, is there a set of frequencies favored by the offroad crowd?

146.46 seems to be a common "off road" frequency as it works with both 15 khz and 20 khz channel spacing so it would work in any state regardless of what channel spacing they use....unless of course it's used for a repeater as it is in PA, RI, NJ, NY, NC.

 

[CavGeek]

Ham guys, is there a set of frequencies favored by the offroad crowd?

I know here in AZ I have heard that typically CB channel 4 is the default CB channel for offroading, Nice to know the 2M channel as well, I'll have to give it a listen next time I'm out.

 

[FJ81]

CB is good for talking to trucks, but getting less popular on the road these days. You can get distance on CB radios, but that is all grey market, import type stuff. Ham seems to be more serious, and they definately have good range. I believe you get more bang for your buck on Ham when it comes to performance. I still dont have ham unit on my Landcruiser, but I have a small chassis stryker CB in it. But it is in the works. At TDS 2018 this year there were lots of people on the CB freqs. I guess it depends on what is popular in the groups you run with.

 

[Kelso]

I'm finding that trail coms isn't a case of this or that, but this and that. I have a rig-mounted CB and Baofeng handheld ham. I feel like that covers most situations. The little ham is pretty amazing. It does the usual ham stuff, plus FM, weather, FRS, and GMRS. You can easily program in your local repeaters with a free program called CHIRP and an inexpensive USB cable.

How do you find the range and usefulness of the handheld ham? I too have a cb mounted in my Suburban (because I had one) and planned on adding a 2m mobile radio but am seriously considering a handheld.
I would like to be able to communicate with logging trucks on forestry roads (LMR frequencies here which means I could listen but not legally transmit with HAM), I volunteer with rally racing events from time to time (HAM radio operators required), I am a SAR volunteer (HAM operators useful but we use licensed frequencies normally) and I wanted a method of emergency communication when out in the bush.

Some of the Chinese handheld ham radios are actually part 90 certified and can LEGALLY be used to transmit outside of the 2m amateur band (assuming legal use of any given frequency). This means I could talk on the forestry road frequencies, have my own backup radio for SAR, and throw it in a backpack to use it for direct radio communications in an emergency when hiking/camping/skiing in the backcountry as well as potentially use if for GMRS comms.

The handheld has a lot more uses, but 5w vs 80w...

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[CavGeek]

How do you find the range and usefulness of the handheld ham? I too have a cb mounted in my Suburban (because I had one) and planned on adding a 2m mobile radio but am seriously considering a handheld.
I would like to be able to communicate with logging trucks on forestry roads (LMR frequencies here which means I could listen but not legally transmit with HAM), I volunteer with rally racing events from time to time (HAM radio operators required), I am a SAR volunteer (HAM operators useful but we use licensed frequencies normally) and I wanted a method of emergency communication when out in the bush.

Some of the Chinese handheld ham radios are actually part 90 certified and can LEGALLY be used to transmit outside of the 2m amateur band (assuming legal use of any given frequency). This means I could talk on the forestry road frequencies, have my own backup radio for SAR, and throw it in a backpack to use it for direct radio communications in an emergency when hiking/camping/skiing in the backcountry as well as potentially use if for GMRS comms.

The handheld has a lot more uses, but 5w vs 80w...

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

The biggest single gain you will see with a handheld in a vehicle is if you hook it to a roof mounted antenna (Even a good Mag mounted 2M will work well for this) and not use the "Rubber Duck" antenna on the HT. 5W with a decent antenna can go a LONG WAY.

 

[Graeman]

I know here in AZ I have heard that typically CB channel 4 is the default CB channel for offroading, Nice to know the 2M channel as well, I'll have to give it a listen next time I'm out.

CavGeek, my UV5r will be arriving today and I can't wait to get started into HAM radio stuff. A group of us are going up the back way to Crown King this Saturday. It will be mostly Toyotas so come and join us if you have the day off.

 

[MOAK]

OK then. I have read conflicting information. I read somewhere on my club forum that if one does not tie in to a repeater and is only talking vehicle to vehicle on the trails then a Ham license is not necessary.. It seems to me that I would need at the very least a "beginners" license to broadcast even 100 years or so.. You Ham guys, Educate me please;; if a license is required for trail talk, then is the license worth the hassle? Thanks..

 

[Kevin108]

If I were to use one of these devices on the trail, I would not get a license, but I would stick to FRS or GMRS channels while not harassing or hindering others. HYOH.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

OK then. I have read conflicting information. I read somewhere on my club forum that if one does not tie in to a repeater and is only talking vehicle to vehicle on the trails then a Ham license is not necessary.. It seems to me that I would need at the very least a "beginners" license to broadcast even 100 years or so.. You Ham guys, Educate me please;; if a license is required for trail talk, then is the license worth the hassle? Thanks..

A license is required for any transmission on the ham bands. The license is easy to get, all of the questions are published. Just a matter of looking through them.


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