cb or ham or both?

[IamLegend]

Been tossing the idea around of getting a cb for my truck. Maybe the wife and kids also. Dont know where to start as far as quality and price. Any info on brands to go with and anywhere local (Southern Indiana) that I can shop for a cb? Wondering about getting Ham license also. Thanks

 

[squirrelhntr]

I did it decades ago and still enjoy it like it was yesterday. Started with CB then went to Ham. Go for it you won't regret it. You can shop around the local truck stops for quality CB gear. AES.com for ham gear. A little pricey , but well worth it.

 

[IamLegend]

I did it decades ago and still enjoy it like it was yesterday. Started with CB then went to Ham. Go for it you won't regret it. You can shop around the local truck stops for quality CB gear. AES.com for ham gear. A little pricey , but well worth it.

Thanks for the reply. So what kinda range can you get with a cb? Anybody else got amy advise/info?

 

[remauto1187]

Thanks for the reply. So what kinda range can you get with a cb? Anybody else got amy advise/info?

I am kinda biased (Ill explain later) but CB's have limited range...Hams do to but if you have a antenna up high you will reach alot farther than a CB. You cant put a antenna up for a cb on your car 30ft in the air, but you can at home. The person at home could reach you pretty far out but you wont reach them past a certain distance. The CB has 40 channels and if something bad happen everyone that has one will be on there....40 choices...thats it. A ham has many many frequencies that you can be on without being all over the top of each other. If the SHTF do you really think anyone is going to be coming asking for your ham license?

If you choose to go with a ham then PM me...I have some left from my fathers estate.

 

[AngryRooster]

Agree with the HAM route. The tech test is easy. Even with a $40 radio from Amazon and a decent antenna you will out range a typical CB. Add in a repeater and there is no contest. Put a small amount of money into a true mobile system and you will do much better. Most people that get a decent CB for the car end up spending about $100+ on the system. For $150 you can get a nice 50 watt rig that can reach out and be useful. Put a decent antenna at home, even better.

I just put a Fong antenna up 40' in the air yesterday. I haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet but hopefully this weekend.

remauto1187 - I'd be interested in chatting about what you have for sale if IamLegend decides to pass. If he is interested by all means let him have first shot. We can always use more friendly hams.

 

[IamLegend]

I am most def interested! My wife and I own and operate a budiness in her grandpas home which has a HUGE antenna. He had a room in the garage that was set up for ham radio. Have no idea what became of all the equipment he had though. I plan to take the antenna down and set it up at my place. But as I said, I really know zilch else about it. Can't you communicate from cb In vehicles to ham at the house? Gyess im just thinking of a home base operation plus mobile cb in vehicles. Realize im sounding pretty ignorant but gotta start somewhere huh.
I will pm you for sure for more details on what you have, cost and location etc... be nice if I could drive to you and see what you have.
In the meantime amy other conversation in this thread would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[remauto1187]

I will gather up what I have left and get an inventory. You guys should have caught me about 6 months or so ago. I had a shi^load of mobile hams and 4 or 5 complete ready to go base stations. Some gents from here on ingo bought some and then hoosiertopics and ebay took the rest. I know I have some base stations in varying degrees of completeness(no mics, ext. speaker but the transceiver is good to go) but I believe I am out of mobiles.

 

[PistolBob]

If you go the amateur radio route, then everyone that needs one, uses one, will need to get a FCC license. The first level is call the Technician Class. I know 10 year old kids that have passed that test. It's not difficult in the least, providing you can read. The next level is the General Class. You have to pass the Technician exam before you can test for the General Class license. The General Class license gives you more legal power, and many more usable band segments. With a General Class license you can operate on shortwave bands and communicate with other radio amateurs around the country or around the world. You also get the ability to use more legal power. The majority of amateur radio operators hold a General Class licence. The third and last level of license for amateur radio is called the Amateur Extra Class. That gives you access to all the amateur radio bands from VLF to Microwave.

CB radio is unlicensed, and limited to 4 watts of legal RF power. You could be an outlaw and buy a linear amplifier and all that crap and you'd be located in short order. CB radio is unreliable in many locales. It's at the upper end of the HF spectrum and radio wave propagation is fairly unpredictable and random.

So I'd suggest you get your amateur radio licenses and go that route.

 

[ModernGunner]

cb or ham or both?

crispy bacon or ham? I vote for !!

 

[Justus]

Been tossing the idea around of getting a cb for my truck. Maybe the wife and kids also. Dont know where to start as far as quality and price. Any info on brands to go with and anywhere local (Southern Indiana) that I can shop for a cb? Wondering about getting Ham license also. Thanks

I'm a ham (also a VEC) and I would encourage anyone to get a license.
2 Meter ham is the best bang for the buck but everyone in the family will need to get their callsign.

With that said, when our sons lived at home we put CBs in everyone's vehicle and a base station at home.
The base used a simple 1/4 wave antenna at around 20' elevation.
We covered a solid 9-10 mile urban/suburban radius with that arrangement with very few dead spots.
We're in a valley up here so that actually became the limiting factor.

We used the inexpensive Midlands and Cobras in the vehicles and made sure that they had good antennas also (not the short little radio shack mag models).
That may be the only problem that I could foresee with mobile CB these days. There's just not many places on today's plastic cars and SUVs to mount a proper antenna.
We used a better mobile radio with sideband for the base station. We tried to use sideband in the vehicles but that became more trouble than what it was worth due to the kids constantly having to turn knobs to keep reception.

The only other option besides ham or CB would be to go with "real" GMRS equipment but that gets expensive.

 

[Hexlobular]

Been tossing the idea around of getting a cb for my truck. Maybe the wife and kids also. Dont know where to start as far as quality and price. Any info on brands to go with and anywhere local (Southern Indiana) that I can shop for a cb? Wondering about getting Ham license also. Thanks

What do you actually intend to do with the cb or ham in your truck? Are you just wanting to chat with each other while on the road, or are there other intentions? Without understanding what your plans are, I can't see how anyone can steer you in either direction.

 

[IamLegend]

What do you actually intend to do with the cb or ham in your truck? Are you just wanting to chat with each other while on the road, or are there other intentions? Without understanding what your plans are, I can't see how anyone can steer you in either direction.

Yeah extra way of communication is what I'm thinking. What are the benefits? I'm thinking preparedness. I've got a big family and we are always traveling seperately to kids stuff. My wife or myself are out of town seperately with any number of kids very often and I'm trying to plan for some possibilities where there might be little or no phone service etc...
Plus I have read that in some circumstances ham may be the only form of comms available. I live in Spencer county but am from Bloomington and all my family still there so would want comms with them if at all possible.
Thoughts?

 

[WOLFEMAN]

So how does a person apply to get started? Is the process on line?

 

[AngryRooster]

So how does a person apply to get started? Is the process on line?

Go here eHam.net Ham Radio Practice Exams and select the Technician Test for practice. These are all the possible questions that will be on the test. If you like you can get a book that has the same thing but explains each question as it goes. Before you spend the money on a book, take the practice test a few times. The questions are not difficult at this level and you will probably understand many already. There are online study guides as well if you don't want to order a book. You have until July 1, 2014 with the question pool that is online now. As of that date the questions change. It will not take you long to get good at the Technician test, you should be able to meet that deadline easy.

Once you understand what you are doing and can get at least 90% every time you take the test then go here Find an Amateur Radio License Exam in Your Area and find a local exam site. Contact them if you have any questions about the test or what to bring. The guys that run the test are all volunteers and do this on their own time and don't get paid a dime for it. Thank them for it when you are finished regardless of the outcome of the test, they really do appreciate it.

With no knowledge of amateur radio I bought all the books, Tech, General, & Extra. I read each cover to cover and took the practice exams online until I was confident. I took the Tech and General back to back and passed both in one sitting. I didn't take the Extra at that time because I had an appointment I needed to get ready for and didn't have time. I spent two weeks reading and taking tests before I took the actual exam. There is no Morse code test anymore.

 

[9mmfan]

Back in my civil defense days, we all had our own CB's. Someone we new tinkered with the innards which boosted the power somewhat. With a K-40 on the roof of my car, I could (depending on the weather and a of other things) get out about 4 miles. We could relay other members transmissions. Members with big base stations, if not careful, could knock TV reception out for blocks around them. Those were the days when one had to watch out for the FCC van patrolling the area!
We eventually went with a professional radio/repeater system that beat the heck out the CB's. That said, CB's were kind of fun.

 

[IamLegend]

Thanks for all the info. Planning on getting started soon.

 

[Hexlobular]

Yeah extra way of communication is what I'm thinking. What are the benefits? I'm thinking preparedness. I've got a big family and we are always traveling seperately to kids stuff. My wife or myself are out of town seperately with any number of kids very often and I'm trying to plan for some possibilities where there might be little or no phone service etc...
Plus I have read that in some circumstances ham may be the only form of comms available. I live in Spencer county but am from Bloomington and all my family still there so would want comms with them if at all possible.
Thoughts?

Well, I've lived in Spencer County and Bloomington, and have used CB radios in both places. They're fine for up to a couple miles if you're travelling in separate vehicles, but not practical for town-to-town stuff. FWIW, I have 3 Uniden Pro 510XL radios that I don't use. I think only one of them has a handset, and none have an antenna. You can have them cheap if you want to try them out.

 

[IamLegend]

Well, I've lived in Spencer County and Bloomington, and have used CB radios in both places. They're fine for up to a couple miles if you're travelling in separate vehicles, but not practical for town-to-town stuff. FWIW, I have 3 Uniden Pro 510XL radios that I don't use. I think only one of them has a handset, and none have an antenna. You can have them cheap if you want to try them out.

Where are you located now?

 

[Hexlobular]

Where are you located now?

Evansville. And I lied, two of them have handsets, and I have one antenna that looks like hell...lol. I just checked.

 

[IamLegend]

Evansville. And I lied, two of them have handsets, and I have one antenna that looks like hell...lol. I just checked.

I'm interested. I'm in Eville quite often as I have three kids that play on Swisa soccer travel teams and they all have practice twice a week. Shoot me a price and we'll set up a time for me to pick them up.