CB or GMRS? (1 Viewer)

[Spook50]

A good friend of mine (who knows more about radios than I ever will. Dude's got a legit FCC licensed aerial on his house) is becoming a big fan of GMRS radio and is switching all his vehicles from CB to that. From what he was saying it sounds like since it's not (at this point) heavily government regulated it's the way to go over CB anymore. I still have my good Uniden CB radio and Firestick (with WagonGear mount). I'm curious if anyone here has used it or if you've decided to stick with CB over that (and if so what your reasons are). Whichever route I go with will dictate how I modify my Tuffy console for whatever kind of radio ends up going in it and of course how my antennas get changed up and shifted around.

 

[GeologistFelix]

A couple of thoughts:
- CB is gonna be the most useful if you go places with active logging/mining/other things that put big, fast-moving trucks on tiny Forest Service roads, since it'll probably be a *while* before that stops being the standard.
- GMRS handsets are kind of amazing, and I really like the idea of them for coordinating, say, a group trail run/camping trip. Seems really convenient for the kind of stuff where you can actually ask everybody to be set up for a specific type of radio/frequency band, and need to coordinate between rigs feet to miles apart.
- HAM is gonna be the clear winner for 'can just ping through whatever repeaters to chat with anyone anywhere on Earth while parked 6 hours into the Maze in Moab, if you jump through the right hoops and know what you're doing.' It seems like absolutely silly overkill for telling the truck 40 yards in front of you in your club convoy to slow down, though.
- Satellite uplinks for text messages/internet/etc. seem like they *might* be a hugely more practical way to call for help when you're hours/days from cell signal, but *entirely* pointless for realtime communication compared to any of these radio options. A PLB which lets you send an S.O.S. or text your camp coordinates to a buddy seems like it solves 90% of the long-range comm needs better than radios, meanwhile.

 

[OSS]

Staying in contact with buddies on the same trail: CB (0.5 watt)

Staying in contact with others you know have a GMRS radio (and license): GMRS (5.0 watt)

Traveling alone out in the boonies of Timbuktu for save your ass communication: HAM radio or satellite internet.

A HAM radio signal can travel almost half way around the world. I was on a sailboat in Bora Bora and we contacted a HAM operator in Seattle.

 

[euclid537]

Staying in contact with buddies on the same trail: CB (0.5 watt)

Staying in contact with others you know have a GMRS radio (and license): GMRS (5.0 watt)

Traveling alone out in the boonies of Timbuktu for save your ass communication: HAM radio or satellite internet.

A HAM radio signal can travel almost half way around the world. I was on a sailboat in Bora Bora and we contacted a HAM operator in Seattle.

Good to see some hams around here!

W5CDX

 

[CaptHamster]

I think ham radio is the way to go, but then again I have my license already and have an interest in radios. I have a 50W Kenwood mobile unit in my FJ62 that works great, plenty of power to reach out and touch a lot with a good antenna. It can also function as a cross-band repeater if I get out of the truck with a handheld radio.

That being said, I think GMRS is great if you have a group of friends or family who want to use better radios than CB or FRS (the cheap handhelds you can buy at walmart) without the time and mental investment into amateur radio testing. Having to study for and take an FCC amateur radio tests turns a lot of people off, especially if they just want simple communications. There's a license requirement for GMRS but no test needed, unlike ham radio, and the license is good for 7 years. GMRS is like a nice middle ground, where the performance in short and medium range is better than the low power, low frequency CB, but not quite as good as ham radio with the much higher power and wider range of frequencies available.

There's also a subforum here on mud for communications and navigation, might be worth a swing by at some point.

KM6FZI

 

[HemiAlex]

Gmrs if you want to throw it in and go. Worked perfectly and we had about 10 miles of highway range on I-70 in the mountains. I did hear some mining traffic but it wasn’t a big deal.


This is what I bought. Look for coupons, they usually have great sales.
MXT275 MicroMobile® Two-Way Radio | Midland USA - https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio/



HAM if you’re in the middle of nowhere.

 

[joebattle1]

Both. You can get a small hand held hamm for $40 bucks.

 

[HemiAlex]

Both. You can get a small hand held hamm for $40 bucks.

I bought an $80 baofeng to play with. It’s fun.

 

[rhah]

I bought an $80 baofeng to play with. It’s fun.

They are by far the way to go. Cheap, simple, fun

 

[ryanCA]

Gmrs if you want to throw it in and go. Worked perfectly and we had about 10 miles of highway range on I-70 in the mountains. I did hear some mining traffic but it wasn’t a big deal.


This is what I bought. Look for coupons, they usually have great sales.
MXT275 MicroMobile® Two-Way Radio | Midland USA - https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio/



HAM if you’re in the middle of nowhere.

still recommend this model?

 

[BurntToast]

Time to move on to GMRS

So, I have HAM radios in two of my trail trucks: a Yaesu 2m in the K5, and a Kenwood 71 in the '93. Both work reasonably well with either a flexible 2m 1/4 wavelength antenna, or a 2/70 which is 1/2 wl on 2m. I've made contacts up to 45 miles away. Overall utility of HAM for me turns out to be...

forum.ih8mud.com

some good conversation here

 

[thatcabledude]

CB is great to turn on when traffic starts to slow down on the interstate so you know what to anticipate. I keep mine for that reason.

 

[HemiAlex]

still recommend this model?

Yes. GMRS is still the way. I like the midland stuff.

 

[ryanCA]

Yes. GMRS is still the way. I like the midland stuff.

Thank you, will order some up. Looking at the licensing today.

 

[Spook50]

Had to chuckle at my comment in my initial post professing to know next to nothing about radio (to be fair, I didn't at the time) and now my job has me programming and tuning VHF and UHF radios

I'll be hanging on to my CB and popping it back into my Tuffy once I reinstall it.....

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Given the choice between using a CB radio and repeatedly hitting myself in the head with a hammer...
Give me a 24 oz waffle head hammer, please.

 

[HemiAlex]

I had issues not getting my cb to work due to grounding or problems.

The GMRS just worked out of the box and had way more distance and clarity

 

[Spook50]

I had issues not getting my cb to work due to grounding or problems.

The GMRS just worked out of the box and had way more distance and clarity

That's a benefit I'm seeing to GMRS is a lot of the variables that make setting up a CB difficult are remedied by design and at the manufacturing point. My job basically does what allows the Ritron brand radios we use to function properly right out of the box, which is do-able when they're all put in only a handful of different configurations. With CBs, nearly everything you do can affect everything else so in a lot of cases they're incredibly difficult to get dialed in just right to the application. Some people get lucky and have to do very little, but others are.......not so lucky.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

I had issues not getting my cb to work due to grounding or problems.

The GMRS just worked out of the box and had way more distance and clarity

That's a benefit I'm seeing to GMRS is a lot of the variables that make setting up a CB difficult are remedied by design and at the manufacturing point. My job basically does what allows the Ritron brand radios we use to function properly right out of the box, which is do-able when they're all put in only a handful of different configurations. With CBs, nearly everything you do can affect everything else so in a lot of cases they're incredibly difficult to get dialed in just right to the application. Some people get lucky and have to do very little, but others are.......not so lucky.

US CB is 70's tech that hasn't been improved at all, it seems. SWR meters antenna auto tuning could be built into the radios, and with modern DSPs, it should be a non-issue, but I have never seen a US CB that offered that. Cobra did offer the miniaturized CB a few years back, but it was still garbage as far as sound quality and the fact that the radio can't automatically tune an antenna.

I struggled getting CB to work for years, and just went to an amateur radio license. I do have a CB, but it gets installed for TLCA events and then removed as soon as I get home. Thankfully, TLCA has moved on to FRS/GMRS radio for events and you can get high quality radios for a fraction of the price of a CB.

Cost of the radio USED to be the limiting factor for many for amateur radio, but with the cost of BaoFengs being what they are, you can get a radio that is light years ahead of a basic CB for $50.

</rant>

 

[JamesR]

I have a CB, ham radio, and GMRS in my 60. This may be considered, by some, to be overkill. However, each radio satisfies specific needs. Basically, CB - no license needed where GMRS and ham require a license. GMRS, no exams, and the fee is $35 for 10 years. Each immediate family member can operate under the same license. Ham - the exam is free, however the FCC now requires a $35 fee. Licenses cannot be shared and like GMRS the ham license is good for 10 years. CB can't, legally, transmit more than 4 watts. GMRS power output can be up to 50 watts. Ham radios can transmit considerably more. CB radios do not utilize repeaters. Both GMRS and ham radios can utilize repeaters to increase the range of the transmission.
There are many pros and cons to each type of radio. Compare each type and determine which radio meets your needs.
(I bought a Midland GMRS radio but I returned it when I discovered many of the tones needed to open up a repeater weren't included.)
(The attachment compares several types of radios.)

73, (best wishes in "ham speak")
James
KF4AQO (ham call sign)
WREM 441 (GMRS call sign)
KCC 5768 (old, very old, CB call sign - these are no longer issued/required)