I don't want another hobie, just solid trail and possibly emergency communication. I did a trail ride the other day. A few guys were using the simple $50 hand held HAM and they worked beautifully even when we were in a valley and spread out over a few miles. If I NEED both then I will start with a basic CB. If ham by it self will work and is where I will end up eventually then I will just skip right to the ham. What is the simplest way to go?
CB is the simplist, but nearly worthless. I think guys back East still use it some, but they don't really get spread out. It's dying as a means of trail coms.
HAM takes studying for, and passing a simple test for your tech license.
But everything CB can do, HAM can do 100X better.
Radio install is about the same degree of difficulty, but the Ham equipment is slightly more expensive and better made.
You need to pay closer attention to Ham radio antenna set up-you'll understand why after you study for your test.
It's going to boil down to what the guys you 4 wheel with are using.
Even if you go with the now ~$25 handheld Baofeng dual band its better than any spec CB out there.
Dont let the test slow you down all I did was watch the videos (linked below) never opened any book and received my very first 100% test in my life. You can take practice test at QRZ.com to let you know you are ready. Along with excellent trail communication I use the phone patch feature off the local repeater towers frequently when out of cell service.
Read up on this. A mounted system has 10x the power and a far better antenna. The small hand held actually works pretty well, but if you really want "no issues" coms, you'll want a hard mount. But it is nice to have a hand held too.
What you'll learn, is that the antenna is far more important than the radio. But done well, you'll have nearly perfect radio coms in all circumstances.
The answer to your question depends upon the crowd you wheel with.
What type of radio do they use? CB or HAM?
Are you wheeling by yourself? If yes, then HAM.
Why? Repeaters.
Do you need a high power radio? Not really. Handheld is very good?
Why? I hit a repeater 39 miles away with a 4W powered handheld with a small rubber antenna it comes with from behind my bedroom window.
I also have a magnet mount antenna which I use on the roof.
Andy and Dragos have both hit your answer on the head - who do you wheel with regularly and what comms do they use? As everyone has said, ham is superior in every way. Technician test is easy to get licensed. Little handheld Baofeng or Wouxun will get you started with ham just fine. Realize those have only 5 watts power. A basic radio for your truck with a decent antenna runs 50 watts and will get you much more range.
I keep a CB in my truck only because one guy I wheel with occasionally only has a CB. Literally everyone else has gone ham.
I recently got a $30 5 watt Baofeng 2 band handheld - roughly 140-155mhz and 450 to 550mhz. The instructions say the range is 3-5 miles and in my testing in town that's a bit of a stretch. I was in the house and the other radio was in a car with the antenna out the window (very important) and we got maybe 1-2 miles at most. If I went outside things got a bit better but not night and day better.
With an antenna on the car I'm sure we'd get a lot closer to that 3-5 miles, and with one on the house too we'd probably hit it.
These little guys certainly have potential.
Now a CB with the above external antennas will do the same or better. And a 50-100W booster (linear amplifier) available online for $100 to $500 depending on wattage and quality, you'd do a lot better than 5 miles. Maybe 30 miles (not counting rare skip waves of up to 1000-1500 miles)
But of course an actual 2 meter or other full size HAM can't be beat. The previous is just FYI.
Now a CB with the above external antennas will do the same or better. And a 50-100W booster (linear amplifier) available online for $100 to $500 depending on wattage and quality, you'd do a lot better than 5 miles. Maybe 30 miles (not counting rare skip waves of up to 1000-1500 miles)
Antenna placement and tuning is more important then the amount of power you are trying to push out a good gain antenna and a low SWR makes a huge difference. Also remember that linear amplifiers on CB (11 meters) are illegal in the US. Also almost all budget CBs that are out today can't truly drive a liner amp the way they are intended so while you might think you have a 100 watt amp you are only pushing 40 watts since you are not supplying 10 watts to drive the amp to drive the finals appropriately. Also a poorly setup system tends to cause noise blanking in nearby (think Convoy) receivers since CB front ends are really really bad these days and it doesn't take much to overload them and make them useless.
The one advantage I see to keeping a CB around is that you can listen in on the truck traffic on the interstate. These guys pass information back that can be helpful to keep you out of traffic jams, weather, what not. Definitely get your HAM license though and at least buy a portable. If you do get CB be aware that the cheap units are, well, cheap. Regardless of the 4w power limitation there is going to be a big difference in receive and transmit through a big unit as opposed to something like the little Cobra that I have.
Antenna placement and tuning is more important then the amount of power you are trying to push out a good gain antenna and a low SWR makes a huge difference. Also remember that linear amplifiers on CB (11 meters) are illegal in the US. Also almost all budget CBs that are out today can't truly drive a liner amp the way they are intended so while you might think you have a 100 watt amp you are only pushing 40 watts since you are not supplying 10 watts to drive the amp to drive the finals appropriately. Also a poorly setup system tends to cause noise blanking in nearby (think Convoy) receivers since CB front ends are really really bad these days and it doesn't take much to overload them and make them useless.
So true but I learned how to set up antennas back in the 1970's at the ripe old age of around 13.
I had the last antenna I used on the back of the 80's rack (grounded to the body & frame) so I could go down on the southern barrier beaches, swing the nose around facing north, and use that nice long ground plane and surrounding waters to blast a good signal over 20 miles inland on stock wattage from a $30 unit.
Sure amps are illegal but judicious use when needed from a mobile isn't so bad, and it's almost required these days with all the high powered skip-jockeys out there with more wattage than brain cells.
Even if you only make 40 watts, as long as it's clean, that's about all you need.
Go Ham. 2m is great. I have CB only because it comes in handy on the hwy sometimes to communicate with the big trucks. Everyone I know that wheels has moved to HAM frequencies.
Better range, and sound quality with HAM. Kenwood makes a great unit.
^^^^THIS^^^^^
The best radio is worthless if your the only one in the group that has one.
I have 5 ham radios and still have a CB just because some groups I wheel with still use them.
The best thing about CB is that it sucks so bad the cheapest radio works about as well as the best.
I have a Uniden PRO510XL, branded for Radio Shack. I see CB radios at garage sales and swap meets for $10 to $15.
I would say have both if you plan on spending much time solo. I still see a ton of CB antenna's on new trucks here, the dedicated 4x4 clubs might use ham only, but most hunters and outdoors people I know have CB's.
A cheap CB, coax cable and antenna will be well under $100, possibly under $50 if you get a 2nd hand radio( the older full size uniden or cobra radio's are pretty nice).
I like the Baofeng 2m/440 radio on the ham end, add a permanent mount antenna and car charger, which is around $50 for everything and your set. Cheap and most people who have them love them for the price.
I plan on getting a ham radio in my truck this year. I right now run a CB radio and dual CB antennas since the people I wheel with mainly have CB's. The rest don't have anything as they don't have a good understanding yet.
I just put another CB in my truck, to replace the ~12 years old Radio Shack radio that was in the process of a slow death.
Yes, 50w on my 2m radio is sometimes fun, but for trail chatter with the next truck that's 200 yards away, the CB works very well.
Uniden 520 ($40 on Amazon), firestick antenna on the fender, and an SWR meter to tune the antenna.
Sometimes I can't help thinking that this CB vs. HAM deal is really too much bother.
