Why do i need a CB?

[rc51kid]

I am completely uneducated about CBs. I have used them a few time when other people have had them so i do know a little about them. Just a LITTLE. But nothing from a off road perspective. What do you guys use them for? I can see that during a trail ride they would be nice. But other than that? I travel into remote areas alone some what often. I don't know if a CB would really help if i had a problem, would it? Then i only do trail rides/wheeling with other people once or twice a year. I don't know if it is worth installing one for that. But maybe i am missing something and i would benefit from one.

 

[Dragos80]

Your traveling style would dictate the use of HAM rather than CB, just in case you find yourself in some kind of trouble. CB's are limited in range and quality of the transmission. The higher the radio frequency the better the quality.
But the CB would make you look cool like the Bandit. A 5 ft tall antenna would let everyone know you are a serious off roader, just like a shiny new shovel and/or axe fitted on the side of your roof rack.

 

[1911]

CB is the lowest-common-denominator of trail communication. Poor range and quality, but cheap so lots of folks have them. As long as your trail group stays quite close together, it works ok but I have been in trail groups in hilly country that were only a mile or so long and the back couldn't communicate with the front. CB's only real advantage is that a lot of folks already have them. A CB has zero use calling for help, if you are more than a mile or two from a busy highway or someone else on your trail with a cb.

2 Meters ham radio makes a vastly superior trail radio, but the other people in your group need to have it as well for it to do you any good as trail commo. For solo use, the range is much greater than cb if you need help, but it still depends on how far out you are and if there any repeaters nearby.

 

[e9999]

to remind everybody you were watching trucker movies back in the 70s?

 

[lovetoski]

If your 4 wheeling trips are solo, CB is mostly useless. If you do group trips, CB is still a pretty common tool for trail communication. If you are solo, Ham is good, but a sat communication device is even better. I use a Delorme Inreach.

 

[Kofoed]

x2, plus some trail runs/clubs require a CB

 

[Tigerstripe40]

I, for one, would love to see CB's die in the offroad community.

Also, CB isn't really that cheap, all things considered.
You can get a BaoFeng 2M hand held HAM radio for $35 shipped. Add a quality aftermarket antenna and charge cable and you've got a really good setup. yeah, you've got to get a license, but thats really a non-issue.

 

[Dragos80]

In case of an emergency you don't need a license to operate HAM radio. As he mentioned, he travels alone so he has nobody to communicate with on the trail. In case of an emergency he can use a 2m radio without any problem.

 

[Enigma]

If you find you do a lot of solo adventure trips, I'd recommend a SPOT locator in conjunction with a HAM.

 

[george_tlc]

Yep, spot works very well. Here's one example location from a trip out bush in oz last year:

Google Maps

I'd transmit a location fix morning/midday/evening each day I was out on the trip. All successfully sent/received. My wife back here in the US could keep tabs on me Added a couple of mates back in oz as well, just in case... The Spot service will then email/text each received message to the folk you have added to your list.

cheers,
george.

 

[ravenplague]

Ok, just to play devil's advocate. I actually really like my CB radio, came with the rig, because on the highway, i get alot of information from truckers. I know that it is not as much as ten years ago, but I still get info on Bears hiding out and upcoming traffic issues. Plus , the kids just get a huge kick out of it because people reply. I would consider getting both if i was traveling solo though.

But could you communicate with AAA or tow truck company on HAM? I'm just guessing like 911 help right?

 

[Stumpalama]

EDIT: 2m UHF radios are quickly taking over for CBs... Our club uses 2m UHF exclusively and we did a group buy for a bunch of Motorola handheld and the club purchased an additional 6 motorola handhelds to pass out to newcomers and those who wheel with us who might not have them. We also have a 6 bay charging station we take on club overnights to charge all of them.

 

[Fast Eddy]

... the club purchased an additional 6 motorola handhelds to pass out to newcomers and those who wheel with us who might not have them...

Licenses?

 

[Tigerstripe40]

I didn't know Motorola made 2M radios.
They make FRS/GMRS which is close to the 70cm band...

 

[Stumpalama]

Yeah, sorry, I meant UHF. We use Motorola GP350's that were programmed by our club engineer to be absolutely legal. Many of our members have Baofeng's programmed to our club freqs.

 

[abruzzi]

I didn't know Motorola made 2M radios.
They make FRS/GMRS which is close to the 70cm band...

While stumpalama corrected his post, I thought I'd mention that technically Motorola makes MURS radios which is unlicensed and close to 2m. Though it seems like no one is on MURS.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Though it seems like no one is on MURS.

All the more reason to use it for your club runs! It's pretty much the only way you can be unlicensed and legal other than FRS, which is too low power to be very useful. No one, including the FCC, cares about GMRS licensing. Even though everyone uses it unlicensed, it's still not "100% legal".

Once you've been to Rubithon and seen the power of linked repeaters, the test is a minor inconvenience. I can talk on a $30 Baofeng from our place in Sac to anyone between there and the Tahoe basin, including 100% coverage of Rubicon.

 

[jonheld]

I don't understand the reluctance to get a license and use 2m ham. 12 year old kids pass this test, it costs almost nothing, and a $100 CB radio is like Dixie cups with string compared to a $29 Chinacom unit.
CB is useless and outdated, but its existence is proliferated throughout the northeast by 4WD clubs simply because "everyone else has one". Personally I find this maddening, but each year more and more members of GCLC are making the switch to ham radio which gives me hope. The GCLC will reimburse any member for the cost of the exam.

 

[Dragos80]

It's the rebellion against conformity.
It's exactly because a 12 yo can pass the test. It's because it's made in such a way that anyone can pass the test, which makes the whole thing pointless.
If you get 75% of 30 question right you pass the test. Does that say much to you about how serious these people are about HAM radio? There are a lot of irrelevant questions on the test, just so they can fill up the the question pool.

It's because of the HAM dinosaurs don't want to let go of their past and move on into the present times.
It's because of the mass paranoia that something bad will happen and the only means of communication will be HAM.
The dinosaurs realized they can't have their numbers grow and finally let go of the CW requirement on the test.

Currently there is no reason why HAM is not license free. As long as you don't operate in the gov/military/FAA frequencies, there is no harm to anyone using 70cm/2m/6m/10m.

For those reasons I don't want to get licensed.

 

[jonheld]

It's the rebellion against conformity.

There are plenty of other things to rebel against. This is pretty far down the list and not likely to change in the near future.
The FCC sets the rules, not the ham operators.