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New to the off road world and not sure if you should get a CB radio or a HAM radio for your Jeep or 4×4 vehicle? In this video we quickly go over a few of the differences between HAM radio and CB radios to help you decide which might be better for you.
Equipment mentioned:
The CB radio we use is the Midland 75-822
The HAM radio shown is the very popular Baofeng UV-5
The NotaRubicon uses a 5-Foot Firestik antenna for the Midland CB
Video Rating: / 5
wow great video. all the gear anyone could every want. I think you have out a lot of time and effort into planning for you gear. and that is very impressive. I thought you had a lot wonderful ideas for transporting everything.I really enjoyed this video and now have some good ideas of how I won't to pack my ham gear now. Thanks for taking your time in this video to discuss in details. I hope to see many more videos from your field trips soon. Thanks , Fred.
terrific video mate. Thank you so much. VK1FCLU, 73
good job bobbei
subbed you just found you. thanks
This is the best thought out kits that I've seen! Impressive.
Great video! Thanks for sharing it! 73's. KD9JEO
Excellent de yt3cw…73
bonjour belle réalisation très bonne idée je vais faire comme vous bravo .
Very nice setup
Great setup. That box is wonderful. Thank you.
Very well thought out mobile stations. Thanks for sharing.
Great video! I stumbled on this video looking for ideas for portable operations. You have things well in hand. Congratulations on that. One Question, do you have headphones for your field day setup?
What about CB and PMR446 ?
What's the significance in the different band types and which ones are better by scenario?
The Baofeng you use in your video has a broad 400 to 500 MHz. Citizen bands are with in 476.425 to 477.4125MHZ for 80 channels which is a rather narrow portion of the UV-5R's ability. Even though it's a HAM set, it can be programed to operate on the Citizen Bands like many other HAM radio's, Not having a HAM licence certainly doesn't mean you can't set the radio up to monitor the HAM frequencies with the transmit function disabled to prevent accidental broadcasting. However should someone be less tech minded and want a Radio rig to operate out of the box like a ready to go, and already programmed CB radio, then a CB Radio is certainly the way to go for that individual.
in the event that zombies are chasing me around, I'd at least want 11 meters in my back pack. Two meters won't be much good when the zombies have knocked down all the 2 meter repeater shacks. String an 11 meter wire dipole 30 feet or so up a tree on high ground and you'll get out to the next town or two ten or twenty miles away (or just find a house with an Antron 99 where the zombies have already been.)
What I like about CB radios now is a clear channels since everyone is going to ham & gmrs….
If I'm remote and for safety reasons I just use a Sat phone…..
Jeep guys have been using CB very successfully for ever. I only run Ham Radio in my Jeep and only because it's been my hobby for 45 years and I talk to friends through the repeaters. If I were to go on a trip, it's simple got an old CB I would take. I could use my HF radio on the CB band but that's a 100 watts and pretty much illegal. Not that running power ever stopped a CBer.
I like that you emphasized the fact you need a licenses, so many don't. Simple fact a hand held baofeng radio is a pain in the A$$ to program manually. I can but always use the computer software, much better. Even at that you have so many parameters if set wrong will keep you from talking to the other person. CB's are simple and easy to use and have worked well for many years.
I would encourage anyone to get their ham licenses, great hobby and you can sit at home and work the world with the right set up, meeting new people, great hobby.
Have both. Designate a couple hams in front & rear to run higher wattage ham radios. I think though that high power gmrs mobiles would work best. Everybody can get licensed & can run up to 50 watt mobiles. They can access repeaters too.
CB good for vehicle to vehicle . Ham radio will work good in any emergency in order to get into a repeater .
What does your group have bottom line .
It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. I have both CB and HAM in my FJ and use CB way more often and is way more useful for everyday usage. I use it all the time while travelling to learn what is going on on the roads. A HAM radio is great if you are looking to communicate longer distances and more of an "emergency" type use. Only the HAM guys chat on HAM and hardly ever would be able to help you out and about travelling. Get a hard mount CB which requires no license and get yourself a handheld HAM like the Baofeng and you will have the best of both worlds without breaking the bank. Learn HAM on the Baofeng and decide if you want a hard mount HAM radio. Get a good mount like the Firestik mount that has proper grounding a Firestik 4ft antenna with the adjustable tip for proper SWR tuning and a good radio like the President McKinley.
HAM
When out in the middle of God's country all by yourself I would rather a 50 watt Ham radio that you can call a mayday on national frequencies and you can bet your life some old guy drinking coffee will answer back! CB not so much. Only people that monitor it are truckers and they are truly assholes and can't help themselves without a GPS to guide them.
The group I go with all have CB now a good SSB CB radio set up and tuned gave us much better rang. The 2m ham radios just fell short with out repeater coverage and yes I know we could make it work but not for the money we all could spend.
You make good points, I am an avid HAM guy but do have a nice CB,
Lucky in New Zealand we got the 80 channel UHF that the ham can tune into
My CB is 10 watts and 30 on side band going through a 600 watt linear amp – I get about 60 miles direct on a good day – so I got my amateur license later and have both now.
very helpful video. Didn't realize it until i saw your rig in the background, but i was stuck in traffic near you last weekend coming back from Calico on the 15. definitely looks like a lot of fun. I was out there in my mostly stock WJ. Looking at radio options for the group I'm going with, and thinking CB will work out better as we're mostly beginners and some people might not want to study to get the HAM license
In an emergency, you are permitted to ask for help over a ham radio. All other use, requires a license as stated.
In my rig: CB cobra 29, Ham HF VHF & UHF all mode IC-706MKIIG, and a GMRS Midland micro mobile. Why limit your self in a potentially life threatening situation.