Hi Mike,
To answer your question briefly, I’ll use me as the example. Upfront, I’ll disclose that I use both services. Each has its merits. I’ve been a ham for 49 years and a CBer for 52 years. Both are continuous runs. And I am fully legal, i.e. I am in full compliance with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations (here in the United States).
For CB radio here in the States, I am limited to 4 watts for AM and FM modes, and 12 watts on LSB and USB modes. Frequency wise, CB radio here in the States is in the 11 Meter band.
For ham radio here in the States, as a stark comparison, I can run up to 1,500 watts on the 10 Meter band, just “up the road” from the CB 11 Meter band. In addition, hams here in the States enjoy many different bands that have different propagation characteristics that can be leveraged for many different objectives. Many hams with a General Class license or higher will be active on 160 Meters, 80 Meters, 40 Meters, 20 Meters, 15 Meters, 10 Meters, plus some additional High Frequency (HF) bands on newer radios typically referred to as WARC bands. Most frequencies are authorized for up to 1,500 watt transmissions.
The quick “takeaway” is hams can run much more power than CBers and do so legally. And if you compare the 40 channel CB radio here in the States to a ham radio, the ham radio would have multiple thousands upon thousands of channels (albeit ham radios are not channelized for the most part and can tune to any frequency within the band of operation).
Two of my radios in my “shack” are the President McKinley II FCC which is a CB radio running 4 watts or 12 watts depending on the mode of operation on 11 Meters and the other radio is the President Lincoln II+ which is a ham radio running up to 50 watts on the 10 Meter and 12 Meter bands. Both are equally enjoyable to use because of friends made over the radio.
In closing, I know and somebody will probably say that the President Lincoln II+ can easily be modified to “unlock” the 11 Meter band for CB operations. While this is true, it is NOT legal to do so and transmit on CB frequencies using up to 50 watts of power here in the States. Even if you were to lower the power to 4 watts on AM or FM modes, or 12 watts on LSB or USB, it is still NOT legal because the President Lincoln II+ radio is not “type accepted” for use on CB frequencies.
I’ll leave it at that. For me, I go by the book. Besides, one of my friends is a FCC Field Agent who does on occasion have cause to knock on somebody’s front door. They come prepared, confiscate illegal transmitters and amplifiers, and generally level some hefty fines while sometimes also canceling the ham’s FCC license. Bummer!
That is a brief look at CB radio versus ham radio here in the States. There is only so much that you can do with CB radio. But it is still fun to have around. For ham radio, when you can talk to the International Space Station (ISS), bounce radio signals off of the moon or a meteor’s tail, transmit pictures to far away continents and countries, etc.; well let’s just say that in ham radio you will never have time to try out everything that there is to do. And last but not least, adults play with big toys that cost big bucks. You can spend a LOT of money in ham radio to play in all of the sandboxes. While CB radio can cost some big bucks for nice or vintage gear, I’m convinced that ham radio is by far the more expensive hobby if you go hog wild buying all that there is to play with.
If I were you, I would probably get an entry level ham license. If that allows you to operate voice on 10 Meters and/or 12 Meters, I would then get the two radios mentioned in this post if they are legal in your country. Start small, learn the skills of antenna building and/or selecting, learn the operating skills for each, etc. After a year or two, you should know if you want to go the CB route, the ham route, or even perhaps both like me.
73, Dave K4EET
hamradioprep.com
