Are CB Radios just for cool factor?

[W5MQS]

I am getting ready to install one over the next couple days. I do have a HAM license but I do not practice. I am putting one in the jeep for trail rides and I bought one that does NOAA weather bands and alerts too. I listen to those quite a bit in my boat on my VHF. A properly installed CB setup should have a range of approximately 10 miles depending on terrain.

You do realize that with an amateur radio, you can speak directly with NOAA when they have a weather net in progress due to bad weather, right? You just have to know which frequency they are operating on. Now...whether or not you are in range of NOAA to speak with them is another story altogether but you can also tune a 2m/70cm radio to pick up regular NOAA weather too. Additionally -- the hazardous weather alerts/warnings that are put out by NOAA go out over amateur radio frequencies about 4 to 8 minutes sooner than they do over regular radio or TV.

On a side note -- I disagree with the 10 mile range for CB or 11m...whatever you'd like to call it.

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[NavyVet1959]

On a side note -- I disagree with the 10 mile range for CB or 11m...whatever you'd like to call it.

It's going to depend upon your antenna, terrain, and how many other transmitters are around. In an ideal situation (flat terrain, 1/4 wave whip antenna mounted well up on the metal of a vehicle so that you have a good ground plane, and no one transmitting near you or the person you are trying to talk to), you can get that sort of distance. Of course, those conditions seldom seem to coincide when you need it... FM modulation on GMRS definitely sounds better though.

 

[bryan]

Although I'm an extra class amateur radio operator, if I had to pick one device for emergency communications, it would probably be something like a Garmin inReach, because you don't even need a repeater to get out. For talking to spotters, FRS is fine and low cost. CBs make sense for clubs or events, which was not a use case for the OP. Amateur VHF/UHF radio is great, if you happen to be in range of a repeater network throughout your journey. Not sure how practical amateur HF is on the trail.

 

[Zazoh]

I use this one that works without batteries:

Ha - haaaa.

Good point too. Can't do a damn thing about the weather really. I was on a Ski Lift in Flagstaff, Humphrey's Peak, in the summer. Park ranger told us at the top, get back on and head down, gonna Hail in 5 min. That is all we had, five minute warning on a 15 min ride down. It was beautiful ... and cold ...

 

[JLUSoCal]

Another option if you are just interested in listening in is to get a scanner. You can program in all sorts of things to listen in on...although it loses fun after a while. Checkout this site to see what's broadcasting in your area.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?stid=48

I've had scanners but now I just use an app - Scanner Radio on android and now it's on the screen in Android Auto.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scannerradio&hl=en_US

 

[W5MQS]

Although I'm an extra class amateur radio operator, if I had to pick one device for emergency communications, it would probably be something like a Garmin inReach, because you don't even need a repeater to get out. For talking to spotters, FRS is fine and low cost. CBs make sense for clubs or events, which was not a use case for the OP. Amateur VHF/UHF radio is great, if you happen to be in range of a repeater network throughout your journey. Not sure how practical amateur HF is on the trail.

Even VHF/UHF Simplex if you're not in range of a repeater is a better deal than CB.

 

[NavyVet1959]

I've had scanners but now I just use an app - Scanner Radio on android and now it's on the screen in Android Auto.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scannerradio&hl=en_US

If that sort of thing was useful, you also have cellular service and internet access through your cellular service. If you have that, you're not in the type of emergency situation envisioned here.

 

[DanW]

10 miles with a CB....No way, if it is a legal setup and an antenna shorter than 10 feet. Certainly not on a Jeep, which is the furthest from ideal one can get.

 

[NavyVet1959]

10 miles with a CB....No way, if it is a legal setup and an antenna shorter than 10 feet. Certainly not on a Jeep, which is the furthest from ideal one can get.

This is for aircraft, but is probably applicable close enough for CB also...

https://www.experimentalaircraft.info/articles/aircraft-antenna-2.php

VHF range (in nautical miles) = 1.33 * (sqrt(AircraftHeightInFeet) + sqrt(GroundStationHeightInFeet))

So, let's say that the transmitting and receiving antennas are 6 ft in height...

range = 1.33 * (2.449489742783178 + 2.449489742783178) = 1.33 * 4.898979485566356 = 6.515642715803254 nm = 7.4980677280106836 mi

If the antenna height goes up to 10 ft, then you are looking at 9.68 mi.
If one antenna is at 6 ft and the other is at 50 ft, you are looking at 14.57 mi.

*Ideally*...

 

[DanW]

This is for aircraft, but is probably applicable close enough for CB also...

https://www.experimentalaircraft.info/articles/aircraft-antenna-2.php

VHF range (in nautical miles) = 1.33 * (sqrt(AircraftHeightInFeet) + sqrt(GroundStationHeightInFeet))

So, let's say that the transmitting and receiving antennas are 6 ft in height...

range = 1.33 * (2.449489742783178 + 2.449489742783178) = 1.33 * 4.898979485566356 = 6.515642715803254 nm = 7.4980677280106836 mi

If the antenna height goes up to 10 ft, then you are looking at 9.68 mi.
If one antenna is at 6 ft and the other is at 50 ft, you are looking at 14.57 mi.

*Ideally*...

That's nice, but I've not seen a Jeep setup that can even get close. Semi trucks, maybe, with a professional setup and tune, Jeeps with standard CBs, no. I'd have to see it to believe it. I'm a pilot, and communicating at altitude is a whole different ballgame than Jeeps on the ground. Plus, at 7 watts of power, it is putting out 75% more than a legal CB. It is probably 100% more than a typical cheap CB that has not been tuned, realistically. Again, the Jeep body is about the worst platform for an antenna to work as it should, too. In perfect conditions, I'd be surprised to get 2 miles of clear transmission/reception. Most of the time, even 1/2 mile is more realistic.

 

[NavyVet1959]

That's nice, but I've not seen a Jeep setup that can even get close. Semi trucks, maybe, with a professional setup and tune, Jeeps with standard CBs, no. I'd have to see it to believe it. I'm a pilot, and communicating at altitude is a whole different ballgame than Jeeps on the ground. Plus, at 7 watts of power, it is putting out 75% more than a legal CB. It is probably 100% more than a typical cheap CB that has not been tuned, realistically. Again, the Jeep body is about the worst platform for an antenna to work as it should, too. In perfect conditions, I'd be surprised to get 2 miles of clear transmission/reception. Most of the time, even 1/2 mile is more realistic.

I'm also a pilot and if I thought that I might be somewhere that there was no way I was going to get life threatening emergency type help any other way, I would be tempted to bring a handheld aviation transceiver with me. Set it to 121.5 MHz and hope a pilot that is flying nearby is monitoring that channel. Or use a sat phone or personal locator beacon / messenger.

 

[DanW]

I'm also a pilot and if I thought that I might be somewhere that there was no way I was going to get life threatening emergency type help any other way, I would be tempted to bring a handheld aviation transceiver with me. Set it to 121.5 MHz and hope a pilot that is flying nearby is monitoring that channel. Or use a sat phone or personal locator beacon / messenger.

Yep. I picked up a Delorme Inreach SE on Ebay for just that purpose. It works great.

 

[Biscuit]

A properly installed CB setup should have a range of approximately 10 miles depending on terrain.

Ten miles is pretty optimistic unless you're in flat terrain and someone else with a radio is close enough to receive your signal.

 

[Niteshooter]

I've had scanners but now I just use an app - Scanner Radio on android and now it's on the screen in Android Auto.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scannerradio&hl=en_US

FYI these internet apps don't typically cover all the frequencies in use in an area plus the need to have data in order to use them if you are not within range of an internet hot spot. I had a similar app on my phone but don't use it since it receives only a couple of channels in my area.

My scanner (Uniden BXT15X) has much better coverage, though of note local law enforcement have shifted coms to an encrypted system that can no longer be monitored.

 

[Niteshooter]

Ten miles is pretty optimistic unless you're in flat terrain and someone else with a radio is close enough to receive your signal.

I've had coms on CB that were longer range than 10 miles but depends on a number of factors not the least of which is antenna, it's location on the vehicle, match, terrain and atmospheric conditions. Also are you talking mobile to mobile or mobile to base or base to base, AM or SSB?

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