BANDS BEYOND the 40

First, I can understand why Gad gets worked up, but I just want to make sure I am not grouped with him on some of his negitive comments. I see use for CB and use it daily while in the truck. We really can live in the same world.

Your post is exactly what "I" am talking about. Most guys that only have experianced CB or very little contact with Ham have it so missunderstood its not even funny. Like I said, if you had or have a chance to let someone show you what its REALLY like, you would laugh at some of these pre concieved ideas. Let me break down your post to start with.

1. "Your too poor for ham radio"- This is a common idea, but its just false. Yes, there is a small fee when you take the test, but its minimal, like 20 bucks or something now. Gear can be cheap to expensive just like anything else. You can get a 2m (what most start with) mobile for 80 bucks or so. Whats a Cobra 29 sell for? $125 or so now? For the real fun stuff, a hf rig new can sell for as low as 500 bucks depending on the brand. And this is not just 10 Meters! This is 10M, 12M, 15M, 17M, 20M, 24M, 30M, 40M, 60M, 75/80M, and 160M plus a general receiver. You will work the world with a rig like that. Just like CB, Hams have access to a very large pool of used gear, and it tends to be very well maintained gear. I have seen 2m's sell for 10 or 15 bucks and HF gear for 100-200 bucks used. How much does one of those Connex or Ranger's sell for? And all they do well is CB? How is CB cheaper then Ham again?

2. "Ham Radio is up tight and anal retintive"- Ham radio does have some frequencies that run with a protocal, but they are that way as a service. 99% of the frequencies are populated with "laid back" convos. Yes, I know that CB SSB can be more "ham like" for all the right things like you say, but what makes you think its different on the ham bands just becouse they use a callsign to I.D.?

Now more technical

3. You could call these radios import, but they just are not 10M radios. It has the ability to key up out of band, thats it. Its still a CB, created from the ground up to be a CB, not a 10M. Please just trust us at this.

4. "More Power equals more Distance on SSB" You say you like these radios becouse you can talk further. Well, thats all well and good, but if people would understand that talking further has A LOT more to do with things such as propagation, solar cycle, antenna design and quality, and the mode itself. Put all that together and you can talk the "Skip" path. Adding power just strengthens your ride over generally if you get what I am saying.

5. "Ham Radio Talks Further" - Yes, but its becouse of its Diverse priviledges. There is SOOOO much more then just 10M, which actually acts much like CB. Its only 1Mhz off of each other! Which is why these topics even exist! It would take A LOT of typing to explain it in detail, but lets just say I can knownly flip the dial and know were to hear international stations, then flip down a bit and talk to other truckers around the nation, then check in with the local guys back home a few states up on a regional freq etc etc etc.

6. "Even talked to Alaska" - of course you can. CB is HF! Its 11M! Thats actually bad propagation. Alaska is nothing. Here is the 2 main problems. 1st, solar cycle is at a low. 10M (and CB) gets hit hard by poor propagation for a few years, then opens to the world for a few. When its up, its really up. Convos with your 4 legal watts will get you the world! Africa, Europe, Australia. Its just the way it is. (Hard on AM, but easy on SSB) 2nd problem is that as hams we do this easy, but CBers will almost never experiance it much now becouse the U.S. as far as I know is the ONLY country that has not switched to a VHF/UHF FM CB. (You can thank all the abuse on CB such as freebanders and language/harrasment for the FCC not allowing to allocate such coveted frequencies to U.S. CBers.

 

I read these from time to time. Wow! Holly is busy this month. Novice guy on Tech freqs! Never seen a fine yet for that one. He must have nosed them or something. ANd yet another pirate on the last one. 6Mhz well know for that. Suprised they did not just revoke and fine 10k with equipment "pickup". Nice of them to warn him first. LOL

 

WC5B,

When I was commuting to work a few years ago, there used to be a fellow (during the last "cycle") in Barcelona, Spain that was on 20 Meters almost every afternoon. His name was "Mike". Mike was on a lot, and I would chat with him mobile most every day. That is the thing that many of the CB fellows would just LOVE to snag, but they don't KNOW what all they can get with amateur radio! To them, it's "fire in the wire", more power, more 'channels' and just..........well, "MO"! But the ease with which it can be done on many of the ham bands is lost on them because they simply have not had the pleasure of seeing it with their own eyes. Mike (as you would certainly know) was not the ONLY station easily worked as a mobile. In those days just on 20 Meters, I worked Bosnia, Herzogovinia (I never could spell that town!), S. Africa, Australia, Hawaii, Germany,
Italy, France, England, Ireland---most all of Europe to include Russia and
Estonia---all mobile. And ALL the Feds ask is that we follow a few liberal rules in exchange for the most FUN radio experience that just PALES in comparison to 11 Meters. AND it is IDEAL for a trucker mobile!!!! Think of it: company at one's fingertips. The WORLD at one's feet (or mike). THOUSANDS of frequencies (not "channels") at one's command! If one set of frequencies is "dead", simply drop to another band. Use High Frequency (HF), VHF, UHF, ULTRA Hi, on FM for telephone-quality conversations on 6, 2 and 70 CM. It's just MIND BOGGLING what is offered by amateur radio in comparison to the ancient and archaic CB band!! I can see why someone uninformed might think that a ham would want to talk on 11 Meters when he has no idea what's at stake---what that ham might give UP if he gets caught doing it with illegal equipment. It's-not-worth-it-TRUST ME!!!

And, yeah, I get pretty torqued to hear outlaws-with-an-attitude yapping on 10 or 12 Meters because, to me, they are nothing more than thieves!!
Now for those who are willing to give UP that nasty habit (using one of those illegal "export" radios to get on the ham bands without license), I would be more than happy to point the way (as I am sure you would be, too!)


73

Gadfly

 

Wow, after trying to read all that I must say I now have a headache. I understand what both you "hams" are saying. I have taken the practice test up to general and passed, I have read a book or two on becoming a "ham".

Oh, BTW the "Ham Forums" I spoke of were actually just two I went to. They were eHam.net and QRZ Forums.

I am in no way "against" legal "Ham" operators, I am good friends with several. What gets me is when these "Licensed Ham" operators get on CB channels running there "Ham rigs" and cussing and carrying on.

How is this suppose to make me feel about "Ham" operators?

Some of you "Hams" do it legally I know this, but not ALL.

Maybe I am wrong here, before you two "Hams" get all worked up over this post let me ask a couple of questions...Maybe I should have added these in at the beginning of my post, I don't know but here goes.

1) Is it illegal for a "Licensed Ham" to use his/her "Ham" radio on channels 1-40 AM? The reason I ask is I know several "Licensed Ham" that do this.

2) Is it illegal for a "Licensed Ham" to buy a CB Linear and use it on CB channels 1-40 AM? I know several that do this also, and have their "legal power amp" sitting there as well in case of inspection. IOW the CB linear is made to be removed just in case.

3) I have actually heard "Ham" operators use their "Ham call sign" on CB Channels. This is illegal also, right?

To end this post I am going to say this.

Will I ever become a "Ham" operator? Probably not, just because I like CB better. I know go ahead laugh, but it thrills me when I can key down on AM and get through a bees nest and talk to someone 900 miles away. It even thrills me even more to do it in a mobile. I have no desire to communicate with anyone outside the USA, although I have before on SSB.

Will I ever stop using a "10 meter" radio for CB usage? Again probably not, because you can't buy a good CB radio anymore. For what I use it for, and that is "shooting AM skip". I rarely even go on SSB anymore, because it is just a step below "Ham" and is almost just as noisy as AM.

 

#1 and #2 are illegal #3 is not .. you can identify yourself on CB as almost anything you want. Another person may not however identify themselves using a ham callsign they do not hold.

 

My input on the bands outside the CB 40 channels is this.

Most people operating the export CB radios (meant for the UK and Australia) have no clue where they are going when hitting that band select button. You can be be transmitting on military and marine frequencies. Its up to you, however it is a $10,000 fine for you and your company just having the radio in a comercial vehicle. I have a ton of experience in this both in military and marine radio industries. With more and more radio shops in the US selling these radios it's becoming a very serious issue.

 

wc5b, i wasnt trying to saY I disliked ham or anything, i understand everything you told me, only thing i disagree with is the more power thing, i know with a crappy set up it wont do a thing but a bunch of the ssbers i talk with live down in holes and i can only hear them when they turn on the linears,

i didnt mean to sounds like i was trying to start anything or was p.o'd at people or anything, i understand i was just pretty much stating my view on the whole thing.... and i really am too poor, and dont have enough time to study, like thousands in debt, 60k just from school, and i got plenty of other debts im trying to pay off but not getting paid enough to do it.

 

Absolutelycorrect when i was in the truck i actually had 6 radios on at one time due to the fact i ran allot of different modes at once.

 

Thanks for answering this...I was pretty sure on #1 and #2 but #3 I really didn't know, just had heard rumors about.