CB vs. Short Wave Which one is better and why?

I understand the coffee thing. And now I understand about the no-talk reserved channels. I kinda like the idea of being able to listen to police etc... So I wouldn't mind the capability of hearing those conversations. But is it hard to tell which station is reserved and which are not?

 

Some of them are grandfathered, I don't know the type certification on those exactly. Type 95 subset yadda yadda IIRC.

Your a certainly not a ham if you don't transmit CW.

 

No problem on a real type certified GMRS radio (like the midlands I linked), they can't transmit out of their legal frequency range. If you get into amature radio (ham) you will learn what frequency ranges you are licensed to use and the license bestows you with the responsibility to only transmit on frequencies you are licensed for.

GMRS really is more plug-and-play to be honest, think of it as the new and improved CB radio. Ham is more of a getting into a hobby type of radio, which is cool if you are looking for a new hobby.

 

Amateur radio is a lot more broad in its uses and allocated frequencies than GMRS and CB. It also has a lot more bandwidth assigned to it. But... if the people you are trying to talk to only use GMRS, amateur radio won't do you any good.

So the question is, what's your goal? There is no "all-in-one radio."

 

Well put, and I don't know what my goal is. If pressed I would have to say to be able to enjoy the learning experience and the friendships that come with such a hobby. On the gear side, I would say to have the ability to fully enjoy this sort of interest, me being new to it all being the only weak link in the effort.

 

I love that a derogatory term used by telegraph operators to describe radio operators stuck. Like "deplorables" being embraced with pride by those on one end of the political spectrum. Telegraph operators talking shit and now CW operates on the HAM bands. Love the irony.

 

GMRS
Midland

 

Sounds like you would benefit from amateur radio. It is a more technical crowd, allows endless experimentation, and will drain both your and your significant other's wallets. GMRS is UHF only meaning short range as a rule. With amateur radio you can transmit across the world with equipment you bought or built. It requires some tests that are easy enough to study for and there is always a crowd on the air.

 

https://austinhams.org/
@Pearson You might want to reach out to these guys to get started.

 

I hate to through a BAD word into the conversation but, it's time for me to go to WORK, there I said it. Thanks for all the input, I'll check in tonight and see what's happening.

 

That's a four-letter bad word.

 

If you happen to do Audible this book is a great start https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fast...e3a-92182bad91ad&pf_rd_r=V41CYKEH3BC5M0B7HF5D

I listened to it over a weekend dithering around in my shop a week before taking and passing my test.

 

Thanks, I actually have been an Audible member since like 1996. I don't know what I would do without Audible, I'll check it out, thank you.

 

By the way, "shortwave" is slang for the HF (high frequency) range of radio. CB is technically HF as well. Typical mobile installations including GMRS, "2m", "70cm", and FRS are all VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra high frequency.) It took me a while to figure out why HF is considered shortwave since it is considerable longer in wavelength than our typical VHF and UHF. The answer is buried in a historical study on radio development and technical difficulties in using higher frequency, shorter wavelength parts of the radio frequency spectrum.

What am I saying? CB and shortwave are kind of the same and neither of them are "short". It's like naming the midwest part of the United States. It's not very "west" and definitely not midway to the west coast. It's all relative to what you know at the time.

Anyway,
Carry on.

 

midlands makes a nice 15 watt GMRS radio with all of the controls on the handset. I have one in my cart, just need to finally commit

morse code isnt required on the technician test anymore, or at all I believe

 

It was a joke. He said ham-fisted, which came from morse. But if you don't send morse then you can't be ham-fisted, so you can't be called a ham. You must simply be an amateur, which is what the FCC calls us. It's not required for any amateur license.