SSB CB RADIO VS. HAM RADIO What To Consider

Erik from Farpoint Farms steps on a few toes to make a point about the current state of both CB radio and Ham radio.
Is a 3k Ham radio setup worth it in 2017, or can a $200 dollar SSB CB base setup do the job just fine?

[@FarpointFarms]

What's the point of this video? Its not "you can't do packet radio, CW, slow scan, bla bla whatever". I'm saying for the masses, you can get into a used SSB CB for less than $25 used. (I just picked up an nice browning baron for $10) add an antenna for another $30 and for $55.00 plus tax your talking with Britain, Canada, Australia and anywhere else the skip rolls to. And when the skips not rolling talk to locals every night with out the B.S. You can do all that, and still find out why traffic is stopped on the highway faster than on your cell phone.

[@thomasward00]

I'll Take CB, Ham Radio is simply too much trouble in today's world.

[@eriklundqvist9032]

I do both CB and Ham. The CB is mostly for local, and ham mostly for world-wide. Both are nice hobbies, and CB got me started into the world of radio five years ago. For beginners, I recommend to buy a CB Radio with SSB and an antenna like the A99.

[@John-uj9zy]

What bothers me the most about radio is band haters! Variety is the spice of life! Around here CB is silent unless there's skip. Ive never bought an antenna for base use, only mobile. My 2 meter antenna is a J pole made out of copper pipe. I cant afford a $1k radio. Cost never stopped a determined operator. My HF rig is made from a raspberry pi. Cost less than $80 to make. Antennas are dipoles made from scrap electrical wiring. I dont own a CB because my homebrew HF rig can operate on 11 meters. I'm pointing all this out so others will know being a HAM isnt about money.

[@bigfoottoo2841]

Yes, please stay on the CB bands!

[@hb120877]

I like CB and HAM Radio. The best of both worlds....!

[@robertdixon6536]

The industry is so bad that C.B. is pretty much free run for responsible user even if they carry a bit of weight on the signal.

[@davidcarter9322]

Everyone's a critic Eric. Good video on the pros of CB..which I still use. If someone wants to try out using two-way communications its what you make of it. HAM, CB, FRS, GMRS, MURS....whatever you start with there are good users to help you out. Once one starts and gets some experience then you can decide where you want to go. CB is fun and easy to get started with.

[@ben5063]

one thing's for sure CB is not dead I'm 48 years old I grew up with Seabees in the 70s 80s and 90s been away for a long time just now starting to set one back up and start listening it really amazes me how many people are still on the 40 Channel radio I don't have ham license but I purchased one of them little Baofeng radios I live near Louisville Kentucky I can pick up Williamsburg repeater without any problem but there's just not that many people on ham.

[@kkristopher7413]

Cb radio is like a pub and grill, open to whoever wants to walk in and enjoy all types of drinks and food and even trivia nights! Ham radio is like the yacht club where you must own a yacht to even join and your boat must operate perfectly if you don't want to be shamed. As if the ham operators are afraid to use their vfo to tune you in. Also what I find is that for as much as hf radios cost, not a single mode operates fantastic with great transmitted and receive audio out of the box. To me, just acceptable is not good enough for that kind of money. I'd rather sit at the pub and grill and enjoy anyone who walks in the door, not the yacht club where you have to wear a tie and no jeans allowed and have to say your boats name every ten minutes otherwise the other club members will tell the owner. Pssssh not worth it.

[@averagejoe8213]

I know I'm a little late to the game on this video, but that may just tell you that there's still people interested in the hobby... As far as equipment, I took an old RG-58 cable, a 1X4 board and some 12AWG wire and made an inverted Vee dipole (1/2 wave) in my attic for my Galaxy DX949. It runs about 1.2 SWR from CH20-CH40 and about 1.3 SWR from CH1-CH19! Home made antennas make the hobby even more fun! AND LESS EXPENSIVE!!

[@donamiche13]

KB1LYE

[@Lee784447]

I was a CB’er back in the early 1960’s and a General for over 20 years. They both have pros and cons. I still want to get another SSB CB and sell most of my ham gear and get mobile ham rig I’ve been eyeing. I have everything else I need. Minimal is the way to go. 73

[@Bootyhunter1971]

Hey Eric I read you loud and clear! Agree totally. I too am a general class ham and I’ve had my license for 23 years but I never left cb or looked down on it. I get what your saying, you can talk around the world on ssb cb for a few bucks vs the time, expense, licensing, and eyesore of antennas it takes to do it on ham radio. Sure ham has several bands that make it more convenient to talk distance on but that also involves more complicated antenna systems and equipment. With the cb and a single vertical antenna you can get the same experience for much less investment. For my use, being able to talk all over the US is more appealing to me than to talk to Italy or Russia. If we have a national disaster information I can get from other parts of this country mean more to me than taking to European countries, yet talking to those countries is still possible with 12 watts and ssb. I get where you’re coming from and agree totally. And it’s the nature of most snobs in ham radio to tell us how wrong we are and why. Lol. I don’t care what they think and those types are what turns me away from ham radio the most. And if your stuck in traffic on the highway see how much you can find out about it on your “ham rig” vs the cb. There are a lot of clowns on cb but very few pompass assholes. There aren’t as many clowns on ham radio but there are 100x the pompass assholes.

[@brianatkinson1399]

I have a Cobra 148GTL manufactured in the Philippines in 1991, that was given to me by a friend who's father left it to him when he passed away, and a Antron 99 with 30 feet of LMR 400 coax that was given to me by another friend who was willing to help me out to get back into the CB world, i greatly appreciate all the help i've gotten from good CB radio enthusiasts, love your videos, thank you, keep up the good work.

[@ericblair3009]

Years ago I was into CB and we did fox hunts which were a lot of fun. I liked your video! Also as a HAM I can see that CBs are still of use and has a place in emergency COMM. I did get into a heated discussion with another HAM at a meeting with more non radio people. He was saying how CB was dead and worthless. I asked him to explain to the group the physics between 10M & 12M ham radio and CB [11M] and what the performance would be like IF they were matched watt for watt..... :} he finely had to admit that they were very close to each other and that he had just not thought it through before. Thank you for the videos you put out.

[@integralcamerasolutions]

Been watching lots of your videos, very informative thanks!

[@spudrubble]

Been years but I remember being part of a CB group that we tried to push the limits of how far we could talk with 1 watt ( 1 watt dead key that is). Was pretty fun messing with antennas, forward modulation and such. Found out connecting to the chainlink fence that surrounded the school behind my house back then made my old Cobra Cam base talk pretty good.

[@VapidToast]

I just got a CB for my jeep. When I was younger my friends and I used to go out in big groups will go wheeling. Now we've all grown apart. I used to borrow a radio. Now I have my own and no friends to use it with.

[@MrScotchpie]

Sideband is where it is today. In the UK our national regulator for communications is called OFCOM. A recent request to them from a radio user revealed that though pushing more than 12 watts on sideband is illegal (in the UK) they wouldn't take action against someone putting out more unless they caused interference and received a complaint. I was thinking about a ham licence but why bother. When the skip is good I can talk to many people on 11 meters across Europe. I usually transmit at 100w on my Yaesu 450D that is modified to include the 11 meter frequencies. The old 40 or 80 channel AM/FM CB radio is dead in the UK and I think in most parts of Europe but there are many contacts to be found on the international calling frequency 27.555 USB.