In communication the more options we have to reach out or gather information on our surrounding areas. CB radio is a HF mode normally using low power AM but a lot of units offer SSB and offer short and possibly long range communications between groups within your MAG.
Wow, It's been ages since I even thought about CB.....I ought to dig out my old 23 channel Midland.....
I have a cb in all three of my vehicles!
For the money CB cannot be beaten! I have a base station rig with a 20' antenna pushing 40 watts that I can easily communicate 100+ miles with. I paid less than $150 for all of the equipment used. HAM can't touch that!
Ya but CB can't touch the versatility of Ham.....Just sayin'.
With the right money, equipment, knowledge, and licensing, you are right. HAM can be pretty much limitless. My MAG is all within 20 miles of where I live. Without using repeaters, we can't communicate with HAM, and when we are talking MAG stuff I'd rather not have our convo recorded (since repeaters record). CB gives us a certain degree of anonymity, and we can easily reach out 20 miles, even with a mobile unit. Requires little money, little knowledge, and basic equipment with no licenses and we have viable comms. At the end of the day I suppose it comes down to what your mission is! Some missions require HAM, some can use CB, others require something different. Its not really a competition between HAM and CB...they just serve different purposes.
we have been tryin to get our mag goin on cbs but after getting most to get their ham tickets ..been rough
Ya, I'm still trying to get up to speed on HAM. Got my General, but need something better than an end-fed long line antenna. Little bit at a time.
It's just a matter of what works for your group. Anyone can split hairs over the weaknesses of one over the other but even a $50,000 station us useless if it doesn't have anyone on the other end. CB can propagate very much like ham, but remember some of the stations are running 1,500watt amplifiers and multiple element yagis on 100'+ towers while others are running 40 watt's on a half wave dipole strung between the house and a tree at just 20 feet.
The main thing is to practice practice practice. How are you going to power your station off grid during a power outage? How long can you operate that station at a time? Can you operate your 50amp amplifier for x hours?