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whats the difference


The biggest difference is a license is required for ham radio, none is required for CB radio, with everything that implies. CB radio requires no knowledge, ham radio does.
- 'Doc
 
a)Preference
b)Opportunity
c)Choice
d)Cost
e)Experience
f)Education
g)Equipment
h)Time

Not in that order - but you asked for the differences - there they are...
Cost is not that much more than cb radio. I see 2995dx's going for 500+, and FT 450's for 600. A lot more in a FT450, than a 10 meter cb.Ham radio has a lot more capabilitys than cb. Digital, Satelite, Space station. and much more.
Rich
 
Amateur Radio offers a lot more activities than CB normally does.....

For Emmcom there's.....

ARES
RACES
SATARN
MARS
CAPS
Various affiliations between American Red Cross, EOC's and OEM's

For general public welfare there's.....

InnterCon
Maritime Mobile Service Net
Classroom 22 Net

For weather there's......

Hurricane Watch Net
Skywarn

Plus you have a ton of different modes of communication with Amateur Radio....

AM, FM, SSB, CW, PSK31, AMSCOR, RTTY, D-Star, EchoLink, WinLink, and a few others......

and you're not tied to one band, if propagation sucks on the upper bands like 10, 12, 15, 0r 17 meters, you drop down to 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, or the 160 meter bands...something is always open for long range communications, and if long range isn't your bag then you have a multitude of space in the VHF, UHF, SHF spectrum to play with.

And the best part is, none of your equipment has to be FCC certified, after all it is an experimenter's hobby......;)
 
MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) and CAP (Civil Air Patrol) are not really related to amateur radio. They're governed by other licensing authorities. Many members of these groups ARE licensed hams, but not all.

CAP (not CAPS) no longer allows modified ham gear for use on their systems. It has to be commercial stuff meeting a lot more stringent requirements than ham gear. MARS is also leaning toward outlawing ham gear.

No HF ham gear other than commercial external power amplifiers has to be FCC certified, but there are requirements regarding bandwidth and spectral purity which hams have to meet.
 
That is a HUGE question..

It would require pages to fully list and explain the differences..

On the Simplistic side..

Way more channels and frequencies for ham
Many more operating modes.
Way more power ( typically allowed)
Able to experiment and design much of the equipment you can use on Ham radio

Some will say ( wrongly so) that there are a better class of people on ham radio (ignore anyone who says this is so...there are countless dummies in both cb and ham radio

A good difference...is with ham radio...one is typically allowed to put their antennas at a height of up to 200 ft (perhaps higher with FCC and FAA aproval...
While as a CB operator you would Never be allowed to put your antenna that high...unless your lucky to be on a mountian

Maybe....
You should look up and drop by one of the local ham clubs in your area....check things out...and Judge for yourself..

Most ham operators though...have come from the land of CB (although most would not admit so...LOL )

If any Specific questions...Just ask..
 
"Way more channels and frequencies for ham"
only 5 channels on ham radio( 60 meter)
Rich
 

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