jchappies

Are you sure the fire service is on VHF, most in socal have converted to Narrow band trunked 7/800Mhz UHF

KG4NEL

It's been probably a decade, even in NC, where an analog scanner - even trunked analog - was really useful for listening to public safety channels.

I think the Forest Service may still be on low-band VHF, but most everything else has moved to P25 digital.

CombatDiver

CB is open area communication while those 2 way radios you mention are for short distance or more obstructions. Ideally there would be a HAM radio that includes CB, hopefully there will be one day. There are limitations for each type and that's why you don't find a radio that can do too many different bands. A little antenna theory would go a long way. A similar sized antenna would be closer to wavelength for things like GMRS and FRS radios while being a fraction of the wavelength of CB (which is around 11 meters, that is the full wavelength size antenna, I doubt you have a 11 meter antenna on your Jeep). That being said, where CB trumps shorter bands (2 meter to 70 cm) is over longer open areas. An easy way to imagine it is the smaller the wavelength the more it can penetrate but can be lost over distance. The longer the wave length the more it blankets an area offering the benefit for long range flat area (typically found in long road situations). Also the CB signal can bounce giving it over the horizon abilities the smaller wave length can do. I hope this wasn't too difficult. I would recommend a cheap HAM radio and if you don't want to get a license program it for GMRS/FRS use. In a disaster in which life depends on it you could crank up the output thereby improving its range.

ShutterBug

You completely left out power limitations. CB = Max 4 watts, 2m = Max 1500 watts (although most mobile rigs max out at 50 watts).

Translation: CB still sucks ass.

Alaskanchoctaw

Ok newbe here learning a lot on this thread but on trails with other jeeps we use walkies the cb sucks and not many have cb here but on my road trip for work to CO i hit up moab on the weekend the group i was with did only cbs but i couldn't hear anything it was always jumbled and just lots of background interference i have asked around about other options but keep getting told to stay away from getting the basic user amature license for the hamm radios but for a newbie that does road trips what would be the best route for me it would be for road trips, overland, and jeep group trail rides?

jchappies

Whoever is telling you to stay away from HAM is an idiot....sorry but he probably doesn't know anything about radios. Your options with a HAM license far outweigh what you can do with a CB or FRS radio which require no license. Once you get a HAM license and call sign and a good radio in your rig you could program some repeaters along your driving route and talk for miles and even across multiple states depending on the repeater network.
IMO study and get your HAM and don't look back, it's fairly easy and is good for 10yrs

KG4NEL

I find they're suited for very different things. Objectively, amateur radio is far more flexible - I have a choice of frequencies between 160 meters and microwaves, with very different propagation characteristics on different bands. As mentioned before, I can run a lot more power, and do it legally.

None of this matters if the people I'm trying to contact are on a different service, and in most off-road situations, that buggy that's hauling ass up the trail who won't see you around the corner is likely going to be on a CB channel. So even though I've had a ham license for 15 years, Extra class and all of that, I carry a CB handheld whenever I leave the pavement.

And as far as combined CB/ham units go - there are radios out there that are modifiable to do it, but none that are legal and out of the box with the capability - CB and ham fall under different FCC regs. You can modify something CB to go on ham radio frequencies, but not the other way around. It's the same reason why pilots who are hams have to carry a separate airband transceiver.

KG4NEL

It's also not an acronym, so I'm sort of at a loss to why it's capitalized all over the place around here

ShutterBug

About 20 years ago, or so, a friend of mine was relatively new to Amateur Radio and we planned to go to a local Hamfest to see if he could find some gear as a decent price. When we got back, his wife asked if we were stuffed and how did it taste.

OverKill

I would ask you the same, since it is the second weekend of October every year.