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FrozenGate by Avery

is a CB radio a ham radio?

trever22

trever22

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I dont really know much about radios but after hearing some funny stuff you can do with CB radios I was wondering if they are the same as ham radios. And for either one do you need a permit to use? Possibly stupid question buy hey no one perfect:whistle:

Thanks,
Trever
 





CB stand for "Citizen Band" (27MHz and around), that in some countries, if under a certain power don't require authorizations (all the "toys" radios here are 10mW CB), and over a certain power, it require only an abilitation exam and certificate ..... HAM (intended as "amateur" bands) radio is a generic indication that can include CB, together with other bands (HF, VHF, and so on), and most of these ones requires specific exams and abilitation certificates, including sometimes CW (here, at least :p)

This may change from country to country, anyway, so you need to check your local laws.
 
HAM Radio is more powerful than normal 27mHz CB radios which are intended for mobile use in cars lorries etc. HAM radio is more of a static setup and can reach a greater distance over a few thousand miles. A licence and exams are needed to use one of these but shouldn't be that hard to pass
 
Kookapeli said:
HAM Radio is more powerful than normal 27mHz CB radios which are intended for mobile use in cars lorries etc. HAM radio is more of a static setup and can reach a greater distance over a few thousand miles. A licence and exams are needed to use one of these but shouldn't be that hard to pass
Click to expand...
Do you need to be a certain age to take the test?
 
If you can pass the test, you can get a license. There is no age limit that I know of. Where CB radios are (legally) limited to 4W of power (12W peak), ham operators can legally use up to 1500W peak.
 
trever22 said:
So I can be 15 and go for my license?
Click to expand...

Trever,

I've known 7 year old HAM licensees. You absolutely don't have to be over any age to take the test.

There are actually a few tests, and classes. Right now, there are three "classes" of license:

1) "Technician" - gives you mostly access to UHF and VHF, being able to talk on your local "repeaters" with handheld "walkie talkie" (though more advanced) type radios. Good for local communication, pretty easy test.

2) "General", gives you "HF" privileges, colloquially known as "shortwave" frequencies. This will allow you to talk to other countries from a desktop-type radio, up to 1500w.

3) "Extra" - gives you more HF frequencies and privileges. Harder test, but I'd look at Tech and General for now.

To get a General class license you'd have to take the Technician and General test elements. To get Extra, you'd have to take Technician and General and Extra.

CB is considered "11m HF", ~27mhz.

The closest HAM band would be "10m HF" ~28mhz.

It looks a little like this:

CB (Default privileges) 11m HF ~27mhz AM (FM in some countries), 4 watts.

========

HAM (Technician License) 23cm SHF ~1.25-1.3ghz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 200 watts
HAM (Technician License) 33cm UHF ~900-928mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 Watts
HAM (Technician License) 70cm UHF ~420-450mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts
HAM (Technician License) 1.25m VHF ~222-225mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (Technician License) 2m VHF ~144-148mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (Technician License) 6m HF ~50-54mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts

HAM (General License) 10m HF ~28-29mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 12m HF ~24-25mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 15m HF ~21-21.5mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 17m HF ~18mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 20m HF ~14mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 30m HF ~10mhz Data, 200 watts.
HAM (General License) 40m HF ~7mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 60m HF ~5mhz USB Voice, 50 watts.
HAM (General License) 80m HF ~4mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 160m HF ~2mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.


... So as you can see, HAM is quite a bit different than CB.

When we say "meters" we're referring to the wavelength function of frequency. It's really the same thing as when we say "405nm" here to specify the frequency for a violet laser, or "650nm" to specify red. These are just lower electromagnetic frequencies. So we say 30m, 15m, 160m, etc, in 'meters' instead of 'nanometers' to specify the band.

A good place to practice the tests is here: AA9PW FCC Exam Practice

There are also some good books out there on it; unfortunately I think the best one is out of print now... and a good starting point is here: Getting Licensed .

(I know a lot of older hams don't like the ARRL for various reasons; I'm trying to stay apolitical on it.)

But, hopefully this gives you an idea of it, and, at 15, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from getting into ham radio.
 
Back in the 70s lots of people had CB in their cars. There was some sort of a community
over here in Europe.
I bought one two years ago, and sometimes I would actually catch a few transmissions,
but I guess today it's mostly trucker drivers who use CB. I don't see antennas on private automobiles.
You get 20 or 40 fixed channels (depends on your countries laws), you can't dial just any frequency you'd like.

Here in Portugal, sometimes in the Lisbon region I catch traffic on one channel, but
it's just people swearing at each other.:wtf:

I never gotten any real use out of it so far...
It would be very cool though if you were on a roadtrip with several vehicles.;)
 
Last edited:
I had a Sideband rig with USB, LSB and AM on it, can't remember what frequencies it had but it had a fair few, they were kind of Illigal to have in the UK for some reason ???
 
aryntha said:
Trever,

I've known 7 year old HAM licensees. You absolutely don't have to be over any age to take the test.

There are actually a few tests, and classes. Right now, there are three "classes" of license:

1) "Technician" - gives you mostly access to UHF and VHF, being able to talk on your local "repeaters" with handheld "walkie talkie" (though more advanced) type radios. Good for local communication, pretty easy test.

2) "General", gives you "HF" privileges, colloquially known as "shortwave" frequencies. This will allow you to talk to other countries from a desktop-type radio, up to 1500w.

3) "Extra" - gives you more HF frequencies and privileges. Harder test, but I'd look at Tech and General for now.

To get a General class license you'd have to take the Technician and General test elements. To get Extra, you'd have to take Technician and General and Extra.

CB is considered "11m HF", ~27mhz.

The closest HAM band would be "10m HF" ~28mhz.

It looks a little like this:

CB (Default privileges) 11m HF ~27mhz AM (FM in some countries), 4 watts.

========

HAM (Technician License) 23cm SHF ~1.25-1.3ghz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 200 watts
HAM (Technician License) 33cm UHF ~900-928mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 Watts
HAM (Technician License) 70cm UHF ~420-450mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts
HAM (Technician License) 1.25m VHF ~222-225mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (Technician License) 2m VHF ~144-148mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (Technician License) 6m HF ~50-54mhz, AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts

HAM (General License) 10m HF ~28-29mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 12m HF ~24-25mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 15m HF ~21-21.5mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 17m HF ~18mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 20m HF ~14mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 30m HF ~10mhz Data, 200 watts.
HAM (General License) 40m HF ~7mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 60m HF ~5mhz USB Voice, 50 watts.
HAM (General License) 80m HF ~4mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.
HAM (General License) 160m HF ~2mhz AM/FM/SSB/Data, 1500 watts.


... So as you can see, HAM is quite a bit different than CB.

When we say "meters" we're referring to the wavelength function of frequency. It's really the same thing as when we say "405nm" here to specify the frequency for a violet laser, or "650nm" to specify red. These are just lower electromagnetic frequencies. So we say 30m, 15m, 160m, etc, in 'meters' instead of 'nanometers' to specify the band.

A good place to practice the tests is here: AA9PW FCC Exam Practice

There are also some good books out there on it; unfortunately I think the best one is out of print now... and a good starting point is here: Getting Licensed .

(I know a lot of older hams don't like the ARRL for various reasons; I'm trying to stay apolitical on it.)

But, hopefully this gives you an idea of it, and, at 15, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from getting into ham radio.
Click to expand...
I Heard of someone that picked up walmart's channel, so they were able to mess around with the Walmart employees. Is This possible or was the person lying to me?
 
With a HAM setup, why not, with a CB I doubt it, Walmart would be pretty stupid to do that...
If you want a radio just to mess with people, I say just forget about the whole thing. Really.:rolleyes:
 
Yes, it's possible, but using your license (and your licensed station) to "willfully interfere" with other stations is certainly illegal... Kind of like the laser thing... as soon as it gets in someone else's face, you're doing it wrong.
 
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