"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message
news
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:11:28 GMT, "Omega"
wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
: My view - as a longtime ham-radio operator who used to diss CB - and
: who has actually has used 2-meter simplex during a major area disaster
: to locate one of the very few area gas stations still with electricity
: to pump gas - is that a good mobile CB setup is better for emergencies
: than a good mobile 2-meter setup. That's because the CB will go
: further simplex (no repeater) than the 2-meter rig will when repeaters
: are either down or tied up due to an emergency - or if you are in some
: locale either lacking repeater coverage or where you don't know the
: active local 2-meter repeater. The "idiot days" of CB - when every car
: had one - are long over here in North Carolina; only truckers, hunters,
: and farmers seem to have mobile rigs here now. I now use CB almost to
: the total exclusion of 2-meter - though I have excellent setups for
: both in my car.
: FRS does have its uses. Like keeping in contact with others on
: campouts, skiing, or in limited areas in Iraq (now a major use). A
: major downside of FRS is the total inability to attach a good antenna.

I really have to disagree with that. There is no way a 4-watt output
AM CB is going to communicate as far as a 50-watt output FM 2-meter
radio to a 5/8-wave antenna on the roof. In addition, if you are
talking about a real emergency, like a forest fire, where ARES/RACES
has been activated, the local hams will set up a portable repeater on
2-meters if the normal repeaters have been compromised. There is a
place for CB, and many have both, but it's not because CB has a
greater range simplex than does a good 2-meter radio setup.

Dick - W6CCD

I have talked from Tigard to east Portland on a stock AM CB with no
problems. I cannot make the same trip with 2m rig (even a 75 watt setup and
a 5/8 antenna) because of intervening terrain. QRP HF does have it's
benefits.