CB is much more valiable than Amateur Radio because it can be legally
used for profit as well as for pleasure. FCC rules prohibit amateur
radio use in profitable pursuits.- It`s FCC protection for
broadcasters,
common carriers, and other radio services. .........

None of this matters in smaller third world nations though....Most
people
I see on TV, in say Iran, Afghanistan, africa, etc, etc, are using
VHF Handie talkies most of the time. I never see them using CB's,
although, I guess some do...But I've seen icom HT's on CNN, many
a time, when seeing video of people over there...I would think they are
working simplex...Most all soldiers I see with radios are using icoms,
etc...
I don't think CB is real popular, although maybe there are a few...
As far as I know, CB is mainly a USA conceived band...If others use it,

it's just cause they adopted it to use existing radios being built...
As far as the debate as which is better, to me it's a non issue...I can
use
either, or both...But to *me*, ham radio is much more useful than CB
could
ever think of being...Just the restriction of being in a small single
band is
enough to kill it, being as skip is only good about 50% of the
time...So,
yea, I could talk across town, but maybe nowhere else...With ham radio,

I can talk to nearly anyone, one way or the other, if they can match
bands
with me. Being able to work 160m-70cm with a single radio smokes
being able to work only 11m with a single radio... If we had a major
emergency, which for us in Houston, will almost certainly be a
hurricane,
I bet ham radio will be much more useful overall, just due to the shear
advantage of mucho more spectrum, and types of propagation.
And many locals on VHF are already into skywarn, etc...So 2m is a
natural for the hams locally...They are prepared for it.
But...
Having a CB would be better than nothing at all....I don't have the
problem
of looking down on CB...To me, it's just another band, under different
regs...I give them about as much thought as I do the cell phone band...
I might tune across 11m, maybe once every two months or so, when
checking cdx....It's actually usually fairly dead around here...For
that
reason, it could actually be fairly useful...Very few "average" people
have CB's like they used to...Most CB'ers now, are fairly hard core
CB'ers....And people that actually use them like truckers, and people
way out on ranches, etc....You go out in west texas, and there are
still
a few ranchers that use CB to yik yak...It's like their local party
line...
But myself, I prefer 80/40 meters for local/regional use...40 in the
day,
80 at night...Or 160 too....I could talk three blocks away, to
Galveston,
and relay to Austin, all on the same band as a scenario...CB....Three
blocks, yes...Galveston, hummmm....Not very well...Would need a good
antenna, and big leanyer...Austin...SOL, unless it's a fluke of
nature....
I know which line I'll be in.....BTW....Many truckers agree, and are on

80/40....They know what really works...Just most truckers don't have a
ham ticket...I think the numbers are increasing though...They can talk
to
their families anywhere on the road, if the YL, etc is a ham...
CB won't do that very often...Skip zone is too long, and it will always
be
a crapshoot for regional use. I use the bands that best match the path,

time of day. Way more reliable. I can get on 80/40 right now and talk
to
Dallas, or any other city in the country. Even from my truck.
No if's, ands, or but's....nearly as reliable as a telephone... In some
rare
cases, the MUF may drop way low, and 160 would be the better choice.
CB won't talk to Dallas from Houston very often at all...CB is CB. No
more,
no less...I suspect if "John Smith" actually has a ticket, it's no
code....And
no HF, unless maybe he has an old novice...I can't see a reason to
complain if he actually had use of those other bands. Only people who
have some kind of inferiority complex bark at the moon about something
as
trivial as CB vs Ham radio...Maybe we should develop a cb/ham therapy
course to deal with all the problems of coexistance. We could have them
at ham fests, etc...Hams and CB'ers could have group encounter sessions
to iron out their problems...Get all touchy feely, and hug each
other....
Of course, I won't be there....Sounds too gay to me....
MK