OK, I should have been more clear I guess...

When I look at the rules for CB I see a 4w AM limit and a 12w SSB limit
(correct anything I say that is incorrect please). Then I think to
myself... 'I can't do anything with 4 watts'.

But thats the local VHF/UHF side of me - so then I move on to trying to
think HF - which is hard for me to do because I'm a no-code tech who's
about to start studying for his general ticket. I have never had an HF
communication or a long distance communication that didn't involve a
repeater... but I think to myself 'ok, well, i need a good antenna and
a good rig, and a good setup (which is hard to do since I live at the
bottom of a hill, but I'm willing to try)... and then I'll just start
going through frequencies. But there are only a few CB's that seem to
scan, so am I just going to sit there and spin the knob until I hear
someone?

I guess I'm gunshy. When I set up my GMRS equipment for use between
friends and family around the city, we had to use 35+ watts to get
decent signals from one to another, and I'm concerned that my 4 watt CB
will have no ability and just cost me wasted money.

I do have a PRO-2066 scanner that can receive CB (just learned that
last night) and I plan to put the CB channels in with the Ham repeaters
to see what I hear. I guess I'll start there.

Thanks, any other comments are appreciated.

Richard