Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

Does your club use FRS or CB??

2K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  madrabbitt 
#1 ·
My club has been using CB, but FRS got invented since then. I know FRS has better range, but is only in the small hand helds, right? What does your club use on runs, or highway caravaning to and from runs?
 
#2 ·
JeeperDon said:
My club has been using CB, but FRS got invented since then. I know FRS has better range, but is only in the small hand helds, right? What does your club use on runs, or highway caravaning to and from runs?
CB has much better range than FRS/GMRS as it is AM not FM. AM waves can bounce around (skip) and travel much farther distances. For short range FRS/GMRS is great (sometimes you may not want the whole world to hear your xmissions). You could also get ham tickets if you want more power and/or to use a repeater--bands are not so crowded, either.
 
#3 ·
AM/FM is just the modulation, which does not cause the difference I believe. Any range thing like you mention I believe is more likely due to the 27 MHZ of CB and the 462/467 MHZ of FRS. AM/FM radio is 1 MHZ vs 100MHZ, a similar difference. There may be better range in a perfect CB install. In general though I think the average Jeep CB install's range is poorer than the self contained FRS. I know in my personal experience, my handheld FRS has better range on the highway than a handheld CB. The only thing I don't like about FRS no larger speaker. I guess you could add one via the jacks on them.
 
#5 ·
FRS

GMRS supposedly requires a FCC license ( yeah right )

FRS reception is limited in cluttered areas.
It doesn't like granite and dense forest.
 
#6 ·
JeeperDon said:
AM/FM is just the modulation, which does not cause the difference I believe. Any range thing like you mention I believe is more likely due to the 27 MHZ of CB and the 462/467 MHZ of FRS. AM/FM radio is 1 MHZ vs 100MHZ, a similar difference. There may be better range in a perfect CB install. In general though I think the average Jeep CB install's range is poorer than the self contained FRS. I know in my personal experience, my handheld FRS has better range on the highway than a handheld CB. The only thing I don't like about FRS no larger speaker. I guess you could add one via the jacks on them.
Well yes, I worded that poorly. My point was the longer wave length of the CB can travel further and does not require LOS as much as the higher frequency wave signals do.
 
#7 ·
My experience with the FRS is that the range is very limited. Hills, trees, buildings all dramatically reduce the range of the FRS. We use the FRS in the pasture (70 acres). There are places out there you can't communicate due to hills/trees. I ride with an ATV club that uses FRS and we often have 50+ machines spread out over a couple miles of trail. Frequently the front is not able to talk to the back. There have been times I've been in the center of the line when I was unable to communicate with either the front or back of the line. We've discussed using CBs but most have bought the FRS radios, don't want to buy another radio, or mount a CB/antenna on their ATVs.

I've not used CBs for many years. '78 was the last time I messed with them (KDE7799 - good grief, how did I remember that?). I am getting involved with a 4x4 club that requires a CB and spent last night installing a radio and adjusting the antenna. I guess soon I'll be able to compare the two systems but I find it difficult to believe FRS is better than CB.
 
#8 ·
The guy I go wheeling with doesn't have a CB so I take along my FRS. In the woods I had trouble reaching him less than a 1/2 mile away but from the same spot I could talk to guys a couple miles away clearly with my CB.
 
#12 ·
mecompco said:
CB has much better range than FRS/GMRS as it is AM not FM. AM waves can bounce around (skip) and travel much farther distances.
typical CB radios don't have nearly enough power to take avantage of "skipping" because skipping requires the radio wave be powerfull enough to reach the ionosphere and bounce back.
 
#13 ·
Airbug said:
typical CB radios don't have nearly enough power to take avantage of "skipping" because skipping requires the radio wave be powerfull enough to reach the ionosphere and bounce back.
Au contraire, hams have been bouncing signals weaker than that off the ionosphere and talking around the world nearly since ham radio has been a hobby. There's an entire "QRP" sub-hobby within ham radio that delights in nothing more than using just a few watts at HF frequencies to talk all over the world using skip conditions. So yes, 4 watt CB radios can and regularly do communicate great distances using skip. :)
 
#15 ·
Jerry Bransford said:
Au contraire, hams have been bouncing signals weaker than that off the ionosphere and talking around the world nearly since ham radio has been a hobby. There's an entire "QRP" sub-hobby within ham radio that delights in nothing more than using just a few watts at HF frequencies to talk all over the world using skip conditions. So yes, 4 watt CB radios can and regularly do communicate great distances using skip. :)
Exactly--You can talk round the world with 1 watt or less, under the right circumstances :) N1UTZ
 
#16 ·
Jerry Bransford said:
Au contraire, hams have been bouncing signals weaker than that off the ionosphere and talking around the world nearly since ham radio has been a hobby. There's an entire "QRP" sub-hobby within ham radio that delights in nothing more than using just a few watts at HF frequencies to talk all over the world using skip conditions. So yes, 4 watt CB radios can and regularly do communicate great distances using skip. :)
oh, intresting, thanks for the info, I guess I learn something new every day!
 
#17 ·
Airbug said:
oh, intresting, thanks for the info, I guess I learn something new every day!
Here's an interesting side-note to that. I often run my ham rig on the 10 meter band which is right next door to the CB band. It's more often than not that I can ONLY communicate well outside of California using skip but no one within, say, 500 miles of me. I can't even recall working more than 1-2 hams in Arizona as it's just too close for skip and too far for local. This is due to skip working so well with not even my 100 watts PEP SSB signal being barely able to get 30 miles up the road to communicate with a local ham. :)
 
#21 ·
After adding up all the above, I think people get FSRs for the trails simply because they are cheap and easy. There is nothing to install at all. I got a pair (2!) of Kenwoods for $38 just to have in the family as walkie-talkies for the odd occasion. I'm sticking to my installed CB for the trail.
 
#22 ·
CB is better for 4 wheeling runs.
1. Mounted units draw off the vehicle's power so no dead batteries... especially good if you only use it once a month and it sits in the truck the rest of the time
2. A simple CB setup is inexpensive and lasts long if well maintained. Most cheap FRS units are just that... cheap.
3. Mounted CB units have more reliable range for 4 wheeling events. Notice i didnt say better range, although thats true in most cases, but reliable range. See what happens with trees, bends in the road and hills. Yes, good GMRS handhelds can usually out perform CB's on flat open highway, but put them on the trail and see what happens.
4. Like someone said, mounted units (assume they're mounted properly... mine isnt at the moment and i'll admit that) are safer on the trail in the event of a crash or rollover, they dont go flying everywhere.
Plus, in the event of a crash or rollover, they're likely to still work to call for help.


That being said. My wife's pathfinder and my cherokee both have CB's installed. When we're out on the trail by ourselves, usually camping or whatever, and we're both in the same truck (usually my cherokee since its 4wd) i keep the radio on scan. Lets us see who else is out there, plus we can hear any distress calls on any channel, not just 9, in the event we can help. (And yes, we're equipped to help)
We also have a pair of motorola GMRS radios (properly licensed) in the camping kit. They work pretty well around camp when we're on foot.
 
#23 ·
My club uses the CBs.

Me and the guys I run with from the forum used to use the FRS. I always found them to be a big pain in the ***, er butt. The tiny, weak speakers made them difficult for me to hear over the engine and wind noise. Range seemed VERY limited. There was the issue of running out of batteries and needing to carry spares (not that big of a deal, but still . . .). And either holding the FRS thingy in your hand the whold day or finding a place to put it so that it's within ear shot. And oddly enough but sometimes it was difficult for cross-brand communication. As in we couldn't get a few of the FRS to work with eachother and this was after double checking everything.

I think all of us have switched to the CBs now. Muuuuch better. Communication is much easier and clearer now. Range improved, etc. etc.
 
#25 ·
superubicon said:
Our club uses both. Most of us have CB's in our rigs and the Spotters and trail guides use the FRS to talk with eachother while out of their rigs.
That is the best combination. When I first got a Jeep, I already had a pair of the FRS radios and that is what the group used. When I started on more difficult runs and running with a different crowd, CB's were required so I found a Cobra for under 40.00 and got a 3ft Firestik antenna and a fellow Jeeper installed it(I was scared of being around the battery). I needed a spot and the trail boss left his Jeep which had his CB but didn't bring his FRS radio so he was shouting and I couldn't understand him so someone finally gave him a radio so that he could spot me. Duh!I didn't really a CB but knew the only way I could go on the more difficult runs was to have the required equipment meaning CB, etc.. I visted a friend and went on a run with his and we there the only ppl who had the "required equipment" and we were shocked. He's going to make the suggestion that everyone have "required equipment".
 
#26 ·
one would think the word "required" would mean "required, biznatch"

edit: Oh, that is SO going in my sig.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top