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Funny wish I had the money to buy stuff like that! Realy do, I sure dont own any radio equitment that cost over 200 bucks. Notice the signature. Everything except my 25 is used equitment.
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Bunnieman spent around $315 for a radio that gives him EIGHT bands of coverage. So, realistically, dollar for dollar, which one is actually the better value? Breaking it down by band coverage, he spent $39.37 PER band. If you had to buy a radio for EACH single band at--even $100 per band, you are talking $800! :shock: For one used radio at, say...........$100 for the ONE band of 40 channels (of course, regular WalMart CB's can be had cheaper used), the ham radio, IMHO, is still cheaper.
Let's say one wants to get into ham radio at the Technician level and wants to buy a decent 2 Meter radio. NEW ones can be had for a little more than $230, and used, depending on age, for as little as $50! 8) You can find handheld 2M rigs for that, too. So by comparing what each user gets for his money, the ham is still getting a better deal. Park the two operators beside each other and have a test to see which one can talk farther for his money (assuming legal for legal). The ham will access repeaters that will send his signal up to 100 miles with telephone quality; the CBer is lucky to get out 20 miles with his barefoot CB. And even without the VHF repeater, the VHF radio, operating simplex, is still likely to out-talk the CB radio. Yes, it is apples to oranges in the technological sense, but which is STILL the better deal dollar for dollar? Taking it a step farther, the ham can not only talk farther and more reliably, he can do it over and over and over again whereas the CBer *might* talk to a station today, but can't tomorrow.
Yes, I have approximately $2000 tied up in radio equipment. But I don't buy it all at once, either. It was accumulated over a period of 40 years--a widget here and a radio there--until I arrived at a point where I have a pretty decent station(s). I also have a pretty good hobby woodworking shop with tools from hand tools to power tools to table saws, planers--even a
Shopsmith. But I didn't come by that all at once, either. That, too, was started in high school--a tool here and a gadget there. *Most* of us don't just go out and load up with everything we need at once.
I, too, wince when I see the price of the IC-7000. NICE! But I am not going to race out to buy it 'just cuz'. I don't need it. Should I have to replace a rig, uh, yeah, maybe. But even then it would likely be used. I can't afford to buy each new thing that comes along.
But the point is, I believe that the Amateur radio is still the better value, both in the technological area, dollar value, and the satisfaction value to the owner simply because he gets FAR more back for his money. Look at a CB radio from 1979. Look at one circa 2005. WHAT has
really changed about CB radios in those 26 years? Nothing!
Same with the 1979
Swan 350. Then fast forward to 2005. Take the cost of the IC706 and factor in not 8 bands, but 12 (when you consider VHF, UHF, and the general coverage receiver and scanner capabilities). Divide it into $995 used as an average figure for a NEW ham rig. It comes out to about $83 per band!
Finally, I would speculate that most CBers--at least the ones I have known---have bought, are buying, or now own MORE than 200 bucks worth of radios and accessories
So I don't think that comparing Amateur equipment with CB radios is a fair comparison without comparing the VALUE received.
73
CWM
