Most serious freebanders don't use an AM handle nor operate on the freeband with one.
I thought this thread was about the freeband; not about AM nonsense.
Some Hams will go on about those who modify radios. Most of them don't care what CBers do. Just so long as they stay off of the Ham freqs and don't make interference, they look the other way. Perhaps even use .385 from time to time too . . .
Seldom listen to .385 now that the solar cycle has really kicked in. It was OK when there wasn't so many out there last year and before. Now it is a real mess. Many freeband operators don't know how to use the radio to its best advantages. I hear the proof of that all the time. There is a lot more to it than just turning on a radio and keying the mic. Many operators know very little about using the freqs in a way that makes their time on it really productive. Some can. Many don't care. 10m Ham really does smoke the freeband and the CB channels in so many ways.
Just no comparison - really.
This might all sound uppity; but it is really just an observation/evaluation made over the last month of using both the freeband and 10m.
Just too many newbees out on the freeband.
However, the real vets of the freeband really know their stuff - for sure.
Oh yeah; one newbee out on the freeband has been out there singing.
As far as equipment goes - suit yourself.
Try them both side by side and then you be the judge.
I will disagree about the choice of radios for using though; the Ham rigs are just better.
Heard but a few operators out there that knew how to use a non-Ham radio - and they did all right.
But I wouldn't say that they are just as good as a Ham rig - uh uh.
