If FCC gave CB 50 watts

[xm49north7]

If the FCC gave cb radio 50 legal watts of power, would this give non repeater ham a run for it's money. Ham keeps being touted as the best local comms for local at 90 miles on 50 watts non repeater. I was thinking if cb had 50 watts, we could do that. What would you rather have for local, 50 watts of Ham, or 50 watts of CB. Just throwing this out there, for thoughts and for those with experience,. I think it is time cb had it's share of watts, fm/ham, there getting watts, Why can't cb have a few to help manufacturers get a little fun into their product line. Or put another way what would your choice be for non tower assisted local comms ?.

 

[w9cll]

27mhz will generally go further via groundwave than 146mhz for given power. I can, however, build a bigger higher gain antenna system that will be smaller and easier to handle than CB. I used to run two 17 element beams stacked at 80 feet. It was large but it was manageable. 21db gain was nice but 17 elements on 27mhz would be HUGE..

 

[xm49north7]

This is my understanding as well, cb is very good for local comms, so even with gain antenna if it won't cut through the rough, still won't matter. So watt for watt cb is still a great choice.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Nice dreams but never gonna happen.
You are lucky they dropped the 155 mile limit last year.
Increasing the power limit and expanding the number of channels was on the table as well but both got shot down.
There were Very Few people that took the time or put in the effort to respond to the FCC when these changes were proposed.
That was also part of the problem.
And getting your Tech license is not hard at all.
And the number of very cheap ht's and mobile radios that work on vhf/uhf has come down in cost so much that it is not that expensive to play on 2 meters or 440 were there are repeaters to use.
73
Jeff

 

[AudioShockwav]

27mhz will generally go further via groundwave than 146mhz for given power. I can, however, build a bigger higher gain antenna system that will be smaller and easier to handle than CB. I used to run two 17 element beams stacked at 80 feet. It was large but it was manageable. 21db gain was nice but 17 elements on 27mhz would be HUGE..

I used to run 2 stacked 14 element yagi's on 2 meters with a TPL amp.
Ya. Very easy to turn and a bunch of gain for not much work.
73
Jeff

 

[w9cll]

And getting your Tech license is not hard at all.

Yep it's easy..

 

[w9cll]

I used to run 2 stacked 14 element tag I'd on 2 meters with a TPL amp.

CushCraft 17b2's for me

 

[xm49north7]

Nice dreams but never gonna happen.
You are lucky they dropped the 155 mile limit last year.
Increasing the power limit and expanding the number of channels was on the table as well but both got shot down.
There were Very Few people that took the time or put in the effort to respond to the FCC when these changes were proposed.
That was also part of the problem.
And getting your Tech license is not hard at all.
And the number of very cheap ht's and mobile radios that work on vhf/uhf has come down in cost so much that it is not that expensive to play on 2 meters or 440 were there are repeaters to use.
73
Jeff

I had a vhf/uhf, just hated the radio, and it's about as dead as cb, least the cb is blessing me with skip.

 

[w9cll]

I had a vhf/uhf, just hated the radio, and it's about as dead as CB, least the CB is blessing me with the skip.

Move up then. There is always an open band somewhere on the ham bands.

 

[543_Dallas]

I've never met a cber that adhered to the power rule. I don't see what difference it would make.

50 watts on the ham bands is more versatile. Pick the band based on how far you want to talk and when you are trying to do it. On some bands 50 watts and a dipole will talk a few hundred miles.

 

[xm49north7]

Not ruling out anything, Like all radio.

 

[Rick330man]

I've never run anything other than legal power on CB. A decent rig has worked pretty well for me for most of what I need - which is communicating from my boat to my house here in the lower Florida Keys, where cell phone range can be as limited as 7.5 miles.

Some folks may not want to get into other radio bands or services (and have to buy additional gear). 50 watts on CB would be very welcome!

 

[oldtymer]

50 watts on the ham bands is more versatile. Pick the band based on how far you want to talk and when you are trying to do it. On some bands 50 watts and a dipole will talk a few hundred miles.

Or a few thousand if propagation is good

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I had a vhf/uhf, just hated the radio, and it's about as dead as cb, least the cb is blessing me with skip.

And that skip you enjoy is the very reason why it won't matter if you run 5 watts, 50 watts or 100 watts on CB . Your range talking local during skip is limited to less than that of a VHF radio.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

A little extra power on 11m helps for mobile when antennas are not ideal. I don't know anyone who runs 4 watts.