CB radio vs. cell phone vs. HAM Radio

Sat phone. You can rent one for the period of time you think you might need it

I concur with sat phone. a CB does not have the range. don't know why you want a ham radio to talk to somebody in China.
bumpy

Rent a sat phone. Make sure you get a remote antenna with it which has to be placed outside of the structure you're in so that it has direct line of site to the satellites in the sky. Despite a hundred movies, they don't work from inside of tent, in a cave, underground bunker, in a house, etc, etc, etc.

Bill

Sat phone or a Delorme InReach sat messenger (two-way texting + SOS).

Is your cell phone service with Verizon? That will give you the best coverage in remote areas. A CB radio is cheap may be very helpful in an emergency on the road even with its short range. I always have one with me.

Ham Radio is a hobby and you can have a pretty good local range depending what Ham repeaters are in the area. Doing third party traffic will depend on who you are talking to. No guarantees...

CB is a useless POS way to communicate with anyone. The verbage is very nasty bad for family communications... I use CB only to hear what is withing my immediate area listening to the truckers giving road hazard reports etc. Never talk on it... I have never communicated with another RV'er using the CB since installed in 2008... I'm sure some of them have CB's installed but I have never run across one. We also have FRS radios to use around the camp sites or being in town doing shopping etc. they are pretty handy to use to stay in touch... So are Cell Phones too haha...

Cell Phones is our primary method for us keeping in touch with family or 911 emergencies. We are on the VERIZON Network which for us seems to work very well in the off-road away from the Interstate Highways we like to camp at. I may have had one or two places where VERZION did not work for us... One place was GOBER, TX... I also carry a Verizon MIFI account which gives me an Internet hot spot that I use with five of our my devices like cellphone and tablets etc... The MIFI unit sits in a WILSON SLEEK Cradle which has an outside antenna connected. Does very well working with the weak cell phone signals you may encounter... We do not even try to work with the non-secure WIFI signal connections available at camp grounds or other public places... To big of a security risk for me... The Verizon MIFI account is secured and gives us the internet connections we need. Works anywhere we get Verizon Cell Phone service but does not require our cell phone to be usable... The MIFI account is assigned its own cell phone number on our VERIZON Wireless account...

In my working years the Satellite Comms setups never worked very well for us. We always ended up using regular cell phone service for the most part.

My COMMs two cents worth...

Roy Ken

Grub32 wrote:
HI all,

I wanted to tap the resources of the forum here for suggestions on traveling in remote areas. Years ago, I traveled through Montana, Idaho and Wyoming and went several days without cell phone service. I will be embarking on a journey out west to glacier national park and yellowstone. I am expecting cell phone service to be far better than before but it will stil be limited and likely non existant in many areas we will be in. I want a back up in case an emergency happens as we will be traveling with our children any you never know when help will be needed for one thing or another.

I have plenty of time to get licensed as a HAM radio operator if that would be the best option.

I would like suggestions on best back up, either a CB radio or HAM radio or is both the right option?

Any an all feedback are appreciated.

Best regards,

Grub

in a true emergency the FCC has decreed that any radio frequency is fair game. my advice would be to get the ham license...it' ain't difficult...as you may find others to talk with while you're out there. I'd also carry a full 5-watt CB and a cell phone. cover all your bases. you might also consider renting a satellite phone if you will truly be in the middle of nowhere. good luck.

Are you planning to solo hike the back country? SAT phone or one of the 2 way sat beacons.

Otherwise enjoy the time without cell coverage.

I have quite a bad technology addiction. Withdrawal the first two or three days is rough but after that what a relief.

Reason I say this, in the lower 48 you're never alone. Even down the roughest dirt road, someone else always comes along.

Sat phone or beacon.

A CB is useless unless you're trying to talk to someone within a mile of your location. Mainly they're good for listening to lots of foul mouthed people argue with each other.
A ham radio can be a great communication tool if you know what you're doing. Just getting a license and buying a radio won't always cut it. You would need to know what repeaters will be in the area you are traveling in. You would need to know how to program those repeaters and their access tone / code into your radio. And of course, there would need to be an other amateur radio operator listening when you call. I've been licensed for 24 years and I've enjoyed the hobby, public service, and emergency communication aspects of amateur radio. If you have the time and interest to learn the equipment and use it well I highly recommend it.
If you're looking for a no-fail go-to communication method then I have to agree with those recommending a sat-phone.
Whoever thought amateur radio was only for talking to "China" knows nothing of it's uses and capabilities.