CB radio vs. cell phone vs. HAM Radio

I been cb for 50 yrs, and they are what they are, but for what the cost, nothing to loose. It may take time, but sooner or later someone w/ a cb will be in your cb range, and can relay etc etc. At least someone else will know where you are and the trouble you're in.

Son of Norway wrote:
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.

X2 if you have Verizon you will be ok 99% of the time

Bumpyroad wrote:

KD4UPL wrote:
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.

what part of VA are you and RoyB listening to a CB in? mine is on 24/7/365 going up and down I-95 and I-85 and I can't remember the last time was that I heard such foul mouth chatter. and it usually lasts for a couple of miles/minutes at the most. and short range is not USELESS as that is all I need when approaching Richmond, etc. and asking oncoming truckers for road advice.
but people in this thread are deviating from the OPs question in the first place. I pointed out that for the OPs use and needs a CB wouldn't work. that in no way means that they are generally worthless.
bumpy

X1, I have heard more foul cusssing, foul mouth talking on High School Campuses than I have ever heard from truckers. Thats what the "squelch" knob is for, to filter out conversations you do not want to hear!!! The operator just has to be smarter than the CB:):)

Bumpyroad wrote:
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

Believe it or not you can talk to someone in the United States on a ham radio also, like across town or across the state.

GordonThree wrote:
pick up a used police radio off ebay, for emergency use only. if it's truly an emergency, paying a fine and having the radio confiscated would be a small price to pay.

So you know what frequency the police use where you travel?

TTDTIEH

If your considering a sat phone be careful which carrier you get. I have friends who have tried sat phones and the one that seems to work the best is Iridium. Why? well they don't use geosynchronous sat's, so you are most assured of having a sat in coverage. However, deep canyons, lots of tree's etc. can even then limit coverage and you may go 20 minutes before getting a sat in range.

Global star uses geosynchronous sat's. you must have a clear view of the southern sky! Think of it this way. If you couldn't get sat tv coverage, you likely won't get phone reception.

IMHO if you want emergency communication get a spot or delorman communicator. I have a spot and spot connect. Either has a very high probability of getting you emergency help. the communicator allows SMS text's. Downside it you can't recieve texts, which the delorme does support.

I've used the spot for years to let people know I'm ok, or running late etc. and so far has been 100 percent reliable in sending the message to the intended party. If you ever do a sos with it, it will notifiy emergency services as well as anyone on your defined emergency list. And it will give GPS coordinates of your location. It also allows people you give a link to to track where you are. The delorme should be similar.

And if your in Montana, neither GSM or CDMA has good coverage in remote areas. In fact either can have no coverage even on sections of the interstate.


In the end, if your concerned, I'd go with a spot or deloreme messenger device. But also realize, unless you are going to very remote areas, with no other groups, you will usually be close to help. Campgrounds will have other campers the majority of the time. Even though one may think of Montana as backwoods, on any state highway you will get traffic coming by. May be only a car every hour or so, but you will have people driving by. and even on seldom traveled roads, you'll usually see a farmhouse every few miles at least.

Now if your going to a wilderness area, then you will be far from others and even in a dire emergency no motorized access is allowed, so it walking or carrying out. So there a spot etc. might be a good idea.

rr2254545 wrote:

Son of Norway wrote:
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.

X2 if you have Verizon you will be ok 99% of the time

well, the OP says he will be in montana. We travel there a lot. I can state with confidence that verizon will NOT give you 99% coverage. Even on the interstates in montana you can go for 50 miles or more without coverage from any carrier even with a quality cell phone booster. I will agree verizon will be better than ATT.

One option is two cell phones, one on ATT, one on verizon. this will help since there are many areas in montana with one coverage or the other but not both. But you will still end up with many spots with no coverage.

rr2254545 wrote:

Son of Norway wrote:
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.

X2 if you have Verizon you will be ok 99% of the time

verizon doesn't even work at my house in S virginia, 100% of the time.
bumpy

I would question why the OP feels that he absolutely needs some sort of communications to begin with. We have camped/backpacked in some pretty remote places in the past(for extended periods of time) with nothing of the sort. I do see the point of having some sort of device to let others know where you are, but that is not necessary.
I have a ham licence, and the necessary 2M and HF gear that i have taken with me into some remote regions (RV'ing). First, i didn't have the range for 2M, and the HF i used for weekly nets, just checking in. If i needed it for an emergency, it would of worked. But the best is just being prepared to deal with whatever can come your way. If you are that far away from society then, by the time 'help' arrives, it could be just too late.
I have stopped taking my HF rig with me as i have a lot of different things to keep me occupied. I have used my 2M while on the Hwys. and occasionally i find another Ham, but that is rare. I once had a CB and found it lacking. Same with a frms, but that was a long time ago, they might of changed the technology by now, but they are still very limited in range. The best suggestion so far is to get a SPOT (or a DELORME, but i don't know them). They will still allow you to send a request for help, no matter where you are. But at the end of the day, you are responsible for your own well being and don't take any unnecessary risks out there. You should be fine (with proper training and forethought.

ps. what's up with talking to 'China'?, you can talk all around the world!

It is looking very much like to me in order to be as prepared as possible you need to do all three things: Verizon cell, CB radio, and ham radio. I do this and several others that have posted do also. The one thing that I think needs to be emphasised is you need to learn for yourself what it takes to get the most out of each of these methods. To make communication potentially more likely you would also rent the satphone.