CB Radio vs. GMRS Radio

We have tried GMRS traveling with some friends in separate vehicles. Marginal at best. Cell phone is much better for talking to family/friends when in separate vehicles. But if cell service is not available, GMRS can work. CB can work also, but best to do it on something other than channel 19.
If you just want to be able to converse with anyone along the highway then CB is the best option as not many use GMRS for that purpose due to limited distance. But, you have to put up with the trash talking you will hear there. Much is not suitable for sensitive ears, and certainly not for children. But can be very handy to find out road conditions ahead, or why traffic is stopped in front of you in the middle of nowhere as far as you can see.

CB is good for talking to truckers. GMRS is a family specific license but the hand held radios are reliable only to a distance of about 1/4 mile in good terrain. Forget the advertised Watts with the GMRS radios as it is a complete lie with the actually signal output in the 0.1 to o.4 Watt range if you check the FCC filings by the manufacturers. This is limited in part as the antenna is right against your brain.

There are commercial GMRS and Ham radios that are permitted by the FCC to use a separate antenna and so can have a lot more output in the 25 Watt and higher and these are all line of sight so having the antenna on the roof of an RV puts it 12' off the ground which also helps. Good thing is that a single GMRS license covers you and your extended family which includes spouse, siblings, grandchildren and grandparents as the case may be.

Cell phones work the best in most areas and Verizon provides the best rural coverage with AT&T the next best.

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