Communications Equipment / Radios

jshupe wrote:
Who has CB/ ham/ or radio scanners in their vehicles, and why?

I've been considering the three for a while, and ended up ordering a CB setup last night. I don't have a ham license and don't want to get one just yet, though I'm sure if I had a radio I'd rarely if ever transmit.

My primary concerns were traffic and weather information, but I'm an information junkie so am still thinking a scanner might be fun to have.

Interested in what you guys have, and why.

CB, no, no longer of value to me, to much noise from folks running linears and over the top foul language not to mention rude folks intentionally keying over other folks.

Ham, yes, have a dual band 2mt/440 rig.. Serves multiple purposes.. Has extended receiving of both bands so it can tune in NOAA weather and VHF/UHF public services (police/fire/business band).

Chose one that has a detachable head from the radio and the head is mounted to my dash.. The body goes under my vehicle seat.. Makes for a neat compact installation..

Scanner, no, scanning police/fire/business frequencies while traveling is not really worth it or easy.. Police/fire bands have been changing over the years, many have moved from VHF to UHF making it even harder due to shorter distance of UHF.

Not to mention Police/Fire tend to not "share" the same frequencies, as you move from one metro area to another you will have to change all the stored frequencies.. You would have to keep a pretty big book of frequencies to pull that off.

For Weather, NOAA is one of your greatest resources, they have limited frequencies and you should be pretty much able to find at least one active NOAA station pretty much across the entire USA.