CB Radio vs. GMRS Radio: Compare Before You Buy

CB Radio vs

CB Radio vs. GMRS Radio: Compare Before You Buy

Everyone knows about CB radios; but there are alternative 2-way radios on the market for consumers. FRS and GMRS handie-talkies and mobiles are also favorites of many. MURS is also an option; similar to GMRS and license free, it's main constraint is that there are merely 5 channels and is mainly restricted to handie-talkies at the time of this writing.

What's the difference between them?

Licensing:

-FRS & MURS handies as well as CB radios are license free.

-The FCC requires you to buy a license for GMRS use. Not exactly cheap at $85, the license however, will cover your whole family.

Range:

Range is contingent on many factors, but the biggest is whether you're using a base unit, a mobile, or a walkie-talkie. So why do the radio type matter? Let's look at them.

-Walkie-talkie (also known as handie-talkie or handie): FRS will have the shortest range here, due to their 500 mW (half a watt) maximum output power and fixed antenna. Next shortest in range will be the GMRS & MURS handie, which will be close to that of a CB walkie-talkie.

-The mobile will have more useful range than the handies, and can easily outshine them if equipped with a half decent antenna. Only CB radios have something called Single Sideband (SSB), which will have much better range than a GMRS or AM only CB radio.

-Base units of both services will both have very good range; On the base or the mobile, GMRS is permitted 50 watts output; CB is limited to 4 watts.

Antennas:

-CB antennas are much bigger than GMRS antennas. The reason for this is the frequencies involved; CB makes use of 27 Mhz, and GMRS is on 462-467 Mhz. The higher the Mhz number, the smaller the antenna. As an example, a full quarter-wave CB mobile antenna is typically around 9 feet in length. A quarter-wave GMRS antenna is right around 6 inches. Base antennas for both CB and GMRS are available in a wide variety of configurations, from basic quarter-wave to elaborate multi-element directional, the latter providing much greater range.

Channels:

-This category is a no brainer; CB has 40 channels available.

-MURS is 5 channels, FRS handies have 7 channels allocated, while GMRS has 15 channels. FM mode is used for FRS and GMRS.

-GMRS can use repeaters, which FRS, MURS and CB cannot. a repeater is simply an "access point" which will take your signal, boost it, and rebroadcast it at the same time you are transmitting. However, repeaters and not something you come across easily. Also, very few GMRS handies have split capability, which is necessary for repeater use. Unless you plan to build it yourself, look at around $1K for a repeater. But if you can get the money, a GMRS repeater really increases your range and talk distance. However, private repeaters are not permitted on GMRS; it must be shared with everyone.

Price:

-FRS once won this category hands down, with many FRS handies available dirt cheap. But FRS only handies are getting hard to find.

-MURS handies are limited in availability principally due to lack of demand and models made just for this service seem to have only one brand name, Dakota, which is priced $50 and up.

-GMRS handies vary in range widely, depending on model and options. Mobiles are mostly commerical UHF radios which are tuned to work on GMRS channels.

-CB radios have the biggest variety of prices and configurations of all three radio services.

Summary

If all you need is a walkie-talkie, your best bet is a nicely equipped 3 to 5 watt GMRS handie-talkie. i.e., a pair of Cobra GMRS 5-watt walkie-talkies with charger will cost around a C-note. If you want a comparable pair of CB walkie-talkies, price will be similar, but the handies are much bigger.

However for mobile use, it's not so clear! With a decent antenna, GMRS and CB mobiles will give very similar range.

But in the base arena, it's no contest: the CB can't be beat. GMRS can beat CB range with a repeater and/or highly directional antennas, but again, this is getting into "hobbyist" areas. It all depends... how much do you want to spend?

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