Amateur radio for cb

[108FB512]

As I'm hoping to get my ticket in few months is it worth buying a ham multi band radio and use for cb/ssb just now, then at later date can use to fill potential?

If so, what is the cheapest radio you can pick up that covers popular freqs

[Admiral]

Yes.

One from each brand, but there's loads.

Yaesu FT-757, Kenwood TS-430, Icom IC-725

[Mattylad]

Yes but it's not legal.

Go for it.

[Anthony123]

As mentioned there are loads.. I like a lot of us have tried loads, Theres good and bad and all of these radios have there good and bad points... I personally prefer dedicated radios... If your after HF then get a HF radio and the same for vhf and uhf, Ive tried the shack-in-a-box radio and although they do a lot there normally just to fidly and way to small... Radios such as the ft-857 have issues with the RF transistors..The 706 mk1 has problem in finding spares, But this is true of any older radio, some of the older gear can be difficult if it goes wonky.. although ive a mk2 757GX here in bits on its way to being restored.. and shes a really nice old girl...A really nice dedicated HF radio that has enough bells and wistels to keep you happy but not menu driven is the FT-840 .... Its a real nice little radio... easy to work on if things go wrong, There cheap to buy...and they seem to last forever... if looked after... The only real problem with the 840 is that the vfo shaft can gum up... a little lite oil and its good as new... also R-2213 on the main board can be a problem as its run close to its maximum.. change it for a 5 watt resistor and it will go on and on.. I still use a FT-840 as my main radio.. great little radios

[Martinedwards]

depends on cost.

I have a '74 FT101B that I got for £100 for one of the fine gents on this very site. worked the world with it. (though I pulled the 11m crystal for a 12m one.......

keeping the power down to FL levels is a little tricky though.

my FT747GX also does the job very nicely indeed. Snip one wire to wideband it from factory settings(once you get the 60m NOV of course!)

as has been stated, it's illegal to use a Ham rig on CB freqs.

some people would have more issue with that than others!

[bigpimp347]

an Alinco DX-77 can be set inside for foundation licencees to stop them breaking the law

[108EH002]

Will you go mobile ? Alinco 70 or Kenwood Ts 50 £200-£250,freebander's and some amateur's don't care about law's .

[2E1IIP]

This is not a debate about law.
An ideal set would be something like a Yaesu FT747/757, Alinco DX77, Icom IC7XX.
These radio's can be obtained from £150-£250 depending on condition and are great entry level rigs, as we reach the inevitable dip in the solar cycle you will see more and more of these radio's on the market, albeit for bargain prices.

[andymuza]

I personally think using a Ham rig on CB is a waste of a good Ham rig.

It's a very open question and has too many variable to be able to answer it. As you haven't advised us of how much you want to spend I would say just buy the best you can afford. One persons opinion of what is best for your budget will differ hugely to someone elses. Most dedicated HF sets in my opinion are better than a shack in the box type radio in my experience but, some are every bit as good as a dedicated HF set.

Best advice I can give is, if you get a HF set and use it on CB then also use it to listen to the protocols and procedures on HF Ham bands so you don't sound like a CBer out of his depth on the Ham bands. Nothing worse than hearing "how much am I pushing on ya" on the ham bands along with a lot of other CB terminology such as SWAR, Burner, Twig, etc, It may come across snobbish but CB terminology is for CB and not for Ham radio.

[108EH002]

Try and get one that has not been widebanded for 11M (have never heard anyone asking a shop/rig doctor to wideband a HF radio for CB) 512 if you can,that way it won't have been run at full power on U.K fm,and it is easy enough to do the mod yourself if you ask on here someone will tell you how to do it

[TheCaptain]

A really nice dedicated HF radio that has enough bells and wistels to keep you happy but not menu driven is the FT-840 .... Its a real nice little radio... easy to work on if things go wrong, There cheap to buy...and they seem to last forever... if looked after...

I have one as a back up radio and they are great

[k40]

I have a hf radio but I prefer to use a cb on cb as it cost me £600 for my Icom and I've got lots of cb's that cost peanuts.
At the moment I'm using a SS360FM

[108FB512]

So seems to be that something like that is a Jack of all trades, master of none

[B5566]

IHMO a nonsense. Most of the amateur gear is simply useless on CB due to poor AM and out of the band filtering. From my own experience I can tell you that most of multimode CB's if not all would easily outpreform most of the amateur gear on 11 meters. Yes, it will work, but each up to their own.

If it would be any different then RCI/Cobra/Magnum et all would kick the bucket long long time ago, wouldn't they?

Ahh don't mind me, being cranky at wee hours.

[wa10]

B5566
can you explain what you mean by out of band filtering ?