Is there rivalry between cb?ers and hams?

[WA2SQQ]

Rivalry between hams and Cher?s? It?s where I got my start in the mid 60?s

https://e-norge.com/2025/03/27/why-the-rivalry-between-cbers-and-hams-if-most-cbers-are-hams/

[W2JRO]

I started off as a cb'er. But my dad quickly waved the ham radio carrot in front of me by buying gear and having it sit there UNTIL I got my license. Once I got my ticket, I never turned my CB radio on again.

I think a lot of hams look at CB'ers as Outlaws. Before the FCC modded the rules not to require a CB license, EVERY CB'er on the air was operating without one. Add to that, the CB'ers that are running 5000 watt amplifiers.

For the CB'ers, they mostly think Hams are nerds and outcasts.

I don't think there is a rivalry at all,unfortunately, just a lack of respect on both sides.

[KD6VXI]

CBers are doing a lot more than 5 grand.

3CW100000 is currently being built.

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

[W3SLK]

WP2ASS said:

CBers are doing a lot more than 5 grand.

3CW100000 is currently being built.

That's just insane!

[KA3EKH]

With that kind of power you can be a Mother Trucker and talk over anyone!

[W1RKW]

I confess to having been a CB op back when it became a fad in the 70s. Had the Class D license like many of my friends back then.  Eventually, 11m became overcrowded locally and turned into like what various social media is today, a cesspool.  A couple of years later (1979) I had my Novice license.  I never looked back at CB until some of my coworkers several years ago were talking about it and were active in their area.  They convinced me to get on 11m.  I tried but I was too far away from them.  Recently, I have been on 11m with 12watts talking on slop bucket to the folks across the pond.  One thing is for certain, the audio quality of my old CB rig stinks. It's tin can quality. It is so unpleasant compared to my Yaesu HF radio.  11m is like living in a hotel for a week or so. Coming back to 15m and 10m is like being at home.

as far as a rivalry goes, I don't think there is much of one.  You hear each side complain about the other but the complaints are few and far between.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I got involved with CB when I went to work at a NJ Lafayette Radio back in the early years. Customer interest was exploding and they needed someone in the CB department who knew and understood some of the technical communication aspects CB and amateur radio (had my license for several years) plus, I was in college and needed beer money.

It was a very fun experience and I got to play with every CB rig that Lafayette came out with. Plus, I remember a number of customers were very interested in the technical aspects of CB radio and always came in to Lafayette on Saturdays to wander around and ask technical and antenna questions.

[N1BCG]

Why not make it a three-way rumble and include the GMRS jockeys?

I also had a CB, which required a full school term of high grades (an amazing accomplishment for me) in order for it to appear under the Christmas tree. One of the selling points was that it would allow me to talk with my friends without tying up the phone line since they too made lofty promises of high grades and other sacrifices to get their CBs. I also learned, quickly, about using capacitors to filter my transmissions from the living room stereo speakers.

I remember the fun we had each night (after homework was done, of course) talking about dopey kid stuff. Incredibly, that radio has been plugged in ever since and continues to display the time faithfully in bright red LED numbers.

There may be a rivalry between Part 95 and Part 97 operators, but if there is, the banter is within the groups. While there's mostly chaos skipping in on The Superbowl (CB channel 6), it's not as though hamateur radio lacks our own Jurassic Parks. 7200 comes to mind. Also, I frequently hear some very civilized conversations on CB while tuning around. I have no idea where these ops are because there are no callsigns, but it does show that CB isn't a complete write-off as some might claim.

[KD1SH]

Also, I frequently hear some very civilized conversations on CB while tuning around. I have no idea where these ops are because there are no callsigns, but it does show that CB isn't a complete write-off as some might claim.

  Back in the 70's and 80's, when I was active on that band, our group never used any cornball lingo or profanity, and the subject of most of our conversations was...just as it is with most of us on 75 and 40 meter AM...radios, microphones, and antennas. Add ham callsigns, and you wouldn't know the difference. I have a lot of fond memories of those days, and I likely wouldn't be a ham today if it weren't for CB.
   Your TRC-457 is a true classic, and cost nearly as much as some ham rigs back in the day. The meters, as I recall, lit up red on transmit; a nice touch.

[W1RKW]

There is some civilized chit chat on the upper sideband channels.  Here in CT channel 39 seems fairly active with a variety of ops all across the state during the early evening hours and sometimes into the later evening hours. I think some of these guys are either running way more than 12 watts or have superior antenna setups or both to cover some of the distances they are covering.

For me as well, if it wasn't for CB and my first Heathkit catalog, I probably would not have been licensed as early as I was. I didn't build any amateur gear from Heathkit. At the age of 13 (1973) I was into music and stereo and I wanted a small stereo system like my friends had so I wouldn't use my fathers audio system.  I saved all my money up for one of those all in one compact systems. I was ready to go to Two Guys and buy one when my father convinced me to save some more and buy components instead and at the same time in an effort to pique my interest in electronics to build a kit. The family stereo system didn't have anything for receiving radio so my first kit was an FM stereo tuner. My father taught me how to solder. For 3 weeks 1 hour a night, I built various sections of the tuner.  My father would go over my work and make sure I followed the instructions which I did.  In the end, I had a working FM stereo tuner. The 2 of us stayed up until 3AM listening to all sorts of cool FM radio stations. Remember that Heathkit catalog?

After that was done, I drooled over the Heathkit catalog and stumbled up amateur radio gear.  I had no idea what it was but found it intriguing. Off to the library.  Not much info back then but it was always in the back of my mind.  

I was a gas jockey at one of the local gas stations when I turned 16. One of the regulars who was friends of the owner always got fuel there had a couple of antennas on his car. One day he was chatting with someone. So I asked him what kind of CB he had. I was very impressed how clear the other person sounded.  He said he didn't have a CB but 2 meter ham radio. He told me how he was trying to get my boss to get licensed.  A year or more goes by and I think it was the fall of 1978, I saw a posting on the bulletin board at the local library about amateur radio classes. In early 1979 I was licensed as a novice and my first rig was an HW-101. Somewhere between all that I lost interest in CB. Girls got thrown into the mix too.

I not only have my first CB radio. I also have the FM tuner and matching amp but also have my first amateur rig, the HW-101. All still work.

[Jim, W5JO]

When I started there was 11 meters.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

When I started there was 11 meters.

It doesn't go away because it's populated by another group.

11 meter band ||||| CB Band     What's in a Name   

Years ago, we had the 3885 KHz Calling Frequency    Now it and the frequencies around it are called the AM Getto  |||| On 75, Life Goes On!

[KD1SH]

"Keep AM amateur radio in the ghetto where it belongs!"
Fans of classic print science-fiction will get the reference.

Years ago, we had the 3885 KHz Calling Frequency   Now it and the frequencies around it are called the AM Getto  |||| On 75, Life Goes On!

[KD6VXI]

Oh man, Two Guys.

All the way until he passed, my grandfather would quote 4 year old me (discreetly begging) "Teo Guys Got Good Trains!!!!)

All i wanted was an HO train set.

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

[WA8RVD]

I hate to hear CB jargon on the ham bands!

[W1RKW]

Oh man, Two Guys.
All the way until he passed, my grandfather would quote 4 year old me (discreetly begging) "Teo Guys Got Good Trains!!!!)
All i wanted was an HO train set.
--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

For me it was the HO cars. They had a good hobby department.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I hate to hear CB jargon on the ham bands!

10-4 on that but on the flip side. I wonder big time, if CB?ers hate to hear ham jargon on the CB channels. Some of it can be as dumb as a rusty nail in the pocket.
Catch you down the road.
7 trees

[W1RKW]

I hate to hear CB jargon on the ham bands!

10-4 on that but on the flip side. I wonder big time, if CB?ers hate to hear ham jargon on the CB channels. Some of it can be as dumb as a rusty nail in the pocket.
Catch you down the road.
7 trees

Hi Hi

[KD1SH]

   Heard on a local 2-meter repeater one morning on the way to work: a guy signs off with "catch you all on the flip," and some popinjay jumps all over the guy with "we don't use CB lingo on ham radio!"
   And then, a few minutes later, Mr. Popinjay himself signs off with "I'm destinated." Yeah, our corny lingo is much better than their corny lingo.
   Is being "destinated" painful? Is it accompanied by gas and bloating, or maybe burning and itching around the nether parts? Maybe Preparation-H would help.

10-4 on that but on the flip side. I wonder big time, if CB?ers hate to hear ham jargon on the CB channels. Some of it can be as dumb as a rusty nail in the pocket.
Catch you down the road.
7 trees

[KD6VXI]

People that bash radio services are just as stupid as the idiots that bash one operating system  vs another.

I have Linux, real XENIX, windows and an ancient os/2 system here.  Just like I have ham radio and cb here.

If you bash one service over the other, your a moron

I've found just as many technological conversations on cb as I have utter goddam morons on the ham bands.

Sure, idiots abound.  It's all who YOU associate with.

--Shane
Wp2ass / ex KD6VXI

[AJ1G]

Oh man, Two Guys

Yep, I remember Two Guys as well!  Wasn?t the full name of the store Two Guys From(somewhere in NJ)?  Can?t recall the name of the town.

On the subject of the thread I?m somewhat annoyed at the creeping inroads of CB jargon on the ham bands, especially ?personal here is?, ?running 500 whiskeys?, and especially calling anything not a mobile a ?base station?.  Even seen the base station term in ads in QST.

[AJ1G]

Why are my punctuation marks all screwed up?  I know I typed them as quote marks originally and keep trying to change them back from the question marks that keep showing up when I repost after editing.  I?m using Safari browser on an iPhone 16 Pro Max.

[WA8RVD]

I equate CB with breaking the rules!  Used to be that a ham license was difficult to get and hams followed the rules vs cb.

[WA2SQQ]

I got involved with CB when I went to work at a NJ Lafayette Radio back in the early years. Customer interest was exploding and they needed someone in the CB department who knew and understood some of the technical communication aspects CB and amateur radio (had my license for several years) plus, I was in college and needed beer money.

It was a very fun experience and I got to play with every CB rig that Lafayette came out with. Plus, I remember a number of customers were very interested in the technical aspects of CB radio and always came in to Lafayette on Saturdays to wander around and ask technical and antenna questions.

What store did you work at? For me, the Central Ave store in Newark was my favorite because I didn?t drive and the Public Service bus didn?t go to Paramus. I wish Newark had the amateur radio area like Paramus had. FWIW, the Newark store is a parking lot today. A trip to Lafayette always included walking up the hill to Aaron Lippmann electronics.

[WA2SQQ]

Oh man, Two Guys.
All the way until he passed, my grandfather would quote 4 year old me (discreetly begging) "Teo Guys Got Good Trains!!!!)
All i wanted was an HO train set.
--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

For me it was the HO cars. They had a good hobby department.

Seems we had several interests in common.
Two Guys, originally called Two Guys from Harrison, just down the street from the RCA tube factory in Harrison NJ where my mom worked.

Those HO Aurora cars. Just decided to clean mine up and they are going to be sold off. Can?t believe the prices they are bringing!