www.hamradio.com , they sell Amatuer equipment .
The "amatuer" radios you see at truckstops , aren't . They are CB's with extra channels .
A real amatuer radio can be tuned to any frequency within a given band , not just "channels" . ( I do own a real 10 meter Amatuer radio that can transmit on CB channels , but would never use it
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Amatuer radios are typically Icom , Yaesu , Kenwood , Alinco , and a few others .
Most local work is with 2 meters ( 144-148 mhz ) , and 70 centimeters ( 420-450 mz ) . And without any special mods , most radios put 50 watts out stock . And with a decent antenna can transmit pretty far . Signal repeaters extend the range , and all towns have those .
The nice thing about ham radios is the people don't cuss up a storm . The radios are not "dirty" and bleed into adjacent frequencies . We can help the community in an emergency . And its just plain fun .
You would probably get your feet wet with a technician class license . Then when you are ready , you can move up in class and get more frequency priveledges where can talk to the whole world .
A CB is for trail use and highway use for short distances . You can spend all the money in the world , buying radios and amps . And very rarely talk out of state ...... except for the period of sunspots ( yes sunspots , on the sun , dictate a lot of how radio waves work ) that happens for a couple years every 11 years .
Now for a decent CB for trail use , try Uniden , Midland , or older Cobras . With a Wilson 1000 , or other quality antenna like a Firestick .
