10 Meter radio

[TheOne]

I am new here but have been reviewing the threads quite frequently and it seems that there are some very knowledgeable radio people on this site.Can anyone explain the difference in a 10 meter radio and a standard 40 channel cb radio, to me. i have acquired a Mirage 44 10 meter radio with upper and lower sidebands and a few other knobs and buttons and not sure about it. Does it require a license to operate? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Pskhaat]

"10 meter" (and 12 meter) fall within the Amateur radio band so yes requires somewhat advanced amateur licenses and working knowledge. With this license you get FM, CW (morse), AM, SSB, &c and satellite, repeater, beacon, &c. This band is fairly wide vs. CB.

CB is 11 meter, no license required, limited bandwidth, AM and SSB (which is perfectly fine), 4watts power maximum (theoretically no problem there either).

The radio you obtained would be a great addition once you are licensed.

 

[gary in ohio]

I am new here but have been reviewing the threads quite frequently and it seems that there are some very knowledgeable radio people on this site.Can anyone explain the difference in a 10 meter radio and a standard 40 channel cb radio, to me. i have acquired a Mirage 44 10 meter radio with upper and lower sidebands and a few other knobs and buttons and not sure about it. Does it require a license to operate? Any help would be appreciated.

Before you go getting any radio determine your communications needs. The radio you have is called an export radio, It should have never been sold in the US. Its usefulness as a ham radio due to the design of the radio makes it a poor ham radio. Its function in life is to be converted to an illegal CB radio.

As a 10m radio it will require a license to operate, if converted to CB it would be an illegal radio.

 

[Spikepretorius]

It's a 29mhz radio. (as opposed to CB which is 27mhz)

They are the most common radio in use by offroaders here in South Africa.
Years ago there was a move from 27 up to 29 for reasons that I don't know. Apparently it's better.

It's also used extensively in the boating fraternity (here).

27mhz is extremely scarce here.

 

[AndrewP]

And, it isn't legal to use Ham gear for CB transmissions.

The other problem of course, is that no one else will be on 10m. In the USA, 99% of contacts will be on 2m. Once you figure out what you want to do with radio, then buy your radio. If you choose, with an all band radio, you can talk to anywhere, from anywhere.

 

[TheOne]

Thanks all for the responses. I acquired this unit through no cost to me just an item lying around and was curious if it was worth dealing with, for me it sounds like no. I have no need to get into Ham style radios due to none of my friends in this area even own cb, two ways or even any type of truck or off roading vehicle and it is most impossible to find terrain in this area that causes an issue where you really need to reach out and request help.

It seems when I think about it everywhere I go that is off road I still have cell signal, I currently plan no long cross country excursions due to not having finances or any of the basic needs as an overland explorer, hell my truck is only a Toyota Tacoma prerunner without the diff-lock would like to get into this type of hobby but just not currently equipped and it will be a while before I can afford such a hobby.


Once again thank you.

 

[gary in ohio]

If you look at the radio its plainly a glorified CB radio regardless of what its sold as. It only has a channel indicator and it goes up to channel 40. Clearly not what ham radio use. The manufacture is notorious for skirting laws with the radio and even makes false statements about ham radio not needing certifications. EVERY radio being manufactured for sale in the US will need at least part 15 certification.