CB Radios offer an easy communication system that's already in place. Many people already have CB equipment, so sticking with CB might be the simple solution for any farming communications. GMRS, or General Mobile Radio Service is high performance UHF radio system operating between 462 MHz and 467 MHz, a license is required but is only a matter of paying a fee once per 10 years. The advantage over CB is an easier installation, smaller antennas, and potentially much farther range. In most ways GMRS is superior to CB - the one downside is that you won't be able to talk with CB'ers. You'll need to choose one or the other.
Check our CB radio guide to installing a CB radio in your farm tractor or combine
Combine and Tractor CB GuideCB's have been around for over 50 years. This means many people still have, and use CB radio systems today. If you want the most common choice and the ability to communicate with an already established radio network, CB's are the way to go.
An ideal CB antenna is 9 feet tall and mounted to a large metal object, like the body of a car or pickup. This can complicate communications for Tractors when you're dealing with a large fiberglass vehicle with not much metal for the antenna. To make matters worse, it's not always easy to get a large antenna installed either. Thankfully CB antennas come in a "no ground plane" variety which means they can actually work on fiberglass, unlike traditional CB antennas. Most of the packages you'll find here are reflective of that and use NGP or No Ground Plane antennas as part of their package.
GMRS has increasingly been the more popular choice for closed-network communications -- in other words, when you only need to talk amongst you and people you know, rather than people you don't. CB's give you access to anyone else with a CB, and the same applies to GMRS. The difference is GMRS is not widely used yet like CB's are, and actually have functions built into the GMRS radios to allow for a "private" channel. Depending on your needs, not being bothered by anyone with a CB can actually be a huge benefit. Add in the fact that GMRS radios can work effectively off of an antenna that's only INCHES tall, instead of FEET tall -- AND -- that GMRS does not require large metal objects means that GMRS has been the most common solution for farming communications in recent years.
Model: Walcott Radio FARMING_HH1
Model: Midland MXT500AGVP3
Model: Midland MXT500-B1
Model: Midland MXT500-B2
Model: Midland MXT115AGVP3
Model: Package Bundle MXT500-B3
Model: Midland GXT67
Model: Midland ORMXT115VP
Model: Midland GXT1030VP4
Model: President NEWYORKBILL
Model: Walcott Radio HARVESTER_KIT
Model: Firestik FG4648B
Model: Midland MXR10