>>1678331Here are the actual terms you are looking for:
FRS, or "Family Radio Service" is used by toy walkie-talkies. It is worthless, do not even bother.
GMRS or "General Mobile Radio Service" uses some of the same UHF frequencies as FRS, but its radios can use more power. Making them somewhat usable but still somewhat underpowered compared to other options. A license is needed to use GMRS, but said license just requires money instead of a test. GMRS repeaters exist, but are somewhat uncommon. A repeater is a big tower that re-transmits signals sent to it, effectively increasing their range.
MURS or "Multiple-Use Radio Service" is a tiny area of the VHF band. While it lacks repeaters, its range is otherwise similar to GMRS with fairly low power. It does not, however, require any kind of license. Meaning that you do not have to dox yourself to the FCC to use it.
CB or "Citizen's Band" is an area in the HF (Or "High frequency") spectrum. HF basically means that it can have range of a few hundred miles under ideal conditions. CB has two different types of radios. "AM" radios, and "Single-Side Band" radios. SSB ones are the long range ones. CB is the 4chan of radio. Channel 6 (27.025MHz) is effectively the national shitposting frequency. It is obviously unlicensed, and often people ignore the FCC limits for transmit power. The main issue is that the SSB rigs are not available in a handheld size unless you jury-rig something yourself. CB does not have repeaters.
Ham radio is a whole bunch of specific areas of spectrum that require a license to use. You have, by a country mile, the highest legal power output with these, thus having the longest range. Additionally, ham radio has many repeaters. The sections of the band allocated for ham use span on HF, VHF, and UHF. With the lower HF ones being truly worldwide-capable communications. However, you need to pass a license exam (Multiple ones to use the HF stuff) to use these, and the equipment is expensive.
