apparently CB was meant for short range serious communication
In the USA in the 1950s it was meant to be for business use.
As time went by, it was also used for personal communications of all kinds, leading to the explosion in its popularity in the 1970s.
This popularity drifted across the Atlantic and the idea took hold in the UK. Eventually it was legalised in 1981, as already mentioned.
and amateur radio was for hobby use and **** chat, when CB came out in the uk, you but a license for £10 (according to a site), but for amateur radio you have to have a test! its all bonkers back to front!
No it is not!
In the UK when CB was first legalised, yes you needed to stump up some cash to buy a licence.
Eventually that requirement was dropped and the CB service became licence free.
(In the same way as the little PMR 446Mhz walkie talkies are licence free).
Basically CB and PMR446 are intended for someone who wants to buy a radio and just talk to it and has no technical interest in how it works.
In fact the radio should be "Type Approved" to ensure that is does not cause problems to other radio users.
Amateur Radio on the other hand is intended for those who have an interest in the technical aspects of radio, and talking to the radio is just an incidental activity.
Someone with an Amateur Radio Licence can use whatever equipment he wishes.
Build it from scratch, modify something, or buy ready made.
This is why there is a technical exam, to ensure (hopefully) that someone building or modifying a radio has enough knowledge to make sure that their radio will not cause problems to other radio users.
Another privelidge that radio amateurs have which is not available to most other radio users, most radio users are restricted to fixed channel frequencies, the radio amateur can use a VFO* to set any frequency he likes within the permitted bands.
* Variable Frequency Oscillator
I will try and resist the urge to tweak the power
Mostly pointless anyway.
Until you double the power, you can hardly tell the difference at the receiving end anywayl.
JimB