Yaesu is making all their crap in China now. You did fine with the Baofang, if you're going to buy a chinese radio might as well pay $30 for it rather than paying $300 for it.
Kenwood is what I prefer, but they're pricy. Lots of cool features for satellite comms and APRS, but they are a little (a lot) more complicated.
Another good idea would be to get a GMRS base station with an antenna and mast, you can set that up at some nice location and all your neighbors could use inexpensive handhelds to talk to each other via your repeater.
Thank you for all that information! And making me feel better about my purchase - lol.
I'm still very new to all of this stuff and trying to learn what exactly the capabilities of ham are. If its a hobby that grabs me I will definitely look into the Kenwoods.
Last question - could you point me toward a good book or two? Maybe one geared toward getting my licenses and another incase I need to set my radio up without the aid of the net?
What did you get? Need any guidance feel free to reach out.
Thank you - I appreciate that. Baofang uv5r. I know they're garbage but I prioritized expediency and the only other guy with ham I know also has one.
What would you recommend when I am ready to move into a big boy HT? I was thinking Yaesu mainly because its not Chinese
Yaesu is making all their crap in China now. You did fine with the Baofang, if you're going to buy a chinese radio might as well pay $30 for it rather than paying $300 for it.
Kenwood is what I prefer, but they're pricy. Lots of cool features for satellite comms and APRS, but they are a little (a lot) more complicated.
Another good idea would be to get a GMRS base station with an antenna and mast, you can set that up at some nice location and all your neighbors could use inexpensive handhelds to talk to each other via your repeater.
Thank you for all that information! And making me feel better about my purchase - lol.
I'm still very new to all of this stuff and trying to learn what exactly the capabilities of ham are. If its a hobby that grabs me I will definitely look into the Kenwoods.
Last question - could you point me toward a good book or two? Maybe one geared toward getting my licenses and another incase I need to set my radio up without the aid of the net?