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?
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?
Absolutely:
To get your ham radio license you need to read a book, practice some tests, and take an exam.
Here's how to go about it.
Read this, it's got some good information for beginners:
https://theprepared.com/survival-skills/guides/beginners-guide-amateur-ham-radio-preppers/
Buy this/these book(s):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1625950829/ (Technician; Make sure it's the 4th edition)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/162595106X/ (General; Difficulty is the same as Tech, if you've got extra time DO THIS TOO. It's worthwhile.)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089ZXCDWC/ (Extra; If you like pain and cool call signs.)
Practice here, also lots of good information and they're giving remote tests because of covid:
https://hamstudy.org/
Find a ham class and/or testing location here:
http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class
You are awesome - thanks Pede! Will be diving deep as soon as I'm done with work