Hand held Ham radio suggestions

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Baofengs are a lot cheaper and work great. I'd start with one of those to get your feet wet.
 
I see now the UV-5R has been superseded by the BaoFeng BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio
 
Originally Posted by 65f100
Join your local amateur radio club. You can try out everyone else's before buying.

Good point. They told my wife that she could try their radios when she took the test. Some of these guys have 5 or more.
 
That one, or the Baofang would work, for awhile. They are Chinese cheapies, and will function like one. After she gets used to AR, lead her to a Yaesu, Icom, or Kenwood HT.
 
Talk to other hams .

Sometimes assist in natural emergencies / disasters when other forms of communications are out .
 
Congratulations to your XYL. Baofengs are great bang for the buck. I'm old school and have a Icom and Yaesu.

73 de KH6DC
 
Whichever radio you ultimately choose just please be sure it meets emissions requirements for spurious emissions. There are a lot of cheaper radios that do not and they pollute the radio spectrum pretty badly. I've never had any issues with "name brand" radios such as icom, kenwood, motorola etc so I think you're fine there.

If I had to suggest one for a new ham it would be the anytone D868UV. It's dual band, meets emissions requirements and does both DMR and analog. I just bought one a couple weeks ago and they are solid radios. Programming is pretty simple too.
 
Thanks again guys. Checked out all your suggestions. Wife likes anytone D868UV / Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood but cost more but looks like you do get a great radio / Baofengs are cost effective. Leaning to these two https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076W9DYM3/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A3PDLXO3MZ8A3Y&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J1JU2XK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?smid=A1IGF4J2EDI4OA&psc=1 A member from the ham club is going to bring down 2 Baofengs for her to try. The problem is they will only work on analog because the repetter is to far away for DMR.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
I've always been curious. What does one do with a ham radio?



Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Talk to other hams .

Sometimes assist in natural emergencies / disasters when other forms of communications are out .


What I most frequently use ham radio for is storm spotting for Skywarn. The National Weather Service uses reports from storm spotters as a major consideration when issuing severe weather warnings.
 
Those Baofengs sure are affordable and work. Great especially for budget/starters.
Yeah I have a few and no issue's with them. Once you learn the programing its no sweat - chirp programing makes it faster/easier. Suggest the real prolific cable.
But my go-to are the Yaesu and Icom. Even the basic (like Yaesu FT-60) has been around but it is well build.
Consider antenna upgrade - watch out for the Chinese fakes (especially fake Nagoya antennas). Extended battery is a plus in my book.
Many times Tech and HT leads to license upgrade & HF and base stations and HF antenna's go up - just saying.
 
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