[Da Coyote]

My fellow hams who have these types say, “it works...for a while”.

[waterhill]

*

[DYngbld]

They are cheap Chinese pile of crap.

[wita]

All quiet on the ham front?

I have one early UV 5R my only 2 meter dual band radio. It’s attached to a J pole antenna at times and when so attached appears to listeners, to be more than just a hand held.

Another such radio would be advantageous if nothing more than experience programming one. My son did my original programming.

[steve86]

The constipated boomer snobs have a problem with anything that costs less than $200 and isn’t made within a mile of their home. Never had a problem with my Baofeng, either performance or quality.

[mikey_hates_everything]

I have 6 of them, they all work great and are firmware modifiable. One of mine can pick up HF and SSB now. Another can do spectrum analysis. They don’t transmit well or at all outside of what they’re designed for but for the money, the mods make them better than anything you can get from ICOM or Yaesu. I paid between $12-18 (w/free shipping) for each of mine from AliExpress.

[bigbob]

EGZUMER software, you’ll need a Baofeng/Kenwood type programming cable to load it, as it uses the mic/ear jacks not USB (dumb). USB is only for battery charging.

Well worth the money as a wideband receiver. Just remember it’s never going to transmit any usable power outside of the 144 and 440 bands, no matter what idiots on the internet claim.

[dware]

I just picked up my second Baofeng handheld for $20 on Farcebook marketplace. Both of my Baofengs have worked great, my first one purchased 8ish years ago and still works just fine.

[ebshumidors]

Bflr

[Hoboto]

Get a Japanese-made Yaesu instead. My little 5W handheld has been flawless for years.

[mabarker1]

BKMK

[dragnet2]

They work fine as long as all knobs are turned to the right.