6 ms·

Ham radio does not necessarily mean expensive equipment. It tends to get expensive, but with some knowledge about electronics, you can build transceivers and an

Ham radio does not necessarily mean expensive equipment. It tends to get expensive, but with some knowledge about electronics, you can build transceivers and antennas very cheaply too - and after all, being allowed to do that is the main, unique perk of a ham radio license. And yes, you can still do long-distance connections that's your goal. Yes, while using repeaters is one of the less interesting aspects of the hobby, I do strongly recommend (licensed) beginners to get a $35 Baofeng 2m/70cm handheld radio precisely because it gets you some gratification very cheaply and very quickly. If you're from the US, you would start at http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed, either with online material or the book. If you're from Germany, I can highly recommend http://amateurfunkpruefung.de/ http://amateurfunkpruefung.de/. Additionally, you should check if there's a group nearby: with a licensed instructor present, you can transmit even before getting your own license, which is also very motivating. And a ham radio club will typically give you access to very expensive tools and knowledgeable people who want to help you succeed.

AmVess 9y ago
Baofeng radios are only marginally useful on the receive end, and generally terrible on the transmit end. A decent Yaesu is $165+, but will last for many years and actually fulfill its role if you need it to. Look up tests of Baofeng radios and you'll see how poorly they carry out their intended function.
- Ao7bei3s 9y ago
  Look, a decent Yaesu costs 5x as much, and the Baofeng fully fulfills the role I recommended it for - which is to get a beginner started quickly. The entire point was that you don't need to take part in the pay to win game. Noone said Baofengs are high-quality devices. But that's kind of the point, and it is easily good enough to get onto a local relay to get some easy satisfaction and practice the non-technical aspects (like: err, what did he say? and what am I supposed to say now?). Since it's only $35, I own one and have have used a couple of different models. I've done QSO's (connections) over repeaters around 25km away with these from rural but non-elevated positions without any problems. (Ok, I probably used an antenna that costs $10 extra.) Besides, what's so interesting about 70cm/2m handhelds that makes getting an expensive one worth it anyway? Spending the money on a HF (around 3MHz-30MHz, often a bit more) transceiver seems like a much more interesting choice (long distance, antenna building, atmospheric conditions etc.). (This does not mean there are no interesting things to do on 70cm/2m. But even with a Baofeng you can e.g. work a satellite with the right antenna.) Yes, you're relying on the superior equipment and position on the other end, but so what, if it works? Noone tells the QRP (low power) crowd to get an amplifier either, and certainly noone complains about the very crude DIY designs most people build. It's ok.
  - AmVess 9y ago
    I have a drawer full of new ones so I can show newbies how bad they are. The three that I have all perform differently; they are the same model. You got one that may perform closely to specification, but frustration for the newbie arrives when they get one that performs poorly....if at all. This is the norm for Baofeng equipment. So you might spend $35 a few times until you get one that works well, and then another $25 for an actual quality antennae ($10 one you have is 100% a counterfeit). Already, the newbie is down $95 and at this point probably not happy with their new hobby. If they do graduate to more interest, that pile of Baofeng gear will be wasted money in a drawer somewhere. Also, Yaesu and they like are hardly Pay To Win as you say (whatever that means). $165 is small amount of money for something that will last many years and will function as designed and when needed. Further, the point of radio gear is to communicate. Try using a Baofeng for anything anywhere important for any length of time, and you'll realize they are nothing more than toys and not suitable for the task.
    - tomswartz07 9y ago
      I think your argument is sound, but what OP is trying to say is, it's a $30 radio- and so long as you don't expect it to perform as well as a $300 radio, then it's fine. I have three Baofengs and they all work spectacularly well, because I purposely purchased non-knockoff models. For a beginner, who's not sure if it's worth the time and money investing $300 on a radio that might not be used, it's a very good idea to start with a $30 radio first. As an aside, I feel that consistently denigrating people's choice for less expensive hardware is a very big barrier to the hobby's adoption. I've had many people tell me that it's one of the things that turned them away from the hobby. Others that still stick around simply avoid discussing what type of radio they're using (not an easy task, when you're rag-chewing, mind) simply because they don't want to deal with these arguments.
      - vvanders 9y ago
        Yeah, there's an attitude(you see it a lot WRT the digital modes) to be very dismissive if it wasn't the route you took or a part of the hobby that you care about. It's a shame because I feel like there's a ton of groups of people(younger, more diverse backgrounds) that would be around if they weren't pushed out. I know a few really sharp people who build their own hardware but got chased off because their aspect of ham radio didn't involve contesting/etc.
- tomswartz07 9y ago
  I see your point, but the argument is that if you're just getting started, $30 is a much easier pill to swallow. As for your tests on the Baofengs, I'd be interested to see your sources and the exact models tested. As a counterpoint: Here's a video of an Official Baofeng UV-5R being stress tested, and demonstrating how resilient the front-end is: https://youtu.be/KqVq2G9dY5Q https://youtu.be/KqVq2G9dY5Q I don't think that a Yaesu HT would continue working after running without an antenna, but I wouldn't want to try it myself.
- vorpalhex 9y ago
  Baofengs are terrible but they're cheap and extremely accessible. Also they provide enough room for experimentation with antennas and basic theory. Not all equipment has to be the best equipment. Sometimes "OK" is enough.
  - friesen 9y ago
    Exactly. I picked up a slightly more expensive baofeng (UV-5X3) for my fist radio. Sured it's far from the greatest radio in the world (although it's leaps and bounds ahead of the UV-5R), but it gave me an inexpensive path forward. My only real complaint is that the included antenna is garbage for transmitting. So I built a cheap roll-up j-pole out of some old twinlead. The radio works quite well with that. I have since bought a signalstick antenna (j-poles aren't exactly portable), but that early experience building an antenna made me comfortable with doing more DIY radio projects.
    - rhombocombus 9y ago
      The nagoya flexible antennas dramatically improve the functionality of the Baofeng HTs (particularly in 70cm). I have had zero trouble with the four or so I have loaned out or otherwise lost. That's the real beauty there, if you lose one it is frustrating but ultimately trivial compared to a yaesu or something.
      - twothamendment 9y ago
        The nagoya is often recommended for beginners with Baofengs. I got when when I was starting out and it is better than the stock antenna, but you have to worry about who is selling "real" ones and who has fakes. Since then I've discovered these: https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ They are my go to antenna for HTs. I've never had one break, they perform great and they aren't too expensive. I love that I can take it off and tie it in a knot to shove into a small pocket in my backpack. Try that with a nagoya.
        9y ago
- friesen 9y ago
  Check out some of their newer hardware. The UV-5X3 doesn't have the spurious emissions problem common in previous models. Granted, the included antenna is garbage. I ended up building a j-pole and picking up a signalstick for mine. It works quite well with both.
- Kadin 9y ago
  Doesn't Icom make an entry-level 2m radio anymore? I have an Icom sitting around somewhere that I am pretty sure I got brand-new for under $100 back in 2004-2005. It's pretty primitive, sure, and I don't think it even came with a rechargeable battery at that price (but you can drop eneloops into it and it's just fine), but I suspect it doesn't produce nearly as much QRM as a Baofeng. If Icom/Yaesu have stopped making entry level radios, shame on them.
- twothamendment 9y ago
  Yes, Baofengs are the bottom of the barrel, but they are an excellent way to get someone into the hobby. If they decide they don't care they are out $40 instead of hundreds. I only had Baofengs for a few years and was able to join in the rag chew on the local repeater. Fast forward a few years and I've graduated to a Kenwood in my truck and a Kenwood HT with all the bells and whistles. Are they better? Of course they are, but the UV-82HP was plenty to get started with.
- sliken 9y ago
  Dunno, pretty commonly I see reviews where cheap baofeng's reach repeaters better than more expensive Yaesu radios. Personally my ft-70dr doesn't hit distant repeaters as well as my baofeng. Is it a nicer radio in many ways, but not particularly good for distant repeaters. The yaesu does seem better in noisy environments though. The menu system is MUCH harder to use and MUCH more inconsistent. Drives me nuts that when you find a menu, spin the selector to make a selection, to select you hit the PTT, sometimes you hit f, sometimes you hit V/M. Worse is often the manual doesn't even mention that part.
wwkeyboard 9y ago
If you are in anyway maker-inclined there are a bunch of QRP kits that are not expensive. You won't be immediately spending all evening rag chewing with the old farts on your local repeater, but to take a bag of semiconductors and turn it into a radio that can actually talk with other people is amazing!
- Kadin 9y ago
  The QRP kits are cheap (and some very clever!) but QRP operation can be very challenging as a way to start in. Personally, I think an inexpensive 10m rig is the way to go, although if you live in a place with a decent 2m or 70cm repeater network there's an argument to be made for getting a cheap HT first. There's almost an assumption in most clubs that everyone has a 2m HT (e.g. talk-in channels for events and stuff). A club that I joined years back handed me an old Radio Shack 10m SSB on my second meeting, it was sort of the "village bicycle" radio that everyone got to use until they bought their own. That was a fine way to start; I think it put out 10-12 watts or so (I'm dead sure internally it shared a lot of parts with some CB radio they must have sold at the same time), but that's enough to get a feel for things without too much frustration, even if your antenna isn't optimal.

AmVess 9y ago

Baofeng radios are only marginally useful on the receive end, and generally terrible on the transmit end. A decent Yaesu is $165+, but will last for many years and actually fulfill its role if you need it to. Look up tests of Baofeng radios and you'll see how poorly they carry out their intended function.

Ao7bei3s 9y ago
Look, a decent Yaesu costs 5x as much, and the Baofeng fully fulfills the role I recommended it for - which is to get a beginner started quickly. The entire point was that you don't need to take part in the pay to win game. Noone said Baofengs are high-quality devices. But that's kind of the point, and it is easily good enough to get onto a local relay to get some easy satisfaction and practice the non-technical aspects (like: err, what did he say? and what am I supposed to say now?). Since it's only $35, I own one and have have used a couple of different models. I've done QSO's (connections) over repeaters around 25km away with these from rural but non-elevated positions without any problems. (Ok, I probably used an antenna that costs $10 extra.) Besides, what's so interesting about 70cm/2m handhelds that makes getting an expensive one worth it anyway? Spending the money on a HF (around 3MHz-30MHz, often a bit more) transceiver seems like a much more interesting choice (long distance, antenna building, atmospheric conditions etc.). (This does not mean there are no interesting things to do on 70cm/2m. But even with a Baofeng you can e.g. work a satellite with the right antenna.) Yes, you're relying on the superior equipment and position on the other end, but so what, if it works? Noone tells the QRP (low power) crowd to get an amplifier either, and certainly noone complains about the very crude DIY designs most people build. It's ok.
- AmVess 9y ago
  I have a drawer full of new ones so I can show newbies how bad they are. The three that I have all perform differently; they are the same model. You got one that may perform closely to specification, but frustration for the newbie arrives when they get one that performs poorly....if at all. This is the norm for Baofeng equipment. So you might spend $35 a few times until you get one that works well, and then another $25 for an actual quality antennae ($10 one you have is 100% a counterfeit). Already, the newbie is down $95 and at this point probably not happy with their new hobby. If they do graduate to more interest, that pile of Baofeng gear will be wasted money in a drawer somewhere. Also, Yaesu and they like are hardly Pay To Win as you say (whatever that means). $165 is small amount of money for something that will last many years and will function as designed and when needed. Further, the point of radio gear is to communicate. Try using a Baofeng for anything anywhere important for any length of time, and you'll realize they are nothing more than toys and not suitable for the task.
  - tomswartz07 9y ago
    I think your argument is sound, but what OP is trying to say is, it's a $30 radio- and so long as you don't expect it to perform as well as a $300 radio, then it's fine. I have three Baofengs and they all work spectacularly well, because I purposely purchased non-knockoff models. For a beginner, who's not sure if it's worth the time and money investing $300 on a radio that might not be used, it's a very good idea to start with a $30 radio first. As an aside, I feel that consistently denigrating people's choice for less expensive hardware is a very big barrier to the hobby's adoption. I've had many people tell me that it's one of the things that turned them away from the hobby. Others that still stick around simply avoid discussing what type of radio they're using (not an easy task, when you're rag-chewing, mind) simply because they don't want to deal with these arguments.
    - vvanders 9y ago
      Yeah, there's an attitude(you see it a lot WRT the digital modes) to be very dismissive if it wasn't the route you took or a part of the hobby that you care about. It's a shame because I feel like there's a ton of groups of people(younger, more diverse backgrounds) that would be around if they weren't pushed out. I know a few really sharp people who build their own hardware but got chased off because their aspect of ham radio didn't involve contesting/etc.
tomswartz07 9y ago
I see your point, but the argument is that if you're just getting started, $30 is a much easier pill to swallow. As for your tests on the Baofengs, I'd be interested to see your sources and the exact models tested. As a counterpoint: Here's a video of an Official Baofeng UV-5R being stress tested, and demonstrating how resilient the front-end is: https://youtu.be/KqVq2G9dY5Q https://youtu.be/KqVq2G9dY5Q I don't think that a Yaesu HT would continue working after running without an antenna, but I wouldn't want to try it myself.
vorpalhex 9y ago
Baofengs are terrible but they're cheap and extremely accessible. Also they provide enough room for experimentation with antennas and basic theory. Not all equipment has to be the best equipment. Sometimes "OK" is enough.
- friesen 9y ago
  Exactly. I picked up a slightly more expensive baofeng (UV-5X3) for my fist radio. Sured it's far from the greatest radio in the world (although it's leaps and bounds ahead of the UV-5R), but it gave me an inexpensive path forward. My only real complaint is that the included antenna is garbage for transmitting. So I built a cheap roll-up j-pole out of some old twinlead. The radio works quite well with that. I have since bought a signalstick antenna (j-poles aren't exactly portable), but that early experience building an antenna made me comfortable with doing more DIY radio projects.
  - rhombocombus 9y ago
    The nagoya flexible antennas dramatically improve the functionality of the Baofeng HTs (particularly in 70cm). I have had zero trouble with the four or so I have loaned out or otherwise lost. That's the real beauty there, if you lose one it is frustrating but ultimately trivial compared to a yaesu or something.
    - twothamendment 9y ago
      The nagoya is often recommended for beginners with Baofengs. I got when when I was starting out and it is better than the stock antenna, but you have to worry about who is selling "real" ones and who has fakes. Since then I've discovered these: https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ They are my go to antenna for HTs. I've never had one break, they perform great and they aren't too expensive. I love that I can take it off and tie it in a knot to shove into a small pocket in my backpack. Try that with a nagoya.
      - 9y ago
friesen 9y ago
Check out some of their newer hardware. The UV-5X3 doesn't have the spurious emissions problem common in previous models. Granted, the included antenna is garbage. I ended up building a j-pole and picking up a signalstick for mine. It works quite well with both.
Kadin 9y ago
Doesn't Icom make an entry-level 2m radio anymore? I have an Icom sitting around somewhere that I am pretty sure I got brand-new for under $100 back in 2004-2005. It's pretty primitive, sure, and I don't think it even came with a rechargeable battery at that price (but you can drop eneloops into it and it's just fine), but I suspect it doesn't produce nearly as much QRM as a Baofeng. If Icom/Yaesu have stopped making entry level radios, shame on them.
twothamendment 9y ago
Yes, Baofengs are the bottom of the barrel, but they are an excellent way to get someone into the hobby. If they decide they don't care they are out $40 instead of hundreds. I only had Baofengs for a few years and was able to join in the rag chew on the local repeater. Fast forward a few years and I've graduated to a Kenwood in my truck and a Kenwood HT with all the bells and whistles. Are they better? Of course they are, but the UV-82HP was plenty to get started with.
sliken 9y ago
Dunno, pretty commonly I see reviews where cheap baofeng's reach repeaters better than more expensive Yaesu radios. Personally my ft-70dr doesn't hit distant repeaters as well as my baofeng. Is it a nicer radio in many ways, but not particularly good for distant repeaters. The yaesu does seem better in noisy environments though. The menu system is MUCH harder to use and MUCH more inconsistent. Drives me nuts that when you find a menu, spin the selector to make a selection, to select you hit the PTT, sometimes you hit f, sometimes you hit V/M. Worse is often the manual doesn't even mention that part.

wwkeyboard 9y ago

If you are in anyway maker-inclined there are a bunch of QRP kits that are not expensive. You won't be immediately spending all evening rag chewing with the old farts on your local repeater, but to take a bag of semiconductors and turn it into a radio that can actually talk with other people is amazing!

Kadin 9y ago
The QRP kits are cheap (and some very clever!) but QRP operation can be very challenging as a way to start in. Personally, I think an inexpensive 10m rig is the way to go, although if you live in a place with a decent 2m or 70cm repeater network there's an argument to be made for getting a cheap HT first. There's almost an assumption in most clubs that everyone has a 2m HT (e.g. talk-in channels for events and stuff). A club that I joined years back handed me an old Radio Shack 10m SSB on my second meeting, it was sort of the "village bicycle" radio that everyone got to use until they bought their own. That was a fine way to start; I think it put out 10-12 watts or so (I'm dead sure internally it shared a lot of parts with some CB radio they must have sold at the same time), but that's enough to get a feel for things without too much frustration, even if your antenna isn't optimal.