[K0NR] Choosing A First Handheld Radio
 

Post : Choosing A First Handheld Radio
URL : https://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/2020/11/choose-handheld/
Posted : 30 November 2020 at 11:20 am
Author : Bob K0NR
Categories : Equipment, HamRadioSchool.com

https://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/wp-co...aesu-FT-65.jpg
Once again, I was asked by a new ham "which handheld transceiver should I
get?" This is a frequent and valid question that comes up. Often the question
gets framed as "Baofeng or something better?" I say "something better."Â* I
am not writing to bash Baofeng radios or the people that use them. The radios
are an incredible value on the low end of the market...amazing what they can
do for $30 or so. Besides, I own several of them.Â* I just think that if you
have a few more $$ to spend, you can get a much better radio. What's wrong
with these low-end Chinese radios? Out of spec harmonics on transmit and poor
adjacent channel rejection on receive.

Digital? Probably Not
The other question that usually surfaces is "should I get a digital radio?"
Here "digital radio" means D-STAR, Yaesu Fusion or DMR. My answer to that is
"No," unless you have a specific reason for going digital. Adding digital to
a radio results in two things: 1) a higher price and 2) a more complex radio.
Actually, the price difference may not be that significant, especially for a
DMR radio. However, the complexity factor is always there.

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