Cool, thank you very much for the information! You mentioned that the 270g is a Professional radio, and the uv-r5a is an amateur radio.
Is the difference just the frequency range supported? There appears to be quite an overlap between the two, bu maybe I'll be missing the most active ranges from 136-150?
I would also imagine that the difference would also be the "ruggedness" of the radio and th eabuse it can take before malfunctioning? I'd think that a Professional radio would be used by fire/police/emt and get banged around a bit more than an amateur radio?
thanks!
Mike B
Other manufacturers (like Kenwood, Motorola, etc.) make "professional-grade" radios which meet industry-standards for performance (how well does each individual part work), durability (how long does each part last), accuracy (meaning frequency-deviation is at a minimum), and are designed to perform at their best within a target-band. "Public service" (PD/FD/EMS) rated equipment is often more durable than "business-grade" equipment, because lives often "hang-in-the-balance". Some of the newer digital-trunking-transceivers can cost $5,000USD or more each. These are not mil-spec, but are usually rugged and not inexpensive.
Many manufacturers make amateur-radios. Some make both. Top-of-the-line amateur radios (even though they are very durable, high-quality items, and sometimes "ruggedized") are not considered "professional-grade" radios, in the same legal sense as mentioned above. They must meet a different set of requirements than "professional" business radios.
Often, manufacturers design the professional radios to function only in their specific band, not the amateur band. Likewise manufacturers design the amateur radios to function only in their specific band. Some amateur radios can receive non-amateur bands. Some can be "modified" to transmit out-of-band (at your own legal risk and equipment risk), etc.
Within the amateur radio world, major names, like Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, and many others make radios that can cost several hundred dollars per unit. When some people compare these with the Baofeng UV-5R and its advertised price (well below $100) and capabilities, questions get asked about the less-expensive unit's durability, performance, frequency-deviation, etc. In the RR forums, other threads contain discussions about other people's experiences with this unit. Some of the more specific or technical comments are particularly enlightening. I learned a lot from the varied opinions and would recommend the threads as useful-reading for anyone considering buying the UV-5R.
Hope this helps,