I've used those, but I haven't had luck getting Peanut to work really. Granted, I've only put cursory effort into it, but Droidstar is convenient, and Echolink is okay.
Buy an amateur radio now or wait?
- Thread starter Aviation_Scanner
- Start date
And I plan on playing by the rules of course.
Already started my journey this morning by taking a practice test and seeing what areas I am weak in.
Trump has promised tariffs once he's in office. That will cause increased prices from items not made in America. Maybe now is a cheaper time to buy. Just saying...
I think the new administration is more interested in tariffs on goods manufactured in China than those manufactured in Japan.
Trump promised 10% to 20% duties on all goods coming into the United States, and 60% on Chinese imports. Radios from Japan would increase 10% to 20% in price.
China is going up around 60% based in early statements. Japan predicts that their autos go up 10%. Radios? Who knows at this time due to the small percentages of total importations.
Keep in mind that no Japanese electronics/radio products were affected by tariffs from Trump's initial term.
Keep in mind that no Japanese electronics/radio products were affected by tariffs from Trump's initial term.
Last edited:
I'm a brand new ham that passed all three exams in the past 15 days, so I may have a different perspective on "should I buy a radio before I pass".
For tinkering and learning to help you pass your tests, $15 for a Baofeng is a great thing to have and if you deem it throw-away, the tuition value of having a radio is rather handy.
What I did not know and did not appreciate until I got licensed and tried to use the Baofeng is that ham radio is thriving in some areas, dying in others. Learning that my $15 radio is of no use in my area (HF is more common) was a valuable lesson before I sunk big money into the wrong thing. I then learned that digital technology is very popular, but shockingly fragmented. DMR seems to be the most popular, but it is not popular in my area and no repeaters offer it, rather DSTAR and Fusion are equally used on local repeaters.
All this to point out that I would have spent a lot of money on the wrong kinds of technologies had I bought a "good radio" before I got my licenses. I'm glad I got a baofeng and learned about CHIRP and basic programming. I'm glad I held off on buying a radio until I came up with an informed strategy. In the end, after I passed my extra exam I bought an Anytone 878 for a quality (but not locally useful) UHF/VHF handheld and I bought an openspot4 to use it via DMR. This was the best option for my purposes and budget, but I would not have understood my needs and constraints before I had my licenses and tried to use a primitive baofeng to learn their limitations.
For tinkering and learning to help you pass your tests, $15 for a Baofeng is a great thing to have and if you deem it throw-away, the tuition value of having a radio is rather handy.
What I did not know and did not appreciate until I got licensed and tried to use the Baofeng is that ham radio is thriving in some areas, dying in others. Learning that my $15 radio is of no use in my area (HF is more common) was a valuable lesson before I sunk big money into the wrong thing. I then learned that digital technology is very popular, but shockingly fragmented. DMR seems to be the most popular, but it is not popular in my area and no repeaters offer it, rather DSTAR and Fusion are equally used on local repeaters.
All this to point out that I would have spent a lot of money on the wrong kinds of technologies had I bought a "good radio" before I got my licenses. I'm glad I got a baofeng and learned about CHIRP and basic programming. I'm glad I held off on buying a radio until I came up with an informed strategy. In the end, after I passed my extra exam I bought an Anytone 878 for a quality (but not locally useful) UHF/VHF handheld and I bought an openspot4 to use it via DMR. This was the best option for my purposes and budget, but I would not have understood my needs and constraints before I had my licenses and tried to use a primitive baofeng to learn their limitations.
KF6DGN
Member
Excellent and well thought out response! I think the Anytone 878 and an Openspot4 is a great option; plus codeplugs and a computer are not necessary, with manual TG entry, just a phone or tablet. Plus its small and portable, take it with you anywhere.
Your recommendation gives you Independence from local repeaters (from my experience, most repeater owners are very protective of their sites and frown upon Ragchews and restrict talk groups on DMR.)
Anytone has the AT-D168UV which is a little cheaper than the 878.
The OpenSpot4 is easy to use and I also highly recommend it. However as a “ham project” you can also set up a pi-star and they are a little less expensive.
@KF6DGN You're absolutely correct the 168v is newer and cheaper. What you give away in watts for local UHF/VHF is immaterial if you're going to use it for digital with a hotspot. Regarding hotspots, you're 100% correct that you can buy a raspberry pi based hotspot and install/configure it yourself for about $125, however it also requires a bluetooth mouse and keyboard, and a way to display it on a monitor for initial configuration. I opted for the OpenSpot4 that is on sale for $199 (and arrived from Estonia to USA in 3 days!) because it is idiot-proof and requires the same technical prowess as setting up a Nest thermostat or Ring doorbell.
Tangentially, the hardest part for me as someone with 30 years of technical background is dealing with the idiosyncrasies of the ham community as a neophyte. The hams are an experimental group and they have the attitude there are a 100 ways to skin a cat. As a consequence, I spent easily 40 hours watching inaccurate or incomplete videos trying to get configured because no single source would say "do everything I say, soup to nuts, and it will work". There is something to be said for a benevolent lie: "do everything as I say exactly as I say and it will work, deviate and you'll implode". <- I respect the honest liar that knows we have to make things achievable or we'll frustrate new people.
Because of the huge learning curve of amateur radio, it really behests someone that isn't an EE or a member of IEEE to buy some radio that is turnkey and a corresponding hotspot. The average Joe needs something to get them on the air. I really struggled to figure this stuff out and I'd say my technical skills are objectively top >1% (outside of ham). I pity the general enthusiast that is trying to get into ham and make first contact amidst all the acronyms, inaccurate or incomplete youtube videos, and poor technical support options that abound. Hams are experimental and most are experienced, we have to show mercy to newcomers like myself and the OP that just want a rigid prescription to make a contact and have fun before the layers of complexity get folded in.
In conclusion, buy a throw-away baofeng UV-5R and learn about HT amateur radio while studying for your exams, discard it for a loss of $15 when you "graduate". Get yourself a good HT/mobile/base radio after graduation when you know enough to know you don't know enough. The answers you might conclude are to get a HT hamshack setup like an ICOM 7300, or to simply get a digital HT and hotspot. Either way, a pre-licensed person seeking technician stature doesn't know enough to spend that amount of money ($500-$3000) on the wrong stuff.
73 to all of you!
KE9BXE
I live in a rural and it's difficult to get into some repeaters. I got a Baofeng HP 8 watt and that extra power makes all the difference in the world. Without it I can't much coverage. I put in on the meter and the wattages are correct. The menus are no fun and it scans ridiculously slow. Software makes it a breeze. I outfitted my work van with a high gain antenna and a audio amplifier so you'd never know it wasn't a mobile unit.
