Show your favourate budget everyday carry HHT

[Jennifer_A]

Hmmm so what is your favourate low budget everyday carry HHT?
Mine is my Retevis RT87.
I am quite fond of my RT87, it turned out to be a nicer radio than I thought.
5w, analog, dual band, 136-174MHz, 400-480MHz
1.2AH 7.4v li-ion battery
128 channel capacity
VFO and Memory mode
DTMF
Sidetone
STE
Frequency reverse
IP67 water proof

 

[N4KVE]

Mine is the Motorola XPR6550 I got for $50. Looks a 7.5/10, but I’m not afraid to take it to the pool, or fishing on a boat. Works great, Motorola quality, but cost less than a CCR.

 

[Jennifer_A]

Motorola is top quality for sure. $50 is a great price, cheaper than my RT87 🙂👍
The most expensive model i have is a Anytone D878UV+.

 

[N4KVE]

Bought it at a ham fest. The seller was in the 2-way business, & I guess he took in a bunch on trade. I looked through his tub for the cleanest one, paid him, & ran to my friend’s trailer to program, & test it. It couldn’t bring up the repeater, so I brought it back. He said to just grab another one. Seeing as I had bad luck lucking for the cleanest one, I looked for a beat one. Programmed it, & it’s been working perfectly for over 2 years.

 

[trentbob]

My favorite portable is the Yaesu FT- 65... dual band 5 watt, built like a tank, I replaced the rubber duck with a comet sma 24... great performer for an everyday carry radio... Bob.

 

[Jennifer_A]

Hi Bob
Your Yaesu looks like like a great radio!
And its Japanese quality too which is way better than my Chinese model

 

[AK9R]

The Yaesu FT-65 is made in China. How much influence Yaesu had in the design or has in the manufacturing is a matter of speculation.

 

[trentbob]

Hi Bob
Your Yaesu looks like like a great radio!
And its Japanese quality too which is way better than my Chinese model

Some of them are actually made in China but to the strict specifications of Yaesu and with the same great quality. Apparently the only sma Connections in China available are the reverse ones that the cheap Chinese radios use, it also has the cheesy flashlight, what's important is the performance oh, great speaker and microphone.

Only drawback is it cannot be run on AC so I had to purchase another battery, it does come with a drop-in charger. It only cost $125 for the radio!

 

[Jennifer_A]

Oh yes I had forgotten everything is manufactured in China the last 5 or 10 years. I did not think the Japanese stuff would be manufactured in China though but that is not surprising to hear. But still as you said the quality can be very good as long as the quality is specified for manufacturing.
One thing I would REALLY like is if the industry would adopt the practice to do away with charging cradles and put a micro usb port in the battery for charging.
I have a usb 5v-12v converter cable that i use on all my radio chargers. The manufacturers can supply a cable like this with micro usb connecter with the radio for models that use a 7.4v battery.

 

[tweiss3]

My current HT that is in my work backpack is Alinco DJ-G7T. It's not the cheapest HT, but it's the least expensive one I own. It is a bit more sturdy than the D74, and a I don't feel as bad if it gets banged up a bit, plus it is IPX7 which should cover any rain intrusion since the radio is in a water bottle pocket open to the elements. It's enough to cover most situations and all the ARES frequencies used by our county.

 

[jaspence]

RS HTX 202. Has both rechargeable and AA battery capability, FPP for flexibility, and good performance in high RF areas.

 

[marlin39a]

Another user of the Yaesu FT-65. I take it most everywhere I go. All analog still for me.

 

[mass-man]

Standard C510A
Older than dirt but still a couple of watts out, easy to program and runs off 3 AA! It goes everywhere! Listening to DFW tower this morning while I water the yard!

 

[trentbob]

Jennifer, I just realized you were looking for a photo when you said "show"... I leave the adapter on the radio to attach a pl259... Constant changing of antennas can wear that pin down and affect performance.

 

[PACNWDude]

My go to handheld used to be a used XPR6550 Trbo UHF handheld, like others on here as well, with a new case to make it look a little nicer. However, promiscuous mode has me carrying the Anytone AT-D878UV more and more now. Great little radio, much easier to program for amateur bands as it does not require hex editing, and is still built well enough to survive the drops and being thrown in the bag with the Motorola.

 

[Jennifer_A]

Jennifer, I just realized you were looking for a photo when you said "show"... I leave the adapter on the radio to attach a pl259... Constant changing of antennas can wear that pin down and affect performance.View attachment 107204

Thats a really nice little radio.
Looks robust.

 

[Jennifer_A]

View attachment 107207
My go to handheld used to be a used XPR6550 Trbo UHF handheld, like others on here as well, with a new case to make it look a little nicer. However, promiscuous mode has me carrying the Anytone AT-D878UV more and more now. Great little radio, much easier to program for amateur bands as it does not require hex editing, and is still built well enough to survive the drops and being thrown in the bag with the Motorola.

Motorola is top quality.
With the exchange rate it is just way too expensive here, especially for me who only play with radios as a hobby however the cheap Chinese radios don't do too bad, some better than others but i have been fortunate to sniff out the better ones.
I too have a Anytone D878UV+ (my most expensive radio)
Its a really nice radio. I do not use it much as it is heavy and bulky but very nice radio

 

[trentbob]

Thats a really nice little radio.
Looks robust.

Yep, solid as a rock, feels like my Motorola apx7000 and at that price of $125, if something happens to it, I'll just buy another one.

 

[PDXh0b0]

tried and true.. Baofeng UV-5R

 

[rescuecomm]

Anytone AT D878 when I get it back from Bridgecom. Otherwise a Baofeng UV82-WP with a 701 antenna. I have Icom F3061 and F4061 radios but don't fool with them unless I know I'm using GMRS or other.