so i passed my technician exam about three weeks ago and ive been lurking here trying to figure out what to buy as my first handheld. everyone seems to have a strong opinion and honestly its making my head spin a little. i was looking at the baofeng uv-5r just because its cheap and i figured i could mess around without worrying about breaking a $300 radio, but then somebody in another thread said the audio on those is pretty bad and the spurious emissions can cause problems? i dont really know enough to evaluate that claim yet.

then i started looking at the yaesu ft-65 and the wouxun kg-uv9d and now im just more confused than when i started. i mostly want to use it for local repeaters and maybe some simplex with my brother who also just got licensed. nothing fancy. does it even matter that much for just getting started or am i overthinking this

honestly you're overthinking it a little but also not entirely wrong to think about it. the baofeng thing is real — they do have some issues with transmitting on frequencies they shouldnt and the build quality is kind of all over the place depending on which batch you get. that said plenty of people learned on them and they work fine for basic stuff on repeaters.

if budget is tight the ft-65 is probably where id point you. yaesu made it pretty bulletproof, the audio is noticeably cleaner than the baofengs ive heard, and its not complicated to program. the menu isnt as annoying as some of their older radios either. for just hitting local repeaters and chatting with your brother it'll do everything you need for years probably. the wouxun is fine too but i dont have as much personal time with it so cant really say.

the main thing is just get something and get on the air, you'll learn way more in a month of actual use than another month of reading reviews

i was in the exact same spot like eight months ago lol. ended up going with the baofeng just to see and yeah it works but i did eventually get a ft-65r and the difference in audio clarity on the repeater is noticeable. people actually stopped asking me to repeat myself. so if you can swing the extra $40 or whatever it is i'd just go straight to the yaesu and skip the middle step i took