so i just passed my technician exam last week and im trying to figure out what handheld to get. everyone keeps telling me different things and honestly im more confused now than before i started asking lol. my brother has a baofeng uv-5r and says just get that, but then i went to the club meeting and like three different guys all made faces when i mentioned it and said to get something else but couldnt really agree on what that something else should be

i mostly want to use it for local repeaters and maybe talk to people at parks or whatever. not planning to do anything super serious at least not yet. budget is probably under $200 but i could stretch a little if theres a really good reason to. anyone have thoughts on where to start? yaesu, kenwood, icom - i dont even know the difference honestly

congrats on the ticket first of all. okay so the baofeng thing - your brother isnt wrong that they work, i know plenty of people who use them and have no issues hitting local repeaters. the faces people make are usually about build quality and the fact that they can be a little quirky to program, not that they're dangerous or anything. for just getting started and talking on local machines a uv-5r will absolutely do the job.

that said if you want something that'll last longer and is easier to live with, the yaesu ft-65r is around $80-90 and its a solid step up. dual band, decent audio, much easier to program. if you want to spend more and get something you probably wont outgrow for a while, look at the yaesu ft-70dr which does fusion digital and analog both, or the kenwood th-d75a if you want aprs built in but thats more than your budget. honestly for where youre at right now i'd say either the baofeng to get started cheap, or the ft-65r if you want something that feels a bit more like a real radio without spending a ton.

i was in your exact spot about 8 months ago and ended up with the ft-70dr and im really glad i did. yeah its like $160 or so but the audio is way better than my friend's baofeng and it just feels solid in the hand. i dont even use the digital fusion stuff that much but its nice knowing i can if there are fusion repeaters around. the menu system takes some getting used to but nothing horrible