so ive been licensed for about three weeks now (got my tech) and everyone keeps telling me to just grab a baofeng to start but then other people say dont bother and get something better from the start. i dont really know what i need it for yet, probably just local repeaters and maybe some simplex if anyone in my area even does that. my budget is like $80-120 maybe a little more if it makes sense.

the yaesu FT-60 keeps coming up but thats pushing the top of my budget and i also saw the wouxun KG-UV9D which looks interesting. does the extra money actually matter that the end of the day or is a uv5r going to do basically the same thing for local repeater use? i dont want to regret buying cheap but i also dont want to spend money i dont need to spend. any thoughts appreciated

Honestly the FT-60 is worth stretching the budget for if you can swing it. I've had mine for like seven years and the thing is a tank, dropped it off a tailgate onto asphalt and it still works fine. The receiver is noticeably better than the cheap chinese radios, and when you're trying to hit a repeater that's marginal or pull in a weak signal it actually makes a difference. The menu system also makes sense as a human being which is more than I can say for some of these other radios.

That said if $80 is really the limit the UV-5R will absolutely get you on the air and let you figure out what you actually want. A lot of people start there and its fine. Just don't expect the audio or the front end to be stellar. Either way you're going to have fun, welcome to the hobby.

i started with a uv5r two years ago and it was fine for what it was, used it for probably 8 months before i got a vx-6r. main thing i noticed switching was the receive was just cleaner, less noise on signals that werent super strong. also the yaesu felt way more solid in my hand but thats subjective i guess. if your just doing local repeater stuff though the baofeng honestly works, people in my club use them all the time at events with no problems. the programmign software (chirp) is free and pretty easy once you figure it out