so i finally passed my technician exam last month and been doing a lot of reading about what to buy first. everyone keeps saying get an HT to start since they're affordable and you can hit local repeaters without a big setup. makes sense. but then i go look and theres like a hundred options and i dont know where to start.

ive been looking at the baofeng UV-5R since its cheap and everyone seems to have one but ive also read a lot of people say its kinda junk or at least the programming is a nightmare. then theres the yaesu FT-60 which seems more respected but costs more. and i keep seeing people mention the kenwood TH-D74A but thats way out of my budget right now.

mostly i just want to hit the local 2m and 70cm repeaters, maybe do some APRS eventually if thats not too complicated. i live in a suburb so there are definitely active repeaters within range. what would you guys actually buy if you were starting over? not looking for the perfect radio just something i wont regret in 6 months

Honestly the FT-60 is kind of the classic answer to this question and for good reason. It's built like a tank, the receiver is actually decent unlike a lot of the cheap Chinese stuff, and Yaesu has been making radios forever so you know the firmware isn't going to do something weird. I've had mine for probably 8 years and it's been dropped, rained on, sat in a hot car all summer — still works perfectly. Programming it manually takes a few minutes to figure out but once you get the hang of the menu system it's not bad, and if you use CHIRP software it's dead simple.

The baofengs are fine for what they are but the receivers can be a bit deaf on weak signals and the spurious emissions thing is real — they're not part 97 compliant out of the box technically speaking. For casual repeater use most people don't care but worth knowing. If budget is really tight the UV-5R will get you on the air and that's what matters. But if you can stretch to the FT-60 I think you'll be happier long term.

For APRS down the road look at the Yaesu FT3DR or similar dual band digital HTs — they have built in GPS and the whole thing just works. But that's a later purchase, get on the air first.

im basically in the same boat as you, got my ticket in the spring and ended up going with the yaesu FT-70DR after asking around on here. its a little more than the FT-60 but it does C4FM digital which is nice if theres any fusion repeaters near you. i didnt even know what C4FM was when i bought it but turns out there's two fusion repeaters in my county and its kind of cool when it works lol. analog still works fine on it too obviously.

CHIRP works with it and that made programming way less painful. took me maybe an hour to get all my local repeaters loaded in and now i just spin the dial. only thing i'd say is the battery life isnt amazing if you're transmitting a lot but for just listening and occasional check-ins its fine.