ok so i just passed my technician exam last week and now im trying to figure out what handheld to get. ive been reading threads on here for a few days and honestly im more confused than when i started. some people swear by yaesu, some say kenwood, and then theres the whole baofeng thing where half the people say theyre fine and the other half act like you kicked their dog for even mentioning one.

my main thing is i just want something to hit the local repeaters, maybe do some simplex with a buddy who lives a few miles away, nothing crazy. i dont have a huge budget, probably $150 or so. do i need dual band? is there something specific i should be looking for with the squelch or the CTCSS tones? i set up my first contact through echolink on my phone while i was studying and that was cool but i want an actual radio now. any help appreciated

congrats on passing the tech exam, welcome to the hobby. honestly for what you're describing a Yaesu FT-60R is hard to beat in that price range, been around forever and it just works. rugged little thing too, i dropped mine off a truck bumper once and it was fine. the menu system isnt the most intuitive but you get used to it fast and there are good videos online that walk you through programming the repeater tones and offset.

dual band is worth it even if you dont think you need it right now - you'll find 70cm repeaters in your area eventually and itll be nice to already have it. for CTCSS just look up your local repeater on repeaterbook dot com and it'll tell you exactly what tone to use, most areas have it all listed out. dont overthink it too much, any of the big three brands will serve you well, you really cant go wrong just pick one and start making contacts

i was in the exact same spot about 8 months ago and i ended up getting the Kenwood TH-D74A which was way over budget lol but thats a whole other story. if i was doing it over with $150 id probably look at the Yaesu FT-65R, its pretty simple to use which was huge for me when i was just starting out. the baofeng debate is real btw, mine worked fine for like a year and then the mic started cutting out, but plenty of people use them forever with no issues so who knows