so i just passed my tech exam last week (finally lol) and everyone keeps telling me to get an HT to start out but i have no idea where to even begin. theres like a hundred options on amazon alone and then people on reddit are saying get a baofeng, other people are saying dont touch a baofeng with a ten foot pole, and im just sitting here completely lost.

my main use case would probably be hitting the local repeaters, maybe eventually some simplex if i can find people doing that around here. i dont think ill be doing any serious operating for a while, just want something to listen, check in on nets, that kind of thing. budget is probably under $150 but i could stretch it a little if something is really worth it. what do i actually need feature wise and what can i ignore for now

welcome to the hobby, congrats on the ticket. okay so the baofeng debate is real but honestly for just getting started and hitting repeaters, a UV-5R or one of its variants is fine. people love to hate on them but ive worked plenty of contacts with mine and the audio is decent enough. the programming can be a headache though, definitely grab chirp (free software) and a programming cable otherwise youll be fighting the menu system forever.

that said if you want something a bit more polished right out of the box and dont mind spending a little more, the Yaesu FT-65 or even the older FT-60 are solid choices. the FT-60 especially is kind of legendary for durability. Kenwood TH-D74 is amazing but that's way overkill and way over budget for where you're at. just dont overthink it too much, any of these will get you on the air and thats the whole point right now

i was in the same spot about 8 months ago and ended up going with a Yaesu FT-4XR, think it was like $55 or something. honestly for just learning the ropes and getting on repeaters it's been totally fine. the battery life is pretty good and it feels solid, not like a toy. only thing i wish it had was a bigger receive range but for now it does what i need. whatever you get just make sure the local repeaters are in the right band, most around here are 2m or 70cm so a dual band HT covers you