I found this terrific YouTube video, which does show and outline the pitfalls of buying a cheap Chinese Amateur Radio Hand Held.
Most of us Hams who have been licensed for a while now (I'm still a newbie too, 15 plus years), have a cheap Chinese Handheld or two..
Yep.. me too.. but.. I have like many found that the cheap Chinese Handhelds just can't always do the distance compared to the known Japanese brands like Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood to name a few.
So.. if you are just getting into Ham Radio, this is a good watch for you..
It does point out the Spurious frequencies these cheaper radios transmit on. Plus, many of these cheap units are not approved by our ACMA, (FCC in the USA).. so be aware, check first.
Note: The Youtube clip prices mentioned, are USA based.. And there is references to the FCC in the USA.
Perhaps some of the Amateur Radio Guru's that read this, would like to add a comment or two to help guide the many newbies coming into our wonderful hobby.
You just cannot go past the Japanese Brand Radios such as:
Icom
Yaesu
Kenwood
Alinco
You will have these for years and years and much more support for them.
Hope this is of help.
Craig
vk3ncr
Roger Clark has kindly provided the following update information:
”Radios supported by OpenGD77 are :
The following radios are not currently in production, and may never be produced again
· Radioddity GD-77 - aka TYT MD-760
· Radioddity GD-77S (No keypad or display version of GD-77)
· Baofeng RD-5R - also sold as "DM-5R version 2" , or "DM-5R Tier 2"
· Baofeng DM-1801 - Not to be confused with the DR-1801 or DR-1801UV which are completely different radios even though they look the same.
· Baofeng DM-1801A
The following radios are in production
· TYT MD-UV380/390 aka Retevis RT-3S - Note. The "Plus" versions of these radios may or may not work. The 5W "Plus" seems …
I wrote a response here but it annonyingly vanished after hitting Publish!
I suggested looking at the excellent TYT MD UV-380,which I use, it covers VHF/UHF and DMR. The Retevis and Radioddity radios also when using Open GD77 software, which is specifically designed for Amateur use and highly recommended.
Very good video. Recommended.
But Bofang!!!