Baofeng radios

[Brad]

I have no intention of enforcing the FCC rules, hell I have broken more than a few over the years!

But it is kinda important, I think, that the actual rules be at least, understood, if not adhered to. CBers run illegal amps, hams sometimes break the rules, people who drive cars sometimes speed. 

But we all know what we are doing when we do that.

I own several Baofeng and other chinese radios me-own-self...they are not high quality, but hey, for $50 what do you expect?

They work ok most of the time. If they had AM RX and could scan aircraft frequencies, I would use them a lot more.

Having a ham license gets us a few more priviledges, so there is that. It's worth looking into!

I use my UV5R on 144.390 with a Mobilnkd TNC as a dedicated 5 watt APRS unit.  It works amazingly well for a $25 radio.   I use a Yaesu VX6 for HT comms, and an Icom 7100 for HF and 2 meter.  Don't do much 6 meter or 70 cm.

Looking forward to trying a few new antennas in Q this winter, as well as the hamfest.