Standardize on a Radio Family

I think it's really important to standardize your radios. By the time you get antennas, batteries, chargers, mics, and other miscellaneous things, if you haven’t standardized on a single radio family, you will be buying a lot of single-device accessories and duplicate items.

My first HT was a Baofeng UV-5R. Next, I bought an Anytone 878. Then, I purchased a Wouxan KG-UV8H. You can see the progression of my problem.

You are going to need spare batteries for each HT manufacturer at a minimum. If you get multiple radios from the same family, you can get a single spare battery to accommodate 2-3 radios. I standardized on the Wouxan KG-UV8H and its GMRS companion, the KG-935G. I have three radios from the same family and one spare battery to rotate between them. This family of Wouxan radios is a decent middle-of-the-road HT that feels solid and rugged.

I also have two Baofeng UV-S9+ that are my beater/throw-away HTs. What I like about these radios is that they can be charged directly via USB. They can also be programmed out-of-band, like using GMRS Frequencies, if needed. I have one spare battery between the two.

Thankfully, the Chinese radios share a standard antenna connection (SMA-Female). Rubber duck antenna selection is common across all platforms. But I needed different mics, different programming cables and software. It is still a little unmanageable and expensive. I’m not going to say don’t buy cheap Chinese radios. Whatever you buy, make sure the radios use common batteries, mics, and accessories.

As a new ham, there will be plenty of ways to expand your hobby in the future.

• Focus on VHF/UHF radios.
• Don't get sucked into tri-band or quad-band radios.
• Don't fall for radios that promise power greater than 5W.
• You don't need crossband repeat out of the gate, \\which is probably better served by a mobile radio anyway\\.

This is a distraction from the primary use case for an HT. A 5W, VHF/UHF, HT will cover 99% of use cases for a new ham.