I wish I had started this website a 6 weeks ago when I got my first radio (Yaesu FT-70DR – great radio, digital modes, unfortunately only 2-3 C4FM repeaters in the area)… and replaced it with my second radio (AnyTone AT-D868UV; solid radio, it did DMR which was why I got it, but a klunky as hell UI on it, so ended up returning it, too)… and now replaced it with two Amazon Prime Day deals with a Baofeng BF-F8HP (8 watt, dual band) and a BTECH UV-5X3 (5 Watt, 2M, 1.25M, 70cm). I figured for a total of $84, I could afford to be unhappy with either one of them, but at least I’d be on the air. I do hope the DMR radios get more user friendly. I could cope with having to do the programming through the “code plug” software, but was not impressed with some of the gyrations I had to go through on the UI to do what I wanted to do — basic stuff like a quick change between Name display and Freq display.
Passed my Tech last month, and my General test this morning, so now with the studying behind me, and two radios that I know I’ll keep for awhile (may not love ’em, but, they’re here to stay), I can figure out what direction I want to go next with the hobby. The “SOTA” (Summit on the Air) looks pretty cool, esp to go along summertime activities. Maybe look more into APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) uses, too.
More stuff to keep me busy…