3- Your first radio for under £100

3- Your first radio for under £100 

***Do not expect to buy a shack in the box as your first radio or buy expensive rigs brand new. The markets are saturated with people’s mistakes just like digital photography. Buy cheap and learn what you really need. Look for silent key sales and scond hand bargains reliability is rarely an issue, I have had 40 yr old radios working perfectly. Do not blame the gear for your lack of expereince! ***

Yes, you can just buy a Baofeng UV-5R, but you can do a lot better for a little more. Even license free!

The Walkie-Talkie/Handy Talkie- consider a better antenna for long distance capability and try moving up a hill!

The generic walkie-talkie works either on VHF 144-146 Mhz, UHF 430 - 440 Mhz or PMR44 on 446 Mhz or possible CB radio 27 Mhz these are greta for short - medium range communication out of the box, 1 mile - 5 miles at ground level in the city. With a better antenna (Antennas transmit and receive, aerial receive only) I have managed 50 miles on 2 M FM and further via a repeater.

Typical prices at time of writing on Amazon.co.uk Amateur Radio shops offer better service and advice generally.

Baofeng UV5RM– pronounced BOW-Feng £26

Quansheng UV-5K(8) £32

*My setup 

I have a Baofeng UV-S9 VHF/UHF 5W walkie talkie, a TYT MD-UV380 also VHF/UHF FM and DMR, both with Diamond and other better antennas.

Base Station/Mobile - budget for a portable battery and antenna

• Anytone AT-779UV VHF/UHF £75

• Yaesu FT-2980E HVF 80 watt mobile

*My setup 

A base station can utilise a bigger, higher antenna, subject to planning permission. I use a Yaesue FT450D HF/6M transceiver (100 W) that can serve as base or mobile as it runs on 12 VDC and as a base station via a 12 VDC 30 A power supply made by Watson. I also use an external Antenna Tuner that covers a wider range of antenna than the built-in one and requires another 12 VDC input from the Watson Power Supply.

Digital DMR Transceivers - steep learning curve Around £200

are not for beginners and not for un-licensed users and you have to submit licence details to be able to control talk-groups.

Anytone AT-D168UV £109 * UHF/VHF/DMR On hamRadio.co.uk

Mobile rigs - budget for antenna, mag-mount and maybe cables and wiring.

• Icom IC-718 HF All band £730

Antenna (transmit capable)!

• Handheld VHF/UHF - Diamond AZ-504 from £30

Mobile mag mount

• VHF/UHF Diamond MR-77 £25 with magmount

• HF MLS Ampro sticks from £20

HF base antenna – way more!

An ideal set up is a multi-element HF Yagi on a rotator as high as you can get, be lucky to have change out of £1000 with cables and rotator!

You will need TK mounting brackets, pole, antenna, rotator and a long length of coax! https://www.cannondigi.com/beam-antennas-for-hf/

*My setup 

I did it for around £180 Moonraker GPA-80 vertical multiband + 10 metres of RG58 + PL259 plugs x 2 but mine lacks height and height is might! But I don’t own the property. https://moonrakeronline.com/gpa-80-hf-vertical-80-6m-no-gaps-no-radials-perfect-swr-with-at

I also have a Diamond X50 VHF/UHF vertical, a 6m vertical dipole (home made) stuck in a plant pot as an experiment, a mag loop HF project, a V-dipole for satellites on 137 Mhz and a dual band yagi for 2 M /70 cM satellite cross polarized experiment.