Personal Radio Kits

Our resident COMMS expert, Nick Meacher reviews a few personal radio kits and the pros and cons of each one.

Yaesu VX-6R Submersible Ham Radio

BaoFeng BF-F8HP

Tenq Military Grade Tactical Throat Mic

Tenq Covert Acoustic Tube earpiece headset with PTT

Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner

Garmin 750T 3-Inch Touchscreen Handheld GPS with Topo U.S. 100K

CountyComm GP-5 SSB ( GEN 3 ) General Purpose Radio

#radio #preparation #survival

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[CascadiaDispatch]

Great video. I got my HAM Tech license and started with a Baofeng. Now I use Yaesu's as my primary in my car and at home, but keep the Baofeng's as backups. The software makes a huge difference!

[WolfQuantum]

A little later, but I'll mention the TYT UV8000E. Like many I started with a Baofeng (get a better antenna). Then I got the TYT UV8000E dual band with crossband repeater. Around $80 currently, has 10 Watt and 5 Watt settings and comes with two antennas. I used the original software to go in and peak the power to full. Saved that, then used CHIRP to program the rest. First time on our repeater just sitting in the house I got asked if I was on a base or portable. I added the BTECH microphone and it's been my primary radio. I installed an antenna on the van and hook to that when on the road. I've hit our repeater from around 30 miles away with good audio. I just recently put a 25 watt mobile in the van and still use the TYT as my base. Also, Hamstudy.org, is a great site.


Word of advice. Spend the few extra dollars and get the FTDI cable. Too many of the other programming cables are counterfeit with the older Prolific drivers. The laptop I use for programming only has one USB port. Some of the things I use reinstall the updated drivers and I have to go back and reinstall the old drivers to program again. I finally just ordered the FTDI cable for the Kenwood pin standard that most of the Chinese radios use.


Nice kit. I picked up the roll up antenna. When I finally got around to trying it out we found it wasn't working well. Would barely trip the repeater and wouldn't talk on any radios to include Yaesu. LIke any other gear, test it out before you need it. Applaud you guys for always pushing the idea of doing a lot of listening over a lot of talking. Listen large, talk small. Uniden BCD436HP inbound and the County Com on the next buy list. I've gotten to the point I have a handful of handhelds, pardon the pun. Time to start putting some kits together.

[timk]

My opinion the ft-60 is the best radio for edc. 1. VERY easy to use, 2. Can run full power on AA batteries. 3 very well built, dropped many times and keeps going 4 Can be programmed with tons (1000 I believe) of frequencies and that can be broken down into 10 banks. 5. Pretty quick scan speed. I've owned many more HTs but always come back to the FT-60. 73 de KF7VUT

[drnv]

Anytone is a good radio for the price and features for the limited range a handheld has, but as ham that started on HF in the 1980's, whether good propagation or low end of the solar cycle, HF wins hands down. I like the convenience of using a repeater, however, I would never rely on a radio that was dependent on Voip linking or repeater in a situation where I needed emergency communications and that's the key. The radio is great for every day use it's great, fun and you can meet alot of people over DMR, echolink, and analog linked systems, etc.
On HF virtually any night, with rare exception to band propagation, I can use my home made 6 ft magnetic loop antenna 6 ft off the ground on 40, 60, 75, 80 meters or my home made 3 ft mag loop from 20 through 10 meters along with the HF gear to talk to most of the surrounding Counties and States in U.S., that surround my State very reliably with a decent signal report running 80 to 100 watts off grid, even traveling, would not go without portable HF, even QRP it wins when it counts with no shore power and no internet. Ham Radio is one of the rare hobbies worth the investment and time, from the technical information to the great people you meet, it has outlasted all other hobbies for me, as it changes and advances. Good luck with communications preps, thanks for the information, 73's

[kimwaldrop]

The Baofeng is programmable using Chirp. You do not have to do it manually.

[Devinm]

For a high end (not that high end) radio the Yeasu VX-6R is a FAR BETTER radio than that AnyTone for about the same price. You can get them for under $300, they are wide banded (can receive down into the HF bands), they have a magnesium instead of plastic case, and they are waterproof. Not to mention they have a better receiver than the Chinese made ones like those AnyTones. Also they sell AA battery cases for the VX-6R. Great choice in the Signal Stuff antenna, being that it's titanium and you can leave it in a rolled up state for years, un-tension it, and it will snap right back into a straight position, they are great receiver/transmitters too. P.S. I don't hate the AnyTones, but if you are going to spend the money on one you might as well get the far better Japanese one with more survival minded features, I've seen people run VX-6Rs over with trucks and dunk them in rivers and they still worked perfectly. Let's improve our like minded community and get people buy quality kit instead of a dime a dozen crap that will break in a few weeks of real survival/field uses. Also I suggest LifePo4 battery packs for the larger mobile radios, their lighter, last longer (more charge cycles), and hold more of a charge. Oh and USE YOUR EQUIPMENT OFTEN, just buying and throwing it in a EMP bag is useless, practice with with it.

[bruceforster]

My wife has a 12 year old FT-60. It recently developed an open circuit, so we can no longer use the Wall charger plug-in on the side of the radio; So I bought the drop-in Charger-cheaper than a new radio..But I AM going to replace it nonetheless because I want to KNOW if she NEEDS a working radio, she will HAVE a working radio!

[michelledamon]

I’m a newbie - we only have a solar powered weather radio. Thank you for the info!

[jamesvickery]

That jpole is a Nelson antennas roll-up jpole from eBay. Good antenna!!

[Rich-umwe]

You absolutely CAN get a clamshell battery pack for the vx6r

[davidsmith]

Ed fulong?? invented the wire J-pole an in Triband too. You should mention him...it's not old..good video also.im finally branching out from crash course"radio.

[toml.]

The last thing you should be showing is the ham radio. You ought to start with the priorities of radios to use during or after a disaster or emergency.
USB power banks or chargers come in different configurations with just as many input sources, but
USB is 5VDC.

[IamGadgetcom]

thank you for the fine is the bag/pouch that you showed ( not the Faraday) the black zippered pouch. thank you

[burgesskj]

Very useful. I was going to repack mine this weekend, so I'll be using your ideas.

[toml.]

The Tecsun PL-660 sells for $120 on eBay, in new condition.

[yellownp]

Thank you very much for your time and help.

[ratherbewargaming]

Alot of useful information.
Thank you for the great vid.

[BobbyElliottav]

I have absolutely zero experience with Ham, but, wanting to get started. What radio do you suggest?

[PsychoSmart]

Can you do a video or article on the GP-5? I have one but I’m never able to pick up any hf, just religious short wave...

[Tourn]

Where did you get your USB to charger adapter