That's perhaps the best summary of the Baofeng issue I've ever read.  This should perhaps be stickied in the ham and cheese nazi forum.

I used a lot of Dave Casler's (KE0OG) videos studying for my general and extra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6aFXH_SQUo&list=PL07A7D1C9D7BF7F48

Every day on our local club repeater there are guys that talk while they go on walks around the neighborhood.  I wouldn't call that nerd stuff per-se.  

Step 1, buy a better radio that is easier to program.

Step 2, get your tech license.

If it wasn't for Chirp there would be a bounty out on whoever designed the menu of them.  

I understand that. But in my limited experience/ exposure, it "feels" different than just that. It feels like they actually enjoy and like the whole rules and procedures thing. Not that they just do it out of necessity.  Like they thrive on it. Hard to explain.

Again... I have almost no knowledge and experience on it just what I have observed in the testing and brief reading and video watching I've done.

"Easy to program" is contrary to the design purpose of Baofeng radios.

Baofeng radios are designed for the asian Land Mobile Radio market. LMR radios are intended to be programmed by a technically competent person, then locked down into a restricted mode where programming cannot be changed and handed to the end user.

Buying a Baofeng as a consumer means you are accepting the role of "programmed by a technically competent person".

As an alternative, there are communications products that are designed, intended and legal for consumer sale and use that do not require technical attention prior to use.

Radios designed for Amateur Radio are generally very easy to program, but are, surprise, limited to Amateur radio, and are not for bootlegging on FRS/GMRS/MURS/LMR or whatever people want to do with their Baofengs.

If you are interested in Amateur Radio.

If you just need your walkie-talkies programmed to bootleg on FRS/GMRS frequencies, you don't need an amateur radio license.

If you are listening to nets then yeah, they are more formal.  Same with contests, they have their rules and folks follow them.  Other than that you can pretty much get by with "stay in legal frequencies and power" which is pretty easy with a decent radio and "identify every 10 minutes and at the end of your conversation".  There's things that are being polite, but they tend to be things that would be polite if you and several other people are sitting at at table talking.

And if you're going to do that....why not just get an actual FRS radio?

Also... one thing I recommend is a po box office for the license.  The fcc database is public.

I didnt think it would be a problem because who's going to take the time to look into some random guys ham license.....


Within a few days of getting my license.... I got a long voicemail to my cell phone number from some random ham guy in my area.....

Creeped me out. He wanted me to call him back so he could tell me about this transmission where he heard my new call sign being read from Ontario and it had been passed all the way to Washington where he then looked me up.


I didnt answer him.

He left another message.. seemingly annoyed and confused that I hadn't called him back.

I didn't answer him.


Then I got a Typed letter from him in the mail at my house. Reiterating the voicemail and with the cited transmission transcripts.


Ham guys.

I'm that guy who bought two Beofong's, charged em, and stuck em in a drawer.  Being able to use them in SHTF interests me.  Fiddling with, learning their complicated operation does not.

Looking VERY forward to this thread.

At the beginning of the pandemic there was a lot of talk about online licensure and Alaska or something offering it. Has there been any movement towards more widespread online testing?

I found a few places that do it via Zoom, so that could be a nice option.

Worse than a vegan crossfitter. Yikes.

A test is being offered in my city in less than 2 weeks. I got a long way to go and a short time to get there.

why are you trying to attention w**** and keep bumping your own thread?

edit and the questions you ask aren't simple answer in one thread type of questions, that is part of the stuff you have to know to get a ham license

I did it via zoom. Very smooth process.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Outdoors/New-Tech-General-my-experience-studying-and-testing-online/22-698840/

Buy a programming cable, download CHIRP and play with it a bit. It comes with frequency libraries for the various bands. Basically an Excel spread sheet. I had my two radios programmed in less than an hour out of the box. I've tweaked the configs a few times. Even have it set up to listen to the ham repeater on the ISS.

They are proctored exams that I don't see going to a web based only test.  You need three licensed hams of at least general class as volunteer examiners to observe the test, and yes some VEs are doing this via Zoom and similar.

That’s a good reason not to have a vanity license plate with call sign.....

Hamstudy.org is what you need.

My son and I studied at a slow pace for two weeks and each scored high on the test. He was 12 at the time.

Technician is rather easy.  It does get harder for the next two.  I couldn't explain a couple of the test questions for extra if you held a gun to my head.  

Because people insist on buying Baofengs for reasons they can't explain, except that they're cheap and everyone seems to be doing it. Then they want to know what to do with them, which starts a complicated process.

I agree.  I'm just supposing that if someone starts with their end goal in mind, they may get the right tool rather than being a panic buyer for something they don't understand.  

Ha!  Ain’t that the truth!  We both had the goal of getting our general last year, but with all the curves we were thrown it just didn’t happen.  We’d start studying and then something would always happen that made us redirect our attention. Hopefully we can pull it off this year.

Ham radio is one of those things you need to do hands-on to really learn, so I would suggest getting your Technician AND General license first.  You can take both tests and get your General the same day.  Also, nothing is stopping you from also taking the Extra and getting an Extra license if you pass the General and also take and pass the Extra.  People take and pass all three tests the same day, not that uncommon.

Ham radio has more to do with the regulation of frequencies and transmit power, so there is no such thing as a specific "Ham radio", there are many different types.

The main two types of Ham radios are radios that transmit on VHF/UHF (or 2m/70cm) and those that transmit on HF, which stands for high frequency.  

VHF/UHF radios work on line-of-sight (LOS) propagation, which makes their range relatively short.  The main factor that determines the maximum range of a VHF/UHF radio is how high up the antenna is, not transmit power.  Repeaters serve the purpose of extending the range of these VHF/UHF radios by putting a shared antenna very high in the air which greatly increases LOS.  Example - if you are holding a HT radio (like a Bfeng), your antenna is about 5' off the ground which gives you a 2.7 mile LOS before it is cut off by the horizon.  Get that antenna 10' off the ground on top of your truck and now your LOS to the horizon increases to 3.9 miles.  If you get a short mast up in your back yard about 25' high it can see 6.1 miles out.  A repeater antenna 400' up has a 24.5 miles LOS to the horizon and some repeaters are higher.  One repeater in my area is 730' up on a TV tower, so it has a 33.1 mile LOS.  Keep in mind, radio waves do travel further than physical LOS.  You will typically get 10%+ past LOS.  This is called the radio horizon.  Also keep in mind that LOS/radio horizon formulas are based on nominal conditions - terrain, buildings, even rain can reduce range.  Handheld radios are VHF/UHF and typically have 5-10 watts of transmit power.  Mobile rigs are typically VHF/UHF and normally have around 50 watts of power (there are also mobile HF rigs, these are also used for man portable).  The main advantage of VHF/UHF is that they can be small, can have small antennas, can be lightweight and are relatively easy to use compared to HF.

EDIT - To keep Forest and SmilingBandit happy.  I should have also mentioned that the LOS heights/distances above are from a single POV. The calculation is based on your height all the way down to 0', or ground level.  The receiving antenna will obviously be higher than ground level, increasing range.  The calculations I gave were to make the very general point that "height is might" when it comes to VHF/UHF antennas.  There are MANY other factors at play that affect your max range.    

HF is more complicated, but can give you much more range.  Hundreds to thousands of miles is very doable with a man portable setup (I'm on the east coast and just had contacts in Alaska, California, British Columbia and Texas this past Saturday with a man portable HF setup).  The antennas are also typically much larger than VHF/UHF antennas.

Keep in mind there are many different modes of transmitting your signal as well, not just phone (voice).

I see you don't own any Yaesu radios

It's not that hard, I think I studied for my tech license in less than 2 weeks and got it on the first try.  If you have just a little bit of free time, buy the ~$10 study guide of your choice and go forth and conquer.

Worth repeating.

An FT-25 and an old FT-470.  They are still easier (IMHO) the the BF one.

Link to $10 study guide?

Not exactly true.  As a ham you are allowed to build and modify your own radios.  Someone with only a GMRS license cannot use a Boafeng on GMRS channels, but a ham can if he has a GMRS license as well.

I've got a FT-70, FT-3DR and a FT-400XD.  About to get the FT-300 since it can do Fusion C4FM digital on both the A VFO and the B VFO.  The 400 only has digital on the A VFO.  I think the Bao menu interface is much more tedious to work through but is easier to find stuff.  They also have less functions/options that the Yaesus.

Imagine someone posts that they just bought a car, and they want someone to tell them briefly how to get from LA to DC. They've never driven before and don't know what a road is. Licensing is for suckers, and they have no interest in blinkers, or rules like stopping at red lights because that stuff is for nerds. All they want to do is drive across the country to meet their friend.

Have you guys looked up repeaters in your AO?

I haven't played with fusion, it's not that big around here.  My FT-25 is an APRS node and I use an Anytone 878 as my daily HT.  The BF and FT-470 mostly collect dust.

That is a fantastic analogy.  

Rugged race radios for the win Alex

And for a gun board analogy:  They bought a .22 rifle and a box of ammo that they'll use if the shit hits the fan but can't be bothered to practice with it.  

One about a quarter mile away

Alex didn't host Hollywood Squares and Rugged Race is a good answer to the question of "How do a buy a BeoFeng but spend more money doing so?"

It's been many years, but I think I used the ARRL guide.  The Kindle version is in fact $10.

https://www.amazon.com/ARRLs-Tech-Q-ARRL-Inc/dp/1625950861

The hamstudy.org study guide is free.

One nice thing about the test is that every question is published.  There are no surprises.

So the way I studied was to take several practice tests and see what elements I was weaker on and watch videos that explained the concepts.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Your antenna is everything. You can use the crappy rubber duck that comes with it. You can also buy a better aftermarket antenna for it. You can also "super charge" your radio by building your own, custom portable external antenna for it. Understandig the Smith chart (looks scary and intimidating on the surface) will go a long way in helping you understand the characteristics behind it. W2AEW makes great videos on the subject. It will also help immensely if you decide to go for your extra class.

Definitely try it and see if it works for you.  I briefly was thinking about upping to General but I didn't care for it much... seemed like I wasn't retaining the theory and just memorizing answers, which left me feeling like I would get pantsed on the test.  But if it works for you, it's there and it's free.

Went there and saved the page. Is the study guide just the practice questions?

I'm trying to learn what I need to learn and less just recall the answer. Not that it won't be a strategy that gets used as well.

I've never fingered a BeoFeng but I've always been told they suck , all my HT's have either been Kenwood or Yeasu.

I just kept nagging my friends to buy Yaesu Fusion radios .  The reduction in static from a weak signal is simply amazing, but the big advantage is no one using a Baofeng can hear what you're saying .

I bought a pair of them for SHTF... figured I would ask some questions and learn a thing or 2. Despite the help from many people here I feel dumber than ever....

My plan now is to toss them in a drawer. When shtf I will pull them out and scream HELP into them. I think it’s a good plan.

Amateur licenses have never been easier to get.  Between the testing programs, the free study materials, and the videos from several good sources there are plenty of ways to learn depending on what works best for you.  And I say this as someone that got their technician the year that no-code was an option, the morse code portion was an incredible barrier to entry.  Now that you don't need code for any license it make it just a matter of getting some theory in your brain.