[iasay]

Honestly the Baofeng is mostly fine. Just use it. 90% of it is elitism. The harmonic suppression of the transmitter is crap which is the issue but the radiated power is constrained by the antenna so not usually a problem unless you’re testing it in a lab. Most of the problem is just sinophobia.

If you want something actually with decent capability then the Yaesu FT818 is a good bet. It does all amateur bands, UHF, VHF, airband, FM broadcast all modes. But it costs money.

I’m not an active ham anymore but I keep an 818 around.

As for why I’m not a ham anymore, spend some time with some hams and you will get the idea.

[AlbertCory]

> spend some time with some hams and you will get the idea

Also a former ham (age 14!).

Nearly all conversations:

"We read you loud and clear here. What kind of equipment are you using? Mine is blah blah blah. How do I sound? Ok, over and out."

[linsomniac]

I'm also an ex-ham, I sometimes wish I had renewed my license because it would be nice to have access to a good radio sometimes, but not so nice that I'm willing to go through the exam process again. So I have 4 GMRS radios that I just have to have one license for the whole family to use.

[zanethomas]

"sinophobia"

That translates to "fear of china" which is almost always incorrectly applied. Were there a single word for "boycotting china" that would be more appropriate.

[iasay]

It’s definitely fear based on the crap I’ve heard.

“Why would I buy a radio from communists. It’s probably bugged”

I facepalmed so hard I nearly imploded my skull on that.