School me on hand held 2 meter radios (HAM)

personally, i'd avoid the Chinese junk radios. they're cheap and for me that says it all. we don't need to be putting any more money into the ChiCom's pockets.

in general a hand-held ham radio will have a direct range of a couple of miles, much more if operating thru a repeater. used HT's (handi-talkie) can be had for not very much money...new ones will run anywhere from $200-$300 and up depending. getting your ham license is relatively easy...you'll need a Technician Class license.

the major manufacturers are: Kenwood, ICOM and Yaesu.

You can find used gear for sale here and here.

avoid the temptation to buy a radio and operate without a license. when caught the fine can be substantial

your bro can probably point you to a club that has classes and exams. good luck.

Google is your friend. Lot's to choose from.. Google "hand held ham radio".

jefe 4x4 wrote:
jefe here from the TC forum. My bro has a ham radio in his TC and wants me to get a ham radio for my TC as we are going way off-grid on an Eastern Sierra Nevada run. My jeeping buddies all have hams in their rigs and I guess it's time for me too. The problem is I need it for both the jeep and the truck camper, so a hand held seems like the answer. Any advice for an old CB-er? I did a search and there were no hits for hand held ham radios.
regards, as always, jefe

First question is are you a licensed ham?

If so look at BaoFeng UV-5R

You do need a ham license to use it.