I'm definitely not part of the radio community or anything but I've always been told "wire is cheaper than watts"

I believe you are allowed to use FRS and GMRS at low power without a license

FRS, yes, but not with Baofengs. GMRS needs a license. Technically.

There's literally no way for them to find out though. Unless you're broadcasting some radio 24/7 at high power, someone gets annoyed with it, calls up the FCC, and they have the one guy for your region drive out all over the city searching for it, you're fine

Precisely

And the FCC enforcement bureau is getting smaller every year. Avoid malicious interference and you're fine

I recall when the FCC cracked down on the import of Baofeng radios they admitted in a bulletin that the country is flooded with radios not type certified for FRS/GMRS that are using both services. The FCC basically said they didn't have the enforcement ability and would only address the worst offenders but there was no way they could address the widespread usage of "illegal" radios.

Very true. Lots of people yse them for hunting with no repercussions

Still should register if you live in a high density area or feel like being honest, you're not risking anything by licensing a radio.

I'd argue that gives the government just a little more money to enforce stuff. It's your decision to weigh risk, whether or not to get your permit.

The UV 82 is more expensive then the one I posted. I like that one because it was dust and drop resistant. The UV 82 is not much more but what makes it better? If it just has a better antenna I see pretty good ones on Amazon for $10-$20

https://youtu.be/0AqpylH_o8Y

The GT-3TP it is with the data cable its $63 now to work on getting my license

Both are awesome I got a gt3tp for like $30 it was a good buy

You can use certain frequencies at low power without a license but it would be nice to have for sure so you can get into repeaters and all that

What are these frequencies any links?

^^^ this

Total fucking noob here, don't know shit about comms. Will $100 get me anything decent in terms of a radio? Just something to learn on?

A Yaesu or Wouxun probably

What model yaesu?

FT-4XR

For transmit and receive on Low Power (0.5/1 watt)
VHF
151.820
151.880
151.940
154.570
154.600

UHF
462.562
462.587
462.612
462.637
462.662
462.687
462.712

NOAA Weather Receive Only
162.425
162.450
162.475
162.500
162.525
162.550

@yeetasaurus Yeah you can get a Baofeng for comms or if you want to listen to shortwave you can get one for far under 100

Thanks man we can talk on them without issue from the law?

@Reno can I turn down the transmission power of a radio? All of mine are 8 watt

Yeah I believe so as long as you keep it on low output

Sorry for making you dumb this down for me, shortwave?

@Reno do I need to learn up on the programming computer stuff to do that?

Its just a different length of radio wave, theres FM, AM, and shortwave. You need special hardware to pick up the shortwave frequencies but there is some interesting stuff on there

You can get a programming cable for a baofeng and program it that way, its a lot easier

@Reno copy that. Thank you. I will look into it.

But you shouldnt need to learn computer programming or anything like that

Outstanding!

What about the Yaesu that was mentioned earlier? Any comparison to what you're speaking of?

Baofeng is the cheaper Yaesu. Yaesu is higher quality but considerably more expensive.

But is it worth having overall?

I've never had one myself, I have 3 baofengs because I'm a cheapskate, got na-771 whip antennas for them and they work fine

What is the listening range? I know that's not the only selling point to a radio but it's the easiest to comprehend to me

What model radio do you have? You should be able to turn down the output, on a baofeng you go into channel mode then menu then TXP change to low

It depends on a lot, radio wave propagation is weird

I'd probably say if you're looking for something to have for occasional use or emergencies, the baofeng will be fine. If you're looking to really get into radios, stuff like yaesu, motorola, and kenwood is good, and expensive.