Baofeng Radio Ham Radio Long Range AR-5RM 10W Handheld NOAA Emergency Weather Radio 999CH Rechargeable Walkie Talkies with Programming Cable,USB-C Charging for Survival Gear Hunting Camping,2 Pack

I got these for my brother and I as I'd like to get a Ham license this winter (disaster ready attempts) and wanted something that had all the stuff I'd need so I didn't have to buy piecemeal and figure out what I DID need. lol We've played with it a bit and I'm in the process of making a list of all the local repeaters and folks and clubs and emergency/county folks and doing the CHIRP thing. I tested NOAA and found my channel, 3, and it was clear. I went through all of the FM radio frequencies to write down what I could get (with the long antenna pointed at open window, so inside ground floor of 3 story brick apt bldg facing East w/ thick trees and other brick buildings in the area-it's midwest city, but thru open window and it was raining for half of it which made no discernible difference) and I got some Chicago stations (I'm in Kalamazoo, MI and Chicago is 150 miles WEST while my window faces East and there is the other half of my apt, a corridor and another apartment to get to the west side of the bldg and I'm in the middle of 5 units each side of bldg so kinda buried). I'm studying bands and frequencies so I know who uses what and where NOT to be and where I CAN be. Once I understand it all more, I'll take a class then get licensed. I can't review the Ham side yet for that reason and I haven't scanned those frequencies yet. It's fairly easy to use and the manual, while good, it does assume you know things a newbie like me doesn't, so I'm highlighting what I need to look into and understand. Menu is pretty simple. Screen is clear and informative. I'll confess to accidentally setting off the alarm at 3am as I was futzing with the FM-wups. I ended it immediately and waited for the X-men in tactical gear, but they didn't find me-haha. I did hear a siren though and had a mini heart attack, but I'm sure it was coincidence. It's weighty and solid. Well made. Nice rubber buttons easy to press and distinguish. Headset works great (tho not ideal). Like that it can charge via cradle or on the road via USBC. While the PTT is in the perfect place to PTT, it's also in a non-perfect place if you don't want to PTT. I kept hitting it and am a lil paranoid I'll do that when scanning where I'm not allowed to talk til licensed. Wish you could somehow disable that til you want to use it as your thumb just goes there instinctively when you hold it, which is great if you wanna use it, not so if you don't. Love the 3 antenna options S/M/L. Didn't realize at first the small, battery size thing was an antenna at first, so if you're wondering what that is-it's a 2" antenna. The long one is longer than my finger tips to past my elbow! I don't love the earpiece as I can't get the cushion on it, but it wasn't too bad without it for the 6 hrs I wore it to scan FM stations/NOAA, just wish I could use something else but as it has two prongs on it and I don't think it does bluetooth (I'll have to check that), it is what it is. I need to figure out how the CHIRP thing works, which I will in time. I used to be in IT and am tech savvy and a quick learner, this is just all new to me at present. Can't review ease of that yet. I'm reviewing as a newbie with my first radio so don't be laughing at my ignorance. I won't be ignorant for long-haha. I'd say this is a great lil unit with all the accessories you might need to get started and some you'll need once you're licensed and Hamming it up. So far in the non-Ham sphere, I get great signal-Chicago is 150 miles away, and more radio stations than I wanna listen to-haha. It seems easy to use, feels good in my small hands and my brother's bigger ones. I don't have long nails, but if I did, I could still use it, which may matter to some. The flashlight is bright. I'd recommend it. It will serve me well on my journey for many years to come and once licensed, I'll be ready for SHTF in this way too. Enjoy. Oh, a case to fit all the accessories in with it would be nice. Not sure how to keep it all together and protected yet. So far so good. Wish me luck! I'll be getting into the meat of it in the next few days and see what I can hear since I'm not allowed to talk yet-sigh. How dare they put Baby in the corner! Calm down-I get it. I'll be a good newbie I promise.

I really.like this package, esp. On sake.at Holiday time. This does not mean that radio is effortless. Cause, man can it ever get complex. Decent antenna selection for these devices.Broadcasting you should get your HAM operator technical ticket at the very least. Worth noting, on the bands this broadcasts on, you are probably illegally overpowering the airways. unlikely anyone will come busting in your door over a 1 watt broadcast in 0.5 watt zone, just be aware.Whatever you do, don't "eat" the Mike or yell into the device. Talk 1-2 feet away in a conversational voice.And, get with your local ARC.Feel free to look up Amateur Radio Club and your home town.Documentation may be light. Any social media group will offer tons of advice, even if some of them are snarky old growlers.

Worked well and perfect. Battery life is pretty good and is super portable. Easy to program as well as communicate.

The general quality of the radio seemed good at first. Construction seemed rugged. But after plugging in the external mic a few times, the built in speaker stopped working on both of these. Apparently the internal parts are more "dainty". The radio has a lot of functions, but it's hard to take advantage of them because the instruction booklet that comes with it gives very little information. A few random ham frequencies were programmed into this when it arrived. There were no GMRS channels programmed. The NOAA weather reception did work right out of the box. Reception quality of NOAA stations on this radio was better than on a UV-5R, using the exact same antenna, except for one little oddity. If I tune to an air band (AM) frequency in VFO mode and then switch to a NOAA station, reception is terrible. If I switch back to VFO & select an FM frequency, then change back to NOAA, then reception is very good again. Apparently having an AM frequency selected in VFO mode changes something in the FM receiver functionality.This radio receives common aircraft voice frequencies in AM. It transmits clearly on marine VHF channels. The GMRS/FRS frequencies work tx/rx, but it is unclear to me if this is certified for GMRS use. Reception quality is generally good. Air band reception is FAR better than it is on the few UV-4R variants that can get it. This radio is physically lager than a UV-5R. It does not appear to be at all waterproof. As I said before the mic/speaker connections have proven to be fragile on both of mine. If you want to use this with the internal speaker, it may be best that you don't ever plug in an external one nor the included programming cable. Batteries are not interchangeable with the older UV-5R radio. This radio does have an FCC ID number on its label. The antennas that come with it are not well tuned for GMRS frequencies. They are tuned for ham frequencies. Even after changing the parameters to keep the screen backlit 100% of the time, the battery life on the 5RM is at least as good as a UV-5R with a factory original battery.Update - Amazon agreed to replace the two radios with failed internal audio. I tested one of the new ones by plugging in an external speaker several times. So far, so good. The only real difference this time is that I made sure that power was off before plugging or unplugging the K1 connector. The instructions don't say that this is needed, but since both of the original radios developed a problem when the external speaker was plugged in with power on, it seemed prudent to try it the other way. I do not have an appetite for destructive testing just to confirm my suspicion, so I am not going to hot swap the external speakers on the new radios. My rating just got bumped up to 4 stars from 3. Thank you for the replacement. To the seller: Please consider an update to the instruction book if you believe it is appropriate.

This is an awesome ham radio. Good reception and the battery lasts forever. I don’t have my license yet so I can’t transmit, but I can listen all I want. It’s amazing what you can pick up with this thing, from locally to across the globe. A “must have” for when both the landline and mobile phone are out, or after the SHTF. It’s very tempting to transmit, so I will be getting my license very soon.