Baofeng K61, good budget radio.

[WSAA635]

Couldn't resist the price so I picked up a couple of these to play around with. Enjoy the video and thanks for watching.

 

[WRTC928]

I agree with you. Its place in my lineup is as an EDC general-purpose radio. IMO, the UV-5r/BF-F8hp is too small to manipulate easily. It's fine if I don't need to change anything, but the tiny screen and buttons make it a pain to work with "on the fly". The AR-5RM/5RH Pro GPS has a larger screen and buttons but is too large to carry easily. It needs a belt case, or at least a clip, but I prefer to be able to carry it in a pocket. The K61 is intermediate in size, making it easy to deal with if I want to change something, but still small enough to carry in a pocket. I like the color screen of the 5RM, but it's really hard to see in bright sunlight. The K61 screen doesn't wash out much in bright light. It stores 999 channels, meaning I don't have to decide what to leave out vs the 5RM channels. I still like the 5RH Pro GPS best because I can store the channels in banks, but if I'm going to carry the radio quite a bit, I go with the K61.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that in addition to 70cm, 2m, GMRS, and MURS, it works on the 1.25 meter band, which I do use. 

[WRYZ926]

I have a Quansheng UV-K5 (8) running a custom firmware. These are neat radios than can do quite a lot. With the proper firmware, they will even do double side band on the 2m band. I don't know about your radio but there are add on boards for the Quansheng to allow it to transmit on HF. I haven't tore into mine yet to add the board and second antenna.

[WSAA635]

Channel Banks are a big reason why I really like the BF-F8HP Pro. I like to scan Public Safety channels but I also like to scan Airbands. With Banks I can set each Bank up to scan and move to that Bank when needed. 

All in all though the K61 is 99% of what the AR-5RM is at a lower price point which lets people get more radios for their group for the same money.

Bottom line, I'm just a Radio Dork with an addiction to radios. 

[WRTC928]

21 hours ago, WSAA635 said:

Channel Banks are a big reason why I really like the BF-F8HP Pro. I like to scan Public Safety channels but I also like to scan Airbands. With Banks I can set each Bank up to scan and move to that Bank when needed. 

All in all though the K61 is 99% of what the AR-5RM is at a lower price point which lets people get more radios for their group for the same money.

Bottom line, I'm just a Radio Dork with an addiction to radios. 

As of today, the K61 is about $19 and the 5RM is about $23 on Amazon, so for most people, the cost won't be a major factor unless they're going to buy several. The 5RM is a heckuva lot of radio for the price, but since I got a UV-5RH Pro GPS, I don't use it much. If I'm going to carry the radio a lot, I take the K61 and if I don't plan to carry it much, I use the 5RH. Plus, my K61 is green, which is really cool. 

[WRYS709]

On 7/28/2025 at 8:38 AM, WRYZ926 said:

I have a Quansheng UV-K5 (8) running a custom firmware… With the proper firmware, they will even do double side band on the 2m band…

This was a game changer for me: 5 watt HT 2 meter compatible with SSB. 

I added a 5/8ths telescoping antenna and have made QSOs 65 miles away.