Radtel RT-880 vs Quanssheng UV-TK11(8).

[WSAA635]

I've been looking at some HTs that can do HF and saw these two. Does anyone have any experience with either and which one would you recommend? 

I know I'll not get the range out of either like I would a dedicated 10M base station with a good antenna but I'd at least be able to play around a bit and explore it to see if I'd want to invest in better equipment.  

If anyone has any other recommendations for a sub-$100 HT that'll do HF please let me know. Thanks and 73's.

[UncleYoda]

Why?  There's nothing worthwhile to listen to on HF and you can't even join in the HAM games with an HT.

A plain ole DB-20G would give you a lot more to receive and talk to.

I know you're new, but you are over complicating the idea of communication by looking for features or gadgets that don't and won't matter when you really need comms.

[WSAA635]

Looking at videos on both. The Radtel doesn't use the standard K1 programming cable so that's a deal breaker. I can do 6M with the standard antenna that comes with the TK-11 so that would give me more frequency  range than the 2M/1.25M/70cm that my current radios so I'll have more to explore now that I have my HAM license.

Either way I'll be a couple weeks before I get anything because I need some Crypto I have to unstake to get funds. 

[BoxCar]

Don't waste your time or money on an HF HH. Bite the bullet for a true HF base or a "shack-in-a-box" radio. General is almost as easy as Tech and it opens almost all the frequencies. Check with a local club before making any purchase, but don't overlook used radios. There are some good deals out there if you know what you want and can be patient. I bought my HF with extras for about $300 less than new. "

[Jaay]

The Yaesu FT-991A is a Favorite among shack in the boxes, and I've had mine for 5 years now and Still love it.

[WSAA635]

1 hour ago, Jaay said:

The Yaesu FT-991A is a Favorite among shack in the boxes, and I've had mine for 5 years now and Still love it.

$1500 on Amazon, my wife would skin me alive then chop me up and bury me in the backyard, LOL. 

The TK-11(8) looks decent enough to get on 6M to play around until I see if it's worth investing in. Until then I'll play with 2M/1.25M/70cm with the radios I have. 

[WRYS709]

While I have great nostalgia for 6 meter AM when I was young, my experience here in SoCal is that 6 meters is dead, other than some FM repeaters that duplicate others on 440/220/145

[WSAA635]

OK, the Radtel 880 is back on the list. I found out you can program it via USB-C and they include a programming cable so no need for that "fancy" cable. I also like that you screw in the HF antenna instead of it being a 3.5mm plug like the TK-11 has. It'll still be a couple 3 weeks before funds become available so I can watch more YouTubes and do more research. In the mean time Thanks for all the replies. 73's