Worst radio you own?

[Northcutt114]

3 hours ago, jwilkers said:

No ht will go that far unless it goes thru a repeater

Uh...my HT's routinely talk 40 miles to a repeater. It then goes out from the repeater but the HT has to walk the 40 miles to the repeater so, yes, HT's will absolutely "go that far."

[Northcutt114]

4 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

funny, my baofengs will talk 30+ every day.. In fact, i have talked to hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail and even at Mount Whitney off my repeater..   Obvisouly they are on HT's hitting my repeater at 30-65 miles..   Mt. Whitney is a 65 miles line of site to my repeater.   I can hit the El Paso Repeateer from Acton with my Hytera HT, thats probaly close to 80 miles..   So when you say "No ht will go that far unless it goes thru a repeater"  Remember, if an HT can hit a repeater 65 miles away, then yes an HT can go that far..  

When you say "El Paso," I assume you don't mean Texas, right?

 

[WRUE951]

1 minute ago, Northcutt114 said:

Uh...my HT's routinely talk 40 miles to a repeater. It then goes out from the repeater but the HT has to walk the 40 miles to the repeater so, yes, HT's will absolutely "go that far."

a lot of people have a misconception with HT's not capable of talking far..  Its funny when they say an HT cant talk over 10 miles while HT's routinely hit repeaters sitting at 65+ miles away.. 

[LeoG]

Under normal circumstances for HTs.  Which is on the ground through trees and maybe some small hills.  Not talking with someone who has an elevation advantage of hundreds if not thousands of feet.  And a talking through a repeater means you have to hit that repeater, so it's the same thing.  And repeaters generally have the advantage of massive height, great antennas and better than average sensitivity.

So sure, under non normal conditions for most people they can go that far.  But it's not typical for most.

[WRUE951]

2 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

When you say "El Paso," I assume you don't mean Texas, right?

 

No,, I'm in California..   (Califilure)      There are two repeaters sitting on the El Paso Mountain ranges nearby at 4,500'...  Very popular repeaters for travelers on Hwy 14, Hwy 395 and everything in between..   The best it's done that im aware of is El Cajon to Lone Pine, about 185 miles end to end.   

[WRUE951]

1 hour ago, LeoG said:

Under normal circumstances for HTs.  Which is on the ground through trees and maybe some small hills.  Not talking with someone who has an elevation advantage of hundreds if not thousands of feet.  And a talking through a repeater means you have to hit that repeater, so it's the same thing.  And repeaters generally have the advantage of massive height, great antennas and better than average sensitivity.

So sure, under non normal conditions for most people they can go that far.  But it's not typical for most.

But in other words, 'It can'..   which  defeats 'It can't'   

[Northcutt114]

1 hour ago, LeoG said:

Under normal circumstances for HTs.  Which is on the ground through trees and maybe some small hills.  Not talking with someone who has an elevation advantage of hundreds if not thousands of feet.  And a talking through a repeater means you have to hit that repeater, so it's the same thing.  And repeaters generally have the advantage of massive height, great antennas and better than average sensitivity.

So sure, under non normal conditions for most people they can go that far.  But it's not typical for most.

But who is to say what a "normal" condition is? Every single day of my life I can hit a repeater that is 40 miles from my back deck with my HT. That's very "normal" to me.

I think the conception is that most people use HT's when they are out and about, maybe hiking or driving. In a situation like that, sure, they aren't going to get out much more than a few miles outside of some extraordinary elevation difference and line of sight blessings. But even then, let's say that's me. I'm hiking and I can't get out more than 3 miles on my HT. That would be "abnormal" for me to only get out 3 miles because "normally" I can get out 40.

It's all about perspective...and experience, I suppose.

 

[LeoG]

5 hours ago, jwilkers said:

No ht will go that far unless it goes thru a repeater

Sent from my SM-S911U1 using Tapatalk
 

Because there was a parameter of not going through a repeater.  More likely HT to HT or HT to a mobile.  I know I can get quite far talking with the little lady on the base with my HT  But "normal" for my area isn't really far.  Lots of trees and hills get in the way of normal communication and on top of that I'm in a valley surrounded by up to 300' "hills" and almost nothing gets through because there are no repeaters on them.

[dosw]

On 9/17/2025 at 6:45 PM, AndyOnTheRadio said:

Just for fun, what is the worst radio that you have? Maybe it's to hard to program, perhaps it had a manufacturer defect, or you just didn't like it. What radio would you tell someone to avoid? I'm not trying to start fights, just curious. 

I would tell people to avoid the Baofeng UV-5RPro. 

Midland GXT1000.

CONS:

• No repeaters
• Fixed antenna
• Nowhere near the power most handheld GMRS radios will operate at (and it doesn't matter much).

PROS:

• Simple: Great for handing out to someone to use on short notice.
  • Configure a channel, tone, and lock it.
• Weatherproof

They're essentially FRS radios with a little more power. Fine for keeping in the truck so that someone can help guide me back into a tight campsite when I'm towing a trailer. Fine for typical campground activities or talking between group members on a hike. Fine for at an event spread across a mile or so.

 

I have eight other radios (GMRS and 2m/70cm), some cheaper, some more expensive. I don't regret having purchased any of the others. But I know I wasted money on the GTX1000s because they offer less than the others, in terms of features and capabilities, while costing more than any of my other handhelds.

[TNFrank]

Here in the "Valley of the Sun" we're surrounded by mountains so most of our Repeaters are very high up on top of those mountains. That's why I can hit a Repeater on the White Tanks some 16 miles away with my HT or one on South Mountain that's the same distance. Elevation makes a HUGE difference. From where I'm at in Avondale I can hit a Repeater on Chase Tower that's in Downtown Phoenix. By the same token I can't talk to a buddy that's 3 miles away in a different housing addition because of all the homes and trees in the way. 

[LeoG]

Yup, I have two repeaters I regularly reach out to on the HT that are 17 and 21 miles away.  Can't contact my shop 1.9 miles away HT to HT.  But from my shop with and HT on the ground to my base with it's antenna 13 meters off the ground is something I can reach.  From my house using an HT on the ground to my shop with it's antenna 13 meters off the ground it's really a stretch to reach.  Right at the limit of the repeater.  The hill I'm on prevents me from reaching by ground.

 

Height is might.

[WRTC928]

I've really been disappointed with the Baofeng UV-5r Mini. I bought a pair for the convenience of the small size, but their receive sensitivity is pretty much crap and transmit capability isn't much better. I get about the same performance out of them with a 771 antenna that I do from a regular UV-5r with a Bingfu soft stubby antenna. Having to use the long antenna pretty much defeats the purpose I bought them for. They're basically FRS "blister pack" radios with more frequencies. 

[Bocephus91]

On 9/22/2025 at 9:00 AM, WSJX263 said:

That's what I did with those Baofeng GM21's. Sent them back and got a pair of Ailunce HA1G's, they work great.

I just ordered the gm21's figured for the price I'd try them out. What was wrong with them so I know what I'm getting into lol

[WSJX263]

7 hours ago, Bocephus91 said:

I just ordered the gm21's figured for the price I'd try them out. What was wrong with them so I know what I'm getting into lol

They had bad receive. Almost deaf.

[Bocephus91]

6 hours ago, WSJX263 said:

They had bad receive. Almost deaf.

Thank you. I wasn't expecting much since it was 2 radios for $48 but figured I'd try it.

[WSJX263]

8 minutes ago, Bocephus91 said:

Thank you. I wasn't expecting much since it was 2 radios for $48 but figured I'd try it.

I sent them back, and got a pair of Retevis/Ailunce HA1G they have been great so far.

[Bocephus91]

On 10/1/2025 at 10:30 AM, WSJX263 said:

I sent them back, and got a pair of Retevis/Ailunce HA1G they have been great so far.

Appreciate it, I'll look into them

[WRZI217]

The most disappointing radio I own is the Wouxun KG-Q10H. Often will not power on unless the battery is removed and then re-inserted. And then often will not transmit in UHF without turning it off and then back on again. Lower power even on the BS "Extra High" setting than following Wouxun radios. Pretty frustrating considering the price of this radio. The Wouxun S series radios are also pretty much junk. On the other hand, the KG-935G and H radios are the best that I own. The KG-805G and 905G are also excellent single channels. Far superior to my Baufeng, TID, and Radtel radios.

[WRUU653]

40 minutes ago, WRZI217 said:

The most disappointing radio I own is the Wouxun KG-Q10H. Often will not power on unless the battery is removed and then re-inserted. And then often will not transmit in UHF without turning it off and then back on again. Lower power even on the BS "Extra High" setting than following Wouxun radios. Pretty frustrating considering the price of this radio. The Wouxun S series radios are also pretty much junk. On the other hand, the KG-935G and H radios are the best that I own. The KG-805G and 905G are also excellent single channels. Far superior to my Baufeng, TID, and Radtel radios.

That sucks. Are you still under warranty? My first KG-Q10H had some issues (not the same as yours) and “buy two way radios” was good about replacing mine, twice.
The first replacement they sent had completely different issues than the one I initially sent back so they replaced it again. I did include videos of the issue side by side with a radio tuned to the same frequency without issues. If a picture is worth a thousand words I figured a video would be hard to argue with. I also like the 935’s, my KG-935H is pretty much my most grabbed HT right now. 

[WRTC928]

On 9/22/2025 at 2:29 PM, TNFrank said:

Here in the "Valley of the Sun" we're surrounded by mountains so most of our Repeaters are very high up on top of those mountains. That's why I can hit a Repeater on the White Tanks some 16 miles away with my HT or one on South Mountain that's the same distance. Elevation makes a HUGE difference. From where I'm at in Avondale I can hit a Repeater on Chase Tower that's in Downtown Phoenix. By the same token I can't talk to a buddy that's 3 miles away in a different housing addition because of all the homes and trees in the way. 

From my yard (and sometimes from my house), I can routinely talk to my club's 2m and 70cm repeaters 20+ miles away and a GMRS repeater a bit further with a 5 watt Baofeng and a Bingfu stubby antenna. My club's repeaters are 280' high and my house is on an elevated terrain feature. I don't know how high the GMRS antenna is, but I'm guessing it's also some 200'+. HT-to-HT, I consider 3 miles pretty good, although I did once talk to another HT nearly 20 miles away. He was also on an elevated terrain feature. We could converse, but it wasn't very strong or very clear. 

[WRUE951]

BTech GMRS-V2...   Piece of junk..  One of these days I'm gonna see what a .223 will do to it.  

[Lscott]

That's expensive ammo to waste on a CCR. I would tape it to a railroad rail and wait for a train to go by. 

[WRUE951]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

That's expensive ammo to waste on a CCR. I would tape it to a railroad rail and wait for a train to go by. 

Good idea..   that would prbley get more YouTube Views too.  

[WRYZ926]

On 10/16/2025 at 9:17 AM, WRZI217 said:

The most disappointing radio I own is the Wouxun KG-Q10H.

On 10/16/2025 at 10:12 AM, WRUU653 said:

That sucks. Are you still under warranty? My first KG-Q10H had some issues (not the same as yours) and “buy two way radios” was good about replacing mine, twice.

I would definitely get a replacement if still under warranty. I have a KG-Q10H and a friend has a KG-Q10G and both have not had any issues. The output on the 1.25m and 6m bands is low around 2-3 watts on my radio. This is actually fairly normal as most tri and quad band radios will have lower power output on the 1.25m and 6m bands when compared to 2m and 70cm bands. This goes for most hand held and mobile tri band and quad band radios.

[WRTC928]

On 10/20/2025 at 12:51 PM, Lscott said:

That's expensive ammo to waste on a CCR. I would tape it to a railroad rail and wait for a train to go by. 

I live on a bluff above a railroad. If my shoulder wasn't FUBAR, I could literally hit a passing train with a thrown radio. The railroad police probably wouldn't like it, but it would be interesting to see the results when the train and the radio collide.