Roger that.
The Baofeng WILL receive those frequencies. A word to the wise: it's scan speed is very slow. That said, you get what you pay for.
Bottom line: it will work...temporarily.
I'd recommend this over the Baofengs: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/produc.../handheld/v80/
Thanks. Looking on Amazon the Icom is 174.00 with a Li-ion battery, the Baofeng is about 60.00. Worth the difference?
Understood. If you EVER plan on transmitting, the Icom is absolutely worth the price difference. My failure rate on Baofengs is right around 50%...
If this is strictly intended for monitoring only, this is the better option than either of the previously mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XL.../dp/B00A1VSO9M
The Baofeng's scan function, even on memory channels, is abysmally slow. I'm confident I could keypad press through the channels faster on my own.
Is there a cheap BF radio for the 3-7 MHz range?
Those just so happen to be the ideal freqs for NVIS.
3-7 falls in the HF portion of the spectrum, and, unfortunately cheap and HF are mutually exclusive.
The cheapest radios that I'm aware of that are HF-capable and worth owning are:
Icom IC-718
Yaesu FT-450D
Icom IC-718
All of these are entry level rigs in the $600-$700 range.
There is the Alinco DX-SR8T, but its price difference in relation to the aforementioned three transceivers, IMO, would not be worth taking a gamble on.
Of course!
What are the differences here? I'm not smart enough to know what I'm looking at.
https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-BF-F8...p_ob_title_wld vs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z52HP10?ref_=ams_ad_dp_ttl
Both of those radios are very similar. I would recommend saving the money, and going for one of the standard 5W versions. The extra power will consume more battery, without any actual benefit. A standard version of the UV5R or UV82 with a decent antenna will chokeslam either of the high power versions.
Of the two, I'd lean toward the UV82. My UV5Rs have been absolute turds. A buddy has a UV82 that sees occasional use and is still functioning. Another buddy has a UV82 derivative I gave him when he got his license about 2 years ago, and it's still working as well.
If I had to go back and do it all over again, and didn't want to spring for a Kenwood, Icom, or Yaesu handheld, I would have picked up a Puxing PX-888K.
All these Baofeng questions have me contemplating doing a new thread on entry-level radios...
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