BTECH UV-50X2 (Second Gen.) Mobile 50 Watt Dual Band Base, Mobile Radio: VHF, UHF Amateur (Ham)

This was a very good little radio ... it, unfortunately was in a vehicle that was stolen, but it worked great for the year I had it.

Liked it so much I bought two. May be using on the GMRS frequencies. Don't tell the FEDs. :) Also picks up the State Troopers in my area. Love this radio.

This is a great radio with a lot of power. Just be careful you don't run it on high all the time. You don't really need 50 watts consistently when you're talking to the next town over. 50 watts is when you're talking to the next country over!

September 2 update: While using this radio on a local repeater (70cm) smoke started coming out of the radio and it stopped transmitting on the high power level. September 3 update. Radio has stopped transmitting on the low power setting. I can no longer endorse this radio as it went from a great radio to a piece of trash! After talking around on different repeaters, I found that this radio is plagued with issues, that I had escaped until this weekend.... ARG!!!!Oh well, this was my first entry-level radio and as I stated, "was" a great radio while it lasted. Again, I can not recommend this radio to anyone that is looking for a radio that is reliable, even for the cost, it should have lasted more than three months.I decided to bite the bullet and get a radio that was/is built to last and does much more. Again, this was a "learning curve" for me and looking back, I'm glad I started out with a "cheap" (price and quality) radio first to see if I was ready for the big leagues. I am hooked on "HAM radio" and am studying for my general and extra license(s). The radio I ordered to replace this one is an ICOM 7100. Yes, about 5x the price of this unit but has rave reviews and is bulletproof from everyone I've talked to.73 and don't make the same mistake I did and try a different brand for an entry level radio.KN4EIA--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------August 4 update: This radio has outperformed all my expectations. reaches out and has no issues when used with a good antenna. remember guys, you can have the best radio ever made on the planet but if you pair it with a really cheap antenna, well, expect failure. This radio actually shows more wattage than it is rated at. KN4EIA----First update: I had a friend with licenses give it a test while I listened in on an HT and all I can say is that it was "very" impressive. Modulation was very clear and it was comparable to the ICOM. Everyone on the repeater was impressed with it. Also, the test was done on low power.As things develop, I will be leaving more updates.-----------------------------------------------------------------But so far it works well. When I first got it, I had no clue how to program/work it.I've been studying for my ham license and hope to take my first test soon. So, I use it just for listening. I have it in my house, using a power supply and a magnetic mount antenna. I can pick up repeaters over fifty miles away and this is a feat as I live sort of in a hole. Once I get my licenses I will install an outside base antenna and see just how far it can reach out.I use it daily to "listen" and am learning a lot just by listening.One other "major" thing I learned from purchasing this product; There is some printing on the box that really impressed me! I will not state that here as I feel Amazon will probably delete it but if you really want to know, leave a comment.

For amateur radio operators, with good eyes, this is a very good value.Strengths:Sound quality is good on reception and I've gotten "loud and clear" reports on transmissions on both power settings, easily reaching repeaters more than 40 miles from me. High and low power settings are easily changed on front panel and microphone button.Unit is built solid, all buttons work well, and feel like they'll hold up over time. Case has deep fins in back for heat sinking, but there's also a small fan at the back. I haven't heard it at all yet, but it's working. SO-239 connector on back is slightly protected by those fins, but it's still easy to connect antenna cable to the socket and tighten. Speaker out socket is also on back of unit. Programming cable socket (3.5mm TRRS plug) is on front panel. Everything is well spaced EXCEPT for the push on/off volume control above the microphone input socket. Strain relief sleeve on the included mic's cable needs to be pulled back or rotated from its installed position to prevent interfering with turning the volume control knob.Power cables are overall less than 2 meters long, have individual fuses, and comes with tinned cut ends. I haven't tried to install this in my car yet, so I don't know if that length is okay or not. After cutting away the tinned part, I easily installed instead Anderson PowerPole connectors on the ends to give me more flexibility with power connections when used as portable and base station. So far, they've worked well with both a battery box and a desktop power supply. (The powerpoles allow me to easily connect banana plugs for use with my cheap power supply.)You can monitor four different frequencies at once, and even set your transmission frequency to always one or any of the four that is active. The most useful for me is the ability to pair up two of the lines on the screen to the same memory location, with one line showing the frequency, and the other showing the stored name (which can show up to 8 characters, in upper and lower case - yay!)The microphone has easy to use, responsive buttons that are lit, and accessing the menu items is easy. Changing menu items is straightforward, once you learn the way it's done. It's of a good size, not heavy, with a firm spring on the PTT. It feels like it will hold up to normal (ab)use. [I'll add to this later if iI find out t doesn't like the heat in my car] The microphone does not have its own internal speaker.Sound from the top mounted speaker in the unit itself is nice and loud, and clear. I imagine certain mounting methods may muffle the speaker if that speaker is not given a lot of air. A label on the top of the unit warns that the top surface gets hot, too, so that's another reason to let the top of the unit be mounted toward the open air.Challenges:The mounting holes don't align perfectly with the included mounting bracket. Three worked fine, but trying to install the last screw in any configuration is not possible without re-drilling the rack. Using other unconnected mountts instead of the included mounting bracket is probably going to be the easiest work around, though.The worst "feature": The screen is TINY, not much bigger than on some HTs, and it displays four lines all the time. If there is a way to display fewer, I haven't found it yet. You can adjust the color combinations to your liking among 7 colors plus black and white, but the print size looks tiny on the tiny screen. I have not permanently mounted this in my car yet, and as I'm getting used to it over these past few weeks, I'm really tending to think I never will. Not mounting it means I can pick it up and look at it closely to see the names or frequencies more easily. There is NO voice assist on this unit, so if you need visual aids, this may not be the unit for you. For one thing, I don't think it will be safe to have to bend down or over to read the screen while driving. Admittedly, my eyes are old and very near-sighted. If yours aren't, you may not have an issue with this unit.As for me, because of the size of the screen, this is going to be used either in a go-box, or exclusively as a base station. And for those purposes, I think it will end up being a very good value. On the other hand, if you have sharp eyes that can read serial numbers on a dollar bill at arm's length (that's kinda what it feels like), you may not have the same concerns in your car that I do.

Lots of radio for the money. Works great

Radio was as advertised. Delivery was early and in great condition.