Ham radios are seeing a major uptick in popularity of late, especially as people wake up to the fragility of many of our modern means of communication.
Cell phone technology has advanced by leaps and bounds since the first iPhone was released in the summer of 2007. We have more power in our pocket than any other time in human history.
Even still, these modern marvels have a number of serious weaknesses – not the least of which is the cellular phone grid itself.
Sure, tech like 5G promises to help build out more utility and more robustness in the cellular world. But at the end of the day it’s really tough to top the power, reach, and – when you’ve used it a little bit – usability of ham radio.
Getting started in ham radio, though, can be a bit tougher than most expect.
It’s not as easy as popping down to the store, grabbing a radio, and letting it rip.
No, you need to study, get certified, get licensed, AND you need to be sure you’ve invested in the right ham radio tech for beginners, too.
That’s where this guide comes into play!
Ham Radio Buyers Guide
The Importance of High Quality Beginner Gear
Right out of the gate we can tell you that your first priority as a newbie to the ham radio world has to be to get your hands on quality gear.
There’s a lot of stuff out there (A LOT of stuff) that gets peddled by often less than legitimate marketers looking to cash in on newbies excited about a new hobby, folks that want to get their hands on quality stuff but aren’t quite sure of where or how to get started.
Steer clear of that junk!
You don’t necessarily need to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on quality ham radio equipment as a beginner. But you’re not going to find quality equipment for next to nothing brand-new, either.
On top of that, a lot of your gear needs as a newbie are going to be driven by the kind of ham radio operation you want to get started with.
Most brand-new to ham radio begin on the more popular bands (144 MHz and 430 MHz) before bouncing over to HF radios that can be pretty simple and straightforward to use with just a little bit of training.
When all is said and done, though, you’re going to be facing a bit of an uphill battle getting into ham radio to begin with.
Make things a little easier on yourself by committing to only purchase quality equipment, gear you can use for a year or two until you find out how you hope to use ham radio and can specialize from there.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get rocking and rolling.
How to Find a Good Beginner Ham Radio
With so many different quality beginner ham radio options out there to pick and choose from sifting through all those contenders can feel like a bit of an uphill battle.
Here’s a couple of core factors all top options will have in common to help you hit the ground running.
Ease of Use
For starters, you obviously want to find a beginner ham radio specifically designed to get you into the world of amateur radio operation with as little headache and as little hassle as possible.
Now, this doesn’t mean you need a foolishly dumbed down piece of equipment to get started with. Not by a long stretch.
But as you are learning the ins and outs and subtle nuances of ham radio you don’t want to feel like you are fighting your equipment every step of the way, either.
Look for gear that is famous for its simplicity of use, its ease of operation, and a newbie friendly focus. There are tons of reviews out there to help point you in the right direction – and we have some quality recommendations down below, too.
Memory
A beginner radio should have a ton of extra memory, giving you an opportunity to store (at minimum) 500 channels – and maybe even more – right out of the gate.
That might sound a little bit like overkill at the moment, but you’ll find out pretty quickly how fast you can fill up a 500 channel memory on a beginner radio. As well as how challenging it is to choose which channels to drop as you discover even more.
It’s not a bad idea to look for radios that also include special features that remember settings like RF gain, mic game, and other core settings, either. That’ll make life a lot easier, too.
Display and Control Scheme
The display in the control scheme of your beginner radio is how you are going to interface directly with the ham community.
A beginner radio with a polished (if a little bit simplistic) control scheme is a much better option for those getting their feet wet in amateur radio compared to hard-core radios with all kinds of buttons, knobs, and controls you’ll have no idea how to use until you have a bit of experience under your belt.
Shoot for a “future proof” beginner radio that has room to grow into as you become more comfortable with amateur radio. But make sure that you’re not handicapping your progress as a beginner with an overly complex interface right out of the gate, too.
Frequency Options
Dual band radios are ideal for beginners (and a lot of more hard-core enthusiasts, too) for a couple of different reasons, not the least of which is the compatibility available across multiple different bands in amateur radio.
Being able to pair to HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies (with the sometimes added ability to listen in on FM and AM radio signals, too) straight out of the box is pretty cool. These kinds of radios are pretty user-friendly but are also going to grow with you as your ham radio operation skills increase.
Just make sure that you have frequencies between three and 30 MHz on HF, 110 and 300 MHz for VHF, and between 400 and 520 MHz for UHF.
Range
The antenna that your radio comes with dictates how much range you have (amongst other factors, many of them outside your control), and you want to be sure that it is as robust, as well-built, and as large as possible without becoming unwieldy.
Having a ham radio that can reach out 10 miles or more is sufficient for most purposes. More advanced radios will open up that range quite a bit, especially when paired with a lot more power and larger antenna arrays.
But that comes later!
Build Quality
You want a beginner radio that is built like a tank – or as close to it as possible!
We are talking about heavy duty radios that are little bit on the chunkier side of things with lots of waterproofing, dust proofing, and shock absorbing capabilities.
The odds are good that this radio is going to get beat up a little bit (if it’s portable) and you want to be sure that it can take a licking and keep on transmitting.
Power Supply
Don’t forget about the power supply that your radio draws from!
You want something that offers at least between 5 W and 10 W of power if you are going with the beginner handheld option. If you’re going with a console ham radio, though, settle for nothing less than 30 W – and ideally quite a bit more than that.
Remember, the amount of “juice” your radio has access to significantly impacts its range. You don’t want to handicap yourself with an underpowered radio without even realizing what you’ve done.
Our Favorite Ham Radios
Okay, okay.
We squared away why it’s so important to find a quality radio as a beginner ham and what to look for in these kinds of options.
Now let’s go over some of our favorite ham radios for beginners available on the market today. These are all top-tier options, options you’ll be glad to own as you begin your journey into the world of amateur radio operation.
ICOM 2300H Amateur Radio
Universally regarded as one of the very best beginner ham radio options under the sun, you’d have to be at least a little bit crazy to sleep on everything that this radio has to offer.
The first thing you’ll notice is that this radio gives you full access to the VHF band (add 144 MHz), pumping out plenty of range but also making sure that your ham experience comes across crystal clear as well.
Secondly, this thing has a 65 W power output which ads lots of “juice” – more than enough to power up the extra range this radio gives you access to (as well as lots of power for accessories later down the line, too).
The 3 inch LCD screen makes using this radio a breeze as well. You won’t feel like you are fighting finding channels, dialing in signals, or using the radio as a newbie.
Kenwood TM-281A FM Transceiver
Kenwood has always had a reputation for producing legendary consumer electronics, and this amateur radio set up is no exception.
Another console style radio perfect for beginners that are going to set up a bit of a “base camp”, everything about this option is quality from top to bottom. The design is flawless (or close to it), the engineering is obviously intelligent, and the materials used are premium across the board.
Just look at the alphanumeric LCD with a number of intelligently designed buttons and dial controls on the front face of the unit. That’s going to give you a lot more granular control over this amateur radio than you would have with other options.
On top of that, you get a radio that has to hundred channel memory, built-in weather alert systems, full CTCSS and DTCS encoder and decoder options and so much more.
This radio is the real deal!
President Lincoln II Plus Meter Ham Radio
While not exactly a “name brand” outside of the amateur radio community, amongst ham radio operators the President Lincoln setup has a near legendary reputation.
Not only is this a well-built and intelligently designed option (with buttons and controls for pretty much everything a newbie needs to understand about radio operation), it’s also incredibly powerful, is compatible with all HF bands, and even has a VFO mode built right in as well.
Beginners that are looking for a radio that they can grow into, a radio that is close to “future proof”, need look no further than this one.
Tenway UV-5R Pro 8 Two Way Radio
Console ham radios (like this one and the options we highlighted above so far) are fantastic for newbies, if only because they give you a little more “real estate” for powerful hardware under the hood as well as dedicated control and command options.
This isn’t to suggest that this radio is thick, chunky, or heavy.
Sure, it is a little bit on the overbuilt side of things (but that means it’s not going to fall apart on you anytime soon). But it also is foolishly feature-rich.
This is a full-blown dual band system, providing VHF at 136 through 174 MHz as well as UHF at 400 to 520 MHz. The practical use of this radio (especially for beginners) is just about unmatched.
A triple layer power system means that you can use this radio in a variety of different ways as well.
The low setting (1 W) is perfect for close range communications when you need to conserve energy. The mid setting at 4 W bumps out the range a little bit but won’t cause your utility bills to jump. Finally, you have the high setting at 8 W for a lot more range and you’re still not burning up a lot of electricity.
That’s pretty cool!
On top of all of that, there’s an 1800 mAh battery built under the hood so that this console style option can become a portable unit in a pinch.
Not bad, right?
TYT TH-7800 50W Dual Band Ham Radio
A lot of newbies in the ham radio world that go with a portable unit are going to gravitate to the Baofend and Motorola product lineup, and truth be told there’s really nothing wrong with that – if you’re willing to spend a little bit more money without getting a ton of extra value along the way.
This TYT dual band portable ham radio can go toe to toe with almost any of the other beginner focused portable options on the market today, and it does so at a relative discount.
You get 50 W of portable power output, access to VHF (144 through 148 MHz) and UHF (420 through 450 MHz) as well as the ability to listen in on AM and FM radio.
The real star of the show with this unit, though, is the incredible antenna.
Getting 50 ohms of impedance from this antenna is almost effortless, giving you not only a bit of extra range compared to other portable radios in this class but higher quality audio signals – both ways – on top of that.
A great choice for beginners looking for a portable unit.
Other Gear to Consider
As you move through the beginner stages of ham radio into becoming a more established veteran you might want to beef up your ham radio set up.
Here are some other pieces of gear you’ll want to think about investing in, not necessarily right in the beginner stage of your ham radio life but definitely before you’d consider yourself a ham radio master.
Transceiver
A “big box” transceiver will become the heartbeat of your ham radio operation – your stationary ham radio operation – what you should expect to pony up at least a few hundred dollars (and sometimes even more) to get a top-quality transceiver with all the bells and whistles you’ll want to utilize.
Power Supply
Larger power supplies are always going to be in demand for ham radio operators that graduate out of the earliest beginner stages, especially as these amateur radio operators look to extend their range and extend their reach.
Boosting your signal changes the game. Just make sure it’s compatible with the rest of your set up.
Antenna
A VHF or UHF antenna (or, even better, a dual band antenna) is just as important a choice as your new transceiver.
The antenna that you use – as well as your power supply and geographical terrain conditions around you – significantly impact the kind of range you’ll have every time you boot your ham radio up.
Modern technology has introduced a whole bunch of new advancements in the antenna world, making these accessories much smaller without sacrificing nearly as much range as they would have in the past.
HF Wire
HF wire antennas are another way to go if you want to increase the reach on high frequencies.
The cool thing about wire HF antennas (especially compared to VHF/UHF dual band antennas) is that they can be snapped up for next to nothing. This is an upgrade all beginners are going to want to consider if they’re going to be on HF.
Mobile Transceiver and Dual Band Antenna
Having your ham radio set up at home (or some other stationary location) is one thing, but being able to boot up your ham radio pretty much anywhere you go – at any time – really opens up a world of amateur radio operations that wouldn’t have been available otherwise.
Mobile transceivers and dual band antenna setups (not just handheld units, either, but legitimate mobile units) might not be the most beginner friendly things in the world. But once you get your feet about you in the amateur radio landscape you’ll want to start looking closely into this kind of hardware.
This combination is a game changer!
Closing Thoughts
So there you have it, our Ham Radio buyers guide and a detailed breakdown of the very best ham radio options on the market today for beginners just breaking into amateur radio.
Our favorite options available today should help point you in the right direction so that you can shortcut the decision-making process. But you can also use the tips and tricks we highlighted throughout this guide to help you do your own research if you’re looking for something else.
Best of luck going forward!
