We have had some radios for a while but the replacement batteries are getting to cost more than a new radio such as the Baofeng’s What is a good VHF radio that’s cheap so if it breaks you can get a new one without crying and Ideally run on AA batteries. I’ve had enough of rechargeable for many reasons. We dont need UHF, Our Sqn building is in a hollow. I use an Anytone AT-778UV as an amateur ham and Im looking for that as a transportable base station with a Diamond X-30 on a pole for local usage.
Honestly, at this point, you made yourself far more qualified than me than make a recommendation!
We just went for Baofeng UV-82s for our last batch - dual band, but hey ho you don’t have to go that way exactly. Added some rubber jackets for a bit of shock resistance.
The hassle and long term cost of AAs isn’t worth it imo considering the cost of a new handset if that’s the area of the market you opt for.
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A few of the new handsets have USB-C charging which is fantastic if you want to use them on activities or events rather than just training. Worth a look.
You can get after market AA adapters for some radios, via eBay etc.
It also depends on what type of radio you have and how old. If it is something decent like a Motorola/Vertex or Yaesu then new batteries are worth it even if the packs cost more than a Baofeng.
I have an unlimited supply of AA’s and I want them to be available for immediate use which with recharging doesn’t work. I suspect leaving the old batteries on charge for a few days hasn’t done them much good as I think they were NiCad. The old ones are … Not sure Ill look tomorrow night.
At one point most handhelds had AA adapters as an option (even some of the Clansmans!) but depending on the age of the sets they might be hard to track down.
It’s worth a look.
Ours are probably 25 years old and still decent tbh. 2 out of 8 are dead in that time.
I just didn’t fancy spending on one radio what I could buy 20 cheapos for.
I’ve had some good results with secondhand, refurbished by a dealer. Allowed me to add to my ‘fleet’ but we did get some cheapy ones too, mostly used by staff as they have dual watch.
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while i appreciate you are looking for a AA battery option, don’t knock these.
Two Squadrons ago, and ~15 years ago both Baofeng and Wouxun were very popular in our Wing. they are basically identical radios with subtle differences in cases. I recall prices were somewhere between £30-60 a radio for a dual band handheld that was easily programmed.
We had the Wouxun UV6, which looks to be replaced with the UV8 now.
they worked perfectly - both on UHF and VHF, and gave us the flexibility to adapt frequency to our needs and easy compatibility when working with other Squadrons who only had on or other option.
I would happily get a dozen more when the time comes for my current unit to replace its legacy set
How do you mamage ti get an unlimited supply of AA batteries?
From my work, we use them in test equipment and they are replaced every week in all the equipment so I just collect them.
The old radio’s are Alinico.
Decent make, still widely supported by dealers so will depend on how old your units are