I don't customarily hang out on VHF or UHF FM, but when I recently moved (August 2025), I somehow misplaced my trusty old Yaesu FT-60R handheld (one of the best of its generation). I rarely used this radio over the years, but to date, I have not found the "lost" radio which is presumably in the bowels of my storage unit. Anyway, I disliked the idea of not having any portable (as opposed to mobile) VHF/UHF FM capability, so I finally looked into getting a cheap Chinese radio to "tide me over" until I found the FT-60. I have always avoided Chinese radios, particularly due to their (apparently prior) reputations for poor spectral purity, programming difficulty, and just plan poor quality. Well, the latest Baofeng offering, the UV5R Mini, has proved me wrong on a number of accounts. Spurious emissions are almost non-existent (well below 40db), the radio puts out plenty of power, receives the FM broadcast band, the NOAA weather band, charges through a simple and ubiquitous USB-C connection, and can be programmed with free CHIRP software, or - get this - through several apps available for iPhone IOS or Google Android phones. To top it all off, I snagged one from Amazon for under $30.
Oh yeah - the ability to upload your own splash screen is an added bonus. I haven't been looking very hard for that Yaesu FT-60R lately.
