CB vs Dual-Band Hand held (UV5r)

[Lightspeed]

ER as your friends and family have CB and are in range of you all well and good. Of course SSB CB will get you greater range, but increases complication, especially for non-radio savvy operators.

As CH said, an advantage of the Baofeng equipment is its greater portability due to smaller antennas. Baofeng UHF only BF 666 and BF888 hand-helds are a very inexpensive way to put compact, easy-to-use, compatible gear into the hands of all members of a group. These radios are additionally able to be clone-programmed from a computer so that all are configured identically. Their battery packs do not seem to suffer parasitic drain so can be left in the off condition, without recharging, for very long periods. I think the last one I purchased was under a tenner delivered, and its proved pretty much bullet proof even with clumsy handling.