Throw in a faraday cage for the end of the worldIf it’s going to be a “throw in box for the end of the world” radio, they are great. If you use the radio on a regular basis and dive into all the radio hobby offers, I personally, rather a better quality radio. Quality radio gear = not cheap. But, that’s my opinion, like an butthole we all have one.
I wholeheartedly agree that I would prefer not to support the Chinese market (although I would point out that likely every of us are communicating on this forum via a China built device) but the reality is that low cost devices are, in my opinion of course, revitalizing what was a dying amateur radio community. What was once a cost prohibitive hobby is now extremely accessible. For $25 anyone can try out VHF/UHF and for 3-400 you can get your hands on relatively user friendly HF rigs. To me that’s pretty cool. Moreover, it helps the community grow. Sure, a lot of folks will try out their Baofeng once and never pick it up again, but there are also quite a few who will want to grow and expand their capabilities, and at that point they start looking into Yaesu, icom, etc." I consider them the baofeng of hf radios."
Indeed.
Besides the very real moral conundrum of buying Chinese radios with the intention to communicate with other Americans after an 'event' likely initiated by the Chinese, directly or by proxy....
... each purchase of these is the loss of a sale of an ostensibly nicer or more capable radio supplied by vendors who otherwise will cease to exist, especially given the current demographics of amateur radio.
The radio in question reaches the price point it does in part by making a series of performance compromises.
I fully understand the draw and appeal of ultra low cost electronics. I'm very fortunate to not have to make that choice. Not trying to be a snob here, just an objective comment based on decades of experience.