I have been looking at hand held ham radios. I found one made by baofeng (spelling is probably off) but it is identical to my rugged radios handheld. Now since I know little to nothing about these is my radio a ham? I thought it was ft but it says dualband. Or is this Chinese ham identical in appearance but functions differently?

 

 

The standard American HAM duel band radio has the following bands:
- 2 Meters: 144 to 148 MHz
- 70 Centimeters: 420 to 450 MHz

This data will be printed or embossed somewhere on the radio along with the power output which is usually 5 watts. The Chinese copy many handheld radios including several commercial bands, marine bands and air bands. Look on both the front and back of the radio for the frequencies covered and power output.

 

Thanks for the info. I will look on the radio. I know it has a weather band, it receives regular fm radio stations and came pre programmed with rugged stations

 

Rugged Radio is a rebranded Baofeng that has been modified to also transmit on non-ham frequencies and has some race frequencies programmed in. If you are a licensed ham operator (which I hope you are if you are looking to buy a ham radio), you'll probably find a few things of concern in using a Rugged Ridge radio or in modifying a Baofeng to transmit out of band. But they are Part 90 accepted if you are licensed for those frequencies. Your Part 97 (ham) license doesn't cover Part 90 or Part 95 frequencies.

 

No ham license although I am going to join the ham club that meets at our local sheriff station. I don't have any intention of using my rugged hand held on ham frequency, I was just wondering if it was the same thing as the ham I saw

 

If your Rugged Radios handheld looks identical to a Baofeng radio, it is possible that it is a rebranded Baofeng radio. However, whether or not it is a ham radio depends on its capabilities and frequencies. Ham radios operate on specific frequency bands that are allocated by governments around the world for amateur radio use. In the United States, for example, hams have access to several different frequency bands in the VHF and UHF ranges.