[aprssig] Cheap HTs

[Scott Miller]

This is semi-offtopic, but a good portion of the HTs I've sold have been
for APRS use, and sales for last year's hurricane season financed a
couple of new APRS projects.

https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=74

I've been carrying these Chinese HTs for a while (the Puxing PX-777) but
while they had an exclusive distribution deal in the US it was kind of a
pain to deal with, and I could never be sure of getting radios with the
proper FCC stickers, so I've been marketing them for ham use only.

Anyway, the exclusive deal is no more and I've got a big pile of
PX-777PLUS's in my warehouse, direct from the factory, with Part 90
certification for 136-174 MHz.  These include a sideband inversion
scrambler, which of course you can't use on ham bands, but it's nice for
HIPAA-conscious agencies.

I'm selling them for $87 each, with quantity discounts down to $75 each.
  This is the same radio that was sold with the Infinity Gear P-1000
badge for about $230.  The guy behind that company seemed to be running
a bit of a FUD campaign saying the P-1000 was something different and
better, but his own letter to the FCC says otherwise.  I could get my
own badge on these things, but I really don't have any interest in
claiming that they're my own products.  I'm providing a service by
putting up the capital to import them, dealing with paperwork,
transportation, and wire transfers, warehousing them in the US, and
handling warranty returns.  I'm charging a markup appropriate for that
service and I don't make any claims beyond that.

As for the radios themselves, they're not going to replace an $800
Motorola, but they're at least a match for a $140 Yaesu, and with better
battery life (and cheaper replacement batteries) than most ham HTs.
There are plenty of reviews out there if you want more information.

Scott
N1VG