Jess Harmon

I got into amateur radio the way a lot of people did -- COVID, too much free time, and a $25 Baofeng from Amazon. My grandfather was a lifelong ham in Montana, so I'd always been radio-curious, but it took a global pandemic and a hiking buddy's recommendation to finally push me to study for my Technician license.

That was 2021. Since then I've upgraded to General, activated dozens of parks for POTA, and developed a mild obsession with comparing radio specs in spreadsheets. When I couldn't find a single site that compared handheld radios using actual data instead of vibes, I built one.

RadioRanked scores every radio using a weighted algorithm based on real manufacturer specs -- value, features, portability, and beginner-friendliness. No paid placements. No "we tested it for 5 minutes" reviews. Just data.

When I'm not nerding out over frequency charts, I'm trail running in the Front Range or trying to figure out why my APRS tracker keeps losing GPS lock.

How I Score Every Radio

Every product on RadioRanked is scored algorithmically, but the dimensions depend on what I'm ranking. Handheld radios are scored on value, features, beginner-friendliness, and portability. Mobile radios drop portability for a higher power ceiling. HF transceivers trade beginner-friendliness for a receiver-quality score. Antennas are scored on electrical length, how long the antenna actually is relative to the wavelength it's cut for, rather than the gain number printed on the box, and only against other antennas in the same family. GMRS radios aren't scored at all yet. Every scored category also weighs in real Amazon buyer feedback, rating and review count, alongside the hardware, and the dimensions combine into one overall score from 0 to 100.

So the score is not pure spec-sheet math: buyer reputation is a real input. What it is not, and never will be, is my subjective opinion or a paid placement. There is no pay-to-play. A brand can't buy a better score or a higher shelf position, and every product runs through the same formula regardless of brand or affiliate relationship.

The formula has real limits, and I'd rather name them than paper over them. It can't test build quality, audio quality, or long-term reliability firsthand, since I don't run radios through years of field use before scoring them. Amazon reputation is the closest proxy I have for that gap, and it's an imperfect one. The exact weights, the missing-data rules and a worked example are on the methodology page.

Where I Get the Data

Product specifications are sourced from manufacturer data sheets, Amazon product listings, and FCC filings. Pricing data is pulled from Amazon and updated regularly. I cross-reference multiple sources to make sure the numbers are right.

Transparency

RadioRanked earns revenue through the Amazon Associates affiliate program. Affiliate commissions do not influence scores or rankings. Read the full Affiliate Disclosure for details.

A Note on My Callsign

My callsign isn't listed here for privacy reasons. The FCC's public database links callsigns to personal information, and I prefer to keep that separate from this site. I'm always happy to swap calls on the air.