Stone me! didn't it come down this afternoon.  Thunder and lightning right above my place.  That's British summer for you.

Anyway, what's happened to hf lately?.  Only the usual suspects around Europe on ROS and Opera, and sstv on 20 is abismal.  Just gave a shout out on Hellschreiber, as you see from the screen shot.  Not a nibble of course.

Been looking at the emporiums and You Tube re the Chinese handies on offer recently.  Some really strange names out there now, like Wouxon, Quansheng etc.  Just like the Anytone, these handies seem to come with different badges.  Take the Midland CT-790 for instance.  Apparently this is also called the Wouxon KG-UVD1P.  Looks pretty good value from the write ups on the net.  Think it will be my next toy.  Probably get the complete kit so I can do a bit of programming on it.

Whilst I was purchasing my Sirio J Pole, and having a rabbit with the emporiums assistant, like you do (Still don't know is name and I've been shopping there since just after the Norman Conquest), another ham joined in and pulled from his belt one of these Chinese handies.  A Baofeng if I remember correctly.  Dual band, 2 and 70, with fm radio thrown in.  Even a led torch on the top.

Thing is, this guy had 10 delivered direct (Presumably for a club, didn't ask) and the price to the door worked out at 35 quid each.  Stone me!, if they can sell at that price and still make a profit how much does it cost to manufacture?.  He had nothing but praise for the radio, so when the word gets around, especially in the current economic climate, how are the people like Yaesu, Icom etc going to compete I ask myself. 

PS the assistant's name is Paul.  Just checked the emporium's team.  Next time I walk in I'll not greet him with G'Day Bruce! as I ususally do.  He's Welsh, not an Ausy by the way.  Just my weird sense of humour.