Wonderful place to buy a radio and books and to buy used radios and to find out about how to get a Ham radio license

I had a bad experience on 11/15/2025. One of the staff was really rude to me, but it's the only time it's happened. Hopefully it's just a one off and he was just having a bad day. I really hate that there are no prices on anything. It's also really hard to tell who is just hanging out and who works there. read more

A few days after receiving my amateur radio license, I drove to Ham Radio outlet in Anaheim. The drive from Woodland Hills was pretty much what you'd expect it to be, so I was not in the greatest of moods by the time I arrived. The salesperson I worked with (sorry, I don't remember his name) was patient, checked when he was unsure of an answer to one of my questions, and gave me some useful tips on the operation of the transceiver I ultimately chose. He suggested other items I would need to get on the air and never tried to upsell me when the less expensive product would do what I needed. A few days ago, I needed to pick up a headset. I went to the DX Engineering website and it was not clear which accessory cable I would need. I called their toll-free customer service number and, after being on hold for over 15 minutes, decided to try HRO instead. I'm so glad I did! Not only did they have the identical headset for $40 less, but they answered their phone immediately and made sure that I ordered the correct cable. The Anaheim store had all of the items I ordered online in stock and that's the store that fulfilled my order. I received my items two days after I ordered. It's rare to find a brick-and-mortar electronics store these days, and even rarer to find one that carrries ham radio equipment. I will not hesitate to continue doing business with HRO. read more

Completely disappointed with them. I bought new radio and it was dead out of the box. Because it took me more than 10 days to get programmed and do a custom install in my vehicle they will only point me to manufacture for warranty repair at my expense. I belong to several clubs and groups and until now never had an issue. I will not be returning as a customer when you can get just about anything overnight on line and a real reasonable return policy. I don't ever do reviews but I am hopeful I can help someone else avoid the same issue. They might be the only game in town but Amazon and fed ex can fill that solution. Michael greany read more

I went in to aquire a DMR hotspot. The first salesman said he did not know much about them but directed me to the gentleman at the end of the counter. He pulled out a zum modem. He also did not know much and handed me off to a young man who was named after a TV character from the late 90s. The box was not sealed and the flap was just pushed closed. When I tried to open it he admonished me. I told him I wanted something that is mobile as I would be carrying it with me. He said you can do that. When I got it home, I plugged it in to charge the battery but when it just powered up on its own that did not bode well. I quickly determined it had no battery and no power switch. From having watched the HRO video on that model which I found on YouTube one should let it come up and after a few minutes one should see pstar 2 appear as an available access point on your computer. No dice but more importantly it was not really mobile. At least not out of the box. I sent it back in with my wife as I only had 10 days to return it. After explaining it over the phone Jeff wrote down customer changed his mind but it should have been customer sold bill of goods. OK they got their restocking fee to put it back in the glass case and are out the $1500+ I would have dropped on a new radio in a few months. They are not that knowledgeable and you will get better and more knowledgeable service from AI. Just order it on line. read more

Ordered a new ICOM, picked up from San Diego, Eric , got me set and out quickly and helped me load the radio. would buy from again. Team at Anaheim was friendly and helpful! Its a shame that the HRO in San Diego closed, that drive is nuts! Anaheim location ( the area) was pretty rough lots of drugies and street folk. read more

I find your response interesting. The two people I interacted with BOTH agreed that the hole was too large at the counter and did not offer the same conclusion as you and your manager apparently came to. The hole in the bracket I was instructed to buy wasn't 3/4" in diameter. It was and still is 13/16". The tiny tabs on the back of the NMO mount were too small to provide solid backing and would pop out on the side where the seemingly shorter tab was. This was verified at the counter. Nobody showed me any solution other than to try something different. So I did. I didn't WANT a different configuration. I WANTED for someone to tell me that I was installing it wrong. I didn't WANT to drive 72 miles round trip for a different configuration. I drove 72 miles round trip for a solution and believe it or not, even somebody to tell me I was doing it wrong. I asked your manager to come out for two reasons, one was to get another set of eyes on the situation and two to ask why the items I was told would work, didn't and ended up costing ME a restocking fee. It was agreed at the time of charging me the restocking fee that the parts didn't mate up properly. That was the ONLY response I got was "Yeah, you're right. Now we are going to penalize you for it." (I'm paraphrasing of course.) I don't give crap about $1.50. You saying that I got charged 5% less than I should have is dismissive and insulting. I would have LOVED for your counter personnel to show me whatever it was that you and the manager (that didn't have time to talk to me the first time) had figured out, but I wasn't offered anything except different parts and a different and more EXPENSIVE installation solution! Why would I CHOOSE to spend more money on a configuration I didn't want in the first place, when educating me on the apparent "error" I made was all I wanted? As a matter of fact, that's the first thing I said when I entered the store!! "Am I possibly doing this wrong?" I was told I wasn't doing it wrong. Your one star review remains. Nice try. Like I give a damn about $1.50. It's the principle. I guess your employees had to work so hard re-stapling the hang tag to the plastic bag, earning that $1.50. Lame response on your part. read more

These guys are the best, Great service and accurate information for new and experienced broadcasters as well. Prices are just as good as any other supplier and best to go see in person and meet a great bunch of Operators. Recommended ! read more

I needed a cable for a machine, and a vendor told me to try a ham radio store. The original cable I needed was a 1 week lead time. I'm glad I found this place. They saved my skin by providing something similar to what I needed. The amazing part was the customer service, I work for a manufacturing company, and these guys went above and beyond with the little information I provided them. All 3 employees at the front were friendly and went out of their way to look up specs for a cable that had nothing to do with communications and even provided alternatives. The price of the cable that saved me was a fraction of the original cable. The cable I purchased was an adequate replacement and held up as we waited for the original. I just wanted to thank Ham Radio Outlet for their excellent customer service. I wish I had remembered the employees' names that helped me. Thanks again! read more

Excellent customer service !! I ordered a Zumspot that the fan went bad. HRO didn't hesitate to replace it after 3 months use and I received a new Zumspot the next day UPS. They also sent a UPS return label. I highly recommend HRO for all your hobby-radio needs. Thanks read more

Great service, there is nothing else like it. So go and check it out. Bring your grand kids.

Drove up to the Anaheim HRO from San Diego today to buy a new antenna and mount because I was having transmit issues which I assumed were due to a bad antenna rig. Had the pleasure of meeting Eric at HRO, and after explaining my issue he said "Well, lets go out and look at it." He walked out to my Jeep, spent time checking out my rig and said he was pretty sure my issue was a radio setting and not a hardware issue. He went back inside, did some internet research specific to my radio, and sure enough, it was a setting issue. HRO saved me from spending close to $200.00 on hardware I did not need and taught me a few things in the process. I still bought a bunch of other stuff from them because you can't just walk into an HRO store and leave empty handed :-) Seriously, as a relatively new HAM, I'm very appreciative with the caring service I received at HRO Anaheim. Top notch team here and well worth the drive for me. read more

I found this store from radio reference dot com. What a special place. I had questions, ideas and a shopping list. A gentleman named Billy Bob took 45 mins to help me with my list, answer my questions and work thru ideas. We demo'd radios and spoke at length about so many different things. I am new to the hobby and this conversation was so incredibly appreciated. On my way out of the store I was PUMPED up and looking forward to coming back. Would reccomend this place to anyone, anytime. I'll be back when I'm ready to go from just scanning frequencies to getting my ham license. Two up read more

Being new to GMRS radios, I had quite a few questions. The staff was AWESOME and handled all my noob questions without pointing and laughing, they knew exactly what I was looking for. There did seem to be quite a few "friends" in the place, so - clearly - this is a place where the local HAMs hang out. They have a well-stocked store, and I really appreciated all the help and guidance they offered. If you're looking for HAM radio - or GMRS stuff, this is a place to consider! read more

As a seasoned Ham, I find HRO the perfect place to shop in-person in what is a 'candy store' for radio enthusiasts such as myself. The staff is pleasant and well informed. Being able to go 'hands on' on products of interest is huge. Prices are in alignment with mail-order and you can walk out with your product when you buy it (Even better than Prime). With most on-line sites now charging sales tax, there is really no huge savings in buying from the on-line retailers and today it is vital that we support brick and mortar stores if we expect them to be around when we need them. Don't be stupid to save $10.00, we all need to think local and support our local business people who give back to our community, especially now. 73s - Stan read more

SECOND UPDATE: I received an email from the manager who apologized and said that he would credit me for the purchase. So, I sent the cable back to them. I went there to make another purchase the other day and was told that I did indeed have a credit for the return. This experience was a very good one and I ended up making a $1000 purchase. So, I've upgraded my review from 2 to 4 stars. I just wish they'd look at their emails more often. read more

This place confuses me. I came in here a few weeks ago with a list of items I needed. I said I wanted to get the Uniden sds100 and a scanner antenna with coax that had a bnc adaptor. I was told that it wouldn't work and was shown several different antennas and mounts. After telling the person that the antennas wouldn't work the person finally checked inside the box and was shocked I knew some much about scanners when he found a bnc adaptor in the sds100 box. I then showed the person exactly what Hustler antenna I wanted and finally got what I needed. Today I went in looking for a Hustler trunk lip scanner antenna. The person today showed me a Hustler trunk lip mount but didn't come with an antenna. The male then showed me a $40+ magnet mount that didn't come with an antenna. When I finally showed him from the hro website what antenna I was looking for the person came back with the trunk lip mount and magnet mount Hustler antenna so I bought both of them. The place is great when items are in stock but good luck finding someone who knows about scanners. read more

Ham Radio Outlet - Two Hustler scanner antennas. - Electronics Near Me - Anaheim, California

Highly suggest this place for any Ham visiting or in the area. Jeff was super helpful, taking the time to answer all of my questions and finding the perfect gear to fit my needs. Store had a great selection of all major radio brands - pretty much anything they had online. Value was better than Amazon - the ht antenna I purchased was ~$7 cheaper here than on Amazon. HRO is definitely my go to for ham radio gear from now on. read more

Best place for all your ham radio needs! Everybody there is feady to help. Most of the time they have everything in stock.

HRO has been and still is the very BEST place to go for any Ham Radio needs! I've been going there for the last 36 years and deeply appreciate their expert technical knowhow and camaraderie. I'm hoping that they remain at their current location (3 miles away) :-)! read more

Very informative, i live in bigbear calif i ordered a manuel for my icom 7300 over the phone and i cant belive it was here the next day your on the ball HRO read more

I am a new ham and so far purchased all of my equipment from HRO, most of it online because I live two hours away and everything was closed to walk in traffic. I have now had the chance to visit in person twice and the experience has been over the top awesome! Staff and shoppers alike are great and so supportive to a new guy like me entering the hobby. This weekend Bob took a bunch of time to help me with a wide variety of questions and purchasing needs. Other staff chimed in here and there and I learned a ton and felt welcomed the whole time. This is no doubt my go to place for all things amateur radio! read more

I visited this HRO location twice now and both times I was greeted by a very nice and helpful group of guys there that one could only hope they get to deal with at any place. They took the time to explain things to me, answered all my questions, walked me though the equipment, and even took me in the back to view some other items that ended up working out better for me than what I had previously researched. If you want to be treated well, listened to, and professionally advised by actual HAM operators with experience and knowledge that will gladly welcome you into the hobby, then HRO in Anaheim is where you want to go. Bob was great and so were all of his co-workers!! I even had a chance to meet up with Hoshnasi from his channel on YouTube known as Ham Radio Crash Course and he was a great help with my aspirations on getting into HF. You can find him here -- https://www.youtube.com/user/hoshnasi Thanks to everyone!!!!!! read more

DJ was great! Set me up with a new cable that will hold up to the tough abuse while off roaming in my Jeep. He understands radio very well and helped me with picking out a new radio for my Jeep. Thank you DJ Thank you Ham Radio Outlet for hiring helpful and knowledgeable staff as well as keeping your stores stocked with what we need for our radios. Robert Rien KM6 GOT read more

Called HRO on 3/16/2023@ 12:56 talked to David to order 10,15,20,40,75 Fullsize Shark hamsticks he asked me 2 times minis or full size told him twice full size not Mini well they come in as mini and I did not catch this mistake and you have to cut the packaging all to heck to get them out. Figured out they were wrong abought two weeks later. Called them to return and they told me it would be 15% restocking fee and I would have to pay shipping back to them $21.95. The mistake is on their part they should pay. The restocking fee and shipping should be covered by them, or they could have paid the shipping on the correct product that I would repurchased. But they were no help in trying to work with me! My responsibility was to check the product when it arrived to make sure it was correct, and I did not but told David twice to make sure they were full size not the Minis! It is hard to Know the size without a set to compare the full size and Mini. Purchased a lot of gear from HRO Not sure they will get more Business from me maybe they will read this at corporate and work with me to fix this problem of sending wrong Antennas KX4XT read more

They were so helpful and professional. I told them my tech license test is in about two weeks and I just wanted to check some things out and see if they had any suggestions. I was shocked by how helpful they all were. Billy Bob even showed us how easy it was to make contact with someone on the other side of the world. It took him seconds to get in touch with someone in Northern Italy. It was amazing! They walked me through different radio options and the differences in the licenses. I couldn't imagine a better way to start off my Ham journey. I'll be going back for sure. read more

Went there with zero experience with ham radio. Asked for an entry level car set up, got help right away. They were very very helpful. Will go again for my future ham radio upgrades. read more

Bill "DJ" is awesome! I visited the store today to pick up some study material for my General and Bill was great! He helped me pick out some material, offered some pointers, and even introduced me to one of the VE's that I'll likely be testing with. Every time I come here the customer service is great! I'll continue to do business here primarily because of the great support I always receive! Thank you HRO Anaheim!! read more

These guys are great! they inspected my install, made a few suggestions, and taught me how to use my new radio. Spent probably more than an hour setting things up, programming loads, and getting me all ready. Awesome service. A little sad that the store in Sunnyvale closed, but these guys are good. read more

I went in to purchase some equipment. It seems every sales person was in a conversation with friends?? and not much assistance for customers who want to purchase. I waited close to 30 minutes for one of the sales agents (David Glenn) to stop flapping his lips before I could get any assistance. Maybe that was a sign of the poor service I received. I knew what I wanted to purchase...an AT-200ProII desktop Antenna tuner. Note: I had called earlier and they said they had plenty in stock. So I drove 30 miles only to find out they were out of stock, but they did have the AT-100ProII. They claimed it was the same product, but limited to input power of 100 watts. Not a big deal since my radio only puts out 100 watts. I decided to purchase the product, and asked the question is everything is included in the box....I specifically asked if there was an jumper cable from the amplifier to my radio that is required. He (David Glenn) said no....everything needed is in the box. Well if you've read this review thus far you can guess the result. No jumper cable was included. I called HRO and told the agent that answered that I just purchased the antenna tuner and there was no jumper cable included as stated by (David Glenn) Now here is where it gets any worse. They said they could ship me out a cable, but informed me that it would be over $20.00 plus shipping. Of course by now you could guess what my response is. They could take the cable and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. I will be returning the antenna tuner, and not going to pay any restocking fees, and hopefully (David Glenn) will be working. I have always wanted to support local businesses, but this isn't the only issue I've had with HRO, but I can guarantee it will be my last. I will be purchasing my future purchases online. I just ordered a antenna tuner from DX Engineering which was less than HRO, and they informed me that a jumper cable is required. With the order from DX Engineering I'm purchasing an upgraded LDG antenna tuner with the required jumper cable for less than HRO price, and pathetic customer service. Hopefully you will have better luck at HRO, but if not DX Engineering has much better customer service and prices. read more

Went in today to buy my 1st handheld. DJ helped me out and was super helpful. Friendly, courteous and not pressuring. Even though it was a long drive, it was worth it. Customer service is top notch. Amazon or ebay cant answer questions like a knowledgeable professional. read more

So you post a review on this company, if they don't like the review, they take it down. They don't want you to see the negatives. One would think that it would be used as a improvement tactic. NO!! All I am saying is be careful, I got squat. My order smelled from the moment the sale went through. That's why I am posting this here. My review is out there, and now they can't remove it. The reason why it is not on the review page of their site is because Mr manager dropped the ball, oh, a couple times. So, keep up the good work during these tough times. Let's see, new radio and new amp...... $13k would have been a good month for ya! read more

I stopped in yesterday to pick up a new mobile unit that I installed in a Go-Box/Shack-in-a-Box that I just built. I was helped by DJ who gave me a cup of coffee, fantastic service, and a great conversation. read more

Going in, nice place. Ordering an item to be shipped, don't be in a rush. Ordered a .4 lb item online Thurs. night. Over nine dollars to UPS ground it a little over a hundred miles away. I'd think shipping it Friday for Monday delivery would have been considerate. Not shipped till Monday. I've been inside. I think either the data system is slow, or someone was just lazy. Charging for shipping, ok, but charging more for handling, well, handle it. Five stars for the inside experience. Sure. One for shipping experience. Avg. three. Sorry, I wish I could give better. read more

Ham Radio Outlet Anaheim have a friendly customer service team. One of the person who assisted me was DJ. He was tremendously helpful, very professional, and courteous. Thank you. read more

PROS: Great prices, as good or better than online prices. CONS: Was treated like a criminal for not having a license yet. First thing I asked about was how to get a license, what was on the exam, how to study for it, etc., but since I was planning on using the radio for racing they already assumed I would be using it illegally. The salesman seemed like he would be a nice guy if I was already licensed, but would not offer any help or advice. He finally told me, "I'm not being nice or helpful, because I know what goes on in these races and I know you're not going to get licensed. What you're doing is illegal and I won't help you. I can't keep you from buying the radio, but I won't help you choose anything." I said it was bad business practice to treat your customers like criminals, especially someone who is young (26) and new to the hobby. HAM radio is dying, with the likes of stamp collecting, and young people like myself are keeping businesses like this store going. If the price wasn't so good, and if I hadn't driven so far, I would have walked out. But instead I spent $450 on a nice radio, antenna, and an exam prep book. I would have liked to recommend them to other friends, but I think I'll be telling them to pay the extra $20-$30 and buy it online. There is no need to be treated like a criminal. FYI, I have signed up for next month's exam. It's only $15. read more

When ordering a HAM radio and you know nothing of HAM radios, one can be intimidated. My man's friend helped pick out the model, the helpful gentleman at the HRO helped me pick out the mount and whip. Thanks so much for your patience! It arrived ONE DAY after I ordered from their website. Awesome service. Highly reccommend! read more

One of the few retail businesses I look forward to visiting. Everyone has been beyond helpful and always friendly. Prices are competitive and the store well-stocked. It's clean, organized, and has easy parking in front. read more

They win by default... If another Company moves in with competitive price and inventory they will take over. Staff here is knowledgable but short on sales skills. You have to beg recommendations out of them and they carry a pretty arrogant attitude. If you drive 50 miles for stuff you want to enjoy the purchase. read more

Went in for the first time today. Bill DJ Lovelace very helpful and answered all of my questions courteously and professionally. Will definitely be going back. read more