Ernest;
For backbone UHF links, converted Motorola crystal controlled units such as Mitrek units are good as are old Maxxon. When set right, you can get 4-5ms rttl with them. You can also have decent results with Phoenix radios. In some cases with any of the above, you may find a commercial entity looking to scrap these units for more modern models but with a little care these things will run for ions!
For VHF, alincos are fairly inexpensive and work fine in the 2-mtr range. 220 I prefer Kenwoods if you can find them. For higher speeds such as 802.11 Microtik with some Atheros cards works decent enough for the cost.
Of course, unless you're using a Tek data radio, you'd have the router (wifi) or TNC (uhf/vhf/hf) inbetween the radio and pc.