Posted: 10/17/2015 8:40:28 PM EDT
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QST magazine just published an article where they tested radios at ham conventions to see how well the radios met the compliance specifications set forth by the FCC.
The results: the cheap Chinese radios such as Baofeng, TYT, and Wouxun, all performed miserably, with sometimes half not meeting FCC standards. But what does that actually mean? Typically, the radios transmit “spurious emissions” which means they are emitting RF signal on frequencies outside where they are supposed to be transmitting. That could show up as a wider bandwidth signal, such as a 25kHz signal actually taking up 35kHz or 40kHz, or it could manifest as harmonics and hash on other frequencies. More... http://citizenmilitem.com/?p=244 |
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it's a sub-$30 radio, not sure what most expect.
I have 6 UV3R+, they sit over there doing nothing-I pretty much hate them The Wouxun's I bought have and continue to serve me well. FT60 would be next on the list, though I almost NEVER use an HT. ETA: this weeks Fo Time Podcast will revolve around the 2nd HT purchase (re: higher end models) quite timely I'd say |
| If you look at that study ARRL released, you'll also see some QC issues coming from Yaesu (gasp). Generally speaking, I pay less for a Motorola than I do for Baofengs (majority of my Motorola collection has been acquired at no cost to me). Now, buy a replacement battery and you begin seeing the appeal of a Baofeng. |
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world.
Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. |
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Saw this on reddit today.
https://kd8twg.net/2015/10/17/a-quick-and-unscientific-spectral-analysis-of-two-baofeng-radios/ |
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Hi, my first post here on AR15 but I am a longtime ham and also have a blog
I saw an issue this week with these radios and I wrote it up on my blog http://quietsurvivalist.com/beofeng-issues-in-the-heat/ Might take a look if you are using these as anything but a toy |
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lose, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. Agree, I hand em out, pull them up in trees with simplex a repeater, and rubberband them to a mobilinkd aprs unit. They have a place in my systems. |
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Meh, can your fancy $200 radio do this? lol  https://youtu.be/kZCDBsBuhmg
Sorry embeding skills not working. LOL. I figured they were probably crappy, so I bought 2 just in case. They're both functional, if a little awkward to program and use. The hose spray test impressed me, as did the crush test. I'd be interested to see if it would still work after being dunked in a bucket, that seems to be the Number Two killer of my field electronics, second only to being dropped. All in all, I'm impressed as shit with these things, given their rock-bottom prices. Thanks for the test, and the subsequent laughter!! |
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Remember, it's not just the radio that matters. If we are talking about harmonics, then you have to take the horrible antenna into account also, is it isn't resonant/efficient on the harmonic then that is essentially filtering. Not sure from the study if they only looked at direct output on a scope or if they left the ducky on and used antenna on the test equipment. |
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LOL. I figured they were probably crappy, so I bought 2 just in case. They're both functional, if a little awkward to program and use. The hose spray test impressed me, as did the crush test. I'd be interested to see if it would still work after being dunked in a bucket, that seems to be the Number Two killer of my field electronics, second only to being dropped. All in all, I'm impressed as shit with these things, given their rock-bottom prices. Thanks for the test, and the subsequent laughter!! Quoted:
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Meh, can your fancy $200 radio do this? lol https://youtu.be/kZCDBsBuhmg
Sorry embeding skills not working. LOL. I figured they were probably crappy, so I bought 2 just in case. They're both functional, if a little awkward to program and use. The hose spray test impressed me, as did the crush test. I'd be interested to see if it would still work after being dunked in a bucket, that seems to be the Number Two killer of my field electronics, second only to being dropped. All in all, I'm impressed as shit with these things, given their rock-bottom prices. Thanks for the test, and the subsequent laughter!! How does a Texas make this video and not shoot the damn things for good measure? 
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So who here cares that there is better than a 50% chance that you are operating illegally with one of these things? What ever happened to caring about you signal splattering out side your bandwidth? Hams used to be be proud of their signal. Now??? I've used both of mine on some local nets and have gotten good signal reports, at least until I was pushing the distance to the repeater. Full quieting into the repeater, with good audio. I've also tuned each slightly off-frequency to check the other for splatter, and haven't found an issue. I'm guessing these will mirror my experiences with Radio Shack electronics back when I was a teenager. If it works out of the box, it'll probably be fine for years (like the radio/alarm clock that worked from 1978 to 2005), or else it's a piece of shit from the get-go. These individual radios seem to be fine, but I'll replace them when there's a problem. |
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I've used both of mine on some local nets and have gotten good signal reports, at least until I was pushing the distance to the repeater. Full quieting into the repeater, with good audio. I've also tuned each slightly off-frequency to check the other for splatter, and haven't found an issue. I'm guessing these will mirror my experiences with Radio Shack electronics back when I was a teenager. If it works out of the box, it'll probably be fine for years (like the radio/alarm clock that worked from 1978 to 2005), or else it's a piece of shit from the get-go. These individual radios seem to be fine, but I'll replace them when there's a problem. Quoted:
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So who here cares that there is better than a 50% chance that you are operating illegally with one of these things? What ever happened to caring about you signal splattering out side your bandwidth? Hams used to be be proud of their signal. Now??? I've used both of mine on some local nets and have gotten good signal reports, at least until I was pushing the distance to the repeater. Full quieting into the repeater, with good audio. I've also tuned each slightly off-frequency to check the other for splatter, and haven't found an issue. I'm guessing these will mirror my experiences with Radio Shack electronics back when I was a teenager. If it works out of the box, it'll probably be fine for years (like the radio/alarm clock that worked from 1978 to 2005), or else it's a piece of shit from the get-go. These individual radios seem to be fine, but I'll replace them when there's a problem. Full quieting on a repeater is no indication of spectral purity. |
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Remember, it's not just the radio that matters. If we are talking about harmonics, then you have to take the horrible antenna into account also, is it isn't resonant/efficient on the harmonic then that is essentially filtering. Not sure from the study if they only looked at direct output on a scope or if they left the ducky on and used antenna on the test equipment. In the link I shared he hooked it straight in with a 20dB attenuator. |
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funny story. 3 local pds have over 40 in the field now and over the last 2 years i have had exactly one with an issue. it was a bad antenna out of the box. they didn't have that good of a history with the kenwood and icoms they had.
does that mean they are perfect? far from it. but it does mean every officer gets a fully functional radio and if they lose or break it it a cheap fix with no expensive programming fee on top of the ungodly radio price. for these small broke departments they have worked out extremely well. |
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...every officer gets a fully functional radio and if they lose or break it it a cheap fix with no expensive programming fee... If those PD's are on a frequency that can be serviced by a Baofeng, I would step way back and look long and hard at a fleet of used HT1000s and a few old DOS laptops with the RSS on it. Feed them new batteries and new antennas, maybe replace and/or service the o-rings, grab some weatherproof speaker mics... and sleep way better at night. Baofengs have a place in this world. They've brought the new blood and fresh life we've needed back into the fold. And then they get replaced, as soon as humanly possible, with something else. Something that can be trusted with another human soul's life. Every officer can have their own HT1000. I promise they can afford it. |
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If those PD's are on a frequency that can be serviced by a Baofeng, I would step way back and look long and hard at a fleet of used HT1000s and a few old DOS laptops with the RSS on it. Feed them new batteries and new antennas, maybe replace and/or service the o-rings, grab some weatherproof speaker mics... and sleep way better at night. Baofengs have a place in this world. They've brought the new blood and fresh life we've needed back into the fold. And then they get replaced, as soon as humanly possible, with something else. Something that can be trusted with another human soul's life. Every officer can have their own HT1000. I promise they can afford it. Quoted:
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...every officer gets a fully functional radio and if they lose or break it it a cheap fix with no expensive programming fee... If those PD's are on a frequency that can be serviced by a Baofeng, I would step way back and look long and hard at a fleet of used HT1000s and a few old DOS laptops with the RSS on it. Feed them new batteries and new antennas, maybe replace and/or service the o-rings, grab some weatherproof speaker mics... and sleep way better at night. Baofengs have a place in this world. They've brought the new blood and fresh life we've needed back into the fold. And then they get replaced, as soon as humanly possible, with something else. Something that can be trusted with another human soul's life. Every officer can have their own HT1000. I promise they can afford it. For the price of a battery (let's be honest, it's an HT1000 it needs a new battery every time you set it down for a month and pick it back up) you can buy a Baofeng. The Baofeng as backup radios came about because of Hurricane Katrina. Unofficially, somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000 worth of radio equipment sprouted legs and walked out of Houston alone. Reason being, the situation dictated that a lot of hand held radios be handed out...and all they had to give where their expensive Astro series hand helds (Houston still ran a lot of analog at the time). That's why Baofengs are popular with Emergency Management. |
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funny story. 3 local pds have over 40 in the field now and over the last 2 years i have had exactly one with an issue. it was a bad antenna out of the box. they didn't have that good of a history with the kenwood and icoms they had. does that mean they are perfect? far from it. but it does mean every officer gets a fully functional radio and if they lose or break it it a cheap fix with no expensive programming fee on top of the ungodly radio price. for these small broke departments they have worked out extremely well. Holy frijoles, a public safety department is using baofengs? |
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For the price of a battery (let's be honest, it's an HT1000 it needs a new battery every time you set it down for a month and pick it back up) you can buy a Baofeng. I will respectfully disagree, and submit the following as examples. About $14.30 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 1500mAh. $21.73 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 2100mAh. $28.95 per batter, with belt clip, shipped. 3800mAh. Disclaimer: yup, all those are foreign-made packs. Yes, I've run them and yes, the capacities seem accurate. I'm quite comfortable with IMAX Expert as a vendor, and they run a one-year warranty - in constant day-in, day-out use, I'd bet good money they'd last a year and more. I'd be far happier with an HT1000 running an aftermarket battery, antenna and speaker mic instead of a baofeng, any day. Again, Baofengs have a place - getting new folks into amateur radio. That place does not include "on the belt of a public safety professional", too include anyone backing up said professional. I hate dragging emotion into a discussion (it's one step away from a poorly timed Hitler reference), but lives are on the line in public safety work. Lives are worth more than a $30 radio with well known and documented quality control and durability problems. |
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I will respectfully disagree, and submit the following as examples. About $14.30 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 1500mAh. $21.73 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 2100mAh. $28.95 per batter, with belt clip, shipped. 3800mAh. Disclaimer: yup, all those are foreign-made packs. Yes, I've run them and yes, the capacities seem accurate. I'm quite comfortable with IMAX Expert as a vendor, and they run a one-year warranty - in constant day-in, day-out use, I'd bet good money they'd last a year and more. I'd be far happier with an HT1000 running an aftermarket battery, antenna and speaker mic instead of a baofeng, any day. Again, Baofengs have a place - getting new folks into amateur radio. That place does not include "on the belt of a public safety professional", too include anyone backing up said professional. I hate dragging emotion into a discussion (it's one step away from a poorly timed Hitler reference), but lives are on the line in public safety work. Lives are worth more than a $30 radio with well known and documented quality control and durability problems. Quoted:
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For the price of a battery (let's be honest, it's an HT1000 it needs a new battery every time you set it down for a month and pick it back up) you can buy a Baofeng. I will respectfully disagree, and submit the following as examples. About $14.30 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 1500mAh. $21.73 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 2100mAh. $28.95 per batter, with belt clip, shipped. 3800mAh. Disclaimer: yup, all those are foreign-made packs. Yes, I've run them and yes, the capacities seem accurate. I'm quite comfortable with IMAX Expert as a vendor, and they run a one-year warranty - in constant day-in, day-out use, I'd bet good money they'd last a year and more. I'd be far happier with an HT1000 running an aftermarket battery, antenna and speaker mic instead of a baofeng, any day. Again, Baofengs have a place - getting new folks into amateur radio. That place does not include "on the belt of a public safety professional", too include anyone backing up said professional. I hate dragging emotion into a discussion (it's one step away from a poorly timed Hitler reference), but lives are on the line in public safety work. Lives are worth more than a $30 radio with well known and documented quality control and durability problems. Bulk pricing on a UV-5R (orders between 100 and 1000) is about $22 each (free shipping from China). I know this because I have a friend who's minimum order is about 150 every two months. I can also tell you that the city of Houston owns about 5000 UV-5Rs (which are kept in storage for that proverbial Katrina/Rita 2.0 situation). I shouldn't say they are necessarily backups, but secondary radios for utilities, volunteer groups, etc. Not public safety per say. Now as far as HT1000 batteries go...I called it quits on the Ni-MH after a month. I went through two in that time span, each only got a single (initial) charge on it. To put it simply, they got left in the truck on days where temperatures exceeded 100 degrees and once you get one of those Ni-MH batteries to a toasty 130 degrees you have about 6 hours before you can't salvage them. Simply said, compared to a Li-ion they don't store well. Here recently I've spent too much time playing with my Astro Sabers to even play with my HT1000s. |
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Holy frijoles, a public safety department is using baofengs? Quoted:
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funny story. 3 local pds have over 40 in the field now and over the last 2 years i have had exactly one with an issue. it was a bad antenna out of the box. they didn't have that good of a history with the kenwood and icoms they had. does that mean they are perfect? far from it. but it does mean every officer gets a fully functional radio and if they lose or break it it a cheap fix with no expensive programming fee on top of the ungodly radio price. for these small broke departments they have worked out extremely well. Holy frijoles, a public safety department is using baofengs? yep and they re working out great. these departments are broke and their HT's consisted of a handful of HEAVILY abused kenwoods. most of which were not functional. on any given day 2/3rds of the officer had no HT at all. several of the officer noticed i was carrying one on the FD<spare radio for me> and we setup a trial of them for the pd. this started out as the officers buying their own personal radios. so far not one single failure in the field. the audio and reception is every bit as good as my much more expensive kenwoods and yeasu radios. the only issue i have seen is that because they all seem to come with different firmware i am maintaining about 5 different images of the program depending on which radio firmware they have. it's not a big deal. these little POS radios have survived fights, being tossed in water, sprayed with firehoses, torrential downpours of rain, drops off of ladders and one slung off the roof of a car going down the road. <scuffed to hell but still functional> people can talk all the shit about these that they want, but these little radios are tough and cheap. they are very functional and fill a very real niche that big radio has ignored. Smaller departments simply can't afford 2500.00 per radio to equip an officer anymore. Most departments have contracts with local radio shops so buying them on the open market usually isn't an option if they want them programmed and supported. For the cost of one low end VHF kendwood i was able to equip 4 officers with a radio they would not have otherwise had. the radio snobs can say what they will. these work. and for the cost they are great value. Sure we would all prefer a Moto super high speed rig. but the simple fact is most departments can't afford them and to be honest, most officer in small dept. don't need them. |
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I will respectfully disagree, and submit the following as examples. About $14.30 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 1500mAh. $21.73 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 2100mAh. $28.95 per batter, with belt clip, shipped. 3800mAh. Disclaimer: yup, all those are foreign-made packs. Yes, I've run them and yes, the capacities seem accurate. I'm quite comfortable with IMAX Expert as a vendor, and they run a one-year warranty - in constant day-in, day-out use, I'd bet good money they'd last a year and more. I'd be far happier with an HT1000 running an aftermarket battery, antenna and speaker mic instead of a baofeng, any day. Again, Baofengs have a place - getting new folks into amateur radio. That place does not include "on the belt of a public safety professional", too include anyone backing up said professional. I hate dragging emotion into a discussion (it's one step away from a poorly timed Hitler reference), but lives are on the line in public safety work. Lives are worth more than a $30 radio with well known and documented quality control and durability problems. Quoted:
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For the price of a battery (let's be honest, it's an HT1000 it needs a new battery every time you set it down for a month and pick it back up) you can buy a Baofeng. I will respectfully disagree, and submit the following as examples. About $14.30 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 1500mAh. $21.73 per battery, with belt clip, shipped. 2100mAh. $28.95 per batter, with belt clip, shipped. 3800mAh. Disclaimer: yup, all those are foreign-made packs. Yes, I've run them and yes, the capacities seem accurate. I'm quite comfortable with IMAX Expert as a vendor, and they run a one-year warranty - in constant day-in, day-out use, I'd bet good money they'd last a year and more. I'd be far happier with an HT1000 running an aftermarket battery, antenna and speaker mic instead of a baofeng, any day. Again, Baofengs have a place - getting new folks into amateur radio. That place does not include "on the belt of a public safety professional", too include anyone backing up said professional. I hate dragging emotion into a discussion (it's one step away from a poorly timed Hitler reference), but lives are on the line in public safety work. Lives are worth more than a $30 radio with well known and documented quality control and durability problems. the issue is getting the software is a royal PIA. as a gov entity your going to have to use a licensed product or there can be issues. The local shop charges 150.00 per radio to program. so now that cheap radio is in the 2-300.00 range to make it functional. and while i originally agreed with you very strongly on the public safety use, real world results have seriously changed my opinion. Given the fact the alternative at the time was no radios at all, they served a purpose. |
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One more, and then I will bow out to keep it civil:
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the issue is getting the software is a royal PIA. as a gov entity your going to have to use a licensed product or there can be issues. This is correct. However, I respectfully disagree with the premise that this condition prohibits you from acquiring the needed equipment for programming an HT1000 and allows you to run Baofengs with impunity. By the same logic, you are bound by law and oath to use a product that is Part 90 compliant. I am fully aware that the UV-5R is on the Part 90 list. I further grant that some of them carry the required labeling. But those aren't the only requirements, and you and I both know that. Every single one can be programmed off that front panel, right out of the box. Furthermore, if there are any codified requirements for RF quality, the Baofeng doesn't stand a chance at being compliant. |
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One more, and then I will bow out to keep it civil: This is correct. However, I respectfully disagree with the premise that this condition prohibits you from acquiring the needed equipment for programming an HT1000 and allows you to run Baofengs with impunity. By the same logic, you are bound by law and oath to use a product that is Part 90 compliant. I am fully aware that the UV-5R is on the Part 90 list. I further grant that some of them carry the required labeling. But those aren't the only requirements, and you and I both know that. Every single one can be programmed off that front panel, right out of the box. Furthermore, if there are any codified requirements for RF quality, the Baofeng doesn't stand a chance at being compliant. Quoted:
One more, and then I will bow out to keep it civil: Quoted:
the issue is getting the software is a royal PIA. as a gov entity your going to have to use a licensed product or there can be issues. This is correct. However, I respectfully disagree with the premise that this condition prohibits you from acquiring the needed equipment for programming an HT1000 and allows you to run Baofengs with impunity. By the same logic, you are bound by law and oath to use a product that is Part 90 compliant. I am fully aware that the UV-5R is on the Part 90 list. I further grant that some of them carry the required labeling. But those aren't the only requirements, and you and I both know that. Every single one can be programmed off that front panel, right out of the box. Furthermore, if there are any codified requirements for RF quality, the Baofeng doesn't stand a chance at being compliant. and our other option was no radios at all which places officers in danger. with that in mind i will let the departments worry about that on their own. We can argue the technical details till your blue in the face but the fact is the radios carry the cert from the FCC and are in fact functional in the role needed. i have no doubt given a federal grant and sudden influx on money they will be upgraded asap. Until that time i am pretty sure they are not worried about the FCC. |
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and our other option was no radios at all which places officers in danger. with that in mind i will let the departments worry about that on their own. We can argue the technical details till your blue in the face but the fact is the radios carry the cert from the FCC and are in fact functional in the role needed. i have no doubt given a federal grant and sudden influx on money they will be upgraded asap. Until that time i am pretty sure they are not worried about the FCC. Quoted:
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One more, and then I will bow out to keep it civil: Quoted:
the issue is getting the software is a royal PIA. as a gov entity your going to have to use a licensed product or there can be issues. This is correct. However, I respectfully disagree with the premise that this condition prohibits you from acquiring the needed equipment for programming an HT1000 and allows you to run Baofengs with impunity. By the same logic, you are bound by law and oath to use a product that is Part 90 compliant. I am fully aware that the UV-5R is on the Part 90 list. I further grant that some of them carry the required labeling. But those aren't the only requirements, and you and I both know that. Every single one can be programmed off that front panel, right out of the box. Furthermore, if there are any codified requirements for RF quality, the Baofeng doesn't stand a chance at being compliant. and our other option was no radios at all which places officers in danger. with that in mind i will let the departments worry about that on their own. We can argue the technical details till your blue in the face but the fact is the radios carry the cert from the FCC and are in fact functional in the role needed. i have no doubt given a federal grant and sudden influx on money they will be upgraded asap. Until that time i am pretty sure they are not worried about the FCC. Fuck. That. I wouldn't trust my life to one of those radios. Probably could get surplus radios from the state or another agency for free or next to nothing... Putting an officer out in the field with something that has a good chance at failing just because is just as bad not having anything at all. As to the rest of the thread: Having a radio that puts out spurs this bad is unacceptable. Your potentially causing harmful interference to users outside of the ham bands. |
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Fuck. That. I wouldn't trust my life to one of those radios. Probably could get surplus radios from the state or another agency for free or next to nothing... Putting an officer out in the field with something that has a good chance at failing just because is just as bad not having anything at all. As to the rest of the thread: Having a radio that puts out spurs this bad is unacceptable. Your potentially causing harmful interference to users outside of the ham bands. Quoted:
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One more, and then I will bow out to keep it civil: Quoted:
the issue is getting the software is a royal PIA. as a gov entity your going to have to use a licensed product or there can be issues. This is correct. However, I respectfully disagree with the premise that this condition prohibits you from acquiring the needed equipment for programming an HT1000 and allows you to run Baofengs with impunity. By the same logic, you are bound by law and oath to use a product that is Part 90 compliant. I am fully aware that the UV-5R is on the Part 90 list. I further grant that some of them carry the required labeling. But those aren't the only requirements, and you and I both know that. Every single one can be programmed off that front panel, right out of the box. Furthermore, if there are any codified requirements for RF quality, the Baofeng doesn't stand a chance at being compliant. and our other option was no radios at all which places officers in danger. with that in mind i will let the departments worry about that on their own. We can argue the technical details till your blue in the face but the fact is the radios carry the cert from the FCC and are in fact functional in the role needed. i have no doubt given a federal grant and sudden influx on money they will be upgraded asap. Until that time i am pretty sure they are not worried about the FCC. Fuck. That. I wouldn't trust my life to one of those radios. Probably could get surplus radios from the state or another agency for free or next to nothing... Putting an officer out in the field with something that has a good chance at failing just because is just as bad not having anything at all. As to the rest of the thread: Having a radio that puts out spurs this bad is unacceptable. Your potentially causing harmful interference to users outside of the ham bands. tried. none available. that said they have held up very well. never said they were ideal or a first choice. the officer here had no handhelds at all tht were functional. this started out and personally purchased just so they would have something. |
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. |
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I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. Quoted:
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. something was horribly wrong with that radio. there are some known bugs in the firmware in some models that will rpevent them breaking SQ under certain conditions. one model won't receive if the keyboard beep is muted. No doubt a 600.00 radio will out perform a 30.00 radio but they are far from useless. honestly it's nuts to even make a comparison between the 2 
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something was horribly wrong with that radio. there are some known bugs in the firmware in some models that will rpevent them breaking SQ under certain conditions. one model won't receive if the keyboard beep is muted. No doubt a 600.00 radio will out perform a 30.00 radio but they are far from useless. honestly it's nuts to even make a comparison between the 2 Quoted:
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. something was horribly wrong with that radio. there are some known bugs in the firmware in some models that will rpevent them breaking SQ under certain conditions. one model won't receive if the keyboard beep is muted. No doubt a 600.00 radio will out perform a 30.00 radio but they are far from useless. honestly it's nuts to even make a comparison between the 2 Anecdotal evidence, but baofengs were absolutely worthless on 2 meters at the hamvention 2 years ago. The motorolas did just fine. |
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Anecdotal evidence, but baofengs were absolutely worthless on 2 meters at the hamvention 2 years ago. The motorolas did just fine. Quoted:
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. something was horribly wrong with that radio. there are some known bugs in the firmware in some models that will rpevent them breaking SQ under certain conditions. one model won't receive if the keyboard beep is muted. No doubt a 600.00 radio will out perform a 30.00 radio but they are far from useless. honestly it's nuts to even make a comparison between the 2 Anecdotal evidence, but baofengs were absolutely worthless on 2 meters at the hamvention 2 years ago. The motorolas did just fine. thats really odd. because we use them all the time here and thousands of hams using them on 2m are having few issues. once agin comparing a 600+ motorola to a 30.00 radio is retarded. |
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thats really odd. because we use them all the time here and thousands of hams using them on 2m are having few issues. once agin comparing a 600+ motorola to a 30.00 radio is retarded. Quoted:
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. something was horribly wrong with that radio. there are some known bugs in the firmware in some models that will rpevent them breaking SQ under certain conditions. one model won't receive if the keyboard beep is muted. No doubt a 600.00 radio will out perform a 30.00 radio but they are far from useless. honestly it's nuts to even make a comparison between the 2 Anecdotal evidence, but baofengs were absolutely worthless on 2 meters at the hamvention 2 years ago. The motorolas did just fine. thats really odd. because we use them all the time here and thousands of hams using them on 2m are having few issues. once agin comparing a 600+ motorola to a 30.00 radio is retarded. Using 2m in a city is completely different from using them at the hamvention. Dayton is one of the harshest RF environments you can find. |
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thats really odd. because we use them all the time here and thousands of hams using them on 2m are having few issues. once agin comparing a 600+ motorola to a 30.00 radio is retarded. Quoted:
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Yes, they are the Bic Pens of the ham world. Set two of them to the same frequency and you and another person can talk to each other, at a distance any other 2m radio with a similar size antenna can operate. If it gets stolen off the table at an outdoor event, I wouldn't shed a tear, I'd just go buy another. Handy for antenna parties. Loan out for club activities. Or whatever. That's hard to beat for $30. They won't cross band repeat, or some other things, but if I wanted to hang one on a balloon for a science experiment, I doubt spending $500 would do a better job. And if the UV-5R got lost, well, that's life. Buy another. But I do think they are much better than a "toy". They are what they are. I grantee the receiver in any of my Motorolas is far more sensitive than any of these chicom radios. How do I know this? Aside from the quality of parts being of much higher standards, I was working an event and stopped by to chat with another ham. I had out my VHF XTS2500 and he had some chi-com radio. Net control was about 2-3 miles away running 50 watts on an elevated base antenna. I was hearing them without issue. His chi-com radio didn't even attempt to unmute. something was horribly wrong with that radio. there are some known bugs in the firmware in some models that will rpevent them breaking SQ under certain conditions. one model won't receive if the keyboard beep is muted. No doubt a 600.00 radio will out perform a 30.00 radio but they are far from useless. honestly it's nuts to even make a comparison between the 2 Anecdotal evidence, but baofengs were absolutely worthless on 2 meters at the hamvention 2 years ago. The motorolas did just fine. thats really odd. because we use them all the time here and thousands of hams using them on 2m are having few issues. once agin comparing a 600+ motorola to a 30.00 radio is retarded. Oh, it's definitely not fair to compare the two. They are in two different leagues. I just made the comparison because he said that the $30 radio would compare to a more expensive radio. From everything I have seen they are no where near each other. |
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http://www.skibane.com/Noncompliant_Baofeng.jpg Notably absent from that list: http://porto4you.nl/files/9807/webshopartikelen/578303/1395337377-bf-888s-2.jpg The 15 dollar BF888S. Probably because it has only received any type certification within the last month...the published results are from Dayton. It could also be that majority of hams don't care for a 16 channel UHF <4W radio. |
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Probably because it has only received any type certification within the last month...the published results are from Dayton. It could also be that majority of hams don't care for a 16 channel UHF <4W radio. Quoted:
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http://www.skibane.com/Noncompliant_Baofeng.jpg Notably absent from that list: http://porto4you.nl/files/9807/webshopartikelen/578303/1395337377-bf-888s-2.jpg The 15 dollar BF888S. Probably because it has only received any type certification within the last month...the published results are from Dayton. It could also be that majority of hams don't care for a 16 channel UHF <4W radio. Or, being UHF-only, it might have a cleaner TX signal - i.e., much easier to filter. |
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I bought a few when I got my license.
Ill agree, they are a great radio for new hams. Bought 12 for the office, used them day in and day out. Several internal microphones stopped working, units had selective receiving while standing next to another person on the same frequency, and this was off a repeater too. We tried the 888s, better luck with those, but eventually went back to Motorola, SL300s to be exact. They do have their place, and in my experience with over 24 of these radios, when life is on the line, I wont trust them. I ended up selling my personal stash of them as well as currently liquidating the office Baofengs, went to Kenwood TK280s and TK380s, and added some Motorola HT1250s. |