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on September 22, 2016
I've only had this for a couple weeks now but I am impressed. This is an incredible bargain for what you get. I have a Yaesu FT-60R, but it's in storage and I wanted to see how this would work for me. Is this radio better than the Yaesu? No. This radio is not as well built, and the menu system is more cumbersome than the Yaesu's, which is somewhat of a pain too. That said, the UV-5R is a fantastic radio which I will definitely recommend to any new ham who may not be ready to spend a bunch of money on a single radio while they get a introduction to amateur radio, and may want to save up for a DMR ready radio next, or even save up a bit more and get a good HF rig. If you do buy this radio, and don't know someone who has a programming cable for it, be sure to buy one at the same time. I also have the little Baofeng speaker microphone and am really happy with that as well.
One feature I love about the UV-5R is the commercial FM radio reception feature. This little radio has quickly become one of my favorite pier fishing accessories. I can monitor the repeater I want, and listen to music at the same time. The led light feature is also nice for finding my way in the dark.
I can't speak to the battery life yet, because I have never had mine die yet. I frequently leave the FM radio on for hours and there's barely any decrease on the meter. The charging cradle works fine, but is a loose fit. I don'r have a charger for the car yet, but I hope to find a decent one soon.
With such a low price, you should have a few bucks left over to buy a couple accessories and still have less than $50 invested. That's a steal for a great basic setup.
One feature I love about the UV-5R is the commercial FM radio reception feature. This little radio has quickly become one of my favorite pier fishing accessories. I can monitor the repeater I want, and listen to music at the same time. The led light feature is also nice for finding my way in the dark.
I can't speak to the battery life yet, because I have never had mine die yet. I frequently leave the FM radio on for hours and there's barely any decrease on the meter. The charging cradle works fine, but is a loose fit. I don'r have a charger for the car yet, but I hope to find a decent one soon.
With such a low price, you should have a few bucks left over to buy a couple accessories and still have less than $50 invested. That's a steal for a great basic setup.
on August 5, 2016
Don't let the price fool you. This little radio sells at a bargain basement price, but it's durable, it's light, it's compact, and it gets the job done. It's the perfect radio with which to start your HAM hobby, or to keep in your car or pocket for emergencies. My recommendation is that you use the Chirp software to program the radio, and get a good programming cable. It's a great transceiver on 2m (I haven't used it much on 70cm) and can also MONITOR (not broadcast!) weather, GPRS/FRS and MURS.
on March 27, 2015
Amazing HT especially for the price! Programming it with CHIRP was a bit confusing at first, but I figured it out. It was worth getting the longer antenna and mike/speaker. This would be a great starter radio for a new Technician. Awhile back I was asked if it could be manually programmed and it can, though it is much simpler to do on a PC.
on March 8, 2017
For the price, you really can't ask for a better radio. I know that some people have had bad luck with theirs, but that isn't the case here. It feels well made, the battery life is fantastic and the range with the included antenna is so-so. The headset that comes with it is complete garbage but I didn't buy it for the headset. For a beginner getting into HAM radio, I feel like this is a perfect first radio.
on June 12, 2016
First I have to say that as far as this com goes it's probably the best $30 you'll spend. The radio has exceeded all my expectations! However the charging base concerns me on my first charge it overheated melted and even charred the wooden table it sat on. The malfunction could have had serious repercussions possibly causing a house fire so please keep an eye on the charger for heat! Other than that I am very pleased
on April 16, 2016
Amazing radio and very price friendly. I received 2 of these about 5 days ago and I am totally satisfied. Build quality on these is as good if not better than anything I have seen from the Motorola, Yeasu, Icom etc I have seen. I had originally purchased a set of Midland LXT 600 VP3's but was extremely disappointed with the actual range for them. The advertised 30 miles is a joke. I was only able to get about 1/3 - 1/2 of a mile and then the signal was lost. With the Boafengs, that range was extended to about 3 miles in heavy urban areas but, utilizing ham repeaters ( which you must have a license to do legally) that range can be extended to tens of miles even up to 100.
The other great thing about the Baofeng as opposed to ones like the Midland, is that all frequencies from 136-174 and 400-480 are fully
programmable. You cannot program anything on the off the shelf FRS/GMRS radios. You can also receive the full FM broadcast band. There is a learning curve to using these but, there is so much information on their use and functions on youtube that it doesn't take long to master. Another plus is the battery life, so far I am on the initial charge and I still have 3 out of 4 bars after 5 days of fairly heavy use. Boafeng also sells an adapter that allows the use of AA'a in an emergency but, with the stock battery only costing btw $10-12, it would seem that need for that is unlikely.
I have even seen videos on youtube of users catching passing satellites and being able to communicate with others states away. Try that with the FRS/GMRS radios like the Midland.
If anything changes as I continue to use them, I will update but for now, no complaints at all and, happy that I did not pay $200-$300 or more
for one of the "brand name" units that, from what I have read, would not perform any better than the Boafeng.
The other great thing about the Baofeng as opposed to ones like the Midland, is that all frequencies from 136-174 and 400-480 are fully
programmable. You cannot program anything on the off the shelf FRS/GMRS radios. You can also receive the full FM broadcast band. There is a learning curve to using these but, there is so much information on their use and functions on youtube that it doesn't take long to master. Another plus is the battery life, so far I am on the initial charge and I still have 3 out of 4 bars after 5 days of fairly heavy use. Boafeng also sells an adapter that allows the use of AA'a in an emergency but, with the stock battery only costing btw $10-12, it would seem that need for that is unlikely.
I have even seen videos on youtube of users catching passing satellites and being able to communicate with others states away. Try that with the FRS/GMRS radios like the Midland.
If anything changes as I continue to use them, I will update but for now, no complaints at all and, happy that I did not pay $200-$300 or more
for one of the "brand name" units that, from what I have read, would not perform any better than the Boafeng.
on August 31, 2016
I've purchased many of these radios and programmed them myself using CHIRP software. They are a great entry level HAM radio and provide a lot of functionality for the price. I've used them in an Off Road setting to communicate between multiple vehicles. Without an external antenna or an upgraded antenna the range is fairly limited, but at only 5 watts total output, you're not expecting much. I would say the furthest I've been able to use these in the desert in off road vehicles was about 1 mile through rolling hills. With that said, if you use an external or upgraded antenna, you can expect much more distance.
PROS:
- Long Battery with factory battery
- Small and Compact
- Dual Band VHF/UHF with an FM receiver for radio station
- Rugged enough to withstand the harsh off road conditions I've put them through
CONS:
- Understand that these are considered entry level radios and do have limited transmit capabilities because of the limited amount of power
- The speaker/mic jack on the side has a tendency to become loose with continued use
- User Manual can be hard to understand at times as it appears to be translated from Chinese to English
PROS:
- Long Battery with factory battery
- Small and Compact
- Dual Band VHF/UHF with an FM receiver for radio station
- Rugged enough to withstand the harsh off road conditions I've put them through
CONS:
- Understand that these are considered entry level radios and do have limited transmit capabilities because of the limited amount of power
- The speaker/mic jack on the side has a tendency to become loose with continued use
- User Manual can be hard to understand at times as it appears to be translated from Chinese to English
on April 20, 2017
I bought this for emergency situations and I am considering going for my fcc license now that I got it. I use it all the time listening in to the emergency channels. It's fascinating. The radio is highly functional with over 40 menu options, save/ memory functions, scan, dual bands and it comes with the charger, 1 battery and ear phone/ mic piece. I know this is my first radio like this but I'm not sure you can beat this for the price. Great product!
on October 27, 2014
I wasn't really in the market for an HT but when I read about the Baofeng radios being so cheap, I decided to get one. All I can say is that I wish I'd had a radio like this 20 years ago when I was a newish ham. This thing is loaded with lots of features, plenty of memory channels, and provides excellent 2-way radio performance on 2m and 440. Tuning range is 136-175 and 400-512 MHZ. The radio also transmits over this entire range, but this can be limited in the software. The radio is small, but not too small to use. The radio also comes with a belt clip, hand strap, earphone mike, and drop in charger with wall wart power cord, all for $32 and change. You really can't beat that.
There is an optional USB programming cable and software available which is highly recommended. The radio has 128 channels and programming them via the radio is not easy since you have to change the different parameters in the menu for each channel. Unless you have loads of time on your hands, get the programming cable. It will save lots of time and frustration.
The HT also has a flashlight in the form of a small but bright LED. Having a small flashlight in the HT might come in handy once in a while. Push the button a second time and it flashes. I don't really need a flashing light but it has that function. It also has an alarm in the form of a siren which sounds when a button is pressed and held, along with flashing lights. I think this function is basically useless but it's there if you need it. Another function which is nice is the inclusion of an FM radio tuner. So not only can you communicate, you can also be entertained by listening to the FM broadcast band. The good thing is that you can tune by pressing the up and down arrow buttons, or just type in the frequency of your favorite station.
The only thing which I give it a negative for is the manual is not very specific and kind of vague, not to mention being written in "Engrish," that is, badly-translated English. Same goes for the optional programming software. After a few missteps with com port settings I finally managed to get the radio programmed to my satisfaction. However, don't look for any help with the supplied program, and it too tends to be written in Engrish. Not to mention that it defaults to Chinese every time you start the program, which shows up as all question marks on my monitor, so the first thing you have to do is change it to English. But neither the manual or the software gives information in detail about what all the functions do, it takes a little ingenuity and insight to figure some of them out. The day I got the radio I attempted to program some of the local 2m repeaters into the memory channels, but seemed to have trouble getting all the parameters programmed into the memories. But I didn't have a bit of trouble using the program.
So all in all, the radio is awesome, but there is a kind of steep learning curve at first, and the manual itself doesn't help a lot. If the manual were written in easy-to-understand English and went into great detail, it would help out a lot. And if the programming software even had a help file it would be great.
There is an optional USB programming cable and software available which is highly recommended. The radio has 128 channels and programming them via the radio is not easy since you have to change the different parameters in the menu for each channel. Unless you have loads of time on your hands, get the programming cable. It will save lots of time and frustration.
The HT also has a flashlight in the form of a small but bright LED. Having a small flashlight in the HT might come in handy once in a while. Push the button a second time and it flashes. I don't really need a flashing light but it has that function. It also has an alarm in the form of a siren which sounds when a button is pressed and held, along with flashing lights. I think this function is basically useless but it's there if you need it. Another function which is nice is the inclusion of an FM radio tuner. So not only can you communicate, you can also be entertained by listening to the FM broadcast band. The good thing is that you can tune by pressing the up and down arrow buttons, or just type in the frequency of your favorite station.
The only thing which I give it a negative for is the manual is not very specific and kind of vague, not to mention being written in "Engrish," that is, badly-translated English. Same goes for the optional programming software. After a few missteps with com port settings I finally managed to get the radio programmed to my satisfaction. However, don't look for any help with the supplied program, and it too tends to be written in Engrish. Not to mention that it defaults to Chinese every time you start the program, which shows up as all question marks on my monitor, so the first thing you have to do is change it to English. But neither the manual or the software gives information in detail about what all the functions do, it takes a little ingenuity and insight to figure some of them out. The day I got the radio I attempted to program some of the local 2m repeaters into the memory channels, but seemed to have trouble getting all the parameters programmed into the memories. But I didn't have a bit of trouble using the program.
So all in all, the radio is awesome, but there is a kind of steep learning curve at first, and the manual itself doesn't help a lot. If the manual were written in easy-to-understand English and went into great detail, it would help out a lot. And if the programming software even had a help file it would be great.
