| AC8YJ |
Rating:     |
2014-01-22 | |
| Worth the money |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Nice little HT, sure it has its limitations though.
Yes, the stock antenna is not good, you need to upgrade that and I updated my software with chirp as well. that's why it gets a 4. Other than that, I think its well worth the price |
|
| KD8TZC |
Rating:     |
2014-01-22 | |
| Nice little unit, I would buy another |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have another HT that I use all the time, but I wanted a backup, low cost HT as well, and thus I bought the Baofeng unit. All things considered, it is a very nice little unit. Please note, this is not on the same level as a Yaesu, or ICOM or other big name brand, but if you don’t mind giving up a few things, and saving a lot of money, this is a heck of a little unit.
Now, I don’t believe the unit is waterproof/resistant like my yaesu is, and I’m not sure it will last as long, but at $30, I consider it a disposable radio and I can buy another one if it only lasts a few years and I wouldn’t feel too bad.
It doesn’t have (or at least I haven’t found a way to) any way to group frequencies together like my Yaesu can, but for what I need this for (public events where I may only be working 1 or two frequencies) that is okay. It also has two frequencies on the display, but from what I understand, the radio is not listening on both frequencies at the same time. It will scan back and forth between them. I was under the impression when I bought the radio that it had two VFO’s and monitored two frequencies simultaneously. Again, not a big deal for me. Since I cross band repeat back to my car though, I thought it would be good to have the cross band frequency and then the main frequency both tuned in at the same time in case the cross banding misses something. I could at least hear the traffic that way. In this configuration where it does a dual scan, I should be okay.
I had some issues getting the cable that I bought with this to work with Windows XP, but that is more an issue with the make of the cable than the radio itself. Once I got it working, the software (CHIRP) worked nicely to get this programmed.
A lot of people complain about trying to program this at the radio. Yes, it is a little complicated, but just about all radios are, so is this little rig any different than any other radio?
If you like to scan a number of frequencies with your radio, this little rig can do it, but a lot slower than some other radios. I was surprised by this, but again, for what I am using the radio for, this is not an issue. I doubt I will use the scan function much at field events. Mostly when I scan channels I am in my car with my mobile, or at home in the shack. At both locations, I have rigs that can scan very well and very quickly.
One thing I would say to throw away with the radio is the earpiece/mic combo. The sound quality of the mic is horrible. Not sure why they include it.
I also picked up the Nagoya NA-771 antenna as well. I’m glad I did as it really helps with the transmission and reception in the house. I had my Yause HT next to the UV5R, and it had the shorter antenna on it, and the UV5R was getting much better reception and I was able to hit the repeaters a lot cleaner.
Anyhow, if you are looking for a good spare HT, this is a nice little unit. Could the unit be better, sure, but for what you pay it is a solid performer and I give it 4 stars. I took one star off because of the poor manual, but a better version can be found online with some searching.
|
|
| KK4WEY |
Rating:     |
2014-01-18 | |
| Great Starter Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Bought this radio from amazon, and glad I did. This HT gets out good and receives even better. Programming is a nightmare unless you use software. The first one I received had a speaker issue, but I contacted amazon and they replaced it the next day, wow that's service. I love the size and for $29.00 it can't be beat. |
|
| K7TXO |
Rating:     |
2014-01-13 | |
| Bargain |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
For $38, this radio has a lot of functionality. It is not refined but not bad. The LCD contrast is not strong. The case is edgy in the hand. The keypad lettering for 2nd functions is harder to read than most. The receiver sound is somewhat harsh from the speaker and earphones that work fine on other radios just plain hurt the ear. And programming it manually is more difficult than anything else I have tried. Transmit studio lacks a bit for punch when used by operators that are soft spoken. Oh, and what's with the all or nothing signal meter?
But... For $38, a downright bargain. It receives weak signals that are not even picked up by an over $400 well known brand HT with its factory antenna. Even with better antennas used on the expensive radio, the UV5R still does better! And the UV5R is less affected by the proximity of the operator. Battery life is utterly outstanding. Programming with a cable and sftwr is as easy as they come. And the harsher receive audio might wear on your ear like a speech processor but sometimes provides better clarity.
It has some flaws but hey, it is a $38 radio!
Gene. /. K7TXO |
|
| W2UIS |
Rating:      |
2014-01-12 | |
| Programing Software |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| This is a nice dual band HT that I was unsuccessful programing manually. I decided to purchase programing software and cable from RT Systems for $49 plus shipping. In less than a half hour I had 20 frequencies setup. |
|
| W2VIB |
Rating:      |
2014-01-08 | |
| Fantastic! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| What a great little radio for the price! 30 bucks and free shipping! You got to be kidding on programming, play with it for an hour, scan the manual, and it's a snap. Any Ham worth his ticket can program this midget radio. What is great is you can program your local police, fire VHF or UHF channels (not trunked) on the fly (don't transmit or you will be in trouble) I give it a 10 on the 1 to 10 fun and state of the art scale! |
|
| KD0SHI |
Rating:     |
2014-01-01 | |
| Cheap & good |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| It is a good little radio that serves all of my needs. I had one for about a year, but then it died one day. Now I have another one that is working fine, and I love it. It is also neet that they come in different colors. I hope that my new one lasts longer than my old one. I recommend this radio for the new ham radio operator who is excited to get on the air. |
|
| G4VVQ |
Rating:      |
2013-12-29 | |
| Really great Handy |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Just got this handy talkie, was £26 English money, guess about $50, no postage, think is was sent from somewhere in England, took about 3 days to get here, haven't tried it on transmit yet only for testing, seems to receive ok, easy to operate, has an alarm on and torch LED, commercial radio button, charger with UK adaptor, earphone and mic, rubber duck antenna, 70cms and 2 mts, and a bit more, lot of you tube videos on how to use them, can be connected to PC via usb lead, although I haven't got that, the hardest thing is programming the memory, you have to put tx and rx for repeaters in seperatly in memory,once you get the hang of how to do it, it's not too bad, see Bob Nagy you tube clip, has everything for working repeaters...73 Fred in UK. |
|
| KK4LGR |
Rating:     |
2013-12-20 | |
| I can't complain a bit |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I ordered my UV-5R from Amazon for $32 with free shipping. I've had it for five months, and I haven't had a lick of trouble with it that was caused by the rig.
It kinda worries me how many folks complain about how hard it is to program. Sure, the manual is worthless junk, but there's tons of support material on the internet. A few minutes spent googling and watching videos while the rig was in the mail, and I knew how to program it before it was ever in my hands. There's lots of keystrokes involved, and the menu items aren't really grouped logically, but it works.
I've had more luck with 2 meters than 440, but I think that has more to do with the repeaters in my area than the Baofeng. There are fewer 440 machines, and they have less power and lower antennas than the VHF machines. I routinely work a 2m machine 12 miles away with the stock duck, and another 40+ miles away with my J-pole.
The stock duck antenna could use some improvement. I don't own any other handheld whips, so I can't comment there. A J-pole made of twinlead really improves things.
Bottom line is, it's a decent rig with a great price. Every ham should own one, at least as a beater or disposable HT. |
|
| K3NXU |
Rating:     |
2013-12-19 | |
| Miklor.com |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I can only speak from my own experience.
I have several of these inexpensive radios and have never had the slightest problen with any of them.
UV-3R+, UV-5R, Rc, UV-82, 82X, 888S... All inexpensive, all very good performers.
The most common issues are with software programming, but not the fault of the radio.
Most errors are caused by not using the proper drivers.
This is covered in the Driver / USB section http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Drivers.php
Error message definition is covered at Common Error Messages http://www.miklor.com/HT/HT-ErrorMess.php
The website is dedicated to assisting users with the programming and operation of the little gems.
Hope this helps...
Have a great weekend and a Safe Holiday season.
John K3NXU http://www.miklor.com
|
|