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Reviews For: BaoFeng GT-3TP Mark III Tri-Power 1/4/8W

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : BaoFeng GT-3TP Mark III Tri-Power 1/4/8W
Reviews: 8MSRP: 62.99
Description:
23CM High Gain Antenna allows GT-3 Mark II to transmit in 8KM.
Optimal SQL Setting
Optimal Modulation of TX/RX Power Tube, True 8W Output Power, Longer Effective Talking Range
Broad (Wide) / Narrowband (Narrow), High power / low (5W/1W), selectable.
Selectable Frequency Step/2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25 kHz.
Function Busy Channel Lock "BCLO".
Function "VOX" (Voice Operated Transmission), "OFFSET" (frequency offset for repeater access).
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radioddity.com/us/baofeng-gt-3tp-mark-iii-two-way-radio-dual-band-uhf-vhf-136-174-400-520mhz-tri-power-1-4-8w.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0084.1
KJ4DGE Rating: 2019-06-11
Better than a UV5R Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had many HT's over the years in this price range. Chinese radios just keep upping the ante on features for money spent. This HT is a keeper for many reasons. For the price it has backlit keys, a decent stock antenna (Nagoya 771 clone), 3800 ah battery, 8 watts output power, etc. Yes it could be improved but again for 46.00 shipped I am not too worried about the cost versus what I am getting out of it.

This radio hears and transmits better than a UV82 which I have used before. feels good to hold and lighter than most HT's. The VFO/channel button does what it should, no turning off the radio to switch between modes like a UV5R!

The downside. The battery does not have a lock function like higher end radios. The speaker mic socket on mine seems to be bigger than it should be so the programming cable does not fit correctly in the side of the radio. Those two things are not a deal breaker based on the other pluses the radio has. As with most Baofengs, you can program the radio by hand after you learn the basics so even though its nice to see all the channels in CHIRP its not a big deal with me.

Next time you see this radio, compare it to the others at this price point and buy it!
W1TXT Rating: 2018-10-30
Works fine Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered from Amazon and it was here in 2 days. Picked up the 3800mHa version. No issues so far and I checked the frequency using my K3/P3 w/the two meter option. Very good and is right on freq. (or very close to it) across 2 meters. RX and TX audio seem fine also. I have two UV-82's and this is easier to use IMO.
73

Tom/W1TXT
K2AAE Rating: 2017-08-23
Great value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I would give this radio a Great rating but for the lack of coherent documentation and worthless programming software. First, there are 39 setting in the radio, 16 are explained in the manual, the hardcopy manual you can read with a magnifier or the PDF you can open and wait on since they put the whole manual on one PDF page with three languages. Once I discovered the latest version of CHIRP and which radio to use (Baofeng BF-F8HP) life was sweet. I can stand on my porch and talk with a repeater 94 miles away, that is value. Once I figure out how to remove the stock battery so I can add the 4 amp $12 battery I'll be good.
WW2K Rating: 2017-07-29
Good value if you get at good one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Here is the link for the person who asked for field programming. manual programming. This radio programs similar to the UV5R....

Here is a link to a quick guide that was written by another ham.

http://ww2k.org/Buddy_s_Manual_ProgrammingUV5R.pdf

Hope that helps!


Also.... please disregard the fix that I offered in a review several lines below... I learned later that the radio itself was faulty and had the seller send me a replacement. The new one programmed and worked as expected.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by WW2K on 2016-06-04

Before you read further, I really like this radio. It feels good in the hand and mostly looks good. (other than the chrome volume knob)

Programming... Many reviews say that this can be done with Chirp. Yes... and No. I would give it a 5 of 5 if some of the chirp bugs were fixed. Perhaps it will get there in time? Here is what I had to do.

1. Reset all from the menu button.
2. When I received this radio I then had to go to the sainsonic web page and download their programming software.
3. connect radio to computer and upload image of the radio.
4. find the control that allows the radio to transmit below 480 MHZ. Also a couple of other settings there that are in line with which frequencies that you plan to transmit on.
5. Once done... Then upload changes back to the radio.

6. Then over to the Chirp program. In chirp, upload the image from the GT3-tp,

7. then manually enter your memory channels into chirp or copy and paste your desired memories from a proven list. (perhaps from your previous uv5r's) then save to computer.

8. then upload to the gt3-tp.

Once this was done, I then had a new GT3-tp that would receive on all of the memory channels but it wouldn't bring up a single repeater! After 5,000 attempts at reloading with no success, I finally stumbled on to something that may be the fix...

Here is the fix....

9. My memory channels were all set to show the alphanumeric name rather than the frequency. Once the memories are in your handheld radio, then go to the menu button (on the radio itself) and find the menu to change the display back to show the "frequency" in the memories rather than the name....

(Temporarily change it to show memory frequencies)

WhaaaLaaa! It now works! That doesn't make sense but for some reason it allowed the radio to Finally understand that it was supposed to actually transmit the sub-tones and open the repeaters.

10. THEN you can change it back to showing the Names from the menu button and it should still work.

It is possible that there is some other explanation for why my fix written above did the trick... but I wanted to share this with you in hopes that this just might save you the 5 hours of hair pulling that I went through.


To close... My gt3-tp now works like it is supposed to, and I'm thrilled to finally have it programmed.

It will be interesting to see if anyone else has the same experience, and If so, what they think the fix is. 73s

ww2k

ww2k@live.com


P.S.
Waterproof? Advertised as dust proof and waterproof however... this unit is NOT submersible! It will take a good rain but I wouldn't drop it in the creek if I were you. Water can enter at the top, the external mic holes and at the mic hole when submersed.
KE5AWX Rating: 2017-07-28
Difficult to program Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have tried CHIRP, Sainsonic program and manually and cannot get the radio to program. Sainsonic disk opens the program in NotePad in Chinese.

If anyone has a written 'cheat sheet' to manually program the radio please email me with it. Thanks and 73 Tom
bree525@hotmail.com
JOHNR Rating: 2016-09-04
Nice little dual band radio. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Bought this on sale for $37 at Radioddity and glad I did as it is a really nice radio. Right out of the box I charged the extended battery and then did some wattage readings here are my findings:

146.000MHz H: 8W M: 7W L: 1.5W .......... 446.000MHz H: 6.8W M: 5.3W L: 1.4W

The quality of the radio and antenna are very good, radio works as it should and have not had any problems. In fact I really like the INF-641 antenna it's not too long and very flexible and the RX/TX seems excellent. The package deal I bought came with the extended battery (labeled as a 3800mAh).

All in all it is a very solid radio and I would recommend it. The only con I have is the PTT is pretty easily pressed so it might get bumped from time to time. I might take it apart and see about modding the internal switch.

It is programmable through Chirp you choose the Baofeng BF-F8HP model and then read the radio.
K4PQ Rating: 2015-04-30
Not a bad CCR Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought a 10 pack of these knowing that I'd probably have a dud or two. (It's really not that wise buying CCR's in a multi-pack because vendors usually want you to send all the radios back if one's a dud. You might save a few bucks buying in bulk though.)

Only two had issues but not so bad that I can't use them somehow. One didn't accept programming via the cable, and one had a faulty flashlight.

Anyway, based on all the other Baofengs I've owned and played with, I'd say this is as good as the UV-82, and maybe a bit better on audio, but doesn't look as professional. I'm not a big fan of the toy-look of the UV-5r and this GT3 series looks kinda like that, but I do like the manly utilitarian yellow (like a Fluke) and the build feels more rugged and solid (like a Fluke). My really big beef is with that ungodly volume knob. It not only is a weirdly bejeweled monstrosity with a cheap plastic chrome feel, it has a rubber grip banded around it that serves no purpose other than to emulate the Yaesu VX series, which has a push pull function. Because the volume pot is so loose and easy to turn, the rubber will rub on your shirt or jacket, changing your volume. I am absolutely clueless as to why some Chinese engineer would think that this is what Americans want. Maybe it's the same dude that designed those Lucky Cats with the weird eyes, and also decided that LED flashlights should have an SOS setting.

Anyway, the fix is to replace that lapse in engineering judgment with the knob that goes on the UV-82. It looks like it's made for the GT3 radios - very professional. ($2.50 at 409shop. I ordered 20 so that I could provide them to others who don't want to wait 2 months for a Chinese shipment. Let me know. I'll put a note on my QRZ page when I run out.).

So, what about the extra wattage? I didn't expect it to make much of a difference, but you know what? I see a big expansion of the coverage area. Last Summer I used a bunch of 82's on UHF to provide communications for farming operations, and there were some fringe areas. I visited those fringe areas again with this radio, and it wasn't fringe at all and we were able to go about a mile further before things got fuzzy. (BTW, I used the same after-market antennas for the tests) So, I'm seeing a much more solid connection with these.

The audio is MUCH better too, especially on TX. Sounds like a bigger mic with more processing or something. The 82's had little mic holes that I'd drill out to get them to sound louder, but that didn't help much.

I don't know why CCR's have such terrible drop in charger bases. It's almost like it's a requirement. Putting this radio in the charger is not a one-handed operation, but I can tell they're working on making these bases fit better. I like it that there's a car adapter for these bases, but it's weird having a charger base in your pickup or car. It bounces around and the radio is, of course, top heavy. If Sainsonic hired me to oversee their radio designs and development, I'd do it. They could double their sales.

I haven't tried out the new antenna that they include, but it seems to be well built. The base is hard plastic and the whip is flexible. Seems like it could be irritating to your love handles, and I suspect the whip could be deformed at the transition near the base if it bent too much. The NA-771 has extra coating on the lower whip that feels more rugged. If you have an expansive muffin top, I'd suggest you stick with a rubber duck that is centered around your frequency usage.

Bottom line: I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of these as a first rig or even as a spare. My Yaesu and Icom HT's don't perform much better, and, as a matter of fact, these Baofengs are my go-to radios to wear around the farm.

5 stars for cost-to-"what you get" ratio.

73- K4PQ
BG6NIC Rating: 2015-03-30
New Upgrade! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Packaging showed the radio as a Mk II model. When I powered the radio the display indicated it was a Mk III model. I proceeded to charge the battery. I was able to program the radio with just a small learning curve with the software and advice from some You Tube videos of other users.I also put the Nagoya 771 antenna on it to help. I also have a Mark II and the display is different or in reverse. I received good signal quality reports on a local FM ham repeater. This radio offers a great deal of listening options and transmitting features. Still have a bunch to learn but should be fun. The only issue I had was the foam cushion for the ear piece which was difficult to install and eventully tore during my attemps to attach it. It can reach 8watt power on some frequencies not all frequencies.