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Reviews For: Baofeng/Pofung UV3R

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

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Review Summary For : Baofeng/Pofung UV3R
Reviews: 127MSRP: 55
Description:
Tiny dual band radio like the Yaesu VX3R.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.verotelecom.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001273.9
N5VEG Rating: 2011-09-14
Best handheld bargain! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received my UV3R in record time from BoBo Radio in HK. I love this tiny titan! Think you can't hit a distant repeater with 2 watts? Think again! With my fully charged UV3 I am able to hit a 440 repeater from the comfort of my recliner and given the repeater is miles away, the little radio captures it well with great Rx and Tx audio. My particular unit don't have any trouble with adjusting the audio volume. The FM radio feature is a winner too! Good clear crisp sound. I will carry this little guy everywhere!
GEOCACHERM3HXE Rating: 2011-09-10
£30 inc. postage! Whats not to like! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For only £30 inc. postage from Hong Kong this is a great little HT. Sure it has its issues but for the price what do you expect? Yes the volume is too loud on the quitest setting and it sometimes has a mind of its own. Yesterday a QSO on 2W with the supplied VHF antenna over 15 miles (simplex).Im going to have fun with this!
AB4D Rating: 2011-09-04
So - So Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As others have pointed out, the UV3R works OK, but appears to have a cheap feel to it and the volume is too loud at its lowest volume setting. I would not recommend this radio to anyone who would plan to use it everyday, I just don't see it being rugged enough to survive long term use for more than a few years.

However, it is an economical choice for a back up radio that offers a lot of bang for the buck (CTCSS,DCS,VOX,DUAL WATCH,FM RADIO RECEPTION, NARROW AND WIDE BAND RECEIVE). IMO it is a good backup to keep at your vacation home, in the glove box of your second car, or at your place of employment, keeping in mind that you should pre-program the frequency offsets of your local repeater, as automatic offsets (+/-) are not included on this one.

I purchased this radio to keep in my go bag I take to work each day. Working just across the river from D.C., I remember on 9/11 cell phones and other communication devices were useless. I don't believe that things have gotten any better in that regard. Therefore, I've picked up one of these just in case I need to get on one of the local repeaters. The manufacturer claims long battery life of 6 months at 50% charge on the supplied Li-Ion battery, a plus.
VA7COS Rating: 2011-09-02
fun rig for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this rig for $40 Canadian on ebay, plus an extra $10 for the dual band antenna. Overall I'd say it's well worth the money, though it does have some little niggling faults.

Pros:
- cheap
- signal and audio reports are great. I can hit a repeater 62 kms away. That's pretty remarkable for 2 watts.
- it's easy to program, with an intuitive interface. The manual is mostly straightforward.
- it's extremely compact and very light. The charger is also light and works on 110-240v, making it great for travel.
- the external appearance of the radio is quite attractive.

Cons:
- my radio had a problem with randomly restarting itself at first. I discovered one of the spring-loaded battery terminals was too loose. A bit of bending fixed the problem, but it recurs if you take the battery out.
- the headset is a little unpredictable. Sometimes when you plug it in, the unit restarts itself. Sometimes when inserting it locks the TX on. This lock on also happens sometimes when just pressing the PTT on the headset. I haven't had much success with the headset.
- the minimum volume setting is way too loud (about the same as Vol+25 on my Alinco scanner), as others have already pointed out. There is a mod, though it requires a fair amount of fiddling around.
- global reset- I was crouching with the unit in my back pocket, and with the back of my shoe must have pressed some combination of keys that wiped the entire memory. It's poor design to allow this to happen inadvertently.
- overload - in the downtown the unit gets overloaded by off-frequency transmissions very easily, especially where tone squelch is off.

So overall it's a fun little toy with a few quirks. I can't comment in reliability as I've only had it a month or so, but I don't hold great hopes.
W6USC Rating: 2011-09-01
Under $50.00 Fun HT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Like the size i take it to work and work local repeaters. Nice audio and transmissions were loud and clear. So eazy to program and you can also use it for FRS . Overall im glad to have it in the tool box.
M0PME Rating: 2011-09-01
Great audio and great price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Whats not to like like about this great little rig, The price and spec for only £30.00 at your door.
Might get a second one.
OE1SSU Rating: 2011-08-30
Price vs Quality is okay Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Review from KA4POL:
The first harmonic of mine on 2m was down only 22 dB which is illegal (§97.307 Emission standards demands 40 dB). 70cm was fine at 57 dB. The results are cause for an official investigation.

Solution can be found here:
http://funkperlen.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/baofeng-uv-3r-modifikation/

Another description:
http://wa5znu.org/2011/06/uv3r-lpf/
W1BVV Rating: 2011-08-27
Great Little radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had mine for only 3 days so this won't imply anything about long term reliability, but.. A great little radio. Bought it on a whim, which I'm sure most will at this price point. My main HT is a Yaesu VX-6R. The UV3R hits our local repeaters just as well as the Yaesu at 2 watts with great signal reports.

Some specifics:

Its SMALL. I can carry it in my pocket w/o a bulge. So I'll carry it without looking like a geek and use it more often.

Mine came with a single dual band antenna. At 4 inches long it is a real compromise. I've used a bigger Diamond and it is definitely better, but it is out of balance with the radio. You need to use it within its design limits.

Programming is relatively easy and logical. One read through the manual and I can do it in the field. I still can't program the VX-6 without following the steps from the manual or a PC.

Limited (99) memories forces you to keep things simple. How many channels do you really need?

The belt clip is pretty marginal. However if you want to keep it on your belt it fits perfectly in an AWP Micro Cell Phone pouch sold for $6 at Lowes. A good belt clip would be bigger than the radio.

The whole thing cost less than a replacement battery from Yaesu.

Would I try to use it at a public service event as a primary radio - of course not. As a backup - probably. I know I will keep it with me more often than a bigger full featured HT.

WA2RUG Rating: 2011-08-25
a lot of bang for the buck Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
While I have only had my BaoFeng HTs for about 24 hours and I’m not completely up to speed on programming, I already know I’m going to enjoy using them.
No, they’re not bulletproof, but how can you go wrong at this price? This HT fills a niche for those of us who are on a tight budget and/or need a mini HT; and I’ll bet a lot of younger hams will enjoy having access to both VHF and UHF for a very small investment.

And a word about the dealer:
I ordered on-line Sunday, and had them Wednesday; this is typical speedy service from Wouxun.US. I bought three Wouxuns from Ed Griffin too. Dealing with Ed is like shopping at a mom n pop store where they know your name and always give you a baker’s dozen. It’s great to get personalized service from the boss.
N8XM Rating: 2011-08-22
Not Impressed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought a Wouxun and was impressed so I thought I would try another Chinese radio....Not nearly as good a radio, realizing of course it is much smaller and much cheaper but still...Putting this in the drawer and forgetting about it. Volume control is really worthless, scan speed is painfully slow...although I will say it is easier to program than the Wouxun..