| G1YGJ |
Rating:  |
2011-10-17 | |
| Brilliant for the money! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've had my UV-3R for about a month, it's the mark 1 version, and in my opinion, having seen the two, is a better buy than the mark 2.
Please people READ THE MANUAL!
So many comments and problems here and on the Yahoo Groups on this that could have been sorted by just reading the manual.
"The battery lid keeps falling off, it won't clip in" is one complaint. It doesn't clip in on it's own. Slide it up and on the bottom of the radio is a small slider that clips it in, same as the Yaesu VX-3.
I'm really impressed and now take it out rather than the Icom IC-E92D!
Almost everyone in the local Amateur Radio club has bought one, and all are amazed how good they are.
Built down to a price, yes, but well up there with the bigger boys.
Think what the Icom cost and then what the Baofeng cost, under £30! |
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| VE2TBC |
Rating: |
2011-10-13 | |
| Best Chinese |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I have had puxings (PX-777 muffled TX audio, PX-888 super muffled TX audio, PX-2R barely no TX audio), Wouxun (low quality, weird freq programming, Birdies).
In my opinion they were all crap, unusable and a waste of money. Sold them all.
However the UV-3R with single freq, s-meter and 18 menus works. It is far from perfect but contrary to other chinese radio it is very usable.
Pros:
1) Good quality
2) Small Size
3) Low price
4) Good TX audio
5) Fantastic receive audio and powerfull
6) Found easy to use
7) Long lasting battery, short charge time
8) Nice display
Cons
1) Birdies (148, 442, 444, 446 + others in commercial band)
2) RF feedback lock TX with VHF freqs (fixed with ferrite, 3 turns)
3) Lowest volume setting too strong
4) one vhf and one uhf antenna (no dual band)
5) SQL does not seem to work
6) S-Meter coarse and slow to appear
I like it since it works, is very small and cheap. Recommended for fun and bkp rig.
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| VU2OEC |
Rating: |
2011-10-10 | |
| Cut...Pocket...Dual Bander |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I bought it from 'Radiogearpro" on ebay.com, a Hongkong Seller. Excellent VHF/UHF handy with 2 Watts of Power, but, I am much happier with UHF simplex communication. I copied my buddy ham 5-9 in Gurgaon, Haryana, INDIA, (an area with high rise tower everywhere) upto 4 kms or more. Also, clear audio quality. Charging is easy and battery lasts much longer compared to other Chinese heavier rigs. Manual programming is very easy. Battery eliminator is must for longer usage. The separate case for charging battery is NOT "User Friendly". Charging directly the radio through the separate charger is comfortable. Recommend to buy little "Stuby Antenna" and keep the Radio hidden in your shirt pocket. 73, VU2OEC, Rajesh Chandwani, India |
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| WA0URJ |
Rating: |
2011-10-10 | |
| MTC UV-3R |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I bought a Yellow UV-3R from Main Trading Company and this is the BEST little handheld that I own. Very impressed with the 2 watt power output on both VHF/UHF. My experience with Main Trading Company has been nothing but FIRST CLASS customer service ! They have provided me with very FAST shipping. I would recommend anyone wanting to buy a UV-3R to consider buying from Main Trading Company. |
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| W5WS |
Rating: |
2011-10-07 | |
| Disappointing even at $53 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have the new Mark II model. The battery cover does not snap into place, it just slides on and will slide back off just handling the radio. The LCD display flickers like crazy when first turned on but settles down after 10 or 15 seconds. There are some things I like, the small size, dual frequency display, the dual band antenna and the small size. A little better quality control would make this a no brainer, you could keep one in the car, at work, at home and never be far from a radio. As is, it really needs improvement. |
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| WD0FIA |
Rating: |
2011-10-01 | |
| MTC branded UV-3R |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Nice little radio! I bought 2 of these from Main Trading Company with the MTC logo for $130 shipped, and 2 from Solidradio for $88 shipped. I have been very happy with them. I gave one to my mother to use as a scanner, one to my wife, and put one in each car, all for less than $220 total. My VX-6R's are higher quality, but they each cost what 4 UV-3R's ran me. Simply put, they work! The MTC units come with a dual band antenna for just a few dollars more than the ones from China. FYI, I had ordered some from Solidradio on eBay the same day as I ordered from Main Trading, and the radios from China arrived a day earlier than the ones from Texas, so MTC must be having shipping issues. |
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| N0RIE |
Rating: |
2011-09-30 | |
| good radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
bouth as a backup radio
good sound and looks
like more than the stanard i use
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| K4IA |
Rating: |
2011-09-29 | |
| Great Club Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I got mine through 409shop - took about ten days from Hong Kong . When I opened the box, I had a hard time finding the radio - it is so small. No kidding, when I finally figured out which little part was the radio, I could not believe it. The desk charger is bigger than the radio. It is a lot smaller than a deck of cards or pack of smokes. It will fit in your shirt pocket and leave room for a cigar. The battery is the size of a matchbook. Order an extra for only $8.50.
But for about $50 I got a shack-on-my-belt: the VHF/UHF radio, battery, charger, antenna, earpiece, software, cable and belt clip. For $10 you can get a USB/car charger. The software is on a little CD but you are better off going on the internet and downloading. The USB cable uses the Prolific chip set which is total garbage and you will have to download from another site to get something that works. (Google "UV-3R driver" - the Wouxun software worked for me). Once I got it figured out I was able to use the software to program the radio for my local repeaters. You can program the radio directly without using the software but that is harder.
I see this as "set-it-and-forget-it" because the memory interface is cumbersome. Let's be real, it has 3 buttons on the front, two on the side and no keypad. What can you expect? Even with the manual in your hand, there is nothing easy about the programming. Who cares? You set it and forget it. Once you get the software right, you could program dozens of these radios in a few minutes with the USB cable.
At this price, they are competitive with FRS radios or CB. A club could buy a bunch and give to new Techs to get on the air right away. That is why I say this is a great club radio. Anyone can afford one and the 2 watts output will hit a local repeater for instant gratification. In an emergency, these are so cheap, they could be handed out like candy.
I am still playing with it but at this price, buy a bunch.
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| VK5GI |
Rating: |
2011-09-21 | |
| Very good |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
First off, my Baofeng is the UV-100 version. It's the same as the UV-3R, with some minor cosmetic changes, as is the UV-200. Secondly, I bought it in Hong Kong and got all the technical info from the 409Shop, which I recommend to all traveling through HK.
A Yaesu this ain't. It feels a lot more flimsy than the Wouxun but it is a LOT smaller and weighs in at less than half the weight of the WX. There again, it is very much cheaper too, and tough enough for everyday use.
I found that using it was fairly logical and I could enter the frequencies I wanted and their offsets fairly easily. Putting a list of frequencies into the memory was another matter. I used the software (www.yaesu.hk/pic/download/BF_3R_Setup1rar or www.409shpo.com download software) to enter in the repeater frequencies I wanted, hit the "write to radio" button and after thinking about it, they were in the radio. To scan, and the user's manual doesn't mention this, you hit the side button F/A momentarily and then the menu button, and lo! it scans through the memories. Not entirely logical, and I found this out by sheer chance!
A minor criticism is that 2 antennas are provided, one each for VHF and UHF. Why not just provide 1 dual band antenna? The battery charger is a bit of a problem according to some websites I've seen, but no worries, you can charge up the rig directly through a port on the side of the rig.
Yes, it is definitely worth the money, it works like it should, it does feel a bit - er - cheap, but I guess it has been built to a price. This is the only reason I didn't give this rig a 5. However, I bought it for the car (in the absence of the long awaited Wouxon mobile rig!) so if it gets nicked, no great loss. If you are in for a dual band rig, you will not lose much by buying one of these remarkable little Baofengs. |
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| K6NJ |
Rating: |
2011-09-16 | |
| GREAT for the money |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| First of all, this isn't up to the same standards as a Yaesu. If you think you are going to get a VX-3R, then you may be disappointed. However, since I can buy four of these radios for the price of the Yaesu, I'm happy as a clam! I've owned a couple of Yaesue VX-3Rs and the UV-3R feels a little cheaper, the S meter just gives you full scale rather than an actual receive strength and it is a little more difficult to program from the HT, but is still a great radio and I give it a 5 out of 5 for a $50 radio! Buy one! |
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